Island of Many Voices 2027
The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 9 October 2026
Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and The Linen Hall, Belfast (with support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland), are delighted to announce our second Island of Many Voices programme, bringing together writers from across the island of Ireland to share their experiences and develop their artistic practice.
Up to sixteen writers will be selected to participate in this programme of six online workshops, curated and facilitated by writer-facilitator Fiona O’Rourke. This initiative seeks to celebrate and amplify the varied and diverse voices from across this island.
Participants will have the opportunity to develop their craft, aided by expert advice and insights from facilitator Fiona O’Rourke and from a range of guest writers from the island of Ireland who will share their work and talk about their own creative process.
The workshops will explore a variety of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, myths in modern fiction, young adult crossover, memoir, crime fiction and psychological thriller, poetry, and experimental novel. Guest readings, lively Q&A discussions, and facilitated writing exercises will feature in all workshops.
Applications are now open and the programme is free to selected participants.
The workshops will run on Saturday mornings from 16 January – 20 February 2027. We are delighted that the following guest writers will take part in the online workshops: Catherine Dunne, Sue Divin, Caitríona Lally, Gill Perdue, Nithy Kasa and Sean O’Reilly.
Island of Many Voices will culminate in an in-person public showcase event with a special guest keynote speaker on Friday 26 February 2027 in Dublin featuring new work from the writers who have been part of Island of Many Voices 2027. Please note, participants must be able to attend all sessions. Except for the in-person showcase event on Friday 26 February at 1 p.m., all sessions will take place online on Saturday mornings, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Programme Schedule
Session 1: Saturday 16 January
Special guest: Catherine Dunne (Fiction, non-fiction, myths in modern fiction)
Session 2: Saturday 23 January
Special guest: Sue Divin (Novel / Young Adult-crossover)
Session 3: Saturday 30 January
Special guest: Caitríona Lally (Memoir)
Session 4: Saturday 6 February
Special guest: Gill Perdue (Crime fiction, psychological thriller)
Session 5: Saturday 13 February
Special guest: Nithy Kasa (Poetry)
Session 6: 20 February
Special guest: Sean O’Reilly (Experimental novel)
Live in-person Showcase event with special guests: 26 February at 1 p.m.
How to apply / criteria
There are up to 16 places available. Selection is via this open call to writers, over 18 years of age, resident on the island of Ireland:
- Established writers who are published and have a track-record as a writer, e.g. books/poems/stories/non-fiction published by a recognised publisher or full-length play or a feature film produced by a recognised theatre/film company or theatre venue; have been awarded a bursary, residency, or have been grant-aided by the Arts Council/Arts Council of Northern Ireland or recognised funding body; have won awards for their writing and/or spoken about their creative work in professional settings; have a degree or diploma in creative writing/practice from a recognised third-level educational institution (comparable level qualifications will be taken into consideration on a case-by-case basis).
- Emerging writers who can demonstrate a commitment to writing e.g. creative writing training or courses undertaken, journal publications, awards or notable mentions, or other recognisable achievements.
- Acceptable genres/forms: fiction: poetry, prose, novel, short stories, screenplays, stage plays, and creative non-fiction: memoir, auto-fiction, essays.
- As an island-wide initiative, we are committed to ensuring that there is representation from across the island. We encourage writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish literature to apply. We particularly invite applications from individuals with a multi-cultural background, members of the Travelling & Roma community, LGBTQI community and writers with disabilities.
As part of the selection process, the judging panel will ensure that a wide range of literary forms, genres and writing career stages are represented in the final shortlist.
Please note, participating writers must be able to attend all six online sessions and the in-person showcase in Dublin. Where necessary, accommodation and travel expenses will be covered to enable all participants to attend the in-person event in Dublin.
To apply, please read the criteria and check that you will be available for all 7 dates. Email info@linenhall.com (using Island of Many Voices and your county of residence in the subject) with a single document containing an up-to-date CV (of not more than 2 pages) and a short supporting statement of not more than 400 words detailing why you would make a good participant in the programme and how you would benefit from taking part.
The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 9 October 2026.
Background
In 2025, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and The Linen Hall (Belfast) launched the inaugural Island of Many Voices programme for writers. The programme brought together twenty writers from across the island for six online workshops with writer and facilitator Fiona O’Rourke and with a series of guest writers: Anthony J. Quinn, Cathy Sweeney, Nuala O’Connor, Hilary McCollum, Lisa McInerny and Scott McKendry. The programme concluded with a showcase event at The Linen Hall with writer Wendy Erskine, musician Aoibha, and with the writers from the programme who read their work. To find out more about the programme, please follow the links below to hear from some of the guest writers and from participants who were involved in the programme.
Guest Writers
Catherine Dunne is the award-winning author of twelve novels, several essays and one work of non-fiction. An Unconsidered People documents the lived experience of Irish immigrants in Britain in the dismal years of the 1950s. The Things We Know Now won the Giovanni Boccaccio International Prize for Fiction in 2013 and The Years That Followed was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Her latest novel, A Good Enough Mother, published by Betimes Books, won the inaugural European Rapallo Prize for fiction in November 2023. She was the recipient of the 2018 Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature and is a member of Aosdána. Her novel, The Way the Light Falls, will be published in 2027.
Sue Divin is a Derry-based writer with Armagh roots. Writing with wry humour and emotional punch, her critically acclaimed novels are popular with teens and adults alike. Published in May 2026, Runaway Road (Macmillan), is on the Irish Times ‘Best fiction of 2026’ list. Her debut novel, Guard Your Heart, was Carnegie-listed, and is used internationally in many contexts. Her second novel, Truth Be Told, is on Ireland’s national curriculum. With a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies and a career in peacebuilding, Divin’s writing often touches on diversity, reconciliation, borders and the legacy of the Troubles today. Her writing has been described as ‘profoundly powerful, subtle and effective’ (Guardian), ‘compelling’ (Irish Times) and ‘laced with dry wit, emotion and self-deprecating humour’ (Irish News).
Caitríona Lally has published two novels, Eggshells (2015) and Wunderland (2021). She won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2018 and a Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction in 2019. She was the inaugural Rooney Writer Fellow at the Trinity Long Room Hub in 2022, and was one of the 2024 New Voices 20 Best New Irish Writers. Her first memoir, Home Economics, was recently published by New Island.
Gill Perdue is the bestselling author of the unflinching, psychologically rich Shaw & Darmody crime series published by Penguin. June 2026 saw the publication of All Of Them Lied, Gill’s first standalone psychological thriller, which went straight into the bestseller charts. Liz Nugent described it as ‘The most compulsive reading experience I’ve had this year,’ and Jane Casey said: ‘Cleverly plotted and unrelentingly tense.’ Gill lives in Dublin with her hiking husband and rescue cat.
Nithy Kasa is a Congolese-Irish poet. Her work is featured in the Special Collections of University College Dublin. Her debut collection, Palm Wine Tapper and the Boy at Jericho was named among the top poetry books of 2022 by the Irish Times and was shortlisted for the Pigott Poetry Prize 2023. How to Make Love to a Colonised Body (Doire Press 2026) is her second poetry collection. Nithy lives between Ireland and the DR Congo.
Born in Derry, Sean O'Reilly is author of the short story collections, Curfew and Levitation, and the novels, Love and Sleep, The Swing of Things, and Watermark. He is a member of Aosdána.
Fiona O’Rourke’s short stories, autofiction, and essays have been published in journals, anthologies, and broadcast on radio. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2023 and her debut novel was selected for the Irish Novel Fair. Since earning an MPhil in Creative Writing at Trinity College Dublin, she has facilitated creative writing courses in libraries, the Irish Writers Centre, and colleges. She was the programmer and facilitator for Creative Responses to The Political Collection at The Linen Hall Belfast, and the curator and facilitator for the inaugural Island of Many Voices, which took place in 2026.
About the Partners
Dublin UNESCO City of Literature
Dublin became the world’s fourth UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, in recognition of the vibrancy of the city’s literary culture and heritage. Managed by Dublin City Libraries, a service of Dublin City Council, the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature office works to support, promote and develop Dublin’s literary life. It celebrates both the city’s remarkable literary legacy and its thriving contemporary literary scene. The office manages a range of literary projects and activities, including the Dublin Literary Award and One Dublin One Book, while also supporting literary festivals, organisations and creative practitioners across the city. As a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, Dublin also collaborates with cities around the world to promote literature, creativity and cultural exchange.
The Linen Hall
The Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge – the official title of the institution more commonly known as The Linen Hall Library – developed from the Belfast Reading Society which was founded on 13 May 1788. The Linen Hall is a unique institution. It is the oldest library in the city and remains the only subscription library in Ireland. Founding members established the society on radical and Enlightenment ideals. Over more than two hundred years, The Linen Hall has retained its independence, maintaining the principle that its resources are owned by the community for the community. The library holds the Northern Ireland Literary archive, containing archives from a host of writers, including Joan Lingard, Louis MacNeice, and Stewart Parker. It also holds the literary archives of contemporary writers such as David Park, Moyra Donaldson, Rosemary Jenkinson, Bernie McGill and Brian McGilloway.
Read, Watch, Listen
5th Annual Dublin UNESCO City of Literature Lecture
If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song
The Country Girls Trilogy
Dublin, Written In Our Hearts
