June 27-July 9, 2020 - Apply by November 15th Contact faculty member Kelly Hubbard for an application.
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June 27–July 9, 2020
Apply by November 15th
Contact faculty member
Kelly Hubbard for an application.
WRITING IN IRELAND | 2020
This program is custom designed for Xavier College
Preparatory students by Putney Student Travel.
Highlights
• Write in cafés, ruined monasteries, grand estates, and windswept hilltop castles
• Get to know legendary Dublin, an official UNESCO City of Literature
• Receive constructive, one-on-one feedback on your work from Putney’s accomplished
writing instructors
• Participate in an intensive writing workshop on an island off the coast of Connemara
• Read your original work at a student-organized reading on the final night of the program
PUTNEY STUDENT TRAVEL | goputney.com | 802.387.5000
2020
TRIP INFO
June 27–July 9, 2020
13 days
13–24 Students
Leadership
English Department faculty
member Kelly Hubbard will co-lead
this program with one other faculty
member and one or two Putney
Student Travel leaders.
Student Tuition
$3,800 + airfare
All-inclusive tuition covers
accommodations, food, activities,
in-country transportation, and
gratuities. Trip cancellation
insurance is available through
Trip Mate Travel Insurance for an
additional fee.
Group Flight
Estimated at $1,180
Putney Student Travel organizes
group flights between Phoenix,
Arizona, and Dublin, Ireland.
For more information,
contact Kelly Hubbard at
khubbard@xcp.org.
Overview
This field-based writing workshop offers participants the opportunity to experiment with poetry,
fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, and more. Write in cafés, historic taverns, medieval monasteries,
windswept hilltop castles, and overlooking the low-lying beaches of the Irish Sea. Incorporate the
five senses in a busy covered marketplace, then reunite with your group in an outdoor café to
share and comment. Receive valuable, constructive, one-on-one feedback while sitting on the
expansive emerald lawns of Saint Stephen’s Green or Trinity College. Take in Ireland’s amazing lyric
and storytelling traditions at literary readings, traditional music concerts, parks, award-winning
theatre, and storied public houses. Attend an array of evening enrichment seminars on such
topics as Irish history, literature, and theatre, and special mini-workshops in poetry, travel writing,
photography, blogging, and more. Participate in an intensive writing workshop on an island off
the coast of Connemara, then return to Dublin to read your original work at a student-organized
reading on the final night of the program.
Students should bring a passion for writing, a willingness to try new things, and desire to be an
active part of a supportive group of open-minded and creative young writers.
Leadership
Putney Student Travel will match your group with one or more of our talented and dynamic leaders,
who will collaborate with Xavier College Prep faculty members to lead the program. Your Putney
leader will be a published writer who has extensive experience in the field and loves teaching high
school students.
Among Putney’s leaders are some of America’s most acclaimed young writers, including Salvatore
Scibona (The End, 2008 National Book Award Finalist), Amber Dermont (The Starboard Sea),
Rosecrans Baldwin (Paris, I Love You, But You’re Bringing me Down), Mike Levy (Kosher Chinese),
Tim Weed (Will Poole’s Island), Brian Staveley (The Emperor’s Blades) and Karen Russell (Saint Lucy’s
Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Swamplandia!, a 2012 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction,
and Vampires in the Lemon Grove).
PUTNEY STUDENT TRAVEL | goputney.com | 802.387.5000
Example Leader: Brenna Casey
Boston College, B.A., English
University of Notre Dame, M.F.A., Creative Writing
Duke University, Ph.D., English
Brenna is a lecturer at Duke University with a dual appointment in the Departments of English and
Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. She teaches courses in literature, creative writing, ethnic
studies, gender studies, and critical theory. Her research and writing interrogate the transnational
formations of race and gender categories through literature and visual culture of the Atlantic World.
Brenna received her Ph.D. from Duke with a certificate in feminist studies. She also holds an M.F.A.
in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame where she was the Sparks Fellow. Brenna’s
essays, poetry, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Ploughshares, The Boiler, Post
Road, Leviathan, and others. Brenna has led programs for Putney Student Travel and National
Geographic Student Expeditions in Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ireland, Spain, and the
Czech Republic. Brenna is fluent in Spanish.
Itinerary
This description includes our preliminary plan for activities and may change as we refine our itinerary.
June 27: Travel, Phoenix to Dublin
Depart Phoenix for Dublin.
June 28–July 2: Dublin
After a brief orientation, settle in to your time in Dublin, a UNESCO World Heritage City of
Literature and bustling port city on the Irish Sea. Based in a student residence north of the
River Liffey, spend days exploring the disparate neighborhoods of the Irish capital, using each
destination and site as the raw material for group writing exercises intended to spur original
and inspired work from each student.
Visit the National Gallery and explore poetic ekphrasis, jump a train for the coast and work on
rendering landscape on the page, meet with working writers and publishers, and discuss issues of
the craft. Visit the stomping grounds of literary greats like James Joyce and W. B. Yeats, and learn
about the important work of local non-profit writing centers. Evening activities include readings,
enrichment seminars, concerts, plays, movies, and student-organized events.
For a change of pace, travel with your workshop group on day trips to the surrounding areas of
Dublin. Hike winding walking paths over the hills of Howth, explore ruined monasteries, or stroll
the 19th century ocean-front promenade of a nearby fishing village.
June 3–5: Inishbofin
Travel across the bog land and verdant countryside of central Ireland by chartered bus, stopping
along the way to visit Kylemore Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1920. From there, we
make our way to the western coast to board a ferry to Inishbofin (“Island of the White Cow”), our
home for an intensive, three-day writers’ retreat.
PUTNEY STUDENT TRAVEL | goputney.com | 802.387.5000
“Finishing my final piece
and getting feedback
from my leader and peers
gave me the greatest
sense of accomplishment.
I gained inspiration
and confidence in my
writing, and I gained more
confidence as a traveler.”
— Arden Schraff
Home to fewer than 200 inhabitants, Inishbofin is located about five miles off the coast of
Connemara. This spare island is known for its 13th century ruins, cliffs, and sheep pasture, and
as a conservation area home to seals and corn crakes. Inishbofin is located in the Gaeltacht, the
country’s traditional Irish-speaking region.
On Inishbofin, we stay at a small, picturesque family-run hostel near the pier. Spend days on
this pristine island hiking, swimming, workshopping, and polishing your written work. In the late
afternoons and evenings, gather with the group for craft talks, readings, and sunset hikes.
July 6–8: Dublin
Return to Dublin by way of Galway city. Take an afternoon in Galway to stroll Salthill Prom, visit with
street musicians, and experience life in this artistic, seaside city.
Once back in Dublin, plan, publicize, and prepare for a final reading of work produced during the
program, and enjoy a last evening with the group.
July 9: Travel, Dublin to Phoenix
Depart Dublin for Phoenix.
Application Timeline
For application forms and information please contact faculty member Kelly Hubbard.
November 15: Application, signed agreement form, and $700 deposit check due to Kelly Hubbard
at Xavier College Preparatory.
February 15: Tuition balance and airfare due to Putney Student Travel.
PUTNEY STUDENT TRAVEL | goputney.com | 802.387.5000
Trip insurance
Families may purchase trip cancellation and travel insurance through Trip Mate Travel Insurance.
Information will be provided with the final program invoice.
Preparing for your trip
On February 1st, all students and parents will have access to an online portal or Digital Locker which
contains all trip details and required forms, from a packing list to a health history questionnaire.
Putney’s directors are available to chat about your trip details and answer questions.
During the trip
While in Ireland, students and leaders update a group travel blog, so families and friends may
follow along with the journey. In case of emergency, a team of Putney Student Travel’s directors
provides 24-hour emergency response during the program.
Putney Student Travel
Since 1951, Putney Student Travel has offered high school and middle school students the
opportunity and insight to shape their world through travel, unique cultural engagement, friendship,
and fun. Our summer programs for high school and middle school students include community
service, language immersion, adventure travel, pre-college enrichment, and global awareness.
Putney’s directors collaborate with schools to create custom experiential learning programs that
inspire students in real-world contexts, with an emphasis on deep and active engagement off the
beaten track. Call us to chat with a director, or visit www.goputney.com.
Contact
Kelly Hubbard, Xavier College Preparatory English Department faculty, khubbard@xcp.org
Micah Sewell, Putney Student Travel Director, micah@goputney.com
PUTNEY STUDENT TRAVEL | goputney.com | 802.387.5000
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