Hilary Mantel was a renowned English writer who twice won the Booker Prize, for her best-selling novel Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The final novel of the Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and won worldwide critical acclaim. Mantel […]
Elaine Feeney writes poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Her debut novel As You Were won Dalkey Book Festival’s Emerging Writer Prize, the Kate O’ Brien Award, and the Society of Authors’ Mc Kitterick Prize. Her second novel How to Build a Boat was published in 2023 and has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. A […]
Haiku is the shortest and one of the oldest poetry forms in the world, having originated in Japan in the 17th century. It is primarily a nature poem but can also be used to describe human situations. In this introductory workshop you will get a short history of the form, with examples from classical and […]
Sophie White is a novelist, essayist and podcaster from Dublin. She is the author of seven books and is the current Arts Council Writer-in-Residence at DCU. Her fifth book, the bestselling memoir Corpsing, was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction. Sophie’s sixth book, Where I End, won her […]
Aldrin Adams and the Cheese Cightmares (shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year - Irish Book Awards) is a laugh-out-loud children's adventure story, full of mystery, magic and cheeses that seriously, SERIOUSLY pong! A brilliantly funny, heartwarming story. Aldrin Adams and the Legend of Nemeswiss - Some months have passed since Aldrin Adams discovered […]
Sally Hayden is a journalist and the author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route. It was her first book, and won the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2022, the Michel Deon Prize, the An Post Irish Book of the Year, the non-fiction book of the year at […]
Roddy Collins is a football man - now in the sixth decade of a career as a player (at 16 clubs), manager (12 clubs) and commentator. And he is a funny man: an unequalled raconteur with a sharp eye for the absurdities of the professional game and spectacular recall. He has made friends wherever he […]
Named as one of Ireland’s Rising Poets by Poetry Ireland Review, Afric McGlinchey has won numerous prizes, including the Hennessy Poetry Award, Poets Meet Politics prize and several awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. In 2023, Salmon Poetry published The lucky star of hidden things, and in 2016, Ghost of the Fisher Cat, both of which were […]
Disha Bose’s debut novel Dirty Laundry, a domestic noir that examines the dark side of motherhood and suburbia, was published in 2023. She was born and raised in India, and now lives in Cork. She worked in the tech industry until returning to writing in 2015, when she joined the Masters in Creative Writing course […]
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Words by Water is delighted to work with one of our local primary schools again this year. Shane Hegarty is a children’s books author from Skerries. His bestselling book series, Darkmouth, has been translated into a dozen languages. His book, Boot, was the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature City Read for 2020 and his most […]
Davy Russell is a retired National Hunt jockey. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-chase de Paris. Courting injuries and success before finally retiring, his story will bring it all to the fore. My Autobiography is his first book, […]
Come and join us for an evening of poetry and song curated by poet Matthew Geden. We will be showcasing work by new and established writers. This will be a relaxed and intimate event, everyone welcome. Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England, moving to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet with […]
The wonderful Alice Taylor needs no introduction and we are so pleased to welcome her to Kinsale to chat about her decades of writing about rural Ireland. Who better to sit down for a cuppa and a reminisce than this much-loved Irish writer, who has been a warm voice of Ireland since the publication of […]
Amanda Neri is an award-winning singer and director who loves to write. She has written two musicals winning the Cork Theatre Critic’s Award for best newcomer. Her other writing includes poetry and short stories. Her children’s book, The Golden Fairy Door, tells the story of how grandpa and grandma had a chance encounter with a […]
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel The Firestarters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019. Jan’s latest novel, The Raptures, was published in Doubleday in early 2022 and was subsequently shortlisted for the An Post Irish […]
During her 15-year career as Ireland’s State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy became known to the Irish public as a trusted figure whose expertise helped to solve murders and clarify unexplained deaths. In over thirty years of practice, she performed thousands of post-mortems and dealt with hundreds of murders. She has witnessed the burgeoning role of forensic […]
Listening to the rhythm of your work, finding your writing voice and learning to trust your gut. This one-hour workshop will look at the natural rhythm in all writing. It will explore how to lean into your own writing rhythm as well as tuning into your gut instinct. Only you can tell your story. Fíona […]
In this introductory bookbinding workshop, you will learn how to make your own A5 stab- bound book, a binding method developed in 17th century Japan that is still used throughout the world to create notebooks and albums. All materials will be provided to create your own A5 book, and you will be able to customise […]
Nadine Hughes Campbell is the author behind Noah’s Cork Adventure. Born and raised in Montréal, Nadine traded in the busy streets of her Canadian hometown for the gorgeous landscapes of Cork. This children’s author and devoted mother discovered her passion for storytelling upon the birth of her first child, turning each bedtime into a voyage […]
Ethel Crowley PhD is an Irish sociologist. She is the author of Land Matters, Daring to Dream and Your Place or Mine?, as well as other journal articles, book chapters and newspaper articles. Over the years, she has combined university lecturing and academic writing with travels in Latin America, the Middle East and India. She […]
Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from the north-west of Ireland. How to Gut a Fish, her first collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award and longlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Falling Animals, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2024 and chosen for BBC2’s Between […]
Who was the Bellman? Where was World’s End? What was a bridge of boats? When did chocolate arrive? Why fight a battle at Christmas? Step into history with Barry to find out. Barry Moloney has been a tour guide of Kinsale for the last 20 years. He has just published an illustrated history of Kinsale […]
EVENT ALERT - event time has been moved to 2:45pm. Sinéad Gleeson’s essay collection Constellations: Reflections from Life, was published by Picador in 2019 and won Non- Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writers. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the […]
Rónán Hession is an Irish writer and musician based in Dublin. His debut novel, Leonard and Hungry Paul was published by Bluemoose Books in 2019. It was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the An Post Irish Book Awards, the British Book Awards, the Books Are My Bag awards, the Dalkey […]
Marian Keyes is a phenomenon. The multimillion copy, internationally bestselling author of some of the most widely loved, genre-defying novels of the past thirty years – including Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups – has millions of devoted readers around the world. My Favourite Mistake is her sixteenth novel. In addition to her […]
We are always very proud and supportive of our local writers and this event is a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talent and spotlight their voices. Michelle Dunne is a crime and thriller writer from Cobh whose new psychological thriller, The Good Girl, was published by Bloodhound Books in March 2024. In July 2024, The […]
Have you ever wondered how paper was made? Come and learn the ancient technique of paper making using recycled denim, vegetable matter and recycled paper. In the class we will learn how to cast leaves, grasses and other matter and also how to make sheets of paper suitable for book making and other art projects. […]
Enjoy this years events and festivities at Words by Water 2025 (*excludes all workshops, the Ancestral Storytelling event, and the Gaitkrash Beckett event).
While translating his father’s and grandfather’s diaries from the two World Wars, Joachim was drawn into conversation and arguments with his forefathers that never happened when they were alive. Joachim grew up in Hamburg, Germany and studied at the Universities of Freiburg and Hamburg, then Cambridge and Chicago. He came to Ireland in 1971 and […]
Come and join us for an evening of readings, curated by poet Matthew Geden. We will be showcasing work by new and established writers. This will be a relaxed and intimate event and everyone is welcome. Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England and moved to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet […]
Diarmuid Ferriter and Peadar Thompson in conversation with JJ Hurley Diarmuid Ferriter is Full Professor and Chair of Modern Irish History at UCD, as well as the author of numerous books, including The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000 (2004), Ambiguous Republic: Ireland in the 1970s (2012), The Border: The Legacy of a Century of Anglo-Irish Politics […]
In the Celtic calendar, Samhain is a time for honouring those who have gone before us, when the veils of the world are at their thinnest and our ancestors can come close to blend with us their love and wisdom. Paddy Doyle, poet and storyteller, will create a sacred space in which participants are invited […]
Niall’s newest novel, Time of the Child was published in 2024 to wide critical acclaim and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award in 2025. It centres Dr Jack Troy, who lives with his eldest daughter Ronnie in the small village of Faha in West Clare, and whose responsibilities for the sick […]
Would you like to spend the morning with one of Ireland’s best loved children’s authors in the beautiful town of Kinsale? If so, this event is for you! Marita will talk to children and adults alike about her beloved The Children of the Famine series, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. She will also […]
‘I was looking for a music of words, one that belonged simultaneously to poetry and to everyday speech – advertisements, headlines, fashion magazines, erotic classifieds, horoscopes – an inconspicuous music that you could simply breathe in, like the air,’ writes Antonio Muños Molina, author of To Walk Alone in the Crowd. Inspired by Molina, and […]
Amanda Neri is an award-winning singer and director who loves to write. She is an avid reader and enjoys exploring the written word in all its forms. Her most recent children’s book The Golden Fairy Door is an enchanting story for young readers that is fast becoming a bookstore favourite. Amanda won the Cork City […]
Gratitude Workshop with Trish Kelleher, author of The Giant of Kinsale and The Giant’s Gratitude Journal. What does gratitude mean to you? According to research, the one daily habit for raising happy children is practising daily gratitude. This has multiple proven benefits, including better social connections and empathy, improved sleep, and reduced anxiety and stress. […]
Harriet Wistrich in conversation with Vanessa Conneely Harriet Wistrich is the Founder and Director of the UK's Centre for Women’s Justice. A trained solicitor, with decades of experience, Harriet won the Liberty Human Rights Lawyer of the Year award 2014, Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2018 for public law, and Law Society Gazette personality […]
Join us for a celebration of exciting new voices from Cork, as four outstanding debut novelists share their journeys into fiction. Catherine Airey grew up in England in a family of mixed English-Irish descent and studied at the University of Cambridge. She is one of the Observer’s Best New Novelists for 2025 and shortlisted for […]
Creating beautiful writing using the ancient art of calligraphy has held a fascination for people for thousands of years. Des Meade of The Calligraphy Scribe, is a Carrigaline-based calligrapher, who has had a long successful career as a graphic designer, calligrapher, illuminator and lettering artist. Des recently had a part in the major film Bonhoeffer […]
Discover Kinsale’s history with a local expert Barry Moloney has been a tour guide in Kinsale for over 20 years. He is the author of An Illustrated History of Kinsale, a lively and engaging history book for children. In this special one-hour walking tour, Barry will bring the town’s stories to life in a way […]
Moderated by Shane Coleman. Two acclaimed authors come together to discuss writing, memory, love, loss, and the powerful role of fiction in shaping how we see the world. Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the 1960s and 70s. Her debut […]
Aoife Barry is a Dublin-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster. She is the author of the bestselling non-fiction book Social Capital (HarperCollins Ireland) about the impact of social media on our lives, which was nominated for an Irish Book Award in 2023. Her essays and fiction have been published by ROPES journal, Banshee, ThiWurd, and […]
Described as ‘specialists in sorcery’ (Irish Times), GAITKRASH Theatre Company presents an exciting montage of Samuel Beckett’s later plays, Footfalls (Bernadette Cronin, Máirín Prendergast) and Not I (Regina Crowley), wrapped in an experimental soundscape (Mick O’Shea). Beckett’s work goes to the heart of the core existential questions that we all face in our lives and […]
Sharing is caring and what better thing to share than a love of books! Bring your fiction, non-fiction and children’s books to our bookswap and exchange them for something new to you.
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, […]
Have you ever wondered how paper is made? Come and learn the ancient technique of papermaking using recycled denim, vegetable matter and recycled paper. Participants will learn how to cast leaves, grasses and other matter, and how to make sheets of paper suitable for book-making and other art projects. Includes tea/coffee during the workshop
Words by Water is delighted to work with one of our local primary schools again this year. Karen Harte, comic creator, visual designer and illustrator will collaborate with Scoil Naomh Eltin in bringing an Illustration Workshop to a number of classes within the school. Karen's illustrations focus on playful visual storytelling and are informed by […]
Building on the popularity of our primary school-based events, we are happy to announce a collaboration with our local secondary school. Author Louise Nealon will deliver a talk to Transition Year students within the school, where she will speak about dropping out of university in her first year and how reading and writing helped her […]