This episode of the podcast follows on from a visit by the author Jan Carson to Waterford as part of the Creative Ireland Shared Island initiative. This project is a collaboration between Mid and East Antrim Borough Councils and Waterford City and County Council who are aiming to develop and enhance a shared sense of community through various means, one of which is creativity and literature. Jan gave a talk at SETU, entitled, “Untangling the Knots of Northern Identity” which explored her identity as a Northern Protestant who identifies as an Irish writer.

Jan’s novel The Raptures was published in 2022 and was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year award and the Kerry Group Novel of the Year. Her novel The Fire Starters won the 2019 EU Prize for Literature for Ireland. She has written a number of short story collections, and her writing has been featured on BBC Radio 3 and 4, and on RTÉ. She has most recently worked alongside Duke Special in adapting The Velveteen Rabbit for the stage and the run begins this month at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Her next novel, Few and Far Between, will be released next year.

The episode also features Katherine Collins, the Creative Ireland Coordinator in Waterford who discusses the value of the Shared Island project and the power of the arts in helping us to understand one another better.