2nd Open Mic for Gaza
Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund
Open Mic for Gaza will return for a third event on 1 September 2024.
Míle buíochas to co-organiser Denise Whooley, to the special guest readers and performers, open mic readers, Zoom audience, and all the donors and promo people, for their solidarity at the second Open Mic for Gaza on Global Pay It Forward Day. Also for helping to spread the word, a big thanks to Melanie Veenstra, PEN na hÉireann/Irish PEN, Martin Doyle at the Irish Times, and the Irish Writers Union.
This time, we raised €3,300 for the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund. Everyone at Open Mic for Gaza worked voluntarily and ALL donations have been transferred to the charity.
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian Associate Professor of Surgery and a Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon. He has worked as a war surgeon in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, South Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip. In April this year, he was elected as Rector for the University of Glasgow by over 80% of the student vote. Read/listen to his first address at the University of Glasgow in The National online. He was due to talk about his most recent work in Gaza in Germany last month, and in France this month, but was denied entry by both countries.
The second Open Mic for Gaza special guests included:
The event was dedicated to the young writers of WE ARE NOT NUMBERS and their project manager Walaa Sabah who joined as one of our special guests. Read on for the bios of all special guests and open mic readers.
Special Guest WALAA SABAH
Walaa is the project manager of We Are Not Numbers. She previously held the position of community outreach and partnership officer. She works as a freelance journalist. You can read her articles at The Middle East Eye, The Electronic Intifada, Mondoweiss, The New Arab. Walaa is the organiser for Provide a Meal for Displaced Gazans during Ramadan. She was a guest speaker at the Irish Writers Union AGM held in the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin in April 2024.
We Are Not Numbers has been nominated for the Front Line Defenders Award 2024 and the announcement ceremony will be held in Dublin on 31 May 2024. Walaa read a story from We Are Not Numbers.
Open Mic NIAMH DONNELLAN
Niamh is a poet and writer from Meath. She recently published her first children’s picture book ‘Little Irish Folklore Friends’ with Gill Books. She has contributed to The Honest Ulsterman, Trasna, and Postbox.
Niam read her poem BRAVE.
Special guest PAULA MEEHAN
Paula was born and reared in the north inner city of Dublin. She studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Eastern Washington University in the U.S. Her poetry has received both popular and critical acclaim. She has moderated workshops in the community, in the prisons, in recovery programmes and has worked extensively with emerging poets inside and outside the universities. Her work has been translated into many languages, most recently into Japanese and Dutch with volumes in preparation in Spanish, Polish & Greek. She was honoured with election to Aosdána, the Irish Academy for the Arts, in 1996. She was Ireland Professor of Poetry, 2013 – 2016, and her public lectures from these years, Imaginary Bonnets with Real Bees in Them, were published by UCD Press in 2016.
Paula read her poem A ZONE OF SANCTUARY
Open Mic SANDY SEEBER-QUAYLE
Sandy writes poetry, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction, exploring human nature. Earlier poetry in her native German has been featured in several anthologies. Her debut novel 'Aus der Sicht der Dinge' was published in 2013. Currently, she is working on a second novel and a novella-in-flash.
Sandy read her poem UNIVERSE
Special guest THEO DORGAN
Theo is a poet with ten collections published, the most recent being ONCE WAS A BOY, which has just received the accolade of One City, One Book 2024 in his native Cork. He is also a novelist, documentary screenwriter, translator, essayist, and editor. Among his translations are three volumes from the French of Syrian poet, Maram al Masri. In 2022 he devised the script for ANU's production of STAGING THE TREATY (now also a film available from IFI, both directed by Louise Lowe), and he scripted and presented the multi-award-winning Alan Gilsenan documentary AN BUACHAILL GEALGHÁIREACH/THE LAUGHING BOY. Translations of his work have been published in Greek, Italian, and French, with a second collection in Spanish due in 2024. He is a member of Aosdána. More about Theo at theodorgan.com
Theo read his poems PRAYER TO THE MOTHER OF RAIN and THE PROMISED GARDEN
Open Mic MARGARET DOLLEY
Raised in Belfast with West of Ireland roots, Margaret left at age 18, becoming a language editor for the EU based in Luxembourg. She returns to Ireland regularly and is now completing an island-based novel called Shooting the Faithful Departed, as part of a PhD at Lancaster University.
Margaret read an excerpt from her novel SHOOTING THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
Open Mic DAMIEN B DONNELLY
Damien’s poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous journals. The author of two pamphlets, a micro-collection and a full collection published by Hedgehog Press, his second collection arrives with Turas Press in May 2024. He’s the host of Eat the Storms podcast and editor of The Storms journal. Damien is a Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from the Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2024.
Damien read his poem ALL OUR PAIN.
Special guest ELIZABETH KEHOE
Elizabeth is the Historian in Residence for Dublin Central, as well as a tour guide at 14 Henrietta Street. She returned to education in 2015 completing a degree in history at Trinity College Dublin, followed by an M. Phil. in Modern Irish History.
Elizabeth presented THREE DAYS IN BELFAST, THE FALLS CURFEW 1970.
Special guest MICHELLE GALLEN
Michelle grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles a few miles from the border. She studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and Publishing at Stirling University. Her debut novel, Big Girl, Small Town was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her critically acclaimed second novel, Factory Girls, won the Comedy Women in Print award and was shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award. Both books are being adapted for TV. Michelle was a Northern Soul Roadshow special guest in 2022.
Michelle read an excerpt from her second novel FACTORY GIRLS.
Open Mic A.JOSEPH BLACK
Tony is from Carnlough and lives in Andersonstown. Over forty of his short stories and flash fictions have appeared in literary journals and print anthologies. His work has featured in The Irish Times and on BBC Radio Ulster and he has twice been runner-up in the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Award. Tony is a Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from the Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2024.
Tony read his fiction MY MA v THE RA
Special guest JULIANA ADELMAN
Juliana is a writer and assistant professor of history at Dublin City University. She is the author of The Grateful Water, a historical crime novel set in nineteenth-century Dublin. She has also published two nonfiction history books, numerous articles, and produced several podcasts. The Grateful Water will be published by New Island in May 2024.
Open Mic for Gaza was lucky to get a sneak preview when Juliana read from her debut novel THE GRATEFUL WATER. She also read a snippet from THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien.
Open Mic NIAMH McNALLY
Niamh is a Belfast-based poet and workshop facilitator in The Seamus Heaney Homeplace. Her poetry has featured on the BBC, in two climate crisis films, and can be found in various publications. Niamh is a current Poet-in-Residence for Herstory, Ireland. Niamh is a Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2023.
Niam read her poem LIFELINES which was published in Dlúthpháirtíocht.
Open Mic AILEEN MALONE
A northside Dubliner, enthusiastic about writing — the most democratic of art forms. Degree in English Literature, Open University. Diploma in Fine Art, NCAD. Distinction in Arts in Healthcare, Post Grad Cert. Maynooth. Arts Council Agility Award 2022. Irish Writers Centre Mentor/Member Duo programme 2022. Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2024. Essay LIFE DRAWING selected for the Stinging Fly May 2024. Aileen juggles writing with activism, art, and earning a crust.
Aileen read from her autofiction SURVIVAL — AN UNHOLY LAND PART 2.
X @aileendub Insta @malone_aileen
Special guest CATHERINE DUNNE
Catherine is the author of one work of non-fiction and twelve novels. Her latest, A Good Enough Mother, won the European Rapallo Fiction Prize 2023 and will be published in Ireland in June 2024 by Betimes Books. She is currently Chair of Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann and was recently elected to Aosdána. Aosdána honours artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the creative arts in Ireland.
Catherine read from Letters to Oraib by Mahmoud Al-Shaer.
Open mic TONY MACAULAY and JUVENS NSABIMANA
TONY is an author, peacebuilder, and broadcaster. His memoirs of growing up in Belfast, Paperboy, Breadboy and All Growed Up have been adapted into musicals. His autobiography Little House on the Peace Line tells the story of how he lived and worked on the peaceline in the 1980s. His debut novel Belfast Gate was Book of the Week in The Irish News. His latest novel Kill the Devil: A Love Story from Rwanda was co-authored with Rwandan screenwriter, Juvens Nsabimana. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Ulster University for services to literature and peacebuilding at home and abroad. He was a special guest author in Northern Soul Roadshow 2024.
JUVENS is an author, screenwriter, and film-maker from Rwanda. He was born in the slums of Gikondo in Kigali and has been writing and telling stories since he was a child. To escape from the slums, at an early age he spent many hours every day in the cinema halls of Kigali watching films, learning about the art of storytelling, and the different genres on the screen. This experience fired the imagination in his mind. Perhaps it was inevitable that grappling with words and language would become his chosen career. As a young man, he spent many hours in the libraries of Kigali, reading and learning. In early 2013, he started writing film screenplays and throughout his twenties he developed his career as a professional writer with poetry blogs, books, and screenplays. Kill the Devil, co-authored with Irish writer Tony Macaulay, was his first novel.
Tony introduced Juvens and shared a video that Juvens had specially recorded for Open Mic for Gaza, a reading from the novel KILL THE DEVIL: A LOVE STORY FROM RWANDA.
Open Mic MELANIE VEENSTRA
Melanie spent part of her youth in N. Ireland, where her love for writing in English began. Next to her business in commercial writing, Melanie writes flash fiction and poetry and is getting better at not having someone die in every single piece. She shares her time between Connemara and Amsterdam. She is a Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from the Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2023. Find Melanie on Linkedin
Melanie read poetry from NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
Open Mic CARMEL McKEOWN
A Meath-born Irish writer, creates poetry and short stories that reflect her journeys from Meath, through the surrounds of Gormanston Castle, where she walked among yew trees planted by her ancestors, to Dublin, Australia, Limerick, Galway, the US, and finally Skerries, where she now lives. She is a Northern Soul Roadshow Awardee from the Irish Writers Centre & Arts Council Northern Ireland, 2023, which she found to be a fantastic learning experience.
Carmel read her poem CHOICES.
Special guest DAN McPARTLIN
Dan is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Dublin Northside. His musical style spans genres from dark folk, Irish trad, and rock. He is currently working on songs for his debut EP due later in 2024. Dan was a recent performer at the popular One Voice Phibsboro in The Hut, Dublin 7. Dan is a Write Down the Lane alumnus from 2018.
Dan recorded his rendition of THE FOGGY DEW. Have a listen here on Instagram.
Open Mic TOM JORDAN
Tom is a writer from Dublin. He is 26 and holds a BA from Trinity College Dublin where he studied English and Drama. He writes short stories and plays. His stories have been published in Sonder, The Waxed Lemon, and the Sans. Press Anthology 'Passageway'. Tom read from one of his short stories.
Open Mic KATHERINE MEZZACAPPA
Katherine is from Carrickfergus but currently lives in Italy and writes mainly historical fiction. The Maiden of Florence was published in April 2024 and has been nominated for the Booker. The Ballad of Mary Kearney will follow in 2025. She is also the author of four novels, writing as Katie Hutton. Katherine is a Northern Soul Roadshow/Irish Writers Centre alumna, 2022.
Katherine read from her Booker-nominated novel THE MAIDEN OF FLORENCE.
Open Mic CATHY CARSON
Cathy is a writer and spoken word performer who combines poetry and storytelling to explore human connection and condition. She has been published in anthologies and her Saboteur Award-winning spoken word show is being published by Flight of the Dragonfly Press in June 2024. Cathy’s play Becoming Marvellous has been staged to great acclaim in the North of Ireland. Cathy was a special guest on the Northern Soul Roadshow 2022.
Cathy performed TOAST which explores childhood during the Troubles.
Open Mic LIZ McSKEANE
Liz is a writer, publisher, and creative writing teacher. She has published four poetry collections, one novel, and a collection of short stories. She is the founder and Director of Turas Press.
Liz read her poem PETRAOCLUS.
Caitriona is a bilingual poet and songwriter. Shortlisted for the 2023 Eavan Boland Award, she is also a 2022 Poetry Ireland Introductions awardee. Caitriona has written a song-poem for Gaza and was selected for the Open Mic line-up. Unfortunately, due to Caitriona’s name/video not being displayed on Zoom, she was not called for the Open Mic. Her song is included here, and hopefully Caitriona will be a guest in a future Open Mic for Gaza.
When is life grievable?
Thanks to Kate Murphy and Brenda Dodd, artists in Saltmills, South Wexford who made this video for Open Mic for Gaza. Music by Catherine Cunningham. Narration by Kate Murphy and Judith Butler.
Anne writes about the challenges we face in a society that is changing rapidly and how we respond or react to those changes. She was awarded The Irish Writers Residency in Cill Rialaig and The John Hewitt residency. Her first collection of poetry, Crow's Books was published in 2020. Although she could not attend the Open Mic, Anne shared this poem written last year.
Co-organiser and MC for Open Mic for Gaza read a story from We Are Not Numbers Confessions of a human animal by Alia Kassab and a poem by Alia’s Professor Doctor Refaat Alareer, IF I MUST DIE (sourced on Twitter). Refaat was murdered in an Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip in December 2023.
The event closed with a talk from Walaa Sabah who shone a light on the power of story-telling in the work of We Are Not Numbers, and solidarity with Palestine from all at Open Mic For Gaza.
This sounds like a wonderful night of writing and speaking in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Congratulations to all the participants and Fiona O’Rourke for organising it.