Climate Readers Day, dlr LexIcon

STUDIO EVENTS

SEA MOTHER – on milk and tears and ice

10am-11am

Alice Kinsella and Easkey Britton in conversation with Kerri ní Dochartaigh on climate emergency, care-giving and the sea as the original mother.

Alice Kinsella is a writer from Mayo. She is the author of the poetry pamphlet Sexy Fruit (Broken Sleep, 2018) and editor of Empty House: poetry and prose on the climate crisis (Doire Press, 2021). Milk (Picador, 2023) is her debut book of prose. She is an Arts Council of Ireland Next Generation Artist.

Dr. Easkey Britton is a renowned Irish surfer, author and marine social scientist with a deep love and passion for tapping into the healing powers of the sea. She specialises in the interdependencies between the ocean and humans, contributing her expertise in ‘blue health’ on national and international research projects. She is the author of several books on our human relationship with water including ‘50 Things to do by the Sea’, her memoir ‘Saltwater in the Blood’ (2021), and most recently, ‘Ebb and Flow: Connect with the Patterns and Power of Water’ (2023), a feminist reimagining of the meaning of power through the lens of water.

 

 

HOPE, JOY AND WONDER – on the giving of attention as a radical action.

12-1pm

Anja Murray and Jane Clarke in conversation with Kerri ní Dochartaigh on the gentle, revolutionary giving of attention. We will explore ways that we might feel our way back into real connection with the earth and each other; reimagining ways of moving through our world born from noticing and appreciating.

Anja Murray is an ecologist, environmental policy analyst and broadcaster, familiar to many as a television and radio documentary maker and presenter about Irelands natural environment (Eco Eye, Nature File, Root & Branch) Anja writes a weekly column ‘natural solutions’ for The Examiner newspaper and her bestselling book ‘Wild Embrace’, published in March 2023, has been sparking enthusiasm from critics and readers alike.

 

Jane Clarke is the author of three poetry collections, The River (2015), When the Tree Falls (2019) and A Change in the Air (2023) published by Bloodaxe Books. Her third collection A Change in the Air is shortlisted for both the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection and the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. It was also longlisted for the Laurel Prize 2023 for nature and ecopoetry. Jane’s writing reflects the interdependence of people, place and nature while exploring loss and change, both personal and cultural. She grew up on a farm in Co. Roscommon and now lives with her wife in Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow.

 

ECOLOGIES OF CARE - on ways of looking, being and caring here on earth.

2.30-3.45pm

Oein DeBhairduin and William Keohane in conversation with Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi on the importance of listening to, honouring and remembering our stories as a means to build a fairer, safer world for us all. An exploration of care-giving as a radical way back to being in real community.

William Keohane is a writer from Limerick. His essays have been published in British GQ, Banshee, The Stinging Fly, and The Tangerine. Son, an essay pamphlet, was published by The Lifeboat Press in 2023. Boxing Day, a stage performance exploring time and transition, is touring across Ireland and the UK this year.

Oein DeBhairduin is a writer, activist and educator with a passion for preserving the beauty of Traveller tales, sayings, retellings and historic exchanges. Oein is the author of the award-winning Why the moon travels. His other works are Weave, The Slug and the Snail and Twiggy Woman. He is the Traveller Culture Collections Development Officer with the National Museum of Ireland and seeks to pair community activism with cultural celebration, recalling old tales with fresh modern connections and, most of all, he wishes to rekindle the hearth fires of a shared kinship.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi is a Wicklow-based poet-performer, editor, educator, and arts facilitator. She is a commissioned poet on the Poetry as Commemoration project run by the Irish Poetry Reading Archive in UCD under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 programme. Her poetry film was screened in the Words at Wilton Park 2022 programme and was among the official selection of the 2022 Bloomsday Film Festival. She was selected for the Screen Ireland 2021 X-Pollinator Programme, and her short story was longlisted for the 2020 An Post Short Story of the Year Award. She is working on her debut poetry collection.

 

WORKSHOPS

dlr LexIcon, Level 5

Supporting Your New Story: "Because I love..."

10am-12pm

A workshop for 12 participants - adult writers, poets and creatives especially , and will be of particular interest to people working within creative industries.

Join eco-creatives Cathy Fitzgerald and Grace Wells in exploring how we can use our creativity to help shift society from a human-centric worldview towards wiser Earth-based holism. Informed by Cathy’s deep knowledge of ecoliteracy and regenerating forests and Grace's life-loving ecopoetry, this workshop will explore how we infuse our creativity to care for the web of life at this challenging time. We’ll deepen into ideas and exercises of mutuality, interdependence and interconnectedness, with the intention of supporting practitioners to invite the living world deeper into their creative practices. Inspired by the hopeful holistic vision of the people's Earth Charter, our time together will feature presentations, creative writing as a tool for self-wisdom, and meditative practices that support participants in aligning with their own voice, vision, values, and needs for personal, planetary and intergenerational well-being. Whether you’re prompted to set quiet whispers onto the tides, into forests or gardens or to take daring artistic and environmental actions, this workshop will offer a nurturing foundation for your next step.

Dr Cathy Fitzgerald is an ecological artist, educator, and researcher originally from New Zealand but now based in rural Carlow, Ireland. Since 2008, she has dedicated her creative efforts to sharing how to transform a small 2-acre, now 40 yr-old monoculture Sitka Spruce plantation into a permanent, more resilient, mixed species woodland through her ongoing ecological art practice called The Hollywood Forest Story. She has contributed to international publications such as EcoArt in Action, a handbook on ecoart practice, and she is a passionate advocate for ecoliterate cultural activity as a means of engaging communities and audiences in collective, planetary, and intergenerational well-being. In recent years, Cathy has focused on education and co-developed Haumea Ecoversity, an online platform that has supported upskilling over 250 mid-career creatives and cultural professionals from all art fields, in essential ecoliteracy.

Grace Wells is an award-winning eco-poet and environmental writer. Her three poetry collections have all been published by Dedalus Press, most recently ‘The Church of the Love of the World’ (2022), which was nominated for the 2023 Farmgate National Poetry award and the Laurel Prize. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Spanish and Galego. In 2021, Grace Wells was selected as Poet Laureate of Ennistymon by Clare County Council and Poetry Ireland, during their inaugural Poetry Town project. Her book-length poem about the town, its past, present and future, ‘Everyone Has a Different Ennistymon’, was published by Doolin Arts, in January 2023. In 2020 Grace began creating eco-poetry film, and was commissioned by The Source Arts Centre to create four short films exploring the Celtic Festivals. On behalf of Clonmel Applefest, she directed the documentary ‘Out of Bounds’ which explores Irish children’s limited access to play within nature. In addition to ecological activism, Wells works with Hometree.ie, planting trees and supporting the charity’s environmental literature such as ‘Under Summer Pastures’, essays exploring Ireland’s vanishing Temperate Rainforests. 

 

Writing Wild: Nature Writing Workshop

with Clare Mulvany

11am-1pm

In this two-hour workshop participants will be guided through a series of creative writing exercises exploring the relationships between land, language, awareness and our connection to the natural world.

We will be engaging with  land stories, sensory awareness and perspective taking as writing tools. There will be some quiet time for creative reflection, as well as time for sharing and learning with others. 

This workshop is for people who are:

●      Curious about nature writing

●      Seeking to deepen their connection to the natural world

●      Interested in exploring land and landscape through creative practice and story.

Participants  will:

• Experience the natural world around them through creative prompts, sensory awareness  and writing exercises.
• Explore storytelling techniques for writing about nature
• Have an opportunity to connect and learn from the other workshop participants
• By the end of the session, they come away with:
• Fresh ideas and insights into their own nature writing process
• Awareness of multiple ways to creatively explore wildness around them, and inside them
• Inspiration from sharing and listening to other experiences and stories

What to Bring: Please bring a journal and a pen you enjoy writing with.

Clare Mulvany is an experienced writer, leadership mentor, story-teller and retreat host. Founder of Thrive School, Clare is currently  a lecturer  in UCD’s Innovation Academy, and Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, and is passionate about the role of creativity in transformative education.

Clare holds an MSc in International Education from the University of Oxford and is the author of ‘One Wild Life- A Journey to Discover People who Change our World’. Her writing and photography have appeared in On Being, The Irish Times, Transna, Freckle Magazine, among others. She has hosted writing workshops and salons across the world, supporting thousands of learners with their own creative explorations. Alongside this, she is a classically trained hatha yoga teacher, a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland awardee and The Irish Times named her as one of Ireland’s 60 most creative people. She lives in Schull, West Cork.

 

Yoga Workshop: 'Slowing into Samhain' with Maggie McKeever

1.30-3.30pm

You’re invited to join Maggie for 'Slowing into Samhain' workshop. We’ll celebrate the Celtic festival of Samhain and invited to embrace the story of the Cailleach - the Goddess of Winter who encourages us to slow down and shed our leaves and rest for the winter. 

This workshop will offer practices connecting to the energy of Samhain;

• Yin, Restorative Yoga & Nidra practices
• Reflection & Journaling
• Celtic Wisdom & ritual
• Gathering in community
• Creating a Samhain altar - you're invited to bring something to add to it!

Maggie McKeever (she/her) is a Yoga facilitator and has a background in working in the Arts, events and community sector.  Maggie’s teaching integrates trauma-informed practice, nervous system regulation, mindful self compassion teachings, the cyclical wisdom of the Celtic wheel, nature, and rest practices. She is passionate about making yoga accessible, community based, and useful for navigating the ups & downs of everyday life. She’s currently inspired by bell hook’s ‘Love Ethic’ and her definition of Love as a verb; a combination of care, commitment, trust, knowledge, responsibility and respect. (hooks, 2002)

 

FAMILY EVENTS

 

Make a bracelet from waste paper with Lynn Haughton

Where: LexIcon Lab, Level 3, dlr Lexicon

When: 2-3pm and 3.30-4.30pm

Ages: 4-12yrs  * Younger children (4-8yrs) accompanied by an adult

Booking: Register on the day. Max 30 per session

 

Join Lynn Haughton for a fun afternoon upcycling old book pages and turning them into your own unique jewellery to take home and treasure!

Lynn is the Founder and Designer behind the multi award winning The Upcycle Movement - a design studio and online platform which specialises in transforming waste into worth.  Upcycling gives a new life to otherwise redundant materials - keeping them out of landfill and giving them new purpose. Lynn's creative work ranges from designing and making product collections, sculptures and art pieces from waste. Lynn also facilitates upcycling workshops in schools and community groups.

 

 

Make a fish from willow with Wicklow Willow

Where: Level 3, (next to main door), dlr Lexicon

When: 6 Sessions (40 mins each) 10am, 10.50am, 11.40am, 1.30pm, 2.20pm,  3.10pm

Ages: 8-12yrs *Adult to accompany each child participant

Booking: Register on the day. Max 10 per session

Wicklow Willow will have you weaving your very own fish and fishing rod from basketry willow, to bring home and hang in your bedroom. Wicklow Willow uses organically-grown willow cut from sustainable, cultivated willow beds and we plant up to ten thousand new willow plants per year in parks and gardens all over Ireland. Willow is an excellent plant for pollinators and provides wonderful habitats for wee beasties of all kinds.