This week we are delighted to announce the selected IWC/Cúirt/ILFD Young Writer Delegates! Congratulations to Kit Connolly, Alex Irwin, Jess Mc Kinney and Conor Duggan who will be attending Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway this April for four full days of literary immersion. During this period, they will be mentored by award-winning writer, Mary Costello.

Kit Connolly is a bookworm who’s trying to write a book. She graduated with a degree in English from Trinity College and interned at The Paris Review in New York. She has spent the past few years doing temp jobs and travelling. She now lives in Dublin.

Alex Irwin, a freelance writer and editor from Co. Meath, studied English Literature and Anthropology in Maynooth University and recently earned an M.Sc in Multimeda from DCU. Their first published story ‘Star Walker’ appeared in the Science Fiction and Fantasy anthology Perchance to Dream in 2015. At the time of publication, it was #1 on Amazon Kindle’s Bestselling YA Science Fiction and Fantasy List. You can follow Alex on Twitter @irwinwriting.

Jess Mc Kinney is a poet, zinester and English Studies graduate of UCD. Originally from Inishowen, Donegal, they are now living and making work in Dublin. Their poetry has been previousy published in AbridgedPoetheadMountstrous RegimentPeach MagazineA New Ulster and Impossible Archetype.They are co-founder of the Not4U Poetry Collective, working to platform LGBTQ+ voices in poetry by hosting events, fundraisers and publishing zines. 

Conor Duggan is a geologist who graduated from Trinity in 2014. After spending several years exploring for gold and other precious metals in Australia, he is now back in Ireland working on his creative writing. He writes flash fiction, poetry, and Limericks. He also enjoys botany, and he is cultivating native Irish tree bonsais.

The selected four young writers will be given festival passes and accommodation for seven full days of literary immersion in its events and activities. 

 

We are equally excited to introduce the selected IWC/ILFD Young Writer Delegates! Well done to James HudsonCassia Gaden GilmartinRuth EnnisAoife RiachFiona Murphy McCormack and Sam Cox. These six young writers will attend the International Literature Festival Dublin launch in April and will be given festival passes to nine days of full literary immersion in its events and social life.

Born in Dublin, raised in France, then raised a bit more in Dublin, James Hudson is a speculative fiction writer exploring why we feel the way we feel about the human body. He is currently completing his MA in Creative Writing in UCD, and would like his dissertation to be a first step towards remedying the dearth of transgender fiction in Ireland.

Cassia Gaden Gilmartin is a recent graduate of Trinity’s MPhil in Creative Writing, and now divides her writing time between short stories and a debut novel. A serial arts intern, she has worked for the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin Book Festival and GCN (Gay Community News). Her short fiction has been published by BansheeTransnational Queer UndergroundEunoia Review and The Bookends Review.

Ruth Ennis is studying Children’s Literature in Trinity College Dublin. She has written for Children’s Books Ireland, The University Observer, The UCD Caveat Lector, The Dublin Book Festival and The Blue Nib. She aspires to be a children’s author, and has a particular interest in poetry and short stories. She currently works as the Marketing and Publicity Officer for The O’Brien Press. 

Aoife Riach is a feminist witch and aspiring chill person with a masters degree in Gender & Women’s Studies. She has worked as a writer for BUST magazine in New York, and her poetry is upcoming in Nothing Substantial and NOT4U’s zine Being is Believing. She is currently studying Sexuality and Sexual Health Education in DCU and is a finalist in the 2019 Inter-varsity Poetry Slam.  

Fiona Murphy McCormack is 23 years old and from Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh. With an MA in Creative Writing from Queens University Belfast and a BA in English and Creative Writing from Glyndwr University.  Fiona’s fiction has previously been published in Electric Reads, Germ Magazine, Fearlessly, The Elephant Ladder and Crossways literary review. 

Sam Cox is a long-form journalist and non-fiction writer. He has worked as Features Editor with Trinity News, as well as written for the Dublin InQuirer, TN2 Arts magazine and An Consantóir. His topics of interest have ranged from science communication, to experiences within the health system, to life on Irish islands. He studies psychology at Trinity College Dublin.

Keep an eye across the YWD Instagram and Twitter accounts over the coming weeks to follow the groups throught their literary journeys.

Full information on this year’s Cúirt International Festival of Literature programme is available at www.cuirt.ie and information on this year’s International Festival of Literature Dublin programme is available at www.ilfd.com