This panel, which will feature four writers and artists from the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University in Belfast, will be moderated Robbie Hull, Consul General of Ireland in Texas and the southern central United States 

Glenn Patterson was born, and lives, in Belfast. A writer of fiction, non-fiction, of scripts for stage and screen, and a founding patron of Fighting Words Northern Ireland, he is Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University, Belfast.

Rachel Brown is the Coordinator of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University, Belfast. She studied photography and works collaboratively with fellow artist Brighdín Farren under the collective name Brown and Brí.

Leontia Flynn teaches poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University. She is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Taking Liberties (2023). Her books have won various awards and prizes, including an Eric Gregory Award, The Forward Prize for Best First Collection, The Rooney Prize for Irish Writing, a Major Individual Artist’s Award from the Arts Council NI, The Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Prize for Irish Literature, the AWB Vincent Literary Award and The Irish Times Poetry Now Award. 

Dawn Watson is a poet and writer. She lives in Belfast with her son and is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Queen’s University. Dawn’s debut collection We Play Here (2023) is published with Granta Books. It was a Guardian Poetry Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the John Pollard International Poetry Prize for an outstanding debut collection, and the PEN Heaney Prize. Her poetry pamphlet The Stack of Owls is Getting Higher (2019) is published with The Emma Press. Dawn’s work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 3, and BBC Radio Ulster, and has appeared in leading literary journals including The Poetry Review and Granta.

There will be a reception at 5:30 p.m.

This event, which is co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Ireland, Austin, is part of The Conversation and the Lennox Lecture Series on the topic of Borders and Belonging: The Arts and Archives of Place, organized by Professors Jenny Browne and Kathryn Vomero Santos.