Observe, a flea: Artist Talk with Nathan O’Donnell

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 first session, Frustrated Writers’ Group Editor-in-Chief Tom Roseingrave will be joined by Paper Visual Art co-editor and visual art writer Nathan O’Donnell.

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 Nathan O’Donnell. Photographer: Louis Haugh

Nathan O’Donnell is a writer, artist, and one of the co-editors of Paper Visual Art (Journal + Books). He has published fiction and creative non-fiction as well as critical work on modern and contemporary art. He also makes publications through artistic collaborations, commissions, participatory and public art projects. Most recent of these were The Book of Invasions, a book produced in collaboration with swimmers as part of a commissioned ‘river residency’ with Ormston House in 2023; and Abandoned Prose, a book of discontinued writing produced through a Samuel Beckett Creative Fellowship at Trinity College Dublin in 2024. Both were designed by Clare Bell, a long-standing collaborator. He was writer-in-residence at Maynooth University, 2020–21, and he has been awarded numerous bursaries and commissions from arts organisations and elsewhere. In 2020, with Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll, he founded Numbered Editions, an experimental imprint for artists’ writing. Since 2018, he has been a curatorial associate at IMMA. He lectures on the MA Art in the Contemporary World at NCAD and at Trinity College.

Photograph of Tom Roseingrave. Photographer: Gaia Baldassarri

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 first in a series of five artist talks. Future guests include poet Gustav Parker Hibbett (Saturday 20 September 2025), and editors Lisa McInerney and Emily Cooper (Saturday 18 October 2025) 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