WomenXBorders 2018

Saturday 10 March 2018

Note: due to space restrictions, this event is not open to the public. We invite the public to join us for the Mass Literary Soundscape at the Gardens of Remembrance at 3.30pm.

Following last year’s success, we’re delighted to be teaming up again with Women Aloud NI to celebrate International Women’s Day with a full programme of literary events. Over 80 women writers resident in or from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will come together for the day.

The #WomenXBorders18 programme consists of:
– A day-long readathon [40 women from the North and 40 women from the South]
– A mass reading [80+ women writers reading simultaneously]
– A range of panel discussions
– Networking opportunities.

This day is about cementing relationships across genres and across borders and celebrating the work of women writers resident on the island of Ireland.

Panel Discussions & Information Sessions

PANEL 1.  [11.30 – 12.15]

Writing Through Darkness: the Literary Remedy with Sharon Dempsey, Emma Kelly, Belinda Bennetts and Caroline Johnstone
This panel will discuss the therapeutic value of writing. The purpose of reading, and many would also say writing, is to feel an emotional connection, to experience the ‘other’ and to feel understood, in seeing the familiar made unfamiliar on the page. When we have experienced traumatic life events, the retelling of those events can be helpful and necessary. We relive the experience through the telling, and, in part, give ourselves distance. What can writing about the self offer us? Recognition, acknowledgement, and bearing witness to the lived experience.

PANEL 2. [12.45- 13.30]

Development Routes for Writers : a lively exploration of the different options open to writers to develop their writing skills with Sheena Wilkinson (ch), June Caldwell, Alex Catherwood and June Talbot
Join us on our whistle-stop tour of the literary learning menu: from post-graduate degrees to one-to-one mentoring, from day-long workshops to term-long short courses, and from writing groups to collaborations. We’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations too, so do come along and add your voice to the conversation!

PANEL 3. [14.00 – 14.45]

Writing Across Genres: Joys and Pitfalls with Debbie (DJ) McCune (ch),  Denise Deegan,  Ruth Frances Long and Kelly Creighton
Starting out as writers, many of us identify with one genre or age range – we are poets, children’s authors or crime writers. But what happens when we feel the itch to try something different? Does it make more sense to hone our craft in familiar territory or stretch ourselves trying something new? Do all writers have a ‘natural genre’ or can we be all things to all readers? And can we blend the best of our favourite genres into something unique? Join our experienced panel to discuss the pleasures and perils of writing across genres.

Information Sessions

Irish Writers Centre 12.25 – 12.35

Poetry Ireland 13.00 – 13.10

Literary Ladies 13.40 – 13.55

Irish Writers Union 14.30 – 14.40

Women Aloud NI 15.00 – 15.10

This is an Irish Writers Centre and Women Aloud NI initiative supported by ACNI.