Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England, moving to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet with numerous publications throughout Ireland and abroad. His most recent collections include Fruit (SurVision Books, 2020) and The Cloud Architect (Doire Press, 2022). He was Writer-in-Residence for Cork County Library and Arts Service 2020-2022.

Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, Katherine Boucher Beug has been living and working from her studio near Kinsale since the 1970s. She is known for her draftsmanship and use of colour based on the theories of Joseph Albers. Her work can be seen in all major Irish collections, including the National Gallery, Trinity College, the Crawford Art Gallery, and the Glucksman Gallery at UCC, as well as many private international collections. In 2020, she published her first book, Flowers, and in 2024, her second, People. Having worked as a teacher and mentor throughout her career, both books emphasise the creative process by showing drawings and playful, experimental work, as well as more finished paintings.

Afric McGlinchy was born in Galway and spent her formative years in Southern Africa. Her memoir-in-flash about her African/Irish childhood, Tied to the Wind, was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2021. Afric has received a Hennessy Award, Poets Meet Politics prize, a Patrick & Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship, and has been the recipient of multiple Arts Council awards, including two Literature Bursaries. Earlier collections include The Lucky Star of Hidden Things and Ghost of the Fisher Cat (Salmon Poetry). Her new collection, À la belle étoile, animating the voice of Jeanne Baré, the first woman to have circumnavigated the world, was published in April 2025 and nominated for the Forward Prize.

Moderated by Kate Barry