Observe, a flea: Artist Talk with Emily Cooper and Lisa McInerney

Frustrated Writers’ Group in collaboration with the Irish Writers Centre

So, naturalists observe, a flea
Has smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite ’em,
And so proceed ad infinitum.
Thus every poet, in his kind,
Is bit by him that comes behind (…)

– Jonathan Swift, ‘On Poetry: a Rapsody’

There’s a flea problem on Parnell Square.

Across 2025, Frustrated Writers’ Group, in collaboration with Irish Writers Centre, is hosting a series of artist talks exploring the work and practice of some of Ireland’s best prose-writers, editors and poets.

For the final session, we are excited to present a special ‘Editors on Trial’ edition: Frustrated Writers’ Group Poetry Editor Sam Furlong and Frustrated Writers’ Group Editor-in-Chief Tom Roseingrave will be joined by editors Lisa McInerney and Emily Cooper of The Stinging Fly and The Pig’s Back respectively.

Frustrated Writers’ Group (FWG) are a collective of mostly emerging writers, who hold monthly workshops, publish anthologies and hold literary events. Irish Writers Centre is Ireland’s flagship resource and development centre for writers at all stages of their journey.

This series of five artist talks is aimed at writers who are at an emerging stage in their work – eager for in-depth discussion on technique, aesthetics and politics, and keen to develop their craft. There’ll be plenty of time at the end for your questions too – don’t hold back!

The talks draw on the DIY spirit of the Frustrated Writers’ Group free monthly workshops at the Unit 44 venue in Dublin. They’ll be just as welcoming, vibrant and challenging, serving as a collaborative literary education. Since 2022, FWG have established a genuine community of writers – now, you are invited to be part of this at the Irish Writers Centre on Parnell Square.

About the guests

Photograph of Lisa McInerney (Photographer: Brid O’Donovan)

Lisa McInerney is the author of three novels: The Glorious Heresies, The Blood Miracles and The Rules of Revelation. She has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Desmond Elliott Prize, the RSL Encore Award and the Premio Edoardo Kihlgren for European literature, and has been nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Premio Strega Europeo, the Sunday Times Short Story Award, and twice for the Dylan Thomas Award. Her work has featured in Winter Papers, Granta, The Guardian, Le Monde, Internazionale, Vogue CS, The Irish Times, BBC Radio 4 and numerous anthologies. She is published in 11 languages. In 2022, she was appointed editor of The Stinging Fly.

Photograph of Emily Cooper: Photographer: Robin Christian

Emily Cooper is a poet, art writer and editor based in Donegal. She has published two books of poetry: Glass (Makina Books) and The Conversation with Jo Burns (Doire Press). Her poetry and prose has been published widely in journals such as The Stinging Fly, Banshee, Winter Papers, Mirror Lamp Press, Poetry Ireland Review and London Magazine, and she has been a recipient of the Next Generation Award and Literature Bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland. She is also an editor for The Pig’s Back literary journal.

Photograph of Sam Furlong. Photographer: Kate Lawlor

Sam Furlong‘s writing has been published in Propel, Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, and elsewhere. They hold an MA in Poetry from the Seamus Heaney Centre, where they were awarded the Ireland Chair of Poetry Student Prize. In 2023, they were selected for Poetry Ireland’s Introductions by Tara Bergin. Their first book, Crowd Work, is forthcoming from Macha Press in May, and they are the Poetry Editor of Frustrated Writers’ Group. They live in Dublin, where they work in customer service.

Tom Roseingrave (he/they) is a writer and editor. He founded Frustrated Writers’ Group in 2022 and is the group’s Editor-in-Chief. His writing has appeared in The Stinging Fly (2022 & 2024), Banshee, Profiles, The Honest Ulsterman, Architecture Ireland, and elsewhere. In 2024, Tom was awarded a place on the Irish Writers’ Centre National Mentoring Programme. He is currently working on a novel.

Access our building

Please note that the ‘Observe, a flea’ series will be held in-person at the Irish Writers Centre (19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1). For information on accessibility, please see the ‘venue’ section of the Irish Writers Centre website.

An audio recording of the conversation will be made available to anyone who cannot attend for accessibility reasons (no need to buy a ticket). E-mail frustratedwritersgroup at gmail dot com, or DM via the Instagram.

There will also be a gathering in a wheelchair-accessible pub (tbc), after the event, from 4.30 pm. All are welcome. Follow FWG on Instagram (@frustrated_____writers) for more information & updates.

This is the final session in a series of five artist talks. Pervious guests include novelist Niamh Campbell, Poet Stephen Sexton, Paper Visual Art co-editor and visual art writer Nathan O’Donnell and poet Gustav Parker Hibbett, and editors Lisa McInerney and Emily Cooper of The Stinging Fly and The Pig’s Back respectively.

The ‘Observe, a flea’ series is supported by Dublin City Council. The Irish Writers Centre is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.