The Arts Office, Waterford City & County Council is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new literature project by writer Sylvia Cullen, originally from Lismore, Co. Waterford. Centred around the theme of overcoming, this new body of work will be inspired by the people of Waterford and their stories of prevailing over adversity.
The project was awarded funding under Bank of Ireland’s Begin Together scheme, as well as from the Arts Office. Outlasting will be a response to the Covid pandemic, resulting in a new collection of short stories which draws on Waterford’s past, in order to illuminate our present.
Cullen commented “I am delighted to have this opportunity to create new work in and about my home county. Outlasting will include a research strand involving engagement with local communities right across the Déise. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting lots of new people and listening to their stories.”
The collection will be recorded and presented as a podcast before the end of the year, reaching local, national and international audiences. In addition, there will also be a public reading of the new work. ‘Engaging with the Arts Office, will enable the writer to work more intensively with community groups as well as individuals’ Margaret Organ, Arts Officer commented.
Sylvia Cullen will conduct her research over the Summer and begin writing during the Autumn. She concluded “Writing is itself a means of overcoming. The opportunity to create new work and bring it to audiences at home and abroad, will be an exciting challenge during these traumatic times.”