Observe, a flea: Artist Talk with Stephen Sexton

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 Poetry Editor Sam Furlong will be joined by award-winning poet Stephen Sexton.

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 Stephen Sexton

Stephen Sexton’s first book, If All the World and Love Were Young was the winner of the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2019 and the Shine / Strong Award for Best First Collection. He was awarded the E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2020. He was the winner of the National Poetry Competition in 2016 and the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award in 2018. Cheryl’s Destinies was published in 2021, and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. He teaches at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast.

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.

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 Paper Visual Art co-editor and visual art writer Nathan O’Donnell (Saturday 21 June 2025), 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.