Climate Writing Group: Writing for a Change (with Lynn Buckle and Lauren James)

Please join us for Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Group: Writing for a Change. This event is part of a series of online sessions made possible by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature. There is no fee for attending these sessions, they are a gift to all writers to take away and use in their work with the goal of exploring climate action through fiction and creative non-fiction. The host for the evening is author Lynn Buckle, who will be joined by award-winning author, Lauren James.

The Irish Writers Centre is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.

What do we do in these sessions?

Each session lasts one and a half hours and can consist of the following:

• Interview Guest Author – literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, speculative fiction, essay, etc
• Interview Guest NGO, politician, policy maker, or scientist involved in conservation, climate justice, ecology, politics, industry, law, agriculture, finance etc
• Guest publishers and editors
• Book reviews
• Occasional writing exercises, tuition, and feedback. NB this is not a writing course.
• Discussions
• Networking

Who is it for?

• Anyone with an interest in averting further climate change through poetry and prose
• Anyone interested in writing fiction (all genres), non-fiction, poetry, memoir, creative non-fiction
• You do NOT have to change the genre you write in, you can simply embed some positive climate solutions into your writing
• You can be at any stage of your writing career, from beginner to published
• Those with a background in climate change, or newcomers who want to know more
• Booklovers

Host and Authors

• Lynn Buckle
• Lauren James

Biographies below. 

Lynn Buckle won the international Barbellion Prize for chronically ill and disabled authors in 2022 with her novel What Willow Says, published by époque press. It is a celebration of deafness, familial love, nature, and the language of trees. Other work includes her debut novel The Groundsmen, and literary articles and creative non-fiction for The Irish Times, Arachne Press, Massachusetts Review, Exacting Clam, Books Ireland Magazine, and various anthologies. She has taught in adult education for over 35 years, including creative writing and visual art. She represented Ireland as a UNESCO City of Literature Writer in Residence at the UK National Centre for Writing, is the judge of several writing competitions, and founder of the IWC Climate Writers Group.

Lauren James is the Carnegie-longlisted British author of many Young Adult novels, including Green Rising, The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker and The Loneliest Girl in the Universe. She is a RLF Royal Fellow at Aston University and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3). Lauren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League, and member of the Society of Authors’ Sustainability Committee. She works as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope. She runs a Queer Writers group in Coventry, where she lives.