Seamus Heaney HomePlace
I recently had the pleasure of completing two temporary contracts at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy. As well as organising hundreds of educational events and facilitating workshops on Heaney's poetry, I had the chance to write a chapter on Seamus Heaney HomePlace for the Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney. (I opted for a mystical assessment of SHHP honouring Bellaghy's oldest woman, Ballymacombs More Woman, also known as the Bellaghy Bog Body). Among other highlights, I also had the chance to develop an educational documentary on the the theme of bog bodies alongside film-maker Tristan Crowe.
Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP 2025.
It was an honour to receive a 2025 Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP award for the research and development of a new novel. The novel is set in the Netherlands and alternates between the 2000s and 1680s. It touches on the intricate links between the Dutch, Scots, Ulster Scots, Huguenots and Jewish inhabitants of enlightened 1600s Leiden.
University Writer in Residence
Writer in Residence of Ulster University (September 2020 to September 2023).
PhD: Creative Writing
(September 2020 to September 2023)
Composition of a contemporary diary novel, The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew (originally Dear William)
Research areas:
Dialect in diary novels,
The Ulster Scots family history of the Agnew/Ó Gnímh family,
Female novelists writing in Scots and Ulster Scots.
Publications / Talks on PhD
Publication of article 'The Agnews of Kilwaughter: hereditary sheriffs, hereditary bards' in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, No. 39, 2023.
Publication of the novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew, Leschenault Press, 1 July 2024.
Keynote presentation, 'Female novelists, Ulster Scots and Ulster English', Ulster Vernacularities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives conference, Ulster University, 6 June 2024.
Presentation, 'Agnew Hereditary Sheriffs and Hereditary Bards' at the Preserving Local History in the Causeway Coast and Glens and Beyond Conference, Ulster University, 8 May 2024.
Presentation, 'Creative Writing for the Earth' at the Writing for the Earth Symposium, Ulster University, 26 May 2022.
Facilitation of workshop 'Scullion Speak: Writing in dialect', Seamus Heaney HomePlace 2022.
Panel on language & workshops on Ulster Scots writing, Frances Browne Festival, 2021.
Research areas:
Dialect in diary novels,
The Ulster Scots family history of the Agnew/Ó Gnímh family,
Female novelists writing in Scots and Ulster Scots.
Publications / Talks on PhD
Publication of article 'The Agnews of Kilwaughter: hereditary sheriffs, hereditary bards' in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, No. 39, 2023.
Publication of the novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew, Leschenault Press, 1 July 2024.
Keynote presentation, 'Female novelists, Ulster Scots and Ulster English', Ulster Vernacularities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives conference, Ulster University, 6 June 2024.
Presentation, 'Agnew Hereditary Sheriffs and Hereditary Bards' at the Preserving Local History in the Causeway Coast and Glens and Beyond Conference, Ulster University, 8 May 2024.
Presentation, 'Creative Writing for the Earth' at the Writing for the Earth Symposium, Ulster University, 26 May 2022.
Facilitation of workshop 'Scullion Speak: Writing in dialect', Seamus Heaney HomePlace 2022.
Panel on language & workshops on Ulster Scots writing, Frances Browne Festival, 2021.
Publications:
2026: Betrothed to Forbidden Ground: Seamus Heaney Homeplace, The Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney, Editors, Eugene O’Brien & Ian Hickey, Routledge. [Forthcoming]
2025: Fortnight, Issue 497, Review of Short Story anthology 'Take Six', Six Irish Women Writers, edited by Tanya Farrelly.
Essays in Newspapers:
A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland, The Irish Times.
A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland
Irish Dancing: The Festival Story, The Irish Times
Irish Dancing: The Festival Story
The Protestant in Irish Fiction, The Irish Times
The Protestant in Irish Fiction
The Protestant in Irish Fiction II, The Irish Times
The Protestant in Irish fiction II
Ulster Scots in Irish Fiction, The Irish Times
Ulster-Scots in Irish Fiction
An author in Wonderland, The Irish Times
An author in Wonderland
Belfast Telegraph:
Irish Dancing, Belfast Telegraph
Irish Dancing
2026: Betrothed to Forbidden Ground: Seamus Heaney Homeplace, The Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney, Editors, Eugene O’Brien & Ian Hickey, Routledge. [Forthcoming]
2025: Fortnight, Issue 497, Review of Short Story anthology 'Take Six', Six Irish Women Writers, edited by Tanya Farrelly.
Essays in Newspapers:
A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland, The Irish Times.
A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland
Irish Dancing: The Festival Story, The Irish Times
Irish Dancing: The Festival Story
The Protestant in Irish Fiction, The Irish Times
The Protestant in Irish Fiction
The Protestant in Irish Fiction II, The Irish Times
The Protestant in Irish fiction II
Ulster Scots in Irish Fiction, The Irish Times
Ulster-Scots in Irish Fiction
An author in Wonderland, The Irish Times
An author in Wonderland
Belfast Telegraph:
Irish Dancing, Belfast Telegraph
Irish Dancing
Education
Queen's University (1995-1999): BA Honours, French and History
Ulster University (1999 -2000): MA, Applied Languages & Business
Ulster University (2020-2023): PhD, English
Ulster University (1999 -2000): MA, Applied Languages & Business
Ulster University (2020-2023): PhD, English
Media
Essays for The Irish Times and Belfast Telegraph.
Interviews on Radio Ulster Your Place and Mine, John Toal Show and Kintra show.
Guest contributor on the topic of Irish dancing on BBC's Antiques Road Trip, 2019.
Interviewee on various NVTV and BBC shows, including Ewen Glass's The Toon in 2022.
Interviews on Radio Ulster Your Place and Mine, John Toal Show and Kintra show.
Guest contributor on the topic of Irish dancing on BBC's Antiques Road Trip, 2019.
Interviewee on various NVTV and BBC shows, including Ewen Glass's The Toon in 2022.
Outreach
Irish dancing museum exhibition with Mid and East Antrim Council, 2017.
Seminars on the history of Irish dancing.
Facilitation of Creative Writing courses.
Talks on Ulster Scots writing.
Presentations with schools, NI libraries, NI regional councils, Irish Writer's Centre, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, Ulster University, Queen's University, National Museums NI, Scottish Libraries, Frances Browne Literary Festival, John O'Connor Festival, Irish Network in D.C, Irish American Heritage Museum.
Seminars on the history of Irish dancing.
Facilitation of Creative Writing courses.
Talks on Ulster Scots writing.
Presentations with schools, NI libraries, NI regional councils, Irish Writer's Centre, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, Ulster University, Queen's University, National Museums NI, Scottish Libraries, Frances Browne Literary Festival, John O'Connor Festival, Irish Network in D.C, Irish American Heritage Museum.
*Pen name & maiden name Angeline King. Angeline Kelly for official purposes.