The two writers will be based in the Dunamaise Arts Centre.
Two writers are taking up new residencies in Laois this month.
David Butler and Kate Heffernan have been selected by the Laois County Council Arts Officer, Creative Ireland Laois and Dunamaise Arts Centre for the residencies which run from August to December 2020.
Originally from Kilminchy, Portlaoise, now living in Bray, David Butler is a multi-award winning novelist, poet, short-story writer and playwright. His novel, City of Dis (New Island) was shortlisted for the Irish Novel of the Year, 2015. His second poetry collection, All the Barbaric Glass, was published in 2017 by Doire Press. His second short story collection, Fugitive, is forthcoming from Arlen House.
Kate Heffernan is a native of Portlaoise and her first play, In Dog Years I’m Dead, was a winner of the 2013 Stewart Parker Trust’s ‘Emerging Playwright Award’ and an Irish Times Cultural Highlight in the same year. Peat, her first play for children, was commissioned and produced by The Ark in 2019, and directed by Tim Crouch. In 2014, she and director Maisie Lee were Dunamaise Arts Centre’s Theatre Artists-in-Residence. While there, Kate wrote and produced Hometroots, a series of short radio plays by, for and about the people of Laois. She was an Arts Council ‘Next Generation Artist’ in 2017, during which time she worked on a number of texts for performance with the support of Mermaid Arts Centre. A writer who hasn’t always been a writer, Kate has worked in diverse roles in the performance sector for a decade and a half, in varied writing, design, editing, producing, dramaturgical and production capacities.
As part of their residencies, David and Kate will be based at Dunamaise Arts Centre, with time, space, and financial support to concentrate on their own writing as well as a programme of engagement and interaction with the local community in the lead up to and during the Laois Leaves Festival of Writing & Music in early November. They have both proposed a range of exciting and inspiring workshops, outreach projects and mentorships. This aspect of the residencies will encourage aspiring, emerging and established writers of all ages and backgrounds across Laois to come together over the coming months to explore ‘A Sense of Place’, the theme chosen for the Creative Ireland Laois Plan 2018-2022.
Further details of events and engagements with the writers will be announced. Dunamaise Arts Centre is working to ensure that elements can be moved online if reopening is significantly further delayed, but optimistically hoping that most aspects can go ahead in person, with all relevant safety measures in place. See dunamaise.ie for further details.
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