Climate Writing Session with Kerri ní Dochartaigh, Seán Ronayne and Parents For Future UK

Join us for the next online Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Session. 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, Kerri ní Dochartaigh, who will be joined by ornithologist, wildlife sound recordist and environmental activist, Seán Ronayne, and a representative from Parents For Future UK.

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

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 Guests

• Kerri ní Dochartaigh
• Seán Ronayne
• Parents For Future UK
  Biographies below.

Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a mother, writer and grower. Her work currently explores ideas of emergency, interconnectedness and ecologies of care. Her first book, Thin Places, was published by Canongate in Spring 2021, for which she was awarded the Butler Literary Award 2022, highly commended for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2021, and shortlisted for the Ireland Francophonie Ambassador’s Literary Award in 2024. Cacophony of Bone was published by Canongate in May 2023 and was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2023. She mentors and teaches worldwide. She lives in the west of Ireland with her family.

Seán Ronayne is a Cork-born ornithologist and naturalist who has spent a life immersed in nature. Following a childhood spent exploring the fields and woods of his hometown, Seán went on to study Zoology at University College Cork (UCC), as well as a Master’s in Marine Biology, also at UCC. After graduating, he worked at a seabird sanctuary in the UK, and then returned to Ireland to enroll in a Master’s in Ecological Impact Assessment, specialising in ornithology. He secured his first professional ornithologist job in 2017, and in 2018 he moved to Barcelona with his partner Alba, a Catalan native, where he began recording birds and wildlife in earnest. And following their return to Ireland in 2020, he embarked on his project to sound-record all of Ireland’s regularly occurring birds, bringing him all over the country in search of rare and elusive species, some of which were on the cusp of extinction. He has now just three species left to record, out of almost 200, and has amassed a collection of over 12,000 recordings of Irish birds and other wildlife. In spring 2024, Birdsong, a documentary about Seán’s recording project, was released to great acclaim. Birdsong is directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan for True Films. Seán lives near Cobh, County Cork, with Alba and their dog Toby. Nature Boy is his first book. @irishwildlifesounds (Instagram) @soundsirish (X).

Parents for Future is the biggest parent climate movement in the UK – and growing fast. Parents For Future UK has a network of over 30,000 supporters. We act through building a resilient community, peaceful actions, and creative communications. All our campaigning is rooted in the latest climate science. Formed in 2019 by a small group of mums, our aim was to inspire and engage more adults to join in the youth climate strikes. We realised that the climate crisis will impact all children, that leaders aren’t doing enough to protect our kids and that parents have power if we work together. Today we are the biggest parent climate movement in the UK – and growing fast. We value diverse ideas and voices and have built a supportive, inclusive, thriving community online and offline, with over 30 local groups across the UK.

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.