Claire Hennessy is a writer, editor, and creative writing teacher from Dublin. She has published eleven books for older children and young adults, and also writes short fiction for adults. She is co-director of Big Smoke.
A highly experienced facilitator, Nicole Rourke trained in theatre and workshop facilitation in the Middle East. Her work has received critical acclaim at festivals in Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Israel, Poland and Singapore. She is also co-director of Big Smoke.
Jessica Traynor is Literary Manager for the Abbey Theatre. Her debut collection of poetry, Liffey Swim, was published by Dedalus Press in 2014 and is nominated for the Shine/Strong Award 2015. She has taught poetry and beginners classes at Big Smoke.
Kimberly Campanello is a widely-published poet with a PhD in Creative Writing. Her first full-length poetry collection Consent was published by Doire Press in May 2013. She teaches regularly in Dublin and London.
Mia Gallagher is the award-winning author of HellFire as well as a number of short stories and other pieces. She has facilitated workshops in writing, performance and storytelling since 1997.
Winner of the 2014 Independent Literary Industry Award for Best Editor, John Kenny is a freelance writer, editor and creative writing tutor with many published short stories.
Paula McGrath’s debut novel, GENERATION, was published in July 2015 with John Murray Originals. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD.
Dave Lordan is a writer, speaker and educator whose recent projects include his poetry collection The Lost Tribe of The Wicklow Mountains (Salmon, 2014) and the Young Irelanders Anthology of New Irish Fiction (New Island, 2015).
Eimear Ryan is an award-winning short story writer based in Cork. She tutors on the Big Smoke online courses.
Michelle Read is a playwright, theatre-maker and dramaturge who has worked in theatre in Ireland since 1991. Her writing awards include the Hugh Leonard Bursary, the Eamon Keane Full-Length Play Award, the Stewart Parker/BBC Northern Ireland Drama, and a Fringe First. Michelle teaches beginners’ and playwriting classes at Big Smoke.
E.R. Murray writes for children and young adults, and teaches on our online courses.
Adam Wyeth is a poet, playwright and essayist who teaches poetry and mythology courses at Big Smoke.