Climate Writing Session with Alice Kinsella, Annette Skade and Dr Susan Steele

Join us for the first online Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Session of 2025. 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 creative writing. The host for the evening is writer, Alice Kinsella, who will be joined by poet, Annette Skade, and Dr Susan Steele from the European Fisheries Control Agency. 

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
• Discussions
• Writing exercises

Who is it for?

• Anyone with an interest in exploring climate action in their work
• 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
• Book lovers

Host and Guests

• Alice Kinsella
• Annette Skade
• Dr Susan Steele (European Fisheries Control Agency)Biographies below.

Photograph: Alice Kinsella

Alice Kinsella is a writer from Mayo. Her prose debut Milk: on motherhood and madness (Picador, 2023) was published to critical acclaim. She co-edited Empty House: poetry and prose on the climate crisis (Doire Press, 2021), and co-authored Wake of the Whale (Mayo Books, 2024) which was a Sunday Independent Book of the Year. Kinsella has received multiple bursaries and residencies, including the Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Award. She is a founding member of Caomhnú Creative, a collective of artists and producers working in heritage and environmental conservation. Caomhnú Creative is a Druid Theatre FUEL programme resident for 2025. Her debut full-length poetry collection The Ethics of Cats (Broken Sleep) is forthcoming in June 2025.

Photograph: Annette Skade

Annette Skade has lived for many years on Ireland’s South West Coast. Her most recent eco-poetry book, Holdfast, published in 2024, is a poetry sequence celebrating seaweed and the life of Ellen Hutchins, Ireland’s first female botanist. In 2021 Skade received a Doctorate from Dublin City University for her research on the poetry of Anne Carson. Her poems appear in poetry magazines, journals and anthologies in Ireland, the UK, the US and Australia.

Photograph: Dr Susan Steele

Dr Susan Steele is Executive Director of the European Fisheries Control Agency taking office on 1 September 2021. She has a solid background in fisheries management and control. She has been Executive Chair and CEO of the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority of Ireland since 2013. Before that, she was Head of Innovation at the Seafood Development Centre from 2009 to 2013 and Head of Aquaculture and Business Training in Ireland´s Seafood Development Board from 2006 to 2009.

Quotes from past attendees:

“I learned a tremendous amount about what can work and what not to do when writing about this topic. This was a very enjoyable, instructive evening. A few hours very well spent.”

“Its a great monthly way for me to stay thinking and writing about these topics. Kerri and Lynn before her are excellent hosts.”

“This was a brilliant time drawing my heart to engage people young or old with stories with positive solutions. Really encourage to use both climate change knowledge in a practical way. Loved every minute of good wholesome advice.”

This event is part of a series of online webinars made possible by

 Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

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