About Us

The seed for Words By Water: Kinsale Literary Festival was sown at a local book club, whose members longed to see some favourite authors and create an event that would also welcome other readers.

Luckily their number included a number of veterans of the much-missed Kinsale Arts Festival, who drew on previous experience to put together an ambitious programme of readings, workshops, competitions and more.

Five years later, our festival is going strong. We are dedicated to bringing both established and new authors and poets to Kinsale, while also encouraging younger readers and running workshops and other events to inspire budding writers. Kinsale is a town steeped in literatire and we are proud to play our part in keeping this tradition alive.

Committee members: Ruth McDonnell, Maureen Tierney, Mike Russell, Terry McCormick Fegan, Gráinne McGuinness, Andrea Pepper, Gráinne Murphy and Kate Murphy.