14 August, 2024
Announcing our Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees 2024
We are delighted to announce the seven Irish Writers Centre members who have been selected for the Cill Rialaig residencies, in partnership with Cill Rialaig Arts Centre. The chosen writers are Soula Emmanuel, Seosamh Jones, Caitríona Lane, Jessamine O’Connor, Eoghan Smith, Séana Talbot and Stephen Walker.
This Autumn marks the tenth consecutive year of Irish Writers Centre residencies with Cill Rialaig. This October, the awarded writers will spend ten days in Cill Rialaig, locally known as ‘the edge of the world’. Roe McDermott, 2023 Cill Rialaig Residency awardee said this about her experience: “…Getting to slow down, inhale the beauty of the landscape, and spend the dark moonlit evenings reading and thinking felt like a generous gift.”
WRITER STUDIOS IN THE VILLAGE OF CILL RIALAIG, CO. KERRY
Cill Rialaig Residencies Awardees:
Soula Emmanuel was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Greek father. She studied at universities in Ireland and Sweden, emerging with a master’s in demography. She currently lives on Ireland’s east coast. Her debut novel Wild Geese was published in 2023. In 2024, it won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction, and the Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize at the UK Society of Authors Awards.
Joseph Jones (Seosamh Mac Seoin) is a Belfast-born writer, filmmaker, and Irish language speaker. He is a presenter on TG4 and Cúla4, the first dedicated Irish language children’s channel, where he brings engaging and educational content to young audiences. As a scriptwriter, Joseph has contributed to both television and film, crafting engaging content that resonates with diverse audiences. His award-winning Irish language short film, Uilíoch (Universal), which he wrote and directed, explores the emotional depths of grief during the Troubles. Joseph continues to create scripts that highlight and preserve Irish culture through his work on screen.
Cónaíonn Caitríona Lane i gConamara. Tá duaiseanna filíochta bainte amach aici i gCorcaigh, Luimneach, Ciarraí, Gaillimh, Dún na nGall, Baile Átha Cliath agus Manchain, Sasana. Roghnaigh Éigse Éireann í don tsraith Céadlínte 2022. Roghnaigh Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin filíocht Chaitríona don ghearrliosta 2023 – Eavan Boland Emerging Poet Award. Tá saothar Chaitríona le léamh sna hirisí ; Poetry Ireland Review, The Loch Raven Review (U.S.A.), Comhar, Aneas, Feasta, The Storms Journal, The Four Faced Liar, HOWL agus eile.
Caitríona Lane is a Poetry Ireland Introductions / Céadlínte Poet 2022. She has won several Irish language poetry prizes and in 2023 was shortlisted by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin for the Eavan Boland Emerging Poet Award.
Jessamine O’Connor lives on the Sligo Roscommon border in the West of Ireland and works as an ESOL tutor. Her collection Silver Spoon is published by Salmon Poetry, and she has chapbooks with Nine Pens Press and the Black Light Engine Room Press. She is an editor with Drunk Muse Press, The Poet’s Republic, and was on the editorial team for the inaugural Scrimshaw. Awards include the iYeats and Francis Ledwidge poetry prizes and the Dermot Healy Award for her fiction and poetry. She is writing a novel and more poems.
Eoghan Smith is the author of the novels A Provincial Death (2022) and The Failing Heart (2018) and the novella A Mind of Winter (2023). He has contributed essays, articles and reviews to a wide variety of publications, including The Irish Times, Books Ireland, The Literary Review, 3:AM Magazine, and The Dublin Review of Books. He has also authored a monograph on John Banville. He is originally from Dublin and now lives in Kildare.
Seána Talbot is an award-winning writer from County Down. As Catherine Tinley, she writes witty, heart warming Regency historical romance novels. She has won a coveted Rita® Award, two RoNA Awards, and the HOLT Medallion, and her books have been translated into ten languages. Two of her books have also been published as manga graphic novels. After a career encompassing speech & language therapy, Sure Start, and managing a maternity hospital, she now works for a leading charity. She lives in County Down with her husband, children, cats, and dog, and can be reached via her website or on socials.
Stephen Walker is the author of four books. His most recent is John Hume: The Persuader a biography of the Nobel Laureate published in 2023. The book is an Irish Times bestseller and is regarded as the definitive biography of John Hume. Stephen is an award winning journalist who reported on Northern Ireland for the BBC for over three decades. He was a documentary marker with BBC Spotlight and worked as a political correspondent at Stormont and at Westminster. He reported on the Troubles, the peace process and has interviewed prime ministers, presidents and paramilitaries.
Cill Rialaig is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Foras na Gaeilge and the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
The Cill Rialaig Arts Centre was built in 1995 in the little Gaeltacht village of Dun Geagan, Ballinskelligs off the N70 between Waterville and Cahersiveen. The Cill Rialaig Arts Centre is located in one of the great, untouched rural landscapes of Southwest Kerry. It offers the local community and general public the opportunity to view the work of the many artists past and present who have had the opportunity to reside at the remote and protected Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat. Nearby are family-friendly beaches, great walks, heritage sites and friendly pub. Ballinskelligs is one of the departure points for boats visiting the extraordinary Skellig Michael. In 1991, The Cill Rialaig Project began the rescue and restoration of a small pre-famine village on Bolus Head at the very end of the Iveragh Peninsula, thus creating an artists retreat that has attracted over the years over 4,500 artists from Ireland and the world. For nearly 20 years, professional visual artists, writers, poets and composers from Ireland and around the world have lived and worked at the Cill Rialaig Retreat, making it an important centre for creativity.
Past recipients of the residency include:
2023:
Suad Al Darra, Sadhbh Devlin, Lisa Harding, Roe McDermott,
David McGrath, Aedín Ní Thiarnaigh and Aimée Walsh
2022:
Sasha de Buyl, Sonya Gildea, Niamh Scullion, Colette Ní Ghallchóir,
Anne McDonald, Trish Bennett, and Maggie Breen.
2021:
Michelle Gallen, A.M. Cousins, Catherine Prasifka, Réaltán Ní Leannáin,
Lydia Searle, Hilary McCollum, and Michelle NicPháidín.
2020:
Niamh Campbell, Úna-Minh Kavanagh, Lianne O’Hara, Damien Hasson,
Justine Carbery, Oisín Kearney, and Carrie-Jade Williams
2019:
Marie Breen-Smyth, Sheila Armstrong, June Caldwell, Charleen Hurtubise,
Katherine Mezzacappa, Olivia Fitzsimons, and Emily Cooper.
2018:
Brendan Mac Evilly, Dominique Cleary, Catherine Ann Cullen, Gerry Boland,
Caelainn Hogan, Paula Cunningham and John Fox.
2017:
Sue Leonard, Fiona O’Rourke, Breda Wall Ryan, Anna Heussaff,
Moyra Donaldson, Aiden O’Reilly and Kelly Creighton.
2016:
Louise C.Callaghan, Kate Kavanagh, Martin Malone, Dairena Ní Chinnéide,
Nessa O’Mahony, Sydney Weinberg and Adam Wyeth.
2015:
Andrea Carter, Anthony Glavin, Catherine Dunne, Lia Mills,
Louise Phillips, Maria McManus and Seán Hardie.
Each year, the Irish Writers Centre runs up to 20 free and exciting programmes to support writers’ development. Carrying our it’s work on an all-island basis, the Irish Writers Centre offers a range of support schemes, residency opportunities, mentoring, and other development programmes. View more opportunities for writers here.
Join our mailing list to receive weekly updates straight to your inbox. We will keep you informed of what’s on at the Centre, including the current opportunities we have for writers, our events, the latest creative writing courses, resources for writers at all stages, and other news you’ll want to know.
