The school children read stories they had written in workshops with Fighting Words NI, a youth charity dedicated to empowering children and young people aged 6-18 through the transformative power of creative writing, as part of the Seamus Heaney Centre’s outreach programmes with educational and community groups. The event was also part of the University’s Reach 25 Festival of Arts and Sustainability. 

School children from Botanic Primary School, Donegall Road Primary School, and Scoil an Droichid in Belfast all attended.  

The showcase was introduced by Shirley-Anne McMillan, Young Adult novelist and the Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland – a Fellowship which is part of Queen’s and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's joint ten-year Seamus Heaney Legacy project supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies. 

Shirley-Anne said: “We gathered at the Seamus Heaney Centre to celebrate International Children’s Book Day with some amazing local primary school student writers who have been writing stories with Fighting Words.  

“It’s a very brave thing to read in front of people and even braver to read your own stories out loud, so I was very impressed by everyone’s courage, but I was also super impressed by everyone’s fabulous stories! The children’s work was so imaginative and well written, exactly the sort of thing I love to read. I hope that the children will continue to read and write, and I look forward to reading their published work in the future.” 

During the event, the Seamus Heaney Centre also donated books to each of the schools for their libraries. 

Stephen Connolly, Outreach and Engagement Officer at the Seamus Heaney Centre commented: “The event was part of the University’s Reach 25 Festival of Arts and Sustainability, and as a gesture we wanted to donate books to each of the school’s libraries for the children to enjoy on those themes of art and sustainability. 

“The Seamus Heaney Centre aims to be an important part of our local community and we hope to give the primary school kids who come in a sense that their ideas are important and they are already writers, if they want to be. After repeat visits to the Centre, it was wonderful to see confidence growing in the primary school children as they read out the stories they had written themselves.” 

Media

Media enquiries to Zara McBrearty on email: z.mcbrearty@qub.ac.uk