What does it mean to create at a time like this?
How do we navigate the myriad crises our planetary home is facing in fair, sustainable, creative ways?

Eco Lines brings together writers, thinkers, makers and feelers. Together we will explore what it means to make art in a bruised, burning, beautiful world. From the soil to the sea; seeds to stories; from the feminine to fiction; restoration to rainforests – we will hold space for the many various factors that play a part in how, and – critically – why we create.
Join us as we gather together, autumn making her way towards us, to listen to our earth’s lines, and write our own eco harmonies.

Eco Lines is curated by Kerri ní Dochartaigh and brought to you by Kildare County Council Library Service in partnership with The Irish Writers Centre.

10:15am-11am
‘Sea See // Whale Wail : women on water, grief, ancestry and hope’
Join Alice Kinsella and Eleanor Hooker in conversation, chaired by Kerri ní Dochartaigh, as they discuss women and water, in all their melancholy, mystery and magic.
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11:20am-12:20pm
‘RESTORE, REPAIR, REMEMBER – on finding the way back’
Eoghan Daltun, Samuel Arnold and Aoife Hammond in conversation discuss the land and how we might write a new story of relation to our planetary home. Chaired by Kerri ní Dochartaigh.
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12:30pm-2pm
Stitch Witchery: The Art of Visible Mending with Change Clothes Crumlin
Join us for a fun and engaging family-friendly 90-minute visible mending session designed for beginners.
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn basic hand sewing techniques to mend holes and revitalise your garments in a creative and visible way.
• We’ll explore various types of creative patching
• & simple sashiko methods to add a personal and unique touch to your pieces.
Whether you’re looking to repair a favourite item or just want to learn a new skill, this session will give you the tools and inspiration to make your clothes truly one-of-a-kind.

All repair materials are provided, so just bring your enthusiasm and an item of clothing that needs some love. Participants can take home the necessary bits and bobs from our repair library to continue their work.
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1pm-2pm
 ‘HEAD , HEART, HANDS: healing through one-anotherness’  
Kerri ní Dochartaigh joins Jennie Moran and Jesse Gilbert in conversation on interconnectedness; community and ecologies of care. Chaired by Nidhi Zak Aria Eipe.
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2:30pm-3:30pm
‘Invisible, imagined, illuminating: fiction, non-fiction and all that lies between’
Sinéad Gleeson and Molly Hennigan in conversation, exploring creative choice and the navigation of lived experience. What does it mean to write at these times? Chaired by Kerri ní Dochartaigh.
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Creative Writing Workshops

Location: Newbridge Community Library

11am-1pm
Poetry of Irish Biodiversity in a Time of Crisis with Jane Robinson.

Course Summary:
To survive shifting climatic and seasonal changes, wild animals and plants need robust and bio-diverse populations. Human and industrial activities have caused them to decline. If insects are down by 70%, what happens to insectivores such as swallows, bats and blue tits? If the pollinators decline, will there be enough berries for the fruit-eaters?
Each participant will write and hone a new poem to celebrate their favourite species of native plant or animal. As writing prompts you will use: first-hand experience, photos, natural prompts (pine cones, feathers, flowers, leaves etc.) and field guides. Discussions and feedback are tailored to suit the experience of participating writers.

Places Limited. Applications via MS Form by Friday 20^th September https://forms.office.com/e/4C3ixjQpbW

2-4pm
The Environment as Metaphor in Creative Nonfiction with Ryan Dennis.

Course Summary:
At its core, climate writing is about bringing the challenges of global warming to the forefront of the reader’s imaginative consciousness. While cli-fi is an emergent and fast growing field, often opportunities to invoke climates concerns—explicitly and implicitly—are often overlooked in creative nonfiction. This workshop will consider techniques to draw thematic meaning from environmental issues in personal essays and memoirs, as well as how to approach the subject as a topic in creative nonfiction. With prompts and writing exercises, participants will leave prepared to write a creative essay that seamlessly promotes awareness of climate change.

Places Limited. Applications via MS Form by Friday 20^th September https://forms.office.com/e/uZqVHaTLsx

Photo by Paul McCarthy