As part of the Literary Festival we are offering workshops in Poetry writing and Short Story writing. Details of this year’s workshops are shown below. Clicking on the biography link under each image will bring up a brief biography. Use the Book button to reserve a spot at a work shop.
Writer – Recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy 2026 Prize in Poetry
Adjudicator for our 2027 Poetry Competition
.Enda Wyley has published six collections of poetry, from her debut Eating Baby Jesus (1993) to her most recent Sudden Light, Dedalus Press, (2025). She has also published Borrowed Space, New and Selected Poems, Dedalus Press ( 2014 ). She is the recent recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy 2026 Prize in Poetry, St Thomas University Minnesota, U.S.A, now in its 30th year. Other awards include the Vincent Buckley Prize in Poetry, Melbourne University and a Reading Association of Ireland Award. Enda lives in Dublin where she teaches poetry and co-hosts the popular podcast Books for Breakfast. She is a member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of artists.
Time: 11.00 a.m. – 01.00 p.m
Price: € 25 per person
Venue: The Green, Edgeworthstown N39 VW40
Recipient of the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature
Facilating our 2026 Short Story Workshop
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne was born in Dublin She was awarded a Ph D in Irish Folklore from UCD in 1982, and is best known as a writer of fiction. Author of novels, short stories, memoir and drama, in both English and Irish, her most recent books are Twelve Thousand Days: A Memoir (shortlisted for the Michel Déon Award 2020), Little Red and Other Stories (Blackstaff 2020), Selected Stories (Blackstaff 2023), Milseog an tSamhraidh (Clo Iar Chonnacht 2023), and Look! It’s a Woman Writer! (Arlen House, 2021). She has been the recipient of many literary awards, including the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature, the Burns Award for Irish Fiction, Stuart Parker Award for Drama, amongst others. Her novel The Dancers Dancing was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She has lectured in creative writing in UCD, and in autumn 2020 she held the Burns Professorship at Boston College. She is a member of Aosdána, and President of the Folklore of Ireland Society. She is the present Laureate for Irish Fiction.
Time: 2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
Price: € 25 per person
Venue: The Green, Edgeworthstown N39 VW40
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Author and workshop facilitator.
Emma Clohessy ALCM(TD) in Drama & Communication from the University of West London – facilitates workshops for authors of any genre, wishing to improve speech, reading and performance skills in public.
Having taught skills to young students at the Monfort College of Performing Arts, primary schools and at a private school, for their LAMDA Speech & Drama gradings, Emma also taught business people, 3rd level students and authors to read with self-assurance in public. She enjoys sharing tricks so one can read their own words, relaxed and at ease, yet with strong confidence.
Her debut collection ‘Poems, Lost & Found’ (Revival Press 2025), was nominated for the Seamus Heaney, Pigott and The Forward Prizes. Her collection is – ‘infused with a vibrancy and emphatic humanity that is truly wonderful to encounter’ Tom McCarthy, poet, novelist and critic. ‘The poems of Emma…are proof of a very special talent’ John Ennis, poet and editor.
Having been introduced to Creative Writing by UCC, she’s been published in many
Irish, UK, US journals, on-line and over a half-a-dozen anthologies.
Time: 11.00 a.m. – 01.00 p.m.
2.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m.
Price: € 35 per person
Venue: Manor Nursing Home – N39 VR04
Notice: Photography and Videography in Progress
Please be aware that photographs and videos are being taken during this event. These may be used for advertising, promotional, or marketing purposes by the facilitators.
By entering the festival grounds, you consent to your image being captured and used in such materials.
If you have concerns or prefer not to appear in any materials, please speak to a member of staff.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
Órfhlaith Foyle is a short story writer, poet and dramatist and lives in Galway. Doire Press published her third collection of short stories Three Houses in Rome September 2023. Her work has appeared in the London Magazine, The Dublin Review, Wales Arts Review, The Manchester Review, The Stinging Fly, the Gorse journal and various anthologies. She wrote and directed the radio dramas May’s End and How I Murdered Lucrezia. Both received full BAI funding and premiered on Newstalk Radio in October 2021 and 2023. Her fourth short story collection is to be published by Doire Press in autumn 2026
Steve Lally is an international storyteller and best selling author. He takes his stories far and wide and is passionate about breathing life into this vital and significant art form. Lally’s repertoire of tales ranges from ancient Celtic epics of Ireland and beyond, to stories of adventure and romance. He has written three books on Irish Folklore and his work is also a part of a major Anthology of Irish Folk Tales. His faith and love of folklore expresses itself through humorous anecdotes, quirky comic tales and haunting ghost stories. He has also co-written with his wife Paula, a unique anthology of Fairy Stories from the 32 counties of Ireland entitled ‘Irish Gothic’. Be prepared to be taken on a magical journey through the ethereal wall that separates our world from theirs…
