Brian Kirk is an award-winning poet, short story writer and novelist from Dublin. He has published two collections of poetry with Salmon Poetry, After The Fall (2017) and Hare’s Breath (2023). His poem “Birthday” won the Listowel Writers’ Week Irish Poem of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2018. His short fiction chapbook It’s Not Me, It’s You won the Southword Fiction Chapbook Competition and was published by Southword Editions in 2019. He is a recipient of Professional Development and Agility Awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. His novel Riverrun was chosen as a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2022 and was shortlisted for the Spotlight First Novel Award 2023. His poetry has been featured on The Poetry Programme on RTÉ Radio One, Words Lightly Spoken Podcast and Eat The Storms Poetry Podcast. He is a member the Hibernian Writers’ Group.

www.briankirkwriter.com

Aisling Walsh (she/her) is an award winning writing and researcher based in Co. Clare. Her work has been published in New Island's 'Wired Our Own Way' anthology, the 2024 'From the Well' anthology, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Irish Times, Jezebel, Electric Literature, Literary Hub and others.

Gary Finnegan is a writer and journalist based in Kildare. His fiction has appeared in The London Magazine, Litro, Howl, Ropes, Flash Fiction Magazine and the Irish Independent's New Irish Writing. He has a degree in physiology from Trinity College, an MSc in science communication from DCU, and an MA in creative writing from Maynooth University. Gary was one of 20 Irish writers selected for the 2024 Freedom to Write Project by PEN/Ireland & the John Hewitt Society, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice. Gary is represented by the Watson Little agency in London and is working on his first novel.

Laura McDonagh is an award-winning second-generation Irish writer from the North East of England. She writes about grief, social class and cultural identity.

Laura's memoir 'Commonplace' - about growing up in an Irish family in Britain, her search for somewhere to belong, and the surprising discovery that grief can be a catalyst for a more creative, uninhibited life - is currently on submission.

Alongside writing, Laura runs Projecting Grief, a portraiture and storytelling project exploring the relationship between loss, creativity and healing, with photographer Jo Ritchie.

Mark Burrow has published a novella, Coo, which is about an alcoholic turning into a pigeon (Alien Buddha Press). His stories have appeared in titles that include Frazzled Lit, AEOS Magazine, Punk Noir Press, Underbelly Press, Hunger (Urban Pigs Press), and Slut Vomit II (Outcast Press). He lives in Brighton in the UK.

Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos is a Breton writer, teacher, mother, nature & music lover, foodie, dreamer. She grew up in the French Alps, studied in Wales, and lived in Manchester for a few years, until she settled in Athens, Greece, in 2000.

After a 17-year hiatus, she returned to writing in 2022. Her words can be found in Epistemic Literary, BULL, The Hooghly Review, Revolution John, Roi Fainéant Press, Spare Parts Lit, JAKE, among others. She is a contributor to Poverty House, co-founder of The Pride Roars, and the EIC of Raw Lit.

Her debut historical novel Laundry Day was selected as a Runner-up at the Irish Novel Fair 2024 and she is a 2025 Pushcart Prize nominee.

Kate Durrant is the editor of two regional publications in Ireland, is a regular contributor to A Word in Edgeways, RTE Radio One, Pause for Thought BBC Radio Two, and a columnist for the Farmers Journal.

Her fiction has been published in Irish Country Magazine, Irish Examiner, Sunday Independent, Books Ireland, Holly Bough, From the Well (West Cork Literary Festival) 2023, Literature Today, Hammond House Anthology 2022/3/4, A Page from my Life, Stories from the Heart of Ireland, Spellbinder literary magazine and many other anthologies and literary magazines.

Shortlisted in Howl Irish Writing 2023, Anthology International short story 2022 and 2023, Hammond House International prize 2021, 2023 and 2024, her poetry has been placed in Fingal Poetry Prize 2024, Poets meet Painters 2024, Write by the Sea 2023, Poems for Patience 2023, Hammond House International literary prize 2023.

Awarded the 2024 fiction mentorship from Munster Literary Centre, she co-hosts the Natter podcast with author Michelle McDonagh.

Byddi Lee is the author of Rejuvenation, a speculative fiction trilogy, first published by Castrum Press in 2020, and has published flash fiction, short stories and her novel, March to November (Independently Published, 2014). She co-founded and manages Flash Fiction Armagh, shortlisted as Best Regular Spoken Word Night in the Saboteur Awards, and co-edited The Bramley - An Anthology of Flash Fiction Armagh, Volumes 1 and 2. Byddi also writes for stage and screen and is a member of BBC Writersroom Voices 23. She is an Arts Council Northern Ireland supported writer, and holds professional membership at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin, and the Society of Authors, UK.

For more information, visit www.ByddiLee.com.

Click on the image below to find out more about BARREN, Byddi’s latest novel.

Signed copies are available at https://www.buythebook.ie/product/barren/

Also mentioned by Byddi is her play TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS, which will be staged on October 31st and November 1st at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh.

Doreen Duffy (MA in Creative Writing) studied at DCU, NUIM UCD and Oxford online. Pushcart Nominated. Publications include, Poetry Ireland Review 129 by Eavan Boland, Washing Windows Volumes Too & Three & Four, Arlen House, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, (Germany), The Storms Journals 1 & 3, The Galway Review, Flash Fiction (USA) and in, Live Encounters (Indonesia), The Incubator Journal, The Woman’s Way and The Irish Times. She won The Jonathan Swift Award and was presented with The Deirdre Purcell Cup at Maria Edgeworth Literary Festival. Shortlisted in Francis MacManus Competition, her story ‘Tattoo’ was broadcast on RTE Radio One.

Susan Condon is a 2024 Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring Programme winner. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Dublin City University. Awards include first prize in the Jonathan Swift Award. Publications include Washing Windows IV, Boyne Berries, Flash Fiction Magazine (USA), Flash Flood Journal and My Weekly (UK).

Daragh Fleming (author of Lonely Boy) is a writer from Cork, Ireland. His works appears in several literary magazines, including The Ogham Stone, Beir Bua, Trasna, Stand, Gutter, and more. He was highly commended for both the Patrick Kavanagh Award and the Fool For Poetry Prize in 2023, and shortlisted for the Alpine Fellowship Poetry Prize. He won the From The Well Competition in 2021 and the Ducairn Flash Competition in 2024. Daragh was also recently shortlisted for a Mental Health Media Award for this TEDx Talk on using creativity to enhance and maintain our mental health.

Theresa Ryder is a writer and further education teacher with an M.A. in Classics. She is a recipient of the Molly Keane Creative Writing award (2015) and the Bealtaine Emerging Artist Award (2024). Recent literary contributions include: The 32: an Anthology of Irish Working Class Voices, The Same Page Anthology, The Honest Ulsterman, Antigone Journal, The Waxed Lemon, The Irish Times, and Eat the Storms podcast. Her play Ritual Dance was performed in Cork Arts Theatre in 2023. She was awarded a place on the 2022 National Mentoring Programme and the 2024 Northern Soul Roadshow from the Irish Writers Centre. She is currently editing two novels and writing a memoir about her years as assistant to the late author/artist J.P. Donleavy aided by an English literature bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland.

Cormac Culkeen writes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. He lives in Galway and has completed an MA in Writing at the University of Galway. His poetry has been published in Skylight 47, The Wild Word, Causeway, Apricot Press, Bindweed, Ink, Sweat and Tears, Ropes Literary Journal, the Orphic Review, the Honest Ulsterman, and the Galway Review. His debut collection, The Boy with the Radio, was published by Beir Bua Press in 2022. He is a founding editor of Ragaire magazine.

That’s a wrap for the Creative Community Sessions 2024. We heard twelve inspiring talks from twelve superbly talented writers, who spoke about everything from understanding and writing poetry to the importance and value of the classics, from the role writing can play in enhancing our mental health to the development of rich and memorable characters. Our speakers were warm and engaging, and willing to open their hearts to us, and they deserve a massive round of applause!

My heartfelt thanks go to:

• John O’Donnell

• Mike Murray

• Sylvia Leatham

• Seán McNicholl

• June O’Sullivan

• Theresa Ryder

• Barbara Byar

• Doreen Duffy

• Susan Condon

• Daragh Fleming

• Cormac Culkeen

You inspired us, and fired our imaginations!

And much appreciation for my friends Jean O’Brien and Mike Murray for helping me with co-hosting!

The next Creative Community Sessions will be in March and April 2025!

Until then, enjoy the recordings!

John O’Donnell’s work has been published and broadcast widely. Awards include the Irish National Poetry Prize, New Irish Writing Awards for Poetry and Fiction, and the RTE Francis McManus Short Story Award. He has published five poetry collections. His first short story collection Almost the Same Blue (Doire Press) was a Sunday Independent ‘Book of the Year’. Rainbow Baby, an RTE radio play, won a New York Festivals Radio Award. His documentary about the 1979 Fastnet disaster, Back To The Rock, was broadcast on RTE’s Doc On One. An Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair winner in 2024, his debut novel Second Skin is forthcoming, as is a new short story collection.

Mike Murray is an emerging writer living in South West England, but London/Irish born. He was a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair in 2022, and his work has been published in Envoi, The Honest Ulsterman, The Cabinet of Heed, Here Comes Everyone and Frazzled Lit. He was the winner or placed in competitions run by IHG, Curtis Brown; Exeter Literary Festival, Parracombe Prize, Fish Memoir and Writing East Midlands.

Sylvia Leatham is a debut author from Dublin. She is represented by Laura Bennett of the Liverpool Literary Agency. She recently signed a two-book deal with digital-first publisher Storm Publishing. Her first book, a near-future romantic comedy, is due out in 2025. Her first novel was shortlisted for The Letter Review and the Watson Little x Indie Novella novel prize in 2023. It was longlisted for the Mslexia novel prize in 2024. The first chapter was also shortlisted in the Retreat West First Chapter competition. She has also co-written a romantic comedy screenplay with her husband, the emerging screenwriter Joe Griffin.

Seán McNicholl is an Irish GP who enjoys writing short stories in a variety of genres. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for the Best of the Net (BOTN) award 2024. His work has been published in Beyond Words, Raw Lit, 34th Parallel, Belfast Review, Intrepidus Ink, and Frazzled Lit, among others.

For more: www.seanmcnicholl.com

June O’Sullivan lives on an island in Co. Kerry. Her writing has appeared in the The Ogham Stone Journal, The York Literary Review, Seaside Gothic, The Storms Journal, The Waxed Lemon, Sonder and Frazzled Lit. She is a student of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick. She is represented by Francesca Riccardi of the Kate Nash Literary Agency. Her debut novel “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife” will be published by Poolbeg in early 2025.

Welcome to the Creative Community Sessions !

Join us for talks by six of the most talented emerging writers in the business! The event will be hosted by author Jennifer McMahon.

This event features the following writers and talks:

John O'Donnell - speaking about: Getting stuck, and getting unstuck.

John O’Donnell’s work has been published and broadcast widely. Awards include the Irish National Poetry Prize, New Irish Writing Awards for Poetry and Fiction, and the RTE Francis McManus Short Story Award. He has published five poetry collections. His first short story collection Almost the Same Blue (Doire Press) was a Sunday Independent ‘Book of the Year’. Rainbow Baby, an RTE radio play, won a New York Festivals Radio Award. His documentary about the 1979 Fastnet disaster, Back To The Rock, was broadcast on RTE’s Doc On One. An Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair winner in 2024, his debut novel Second Skin is forthcoming, as is a new short story collection.

Mike Murray - speaking about: How to drag being an emerging writer out for forty years.

Novel Fair Winner 2022 with work published in Envoi, The Honest Ulsterman, The Cabinet of Heed and Here Comes Everyone. Winner or placed in competitions run by IHG, Curtis Brown; Exeter Literary Festival, Parracombe Prize, Fish Memoir and Writing East Midlands. Emerging writer living in South West England, but London/Irish born.

Sylvia Leatham - speaking about: Running Up That Hill – editing your novel with the reader in mind.

Sylvia Leatham is a debut author from Dublin. She is represented by Laura Bennett of the Liverpool Literary Agency. She recently signed a two-book deal with digital-first publisher Storm Publishing. Her first book, a near-future romantic comedy, is due out in 2025. Her first novel was shortlisted for The Letter Review and the Watson Little x Indie Novella novel prize in 2023. It was longlisted for the Mslexia novel prize in 2024. The first chapter was also shortlisted in the Retreat West First Chapter competition. She has also co-written a romantic comedy screenplay with her husband, the emerging screenwriter Joe Griffin.

Sean McNicholl - speaking about: Carving time to write out of a busy schedule.

Seán McNicholl is an Irish GP who enjoys writing short stories in a variety of genres. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for the Best of the Net (BOTN) award 2024. He has been published in Beyond Words, Raw Lit, 34th Parallel, Belfast Review and Intrepidus Ink, among others. For more: www.seanmcnicholl.com

June O'Sullivan - speaking about: Getting an agent and publisher as a historical fiction writer

June O’Sullivan lives on an island in Co. Kerry. Her writing has appeared in the The Ogham Stone Journal, The York Literary Review, Seaside Gothic, The Storms Journal, The Waxed Lemon and Sonder. She is a student of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick. She is represented by Francesca Riccardi of the Kate Nash Literary Agency. Her debut novel “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife” will be published by Poolbeg in early 2025.

Jennifer McMahon- speaking about the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair & Working with an agent. Jennifer is also the host for this event.

Jennifer McMahon is the overall winner of the 2024 All-Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing Award (Public), a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, has been shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Short Story of the Year (2023), the Bridport Short Story Prize and many other notable awards, and has been nominated for Best Of The Net 2024. She was a second-place winner of the Oxford Prize (winter 2023). Jennifer's work appears in Crannog, HOWL, The Galway Review, Irish Independent (New Irish Writing), Oxford Prize Anthology (2022 and 2023), Fractured Lit, Heimat Review (issues 2 and 6), Empyrean, Books Ireland Magazine, Loft Books (issues IV and V), the Retreat West 'Swan Song' Anthology, the Cowboy Jamboree 'Motel' Anthology, and in many other places. She is the co-Editor-In-Chief, along with author Laura Cooney, of Frazzled Lit, a new and fresh online literary journal.