THE 2026 LINEUP

RODDY DOYLE

Roddy Doyle is the author of thirteen novels, including the The Commitments, The Snapper, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, for which he won the Booker Prize in 1993; The Woman who Walked into Doors, and, most recently, The Woman behind the Door. 

BELINDA MCKEON

Belinda McKeon is a novelist and playwright. Her novels Solace (2011) and Tender (2015) were reissued this year as part of the Picador Collection. A third novel is forthcoming. She has taught fiction at Barnard College and Rutgers University, and is now Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Maynooth University, where she directs the MA in Creative Writing. 

AOIFE DUNNE

Aoife Dunne is one of the fastest rising new faces of Irish comedy, and is also a poet, and storyteller with a growing online audience of over 160K across Instagram and TikTok. Her work blends humour and heart, often exploring themes of grief and resilience with honesty and wit.

MARY COSTELLO

​Mary Costello has published two novels and two short story collections. Her first novel, Academy Street, won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and was named overall Irish Book of the Year in 2014. Her work has been shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize, the Guardian First Book Award, the Dalkey Novel Award and the EU Prize for Literature, among others. A new novel, A Beautiful Loan, is forthcoming in March.

BRANWEN 

Branwen Kavanagh is a singer, musician, composer and performance artist  from Co.Clare. Inspired by folklore, dada, poetry and theatre and led by a powerful imagination, Branwen’s art and music are usually fashioned into surreal and potent experiences which cross the threshold into bizarre and magical territory. They are an award nominated artist, have performed their songs on Other Voices, The National Concert Hall, Glastonbury, RTE, BBC and have toured internationally. 

SUSAN TOMASELLI

Susan Tomaselli is founder and editor of gorse journal (gorse.ie), described as ‘one of the very best literary magazines in Europe,’ and the ‘most vital and outward-looking of Irish literary journals.’ She has written for numerous publications, art catalogues, and anthologies. She was writer-in-residence at Maynooth University 2020/21. She is currently working on PERSPECTIVES, an experimental aural portrait of Irish women artists.

JUNE CALDWELL

June Caldwell is twice a prize-winner of The Moth Short Story Prize (2024 & 2014) and a 2025 awardee of the International Lamplight Fellowship. Her short story collection Room Little Darker was published in 2017 by New Island Books to critical acclaim and in 2018 by Head of Zeus, UK. 

TADHG O'SULLIVAN

Tadhg O'Sullivan is a film-maker, radio maker, sound artist and writer living in Co. Clare. His films include the features 'The Swallow' (2024),  'To the Moon' (2020), 'The Great Wall' (2015) and 'Yximalloo' (2004) and as well as numerous shorts, television pieces and gallery works. These have screened at festivals internationally including Telluride, Venice, CPH:DOX, MoMA Doc Fortnight and many others.

LUKE MORGAN

Luke Morgan is an Irish poet. He was the recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award 2025, an award given annually by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. "Blood Atlas", his third collection from Arlen House, was published in 2025 and completed with the assistance of a bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland. 

LAURA-BLAISE MCDOWELL

Laura-Blaise McDowell holds an MA in Creative Writing from UCD. Her work has appeared in The London Magazine, Banshee, Poetry Ireland Review, BBC Radio Four, The Irish Times, and Still Worlds Turning, an anthology of new Irish writing from No Alibis Press. In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Writing.ie Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.

ALICE KINSELLA

Alice Kinsella’s books include Milk: on motherhood and madness (Picador, 2023), Wake of the Whale (Mayo Books, ’24) and The Ethics of Cats (Broken Sleep, 2025). She edited edited Empty House: poetry and prose on the climate crisis (Doire, 2021). She curates the Irish Writers Centre Climate Writing Sessions, runs All Weather Words creative workshops and retreats, and is the literary editor at Mayo Books Press. 

ABBY OLIVEIRA

Abby Oliveira is a writer, performer, lyricist, and theatre maker based in Derry in the North of Ireland. For the past few years, she has been working mainly collaboratively in her capacity as a spoken-word poet; working with musicians, photographers, street theatre companies, acrobats, actors and more. 

ELIZABETH REAPY

Elizabeth Reapy is a writer and mentor from the West of Ireland. She has an M.A. in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from University College Cork. Her debut novel Red Dirt won Newcomer of the Year at the 2016 Irish Book Awards. In 2017, she was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Her second novel Skin was released in 2019. 

IAN MALENEY

Ian Maleney is a writer from County Offaly. His first book, a collection of essays entitled Minor Monuments, was published by Tramp Press in 2019. He has written for many publications, including The Guardian, The Irish Times, and the New Statesman. 

MATTIE BRENNAN

Mattie Brennan’s short stories have appeared in The Stinging Fly, Southword, The Irish Times and The Menteur. His story 'Dead Bait' won the 2024 RTÉ Short Story Competition. He is currently writing a novel. Originally from County Sligo, he now lives in County Clare.

DANIEL WADE

Daniel Wade is a poet, playwright, novelist, screenwriter and spoken-word performer from Dublin. His album Embers and Earth, available for download on iTunes and Spotify, was launched in October 2016 at the National Concert Hall. He has also performed at festivals such as Electric Picnic, Body and Soul, and West Belfast Festival. 

STEPHEN MURRAY

Stephen Murray is a poet, writer and educator based in Ireland's midwest. His first collection, House of Bees, published to widespread critical acclaim in 2010 by Salmon, chronicled his journey as a child, through a Woman's Aid shelter, an alcoholic home, foster care, and a children's home.

RAFAEL MENDES

Rafael Mendes is a Brazilian-Irish poet whose work has recently appeared or is upcoming in Banshee, Wasafari, and gorse. He was selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions 2023 and the Irish Writers Centre Evolution Programme 2025-2026. His pamphlet, The Migrant Dictionary (Howl New Irish Writing), was a co-winner of the Ireland Chair of Poetry Pamphlet Series 2025.

AISLING WALSH

Aisling Walsh (she/her) is an award-winning writer and researcher based in Ennistymon, Co. Clare. Her work has been published in New Irish Writing, Channel Magazine, New Island's best selling 'Wired Our Own Way' anthology, the 2024 'From the Well' anthology, Púca, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Irish Times, Electric Literature, Literary Hub and others. Before relocating to Clare in 2024, she lived and worked for ten years in Guatemala.