Lisa is a 3rd-year, part-time PhD student in creative writing; her discipline is scriptwriting, specialising in the differences between stage and screen dialogue.

Born and raised in Dublin, she has an undergraduate MA in English and Film Studies from the University of Aberdeen and an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s.  

She teaches on the 2nd -year undergraduate module Introduction to Creative Writing, and has also taught at Belfast Metropolitan College. Her short play Even Cleans Hands Cause Damage was performed by Tall Tales Theatre Company in June 2008. Lisa was one of six Irish playwrights invited to join the Abbey Theatre’s New Playwrights Programme, which begins this year. She is currently working on a play/screenplay project entitled Ahab’s Daughter.

Emily is a 3rd-year, full-time PhD student in creative writing; her discipline is prose, and her project explores political identities in fiction.

She grew up in Atlanta, studied at Tulane University in New Orleans and the University of Edinburgh, and helped run non-profit offices in Denver and Los Angeles before moving to Belfast.

She earned a distinction in her MA in creative writing at Queen’s and currently teaches on Introduction to Creative Writing. Her two novels-in-progress are Most Things (about pirates) and How I Was Taught (about politics). Emily is the producer of Fast & Loose – a 24-hour, new-writing theatre project at Queen’s, now in its third year.

Ruth is a 3rd-year, full-time PhD student in creative writing; her discipline is prose, with a specific interest in the study of myth.

Ruth moved from her home city of Birmingham to attend Queen’s for her BA in English, and stayed for her MA in creative writing. She began teaching on the 2nd-year undergraduate module Introduction to Creative Writing in February of this year, and is working on her first full-length collection of short stories, entitled Our Lives Apart.

Paul is a 3rd-year, full-time PhD student at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry: His project involves building a digital audio library of Irish poets reading their work.

Born in Bermuda of Irish and Cornish stock, Paul graduated from Queen’s University, Ontario, with a BA (Hons.) in Film Studies in 1983. He moved to Northern Ireland in 2000 and in 2005 completed an MA in creative writing at Queen’s. 

A respected poet, Paul has been published in several anthologies and journals, including Incertus (Netherlea Press), The SHOp, and The Yellow Nib.

Darran is a 3rd-year, full-time PhD student in creative writing; his discipline is prose, with a focus on the historical novel.

Originally from Armagh, Darran is an English literature graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and second in his class in the MA Journalism programme at Dublin City University; he also has a Masters in creative writing from Queen’s.  

He teaches on the 2nd-year undergraduate module Introduction to Creative Writing and is working on his first full-length novel. His play, Confession, was produced at Queen’s in Autumn 2008.