Great post from @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social here: www.independent.ie/opinion/comm... @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social

Tead Irish PEN @irishpen.bsky.social statement re abduction of @sarahmaintains.bsky.social & other Irish citizens taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla illegally intercepted and seized by armed Israeli forces in international waters approx 70 nautical miles from Gaza irishpen.com/2025/10/02/g...

Please read and reshare our statement on the Global Sumud Flotilla. We at Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann offer solidarity in this time of crisis. irishpen.com/2025/10/02/g...

Thinking of @sarahmaintains.bsky.social and the other Irish citizens who are part of the @freedomflotilla.bsky.social, and have been detained by the IDF who illegally intercepted them in international waters. Here is Sarah’s poem, ‘If I had any other thing’:

irishpen.com/2025/10/02/g... @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

Virginia Woolf had doubts too This is why I love reading diaries, letters and (good) biographies of writers. This morning, I came across this quote from a letter Virginia Woolf wrote to Violet Dickinson in the early 1900s: No one really takes very much interest, why should they, in my scribblings.…

Breaking news: Thirty-one journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a newspaper complex in Yemen last week, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. They say it was “the deadliest strike on journalists in the Middle East.”

irishpen.com/2025/09/17/s... @englishpen.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... @irishpen.bsky.social

Handmaid's Tale Banned in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Schools open.substack.com/pub/margaret...

irishpen.com/2025/08/29/i... @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social @neilhegarty.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social @vivianafiorentino.bsky.social

Irish PEN condemns the recent Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. Among 20+ people killed in the strike on 25 August were five journalists: Mohammad Salama, Hussam al-Masri, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Ahmed Abu Aziz, and Moaz Abu Taha. READ MORE HERE: irishpen.com/2025/08/29/s...

dlrcoco.submit.com/show/325 Closing date: Thursday 4 September 2025 , 1pm DLRCC Arts Office offer 5 artist studies opportunities to award for 1 year. ... online briefing session 11am, Thursday 21 August. email [email protected] with the subject heading BAS25 to book.

Normal People? open.substack.com/pub/jeanette... @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

Normal People? open.substack.com/pub/jeanette...

Brave, principled piece by Sally Roonet in Saturday's @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/culture/book... @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a5Q... @irishpen.bsky.social @neilhegarty.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

Congratulations to Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, the new Laureate for Irish Fiction www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

We at Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann are disturbed to hear this news: Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi has received a series of serious threats to her safety and life from agents affiliated with the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence. narges.foundation/threat-looms...

We at Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann are very glad to host this event: Looking at Women Looking at War: a War and Justice Diary, by Victoria Amelina. @booksupstairs.bsky.social Books Upstairs, Dublin, 29 July, 6pm. booksupstairs.ie/events/

As the case is heard today in the High Court, we reiterate our deep concern at the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation and the wider implications for free expression in the UK. Read our joint statement ⤵️ www.englishpen.org/posts/campai...

Submissions for the #PENHeaneyPrize 2025 are now open until 31 August, for titles published between 1 July and 31 December 2025. This is the second submission window for the 2025 edition, in partnership with @irishpen.bsky.social and The Estate of Seamus Heaney. www.englishpen.org/posts/news/j...

booksupstairs.ie/all-events/l... Reminder for tomorrow's launch of this amazing book! Doors open at 6 pm. Don't forget to book if you haven't already ... @irishpen.bsky.social

Watching the Apple documentary shorturl.at/KyXU0 "1971 The year that music changed everything" made me think ... we haven't reached anything like those levels of protest or cultural activism about Gaza. Why not? @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social @irishpen.bsky.social @fightingwords2025.bsky.social

"Gaza is the first democratically approved genocide" shorturl.at/27abb by @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social @irishpen.bsky.social

Does anyone else resent the way the bots reach into an email and 'correct' a word just as you send it, e.g. changing a person's name? With a name like 'Lia', I'm acutely aware if emails come to Lisa or Leah ... TO THE BOTS: my friend Bernie does NOT go by Bernadette. Her choice. Not mine. Not yours.

2 Irish PEN events celebrate Victoria Amelina's Looking at Women Looking at War: 1.Dublin launch w/ Ukrainian Action Ireland 29 July, Books Upstairs 18.00-19:30 2.July 30 : Market Place Theatre Armagh johnhewittsociety.org/summer-school/ w/ Yaryna Grusha, editor @irishpen.bsky.social

The deadline for entries in the Allingham Festival poetry and Flash Fiction competitions is Sunday, September 28. Rules, entry forms and Allingham Festival details are posted on the Festival website at www.allinghamfestival.com/fiction-poet...

Part 2 of an Interview with Veronica Heywood: artist, educator, environmental campaigner: libranwriter.wordpress.com

A very important speech from Saturday's antiracist rally. 'So, when people claim to be defending women, I take it with a pinch of salt, whether they're claiming to do so by attacking our trans siblings and especially when they're claiming to do so by attacking our migrant neighbours and friends.'

Veronica Heywood: Artist, Activist, Environmental Defender (Part 1 of 2) New post on libranwriter.wordpress.com for the story of a long-term activist for the arts and the environment, Veronica Heywood. A good news story: how to work for positive change!

Powerful article by @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social in today's Independent www.independent.ie/opinion/comm... @irishpen.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book... @martindoyle.bsky.social @irishpen.bsky.social @englishpen.bsky.social @peninternational.bsky.social

www.pen-international.org/news/optisra... @irishpen.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... @irishpen.bsky.social

@peninternational.bsky.social @liamills.bsky.social @shaunagilligan.bsky.social

www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/W... Tickets for this event are now free but booking is essential via @thenewtheatre.bsky.social

@charleenhurtubise.bsky.social Looking forward to seeing and hearing you on Saturday 31st at this great event: www.instagram.com/lulunealon/p...

www.instagram.com/lulunealon/p... I'll also chair a discussion btn Dr Maureen O'Connor & Dr Michael Cronin. Pls join us at @newtheatre.bsky.social or donate what you can @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social @martindoyle.bsky.social @nessao.bsky.social @arlenhouse.bsky.social @shaunagilligan.bsky.social

The John Hewitt Society & Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann present Freedom To Write 2025 project for emerging writers, w/a focus on ecology/nature writing June-Oct 2025. Read more/apply shorturl.at/gfmdv by 17:00 on 02/06/2025 @irishpen.bsky.social @neilhegarty.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025... Kathy Sheridan sets us straight on the skorts issue.

www.pen-international.org/news/trkiye-... Good news from Türkiye via @peninternational.bsky.social! @irishpen.bsky.social @indexoncensorship.org @englishpen.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

I'm facilitating another short story course at the Irish Writers Centre from 1st Juy-5th August: irishwriterscentre.ie/courses/writ...

Blown away by this first edition of Oscar Wilde's poem 'The Sphinx' from our Benjamin Iveagh collection. A mere 200 copies were printed & the fabulous illustrations were done by Charles Ricketts #RareBooks

ilfdublin.com/whats-on/fes... Looking forward to talking to Sarah Moss as part of the packed @ilfdublin.bsky.social programme 17 May 2:30 @grantabooks.bsky.social @picadorbooks.bsky.social @shaunagilligan.bsky.social @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social @irishpen.bsky.social #ILFD2025

Coming up at @ilfdublin.bsky.social, with @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social Wendy Erskine and Lisa Harding. Come along too!