My Writing Biog
My Writing Biog
My writing explores redemption, grief, spirituality, and the blurring of lines between life and death. I let the idea dictate which form it wishes to take, whether that be a, poem, play or short story.
Poetry
I’ve published three poetry collections - The Wind Stills to Listen (Arlen House), The Return of the Buffalo (Lagan Press) and Midnight Solo (Lagan Press). I’ve been published widely in magazines, journals and anthologies, and I was the featured poet in New Hibernia Review (Winter 2023). I read at the first Muldoon’s Picnic to be held outside New York, and I’ve read at many festivals and events across Ireland and Europe.
I’ve held several writing residencies including Belfast Cathedral’s Writer-in-Residence between 2021 and 2023, Monaghan County Libraries Writer-in-Residence 2020, Irish Writers Centre Roaming Writer-in-Residence 2019, Irish Writers Centre Community Writer-in-Residence with Womens Aid 2018, Artist-in-Residence at the Belfast International Arts Festival 2017 and Writer-in-Residence at The Belfast Book Festival 2011.
I love to bring poetry into public spaces. I wrote and recorded a haiku audio journey during my time as the Irish Writers Centre Roaming Writer-in-Residence. This is shared online, so travellers can listen to it in situ as they journey. I co-commissioned and co-curated Ireland’s first Poetry Jukebox which is now a permanent installation in Belfast. I’m one of the originating artists on the collaborative project Bridging the Silence – a poetic audio walk and installation shown on pedestrian bridges which gives a voice to survivors of abuse and political violence.
I was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award and a finalist in the Scottish International Open Poetry Competition. I received an ACES Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2011 and I’ve received 10 other SIAP, CIRP and IERP Awards from the Arts Council to support my writing.
TV, Film & Radio
I was a writer for two years on RTE’s flagship drama Fair City, and the award-winning BBCNI teen drama Seacht. My short film Two Little Boys was selected for the Belfast Film Festival 2013.
I won the Claddagh Films Script Award and was a winner of the BBC Writersroom Undercover competition for staff. I was a top 10 finalist in the inaugural Red Planet Prize. I’ve also been shortlisted for BBC College of Comedy, Northern Ireland Screen’s Low Budget Fiction Fund, RTE’s Storyland Online Drama Competition, BBC1 Daytime’s Brief Encounters scheme and the Claddagh Films Script Award. I was selected for the inaugural Channel 4 Screenwriting Scheme.
I’ve had a short play and sketches broadcast on Radio Ulster. I also produced a series of short plays for Radio Ulster.
I spent 8 years working as a BBC script editor in both drama and comedy. I mentored writers on NI Screen’s Short Steps programme for 3 years. I was also a script reader for NI Screen.
Theatre
My short plays The Lost Souls Party and No Paths That Are Ending toured N. Ireland as part of Terra Nova’s Arrivals 1 and 2 productions.
I received a seed commission from the Lyric Theatre to write a new play in 2022.
My plays have been longlisted for the Papatango New Writing Prize and the Old Vic 12. I was awarded a SIAP Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to complete a full length play.
Short Stories
I was shortlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize 2024 and the Bray Literary Festival Flash Fiction Competition 2022. I was awarded a place on the International Lamplight Fellowship 2025, with a focus on working on a short story collection.
I started my career writing short stories and in those early days I was shortlisted for the Royal Liver Assurance/Live At 3 Creative Writing Award and had stories published in Bella Magazine, Ireland’s Own and horror magazines.
Further Experience
I hold an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Queen’s University.
I’m a part-time Lecturer in Creative Writing for Ulster University
I worked as a freelance music and arts journalist for 5 years. More recently, I’ve published articles on healing and spirituality.
You can buy my books here.
If you’d like to work with me as your writing mentor, you can find out more here.
“…a poet undaunted by examining even the darkest of moments, of trying to describe, understand and finally learn from loss and what it means… Her work is vital, accessible and should be read.”