20 June, 2025

Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre

Dublin city was buzzing last Wednesday, with the final arrival of summer, the press launch for our video series Dublin, One City, Many Stories and the wonderful Wendy Erskine launching her debut novel down the road in Books Upstairs. However, we still found time to host our first Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre.

Lauren O’Donovan from Cork pictured at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Located on Parnell square, formerly known as Ruthland square and one of the grandest squares in 19th century Dublin and once home to Lord Charlemont next door, in what is now the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Irish Writers Centre is housed itself in a stunning Georgian building and our aim is to ensure writers know these rooms are open to them, not just for taking part in-person courses, one-to-one mentoring sessions or, if you are a member, booking a room for a few hours during the day to write in, we also want writer’s words to be heard throughout the four floors. And so it was an honour to invite five poets, each with new collections or chapbooks, to take to the spotlight and share their work.

We called this first showcase Out of Towners as our stars came from Cork, Limerick, Galway and as far away as Australia.

S.C. Flynn was born in a small town in Australia of Irish origin and now lives in Dublin. His first collection, The Colour of Extinction (Renard Press, October 2024), was The Observer Poetry Book of the Month. His poetry has been published in more than a hundred magazines around the world. He has been highly commended in the Erbacce Prize and nominated for Best of the Net. He new collection, An Ocean Called Hope, was published by Downingfield Press

Stuart C. Flynn reads at the Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre. Picture Andres Poveda

Stuart C. Flynn reads from his new collection, An Ocean Called Hope. Picture Andres Poveda

Afric McGlinchey’s most recent poetry collection is À la belle étoile – the odyssey of Jeanne Baré was published by Salmon Poetry. Her hybrid memoir, Tied to the Wind (Broken Sleep Books, 2021), follows her nomadic African/Irish childhood and was translated into Macedonian. Her previous Salmon collections, The Lucky Star of Hidden Things and Ghost of the Fisher Cat were both translated into Italian. Two surrealist chapbooks, Invisible Insane and The Throat-Bird have been published by SurVision. Among other honours, Afric is a recipient of two Arts Council Literature bursaries, an Agility award, a Hennessy award and the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. She lives in West Cork.

Afric McGlinchey reads at the Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre. Picture Andres Poveda

Afric McGlinchey with her new collection, á la belle étoile. Picture Andres Poveda

Luke Morgan is the recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award 2025, an award given by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, to an Irish poet. Blood Atlas, his eagerly awaited third collection from Arlen House, was completed with the assistance of a bursary from The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon. As well as poetry, Luke is also part of an award-winning Irish filmmaker duo, “Morgan Brothers”, with his brother, the composer Jake Morgan. He lives and works in Galway, Ireland.

Luke Morgan reads at the Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre. Picture Andres Poveda

Luke Morgan with his new collection, Blood Atlas. Picture Andres Poveda

Lauren O’Donovan has won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, the Cúirt New Writing Prize, the Southword Subscriber’s Poetry Prize and, most recently, the Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition. Her debut chapbook Taxidermy Heart and Fool for Poetry winner Superposition were both published in 2025. Lauren is the cofounder of HOWL New Irish Writing. She lives in Cork with her family.

Lauren O’Donovan reads at the Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre. Picture Andres Poveda

Lauren O’Donovan with her two new chapbooks, Taxidermy Heart and Super-Position. Picture Andres Poveda

D’or Seifer is a poet living in Limerick. Her work has been published and anthologised in Ireland and abroad. D’or’s debut collection, On Being Un/Able to Walk Through Walls was published by Revival Press earlier this year. She founded and runs the online poetry series Lime Square Poets, and co-hosts the First Wednesday Series in Limerick. D’or also co-edits Skylight 47 magazine.

D’or Seifer reads at the Writers Showcase at the Irish Writers Centre. Picture Andres Poveda

D’or Seifer with her debut collection On Being Un/Able To Walls Through Walls. Picture Andres Poveda

Damien B. Donnelly introduces the first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

The event was hosted by our own Head of Programming, and poet himself, Damien B. Donnelly and it was fantastic to see both familiar faces and to welcome new friends to the Centre, including Amanda Bell, Jo Black, Maurice Devitt, Rafael Mendes, Maeve O’Sullivan, Jessica Traynor and Adam Wyeth.

Afric McGlinchey, Amanda Bell and Maeve O’Sullivan pictured at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Padraig Lee and Sarah Nolan pictured at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Stuart C Flynn and Claudia Oniboni pictured at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Jo Black and Matthew Duffy at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

D’or Seifer and Lauren O’Donovan at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Rafael Mendes at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase. Picture Andres Poveda

Jessica Traynor at the Irish Writers Centre’s first Writers Showcase with Damien B Donnelly. Picture Andres Poveda

Keep an eye out on our website and our socials for more of our Writers Showcases coming later this year. Novelists, I believe, are next!

All photography by Andres Poveda

About the Irish Writers Centre

Founded in 1991, the Irish Writers Centre is Ireland’s leading resource and development organisation for writers. Its vision is to support the life of the writer, recognising the impact writers have in illuminating society with their ideas and words.

Through its Creative Writing Academy, the Centre delivers a year-round programme of over 150 creative writing courses, masterclasses and seminars, both online and in person. It also runs a National Mentoring Programme and administers a range of development opportunities for writers, including residencies, competitions and bursaries.

Operating on an all-island basis, the Irish Writers Centre is a membership organisation and a registered charity.

To become a member of the Irish Writers Centre, click here.