Part of Between The Lines 2009
During the festival ten readings and workshops will be undertaken by the writers Paul Grattan, Anita Robinson and Liz Weir in prisons and schools.
In the week of Between the Lines Festival the writer Paul Grattan will visit two of Northern Ireland’s prisons to read and perform workshops. The writers, Miriam Gamble, Anita Robinson and Liz Weir will visit seven schools (a mix of primary and secondary schools) to read and undertake creative writing workshops.
Miriam Gamble
Miriam Gamble was born in 1980 and grew up in Belfast where she still lives. She won an Eric Gregory award in 2007, and her pamphlet, This Man’s Town, was published by tall-lighthouse in 2007. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals and poetry anthologies and she has written reviews and features for magazines such as the New Statesman. She works as a bookseller and creative writing tutor.
Paul Grattan
Paul Grattan was born in Glasgow in 1971 and currently lives in Belfast. After graduating from Strathclyde University he moved to Northern Ireland (1995), completing an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University at The Poets’ House, County Antrim, under James Simmons. He is currently undertaking a postgraduate degree in Creative Writing. Paul Grattan’s first collection of poetry, The End of Napoleon’s Nose (2002), was described by the Edinburgh Review as a ‘romp through the wilder zones of the Celtic fringe, marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in Scottish/Irish poetry ’.
Anita Robinson
Anita Robinson is a teacher, writer and broadcaster working extensively in schools on a programme of language development through the medium of story, poetry and creative writing. She broadcasts weekly opinion pieces on BBC Radio Foyle and writes a column in the Irish News on Mondays. She tutors both children and adults in creative writing for the Pushkin Trust and other arts and community organisations. Her memoir Twice Round on the Hobbyhorse (Brehon Press) was published in Sept 2007.
Liz Weir
Liz Weir is a professional storyteller who works with all age groups promoting the traditional art for which Ireland is world famous. A children’s librarian by training, she now travels the world telling stories to adults and children, organising workshops on storytelling, and speaking at courses for parents, teachers and librarians. Her wealth of stories is drawn from both the oral and written traditions. She is the author of two story collections Boom Chicka Boom and Here, There and Everywhere (O’Brien Press) and of the Wise up and Think series for CCEA.