New Writing Showcase

Fiona Hanley is currently situated between Longford and Vienna, where she is involved in an interdisciplinary project connecting movement and somatics to writing. Recent published work can be found in The Interpreter’s House, Howl: New Irish Writing, The Storms, Fearless and Cassandra Voices. She has been a featured reader at Over the Edge and holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from the University of Edinburgh.

John Noonan lives near Dundalk. He has been Highly Commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2022, his work has been published in Poetry Ireland Review, Crannog, Skylight 47, Stoney Thursday Book, The Milk House, Drawn To The Light Press, Revival Press, Boyne Berries, Vox Galvia, and many anthologies. He has just finished working on a commission from Creative Ireland entitled ‘Threading the Táin’, a visual arts/poetry project which traces the story of the ancient epic ‘Táin Bó Cuailgne. He’s been shortlisted for Allingham, Rush, and Northwest Words awards. John received a Pushcart nomination and is a past winner of The Goldsmith Poetry Competition.

Riley Johnston was first published in THE 32: AN ANTHOLOGY OF WORKING-CLASS VOICES and later with a short story in German Anthology, IRELAND: AN INVITATION. She was first runner up in the 2022 Mairtín Crawford Short Story Award with CALLOUSED. Riley’s novel, A HOLY SHOW was long-listed in the 2021 Discoveries Prize and highly commended in The Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair, 2023.  She lives in Belfast.

Helen Flynn comes to writing from a very diverse and adventurous Fine Art background. It was during the pandemic, bedridden and wheelchair bond fighting Breast Cancer that she discovered the restorative and cathartic power of writing through Kevin Higgins with his online beginners creative writing classes. She was instantly hooked and now writes from an autobiographical trauma informed perspective, covering themes of rape, domestic violence, addiction, suicide, repossession and homelessness. As a lone parent devoted to her two autistic boys, Helen is determined to break this intergenerational family cycle of dysfunction through writing and speaking. Helen has read as an honored guest speaker at the Lions Club 50th Anniversary dinner and has read with Over The Edge at the Charlie Byrnes Bookshop and the Galway City Library. 

Jess Raymon moved to Dublin in 2015 from Montreal. Her fiction has been published in Winter Papers, Crannog. She received Irish Arts Council bursaries in 2019/20/21 and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2021. She’s currently finishing on physiological horror novel set in a seaside fertility clinic. 

Is léachtóir é An Dr Liam Mac Peaircín i Roinn na Gaeilge, Coláiste Mhuire gan Smál, Luimneach.  Bhain a chnuasach ‘Anfa Intinne’ duas an Oireachtais sa bhliain 2021.  Tá sé ag obair anois ar a chéad chnuasach filíochta agus cuirfear i gcló ar ball é.

Lauren O’Donovan is a writer from Cork. In 2022 she was awarded Arts Council funding to work on her debut poetry collection, and was the recipient of a Munster Literature Mentorship with Afric McGlinchey. Her poem ‘Binge’ will appear in Rattle Magazine #79 in Spring 2023. Lauren is the co-founder of HOWL New Irish Writing and Lime Square Poets. She has an MA in Creative Writing from UCC.