Panel Discussion: Surviving as a Writer in the Worlds of Publishing & Self-Publishing 1
FREE Event - booking not required
Join Helen Nicholl, Angeline King, and Alan Millar in conversation about their journeys as novelists, poets, and storytellers — each with a unique path through the publishing world. The discussion will be chaired by Dubhán Ó Longáin, poet, writer, and chairperson of the Irish Language Writers’ Association.
This is a free event and a great opportunity for anyone curious about the inner workings of publishing, or for writers seeking encouragement and practical advice.
When & Where
Date: Saturday 11 October 2025
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Twin Towns Library, The BASE, Stranorlar, Co. Donegal
About the Participants
Chair: Dubhán Ó Longáin
Dubhán Ó Longáin is a poet, writer, researcher, and Irish language teacher. He has won awards for his academic research, his poetry (both traditional and slam), and his short stories. He facilitates writing workshops for both children and adults and is currently Chairperson of the Irish Language Writers’ Association. Earlier this year, he undertook a poetry and storytelling tour of America, and he contributes regular articles on Irish folklore to the journal Nós.
File, scríbhneoir, taighdeoir, agus teagascóir Gaeilge é Dubhán Ó Longáin. Tá duaiseanna bainte amach aige as a chuid taighde acadúil, a fhilíocht (traidisiúnta agus slam), agus a chuid gearrscéalta. Éascaíonn sé ceardlanna scríbhneoireachta do pháistí agus do dhaoine fásta. Is cathaoirleach é ar Aontas na Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge faoi láthair. Rinne sé turas filíochta/scéalaíochta i Meiriceá i dtús na bliana 2025 agus cuireann sé ailt rialta ar bhéaloideas na hÉireann ar fáil san iris Nós.
Helen Nicholl
Born in apartheid South Africa to activist parents, Helen Nicholl grew up in Cape Town and later moved to London. Her life has taken her across Northern Ireland, England, and post-Independence Zimbabwe, where she worked as a nursery school teacher and librarian. She has published journalism, a children’s picture book (The Animal Bus), and two adult novels (The Traveller’s Guide to Love and Life Study #2), with more work in progress. She now lives in Belfast, continuing her writing and creative projects.
Angeline King
Angeline King is a novelist and author of family history from Northern Ireland, and was Writer in Residence at Ulster University from 2020–2023. Her work has been featured on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Antiques Road Trip, and published in The Irish Times, The Belfast Telegraph, The Honest Ulsterman, and more. She has won multiple awards, including from the Frances Browne Literary Festival, and co-edited the North Star Anthology of women’s writing (shortlisted for the Carousel Award, 2024). Her latest novel is The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew.
Alan Millar
Alan Millar is a journalist, writer, and poet from East Donegal, now based in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. He has won multiple Ulster-Scots literary awards and is the only Irish person to have won the Scots Language Society’s Hugh MacDiarmid Tassie. His first poetry collection, Echas frae tha Big Swilly Swally, was published in 2023, with his second forthcoming. He contributes regularly to BBC Radio’s Kintra, is engaged in a Doctorate at Ulster University, and in 2025 joined the Board of the Ulster-Scots Agency. He is also Ulster-Scots editor at Yellow House Press.
When & Where
Date: Saturday 11 October 2025
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Twin Towns Library, The BASE, Stranorlar, Co. Donegal
Ticketing Info
Admission: Free
Limited spaces - please book.
Acknowledgements
Festival sponsors: Donegal County Council and the Finn Valley Voice.
About the Frances Browne Literary Festival
The Frances Browne Literary Festival celebrates the life and legacy of Frances Browne (1816–1879), the “Blind Poetess of Ulster.” Rooted in her hometown of Ballybofey-Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, the festival brings together poets, writers, musicians, and communities from Ireland and beyond to share in her spirit of creativity, inclusion, and multilingual expression.
