Sonder Launch
Join Sonder as they launch Issue VIII: Belonging. The night will host readings from contributors and some craic agus ceol. The issue boasts short stories, creative nonfiction, and flash fiction by brand new writers, all centring around the theme of belonging and the idea of sonder—the realisation that passersby have a mind as vivid and complex as your own. Also includes an original piece by, and an interview with, journalist and producer Ola Majekodunmi, offering advice to aspiring writers.
Readers on the night include:
Ola Majekodunmi was born in Lagos, Nigeria and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She is a broadcaster, Gaeilgeoir, digital content creator, public speaker, writer, former co- founder of Beyond Representation, and Board of Directors member on Foras na Gaeilge, Dublin Film Festival, and a member of Galway Film Centre’s National Talent Academy Steering Committee. She graduated from her undergraduate at IADT in BA (hons) English, Media, and Cultural studies in 2018. She did her final year thesis on the ‘Politics of Black Women’s Hair’, which inspired her to start writing poetry, where she has written bilingually (in Irish and English) and has been published including in Meascra ón Aer, a poetry series that aired on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and Cnámh agus Smior. From this course, she further developed an interest in political and social issues. She is also a graduate of M.A. in Digital Broadcast Production at the National Film School in IADT from 2019.
Rosie Morris began writing creatively only in her 50s—a lifetime’s suppressed longing finally bursting free—and made her first submission aged 60. Her short stories, flash fiction and creative nonfiction have since been published in anthologiesand journals (most recently The Honest Ulsterman) and have been successful in competition. Rosie’s writing—heavily influenced by her lived experiences—explores connection, fracture, love, loss, longing and (un)belonging. Parent-child relationships are often foregrounded. Rosie’s first novel, There Will Be Tempest, is ready for querying, having been in the stew-pot (too-often unstirred) for some years. Rosie is a Munster Literature Centre Mentoring Fellow.
Éabha Wall is a disability advocate, writer, and engineer from Cork, Ireland. With a longtime love of reading and writing, her experience of navigating life as a disabled woman has a strong influence on her work. She runs an Instagram account (@eabhas_exosyms) to connect. with and contribute to the growing and diverse disabled community online. She is passionate about accessibility and universal design, as everyone benefits from a world made easier to navigate.
June O’Sullivan lives on an island in Co. Kerry, Ireland. She is currently submitting her first novel, has started work on her second, and writes flash fiction and short stories. She has previously been published in the Leicester Writes Short Story Anthology 2022, The Ogham Stone Journal (Uni of Limerick). She is a student of the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.
Helena Guerin is a writer and mother of three children who lives in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. She holds a PhD in Sociolinguistics from the University of Limerick and teaches at Aonad na Gaeilge. She has a passion for creative nonfiction and is working on a motherhood memoir detailing the self-development work prompted by (her attempts at) raising children in an emotionally secure way, with validation of
feelings and boundaries and all that nice stuff. Another layer of invisible emotional labour for mothers. Motherhood, in her experience, really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Myrna al-Tajuri is a writer, currently based in Dublin. Her work often explores themes of belonging and connection, and attempts to untangle the bizarre pain and beauty of human existence. Her poetry has appeared in t’Art Magazine, as part of a collaborative zine at the Dublin Art Book Fair 2022 and elsewhere online.
Anna Loi is a storyteller with a passion for film and writing. Originally from Italy, she has moved around a lot and is currently based in Amsterdam. Curious about the strange human experience and people’s clumsy attempts at understanding themselves, after her MA in Creative Writing at UL she strives to be a voice for the misunderstood, creating portraits that represent the young woman in today’s society.
Ciara Mulherin is a twenty-six-year-old writer from Cavan, currently living and working freelance as an artist in Dublin City. She is a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at University College Dublin, where she previously completed her undergraduate degree in English and French. Ciara writes fiction and poetry, and her work explores ideas of isolation, connection, and identity.