Creative minds launch anthology this evening
A group of Cork students who established their own publishing press during lockdown are about to release an anthology of creative writing in support of the Sexual Violence Centre, Cork.
The 11 students from UCC’s MA in Creative Writing decided to set up the press when, because of social distancing and lockdown, their typical options for work experience became unavailable.
Under normal circumstances, postgraduate creative writing students at UCC gain work experience in an industry-related field such as book festivals, literary magazines and independent publishing houses across the country.
UCC creative writing alumna, Lauren O’Donovan, explained: “Typically, Creative Writing students at UCC get the chance to complete really valuable work experience in literary fields throughout the programme but because of social distancing and lockdown, this type of work experience was completely unavailable to us. We talked together as a group and thought, why not make our own work experience opportunity?”
The students launched their publishing press and anthology, ‘The Same Page’, through which they learned the ropes of the publishing industry under the supervision of leaders in the field such as editor of The Stinging Fly, Danny Denton; Banshee Editor Eimear Ryan; and UCC Head of Creative Writing Eibhear Walshe.
To create the anthology, the students issued a call for submissions of poetry and prose, receiving almost 400 pieces of writing from around the world. They then selected work by 43 Irish writers and international writers with Irish connections.
This evening, Thursday, a pre-launch reading from ‘The Same Page’ anthology will be held online with 20 of the featured writers set to read their pieces. Tickets are available for free or by optional donation from Eventbrite.
In Cork, the anthology is currently available at Vibes & Scribes, Waterstones, Carrigaline Bookshop, Kinsale Bookshop, and Kerr's Clonakilty. All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the Sexual Violence Centre, Cork.
The anthology is also on sale in Galway, Kildare and Dublin and is available to buy directly from thesamepagenathology.com.
An in-person launch party with live readings is planned for 2022 subject to restrictions.