Bilingual Takin’ the Mic

I mí an Mhárta beidh Seachtain na Gaeilge á ceiliúradh againn lenár gcéad Takin’ the Mic de 2025!

Bíonn Takin’ the Mic ag Áras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann ina shár-oíche filíochta, focal labhartha agus grinn i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge. In éineacht le ban an tí Scríbhneoir agus craoltóir í Ciara Ní É, beidh Aoife Barry ann mar aoi speisialta chomh maith le ‘mic-oscailte’* le haghaidh scríbhneoirí, filí agus ceoltóirí. Fáilte roimh chách!

This March, we will be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge with our first bilingual Takin’ the Mic of 2025! Bilingual Takin’ the Mic at the Irish Writers Centre is a great night of poetry, spoken word and comedy in Irish and English. Along with our M.C, Ciara Ní É, we will have writer and journalist Aoife Barry as our special guest, as well as an ‘open mic’* for writers, poets and musicians. Everyone welcome!

Please note, the open mic slots are scheduled in advance of the event. If you’re interested in performing on the night, please read details on how to register below.

Tá fáilte roimh dhaoine a thugann a gcuid alcól féin leo más maith leo an oíche a cheiliúradh le gloine nó dhó!

We welcome audience members to bring their own alcohol  

Photos (above): Headshot of Ciara Ní É and Aoife Barry

Interested in performing on the night?

An bhfuil spéis agat a bheith páirteach san oíche? Ba chóir do thaibheoirí a spéis a chlárú roimh ré tríd an suirbhé Google. Tabhair faoi deara go bhfuil sé mar aidhm againn am ardáin gach duine a chur in iúil dóibh seachtain roimh an imeacht.

Performers should register their interest in advance via the google survey.  Please note, the survey closes on Sunday 2nd March 2025.  We aim to inform performers of their slot via email a week before the event.

There is no ideal Takin’ the Mic performer

Níl aon taibheoir idéalach i Takin’ the Mic. Cuireann muid romhainn ardán a thabhairt do réimse taibheoirí, idir taithí agus seánra. Cabhróidh na ceisteanna sa tsuirbhé google linn an imeacht a eagrú agus a bheith cinnte de go bhfuil éagsúlacht i measc na dtaibheoirí. Tugann oícheanta Takin’ the Mic deis iontach duit aird a tharraingt ar do chuid scríbhneoireachta. B’fhéidir gur mhaith leat píosa atá scríofa le tamall a roinnt le lucht éisteachta nua.

At our Takin’ the Mics, we aim to showcase a diverse range of performers, from genre to experience. The questions in the google survey will help us to curate the event’s line up and make sure we are choosing a varied selection of performers. Our Takin’ the Mics are a great opportunity to showcase your new writing. You may wish to share new material or dust off a past piece to share with a new audience.

Cur i láthair i nGaeilge? Tá na Takin’ the Mics dhátheangacha ann do gach duine le sult a bhaint as an Ghaeilge, is cuma iad a bheith iomlán líofa nó díreach an cúpla focal acu. Tá fáilte roimh gach leibhéal cumais. Tugann muid spreagadh do dhaoine léamh i nGaeilge den chéad uair agus do dhaoine a ba mhaith leo píosaí a léamh i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla.

Performing in Irish? The aim of our Bilingual Takin’ the Mics is for everyone to enjoy Irish, from fluent speakers to those with just the cúpla focal. All levels welcome! We encourage writers who are performing in Irish for the first time, and those who wish to read parts in Irish and parts in English.

Each performer will be given three minutes. Tugtar trí nóiméad do gach taibheoir. 

About the Special Guests

Scríbhneoir agus craoltóir í Ciara Ní É a bhfuil a cuid filíochta léite aici i bPáras, i Nua-Eabhrac, i Londain, sa Bhruiséil, sa tSualainn, agus sa bhaile in Éirinn. Bhí sí ar an liosta ‘100 Women Changing Ireland in 2022’ de chuid an Irish Examiner. Bhí sí mar Ealaíontóir Cónaithe le Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh & an Bhéaloidis UCD 2023, leis an Dublin Fringe Festival in 2022, agus le DCU in 2020. Foilsíodh saothar dá cuid sna díolaim Marrow/Cnámh agus Smior, Washing Windows Too, Queering the Green, in irisí éagsúla, is tá neart físdánta aici ar YouTube. Chomhbhunaitheoir an chomharghrúpa AerachAiteachGaelach í agus is ambasadóir í le hÁras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann. Faoi láthair tá sí ag obair ar a chéad ghearrscannán mar scríbhneoir agus stiúrthóir.

Writer and broadcaster Ciara Ní É has performed in Paris, New York, London, Brussels, and Sweden. She was chosen as one of the Irish Examiner’s ‘100 Women Changing Ireland in 2022’. She was Artist in Residence UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies & Folklore 2023, the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2022, and DCU in 2020. Her work has been published in the recent anthologies Bone and Marrow/Cnámh agus Smior, Queering the Green and Washing Windows Too, in various journals, and video poems can be found on her YouTube. She is a co-founder of the LGBTQ+ arts collective AerachAiteachGaelach and is an Irish Writers Centre ambassador. She has just finished directing her first short film.

Aoife Barry is a freelance journalist and author of Social Capital: Life Online in the Shadow of Ireland’s Tech Boom (HarperCollins Ireland, 2023), which was nominated for an Irish Book Award. Her essays have featured in Banshee and on Sunday Miscellany, and her short fiction has been published by ThiWurd. She has received an Arts Council Agility Award for work on her first novel, and was selected for the Irish Writers Centre’s Evolution programme in 2023. She is arts columnist with the Sunday Times’ Culture Magazine and has bylines in the Sunday Times, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Business Post, Examiner, RTÉ.ie, Tatler and others, and appears regularly on RTÉ Radio, including a monthly slot on Today with Claire Byrne. She writes the culture newsletter Sweet Oblivion on Substack.

Tacaíonn Foras na Gaeilge leis an imeacht seo. This event is supported by Foras na Gaeilge.

Access our Building

Tá Áras Scríbhneoirí na hÉireann i 19 Cearnóg Pharnell, Baile Átha Cliath 1. Is teach Seoirseach é agus, ar an drochuair, níl ardaitheoir ann. Tá cúig chéim isteach ón tsráid. Bíonn bunús na n-imeachtaí i Seomra Kiely ar an chéad úrlár agus is gá tríocha céim a dhreapadh chuige sin.

The Irish Writers Centre is currently housed in 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. This is a Georgian building which unfortunately does not have a lift. There are 5 steps into the entrance level. The majority of the event’s activities will take place in the Kiely room which is on the first floor and requires climbing 30 steps in total. Please do inform us of any accessibility requirements you might have before the night so we can make any necessary arrangements.

If you have any questions about the event, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.