Climate Writing Session with Alice Kinsella, Rachael Hegarty and Dean Black

Join us for the next online Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Session, in which host Alice Kinsella will be joined by poet, educator and broadcaster Rachael Hegarty, and co-ordinator of the Bog Bothy Project, Dean Black.

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
• Rachael Hegarty
• Dean Black

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.

Rachael Hegarty is a prize winning poet, educator and broadcaster. She was educated by the Holy Faithers in Finglas, the U. Mass Bostonians, the Trinity M. Phillers in Dublin and the Ph.D. Magicians at Queens University, Belfast. Rachael is the presenter for Poetry People on RTÉ Radio 1.

Rachael’s debut collection, Flight Paths Over Finglas (Salmon 2017), won the Shine Strong Award. A child survivor of the Talbot Street bomb, her collection May Day 1974 (Salmon, 2019) has received critical acclaim for the 33 docu-sonnets and 33 ballads for the people who died on the single worst day the Troubles. Rachael has also edited a book of poems by community groups from her hometown in Making Sense of Finglas (DCC 2020). Her third collection, Dancing with Memory (Salmon, 2022), is a dance hall of memory for her mother who lived with dementia. Her fourth collection, Wild Flowers on the Darndale Roundabout (Salmon 2024), was inspired by her kids and other Fridays for Future activists.

Rachael teaches at the Trinity Access Programme and the CDETB because she wants more working-class and marginalized students to get as much learning as they want. Rachael’s kids say she uses the 3 F-words too much: Finglas, feminism and feckin’ poetry.

Dean Black is Placemaking Programme Manager at the Irish Architecture Foundation, where they also lead on supporting emerging practitioners through the IAF’s gapLab programme. Dean is an architectural writer, researcher, and spatial practitioner primarily working at the messy intersections between architecture, ecology, and public/private life. A graduate of the Bartlett School of Architecture, their work often navigates the margins of Ireland’s agri-industrial landscapes and their associated contemporary practices through colonial, queer, and climatic lenses.

Since 2023, Dean has been the co-ordinator of the Bog Bothy Project – a touring collection of new work, built outcomes, and ambitious proposals towards a new peatlands architecture, presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation and 12th Field. Following over 2 years of work, this summer, the Foundation launched a new bothy shelter, an exhibition of photographs and drawings, work by a resident artist, and a public programme of national and local conversations on our evolving relationship with Ireland’s peatlands through the lens of architecture and placemaking.

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 City Council and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

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