A NUMBER of writers have been announced for Writers Block, an ambitious new creative writing initiative that will bring communities across the county together through the written word.

Cork County Council’s Library and Arts Service has selected nine writers including Matthew Geden who is based in Kinsale and Leeanne O’Donnell, who is also based in West Cork.

The writers appointed are Kieran Crowley, Arnold Thomas Fanning, Matthew Geden, Patrick Holloway, Mary Noonan, Leeanne O’Donnell, Colm Scully, Molly Twomey, and Josh Wagner. 

This panel of writers will work closely with local groups, individuals, schools, and library branches to foster creative expression and make writing more accessible to all.

The programme will run throughout 2026 and 2027, with writers appointed to specific areas of the county to ensure deep and sustained engagement at a local level.

Mayor of County Cork Cllr Mary Linehan Foley said: ‘Writers Block will see nine talented writers will work with a diverse range of audiences, including older people, youth groups, new communities, Traveller groups, LGBT+ groups, and other communities. 

‘At the heart of the programme, the writers will collaborate with fellow writers on shared events, collective outputs, and knowledge exchange. We hope this way of working will have meaningful outcomes for both the writers and the communities they choose to work with.’

Kieran Crowley is an author of five children’s books. Arnold Thomas Fanning is widely published and an experienced facilitator of memoir workshops.

Matthew Geden is a poet, translator, and creative writing facilitator. He moved from the English Midlands to Kinsale in 1990.

His recent publications include The Cloud Architect (2022) and Ocean of Earth: Selected Poems of Guillaume Apollinaire (2024).

He has held residencies in Nanjing Literature Centre (2019) and with Cork County Library and Arts Service (2020–2023).

Patrick Holloway is an award winning writer of fiction and poetry.

Mary Noonan’s debut collection The Fado House (2012) was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize and the Strong/Shine Award.

Leeanne O’Donnell is a writer and podcaster based in West Cork. She is the author of Sparks of Bright Matter (2024), praised by The Irish Times as ‘exquisitely deep’ and by The Sunday Times as ‘a debut novel of great imagination’.

A former RTÉ and BBC radio producer, she has created several award winning documentaries.

She also produces Into the Mythic, a podcast exploring Irish mythology.

She is currently working on an experimental second novel.

Colm Scully is a Cork poet and poetry film maker. Molly Twomey is originally from Lismore and now living in Cork.

She has published two collections with The Gallery Press.

Josh Wagner is originally from Montana and now settled in Ireland. He is a multi-disciplinary writer whose work spans fiction, theatre, comics and film, with awards across these fields. 

The Writers Block programme is managed by Cork County Council Library and Arts Service and supported by The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.