Meet the Speakers
(in order of appearance)
Colm Keegan
Writing workshop for Transition Year students
Colm Keegan is an award winning writer and poet from Dublin, Ireland. His first book “Don’t Go There” was released in 2012 to critical acclaim. His latest collection “Randomer” is now available from Salmon poetry.
His debut full-length play “For Saoirse” was staged in Axis Theatre and shortlisted for the Fishamble New Writing award in 2018. His short play “Something Worth Saying,” commissioned for the Abbey Theatre’s Dear Ireland project in 2020 was called ‘exquisite and devastating’ by reviewer Emer O’ Kelly.
He was a co-founder and board member of Lingo, Ireland’s first Spoken Word festival. In 2014 was awarded a residency in the LexIcon, Ireland’s largest public library. He is a creative writing teacher and co-founder of the Inklinks Project, a writing initiative for young writers, and was the writer in residence for Carlow College St Patricks in 2019. He also developed and co-ordinates South Dublin Epic for SDCC arts office.
He has recently released a special 10 year celebration limited edition of Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About (co-written with Kalle Ryan and Stephen James Smith), now available as a book for sale here and as an audio play on spotify.
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Helena Duggan
Whizdom Workshop with Blessington No 1 School
Helena Duggan is from Kilkenny, a medieval, haunted city in the southeast of Ireland, which was the inspiration for the town in her first series A Place Called Perfect published in August 2017. A Place Called Perfect was a Waterstones Book of the Month, won numerous awards including Crimefest Children's Book of the Year and was nominated for the Irish Book Awards and the Waterstones Children's Prize.
This bestselling series has sold over 230,000 copies in the UK and counting and is published in 13 languages to date. Perfect has also been optioned for an animated TV series.
Her new series The Light Thieves was released in 2022 to critical acclaim. It is an eco/tech adventure series that was listed by both the iPapers and the Echo in their children's books of the year. The second book in the series The Light Thieves and the Search for the Black Mirror was released in August 2023 and was Eason and Hive Book of the Month and the Sunday Times Book of the Week.
When she’s not writing she’s drawing or hanging around somewhere outdoors with Robbie, her husband, her two daughters Jo and Bobbie, and their shaggy dog Tinky.
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Jane Clarke
Wonders and Realities Workshop
and
The Glint of Light on Broken Glass
Jane Clarke is the author of three poetry collections, The River (2015), When the Tree Falls (2019) and A Change in the Air (2023), all published by Bloodaxe Books. A Change in the Air is shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize for Best Collection 2023 and longlisted for the Laurel Prize. She writes of people, place and nature. She grew up on a farm in Co. Roscommon and now lives with her wife in the uplands of Co. Wicklow.
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David Butler
The Glint of Light on Broken Glass
David Butler is an award-winning Irish poet, playwright and novelist. His third novel, City of Dis (New Island), was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, 2015. Arlen House brought out his second short story collection, Fugitive, and Doire Press his third poetry collection, Liffey Sequence, both in 2021. His fifth novel, Jabberwock, under pen-name Dara Kavanagh, has just been published by Dedalus Books. Literary prizes for the short story include the Maria Edgeworth (twice), Benedict Kiely, Colm Tóibín, ChipLit Fest, ITT/Redline and Fish International awards.
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Eithne Hand
The Glint of Light on Broken Glass
Eithne Hand is a writer, radio and theatre producer from Greystones, Co Wicklow in Ireland. Her first poetry collection Fox Trousers was launched by Salmon Poetry in February 2021 and her second collection will be published in 2024. “For this poet, everything has a voice to be heard: not only people but also objects, photographs, the physical body. The act of listening is a vital part of Eithne Hand’s poetics.” Poetry Ireland Review
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Paul Timoney
My Delicious Hat
Paul Timoney makes stories, poems, performances and other things. His shows are silly, interactive, playful and fun, and invite plenty of participation from audience members. He has performed and told stories at schools, libraries and other venues all over the country, including The Abbey Theatre, Mermaid Arts Centre, The National Gallery, Draíocht Arts Centre and more. You can visit his website https://www.paultimoney.club/ for more information.
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Aoife Dooley
How to find your voice and stand out
Aoife Dooley is an award winning illustrator author and comedian. She is also a graphic designer and public speaker.
In 2018 Aoife was diagnosed as Autistic at the age of 27. Since, she has spoken about her own experiences at many events which have resonated deeply with audiences. She has shared how a diagnosis helped her to truly begin to understand herself and has created comics and diagrams around the subject of what Autism is to her. Aoife published her first Children’s book in 2019 123 IRELAND! with Little Island books which won Specsavers Children’s book of the year at the An Post book awards. Little Island announced they are working on another book with Aoife, ABC IRELAND which will be published in 2022.
In 2020 Scholastic UK acquired world rights to FRANKIE’S WORLD, a graphic novel based on Aoife’s real-life experiences of autism. It was published January 2022 and with praise from the Guardian, the Irish Times amongst others went to reprint after a month of its release. Frankie’s Worldhas been hugely successful, and was shortlisted for the Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year (Senior) Award at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
The sequel, Finding My Voice was published in April 2023. A graphic novel like no other, told with humour, heart and a unique perspective on autism.
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William Ryan
How to plan a murder - structuring a crime novel from killing to ending
William Ryan is the author of six novels, including the Moscow Noir series set in 1930s USSR, The Constant Soldier and The House of Ghosts. They have been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Irish Fiction Award, the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year and the Crime.
Writer Association’s Gold, Steel, Historical and New Blood Daggers. His latest novel, The Winter Guest, was set in the Irish War of Independence and was described by Ann Cleeves as “a stunning book, beautifully written”.
William is also the author of Writers & Artists Guide to How to Write: How to plan, structure and write your novel (2021) and, with Matthew Hall, of Writing Crime Fiction for Guardian Masterclasses (2015). He has taught creative writing at the University of East Anglia and City, University of London as well as regular courses for Writers & Artists and The Irish Writers Centre.
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Tanya Farrelly
The Who and the How of Writing Fiction
Tanya Farrelly is the author of four books: two short fiction collections: When Black Dogs Sing (Kate O’ Brien Award 2017) and Nobody Needs To Know (Arlen House), and two psychological thrillers: The Girl Behind the Lens and When Your Eyes Close (Harper Collins) She holds a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from Bangor University, Wales and was appointed Writer-in-Residence at NUI Galway in 2021. Tanya is a recipient of an Arts Council Agility Award and has been selected for the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme. She is currently working on a new novel.
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Edel Coffey
In conversation
Edel Coffey is an Irish journalist and broadcaster. She is Books Editor of The Gloss magazine, she writes a weekly column for the Irish Examiner and is a regular contributor to The Irish Times. She was editor of the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine, and Books Editor of the Irish Independent and has also worked as a presenter and reporter with RTE radio. Breaking Point is her debut novel and was a number one bestseller in Ireland. It also won the An Post Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction Book Of The Year. She lives in Galway with her husband and children.
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Olivia Fitzsimons
In conversation with Edel Coffey
Olivia Fitzsimons is from Northern Ireland now living in County Wicklow with her husband and two children. Her debut novel,The Quiet Whispers Never Stop (2022), was shortlisted for the Kate O'Brien and Butler Literary Awards. She is a contributing editor for The Stinging Fly. Her writing has been awarded Literature Bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as residencies from Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris/Literature Ireland and The Dean Art Studios. Her fiction and essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, Banshee, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
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