To help you get started with reading Irish trans writing, the Dublin Small Trans Librarians provide here an ever-growing list of self-identified trans writers from or residing on the island of Ireland.
This list is certainly incomplete, updated on our volunteers’ time with the knowledge we have. If you are an out Irish trans writer or know one, suggestions are welcome via the contact form below, or any of the Small Trans Library Dublin‘s platforms!
The Small Trans Library is also working to get these writers’ work into our catalogue to make it widely available to trans readers, and would welcome donations of books, journals, zines, etc. as such.
| Julian Bernard Julian Bernard is a writer and activist based in Dublin, Ireland. There, they do work with the Small Trans Library, the Trans Writers Union, and the Community Action Tenants Union. Their writing is predominantly personal essays, drawing from the traditions of autotheory and their training in academic philosophy, and can found in the literary journal Catflap and in an upcoming anthology of Irish Trans Writing. Find them at: @infinitejess | |
| Sara-Jane Cromwell Sara-Jane’s books Becoming Myself and Wrong Body, Wrong Life were some of the earliest books about trans life in Ireland. The non-fiction books, published 2008 and 2010 respectively, tell about Sara-Jane’s childhood in 1960s Dublin, as well as the experiences of people living with gender dysphoria in Ireland. Find her at: @sarajanecromwel | |
| Aoife Cusack aka Culchie Spice Aoife is a nonbinary queer artist and designer based in Waterford creating a variety of art and design projects, including a number of zines reflecting on queer wellbeing and self-acceptance. Find them at: aoifecusack.com In the catalogue: Queer Pep Talk, A Different Place To Cry: A Zine About Being Sad | |
| Soula Emmanuel Soula was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and a Greek father. She currently lives in Ireland with her dog and writes fiction as well as pieces about culture, trans liberation and autism. Her debut novel Wild Geese released in March 2023. Find her at: soulaemannuel.com In the catalogue: Wild Geese | |
| Johannes T. Evans Johannes hails from the South of Wales and is now living on the West Coast of Ireland, writing on themes of queer and trans identity, disability and neurodivergence, the importance of community, and societal and interpersonal power dynamics, all of which can be accessed for free on his website. Find him at: johannestevans.com | |
| Kit Fryatt Kit Fryatt is a poet and professor lecturing in English at Dublin City University. He has published four books of poems, and his most recent books are Bodyservant and Austin Clarke: An Introduction. Find him at: @gentinwait In the catalogue: Bodyservant, Rain Down Can, Queering the Green | |
| James Hudson James Hudson is a speculative fiction writer and editor from Dublin and a librarian with the Small Trans Library. He is the editor of VERY ONLINE and TOWER. Find him at: townmice.com In the catalogue: So Hormonal, Queer Love: An Anthology of Irish Fiction, The Liminal Review #1, Channel #5, New Worlds, New Voices, Glórtha Aiteacha | |
| Shubhangi Karmakar A prolific science writer who’s written for the Business Post, Irish Tatler and IMAGE Magazine, Shubhangi was most recently editor-in-chief of the Trinity Student Scientific Review. Find them at: @Repealist_ | |
| William Keohane William Keohane is a writer and poet from Limerick. His work has appeared in Hennessy New Irish Writing, The Ogham Stone, The Stony Thursday Book, The Stinging Fly, and his essays and poems have been broadcast on the RTÉ Radio 1 Sunday Miscellany. His pamphlet Son released with Lifeboat Press. In the catalogue: Banshee #12, Queering the Green Find him at: williamkeohane.com | |
| Caitlín R. Kiernan Born in Skerries and living in the US, Caitlín has been publishing SFF and horror since the nineties, so prolifically that their bibliography has its own Wikipedia page. Find them at: @auntbeast | |
| Kate Kiernan An editorial assistant and founder of the Small Trans Library Dublin, Kate is also a writer with a stunning essay in So Hormonal: Essays About Our Hormones broaching misconceptions of HRT and self-medication in Ireland and the UK. Find her at: @fornothingIsay In the catalogue: So Hormonal | |
| Fiona Leigh Fiona is a writer currently living in East Cork. A singer, actor and ex-Kindergarten teacher, Fiona is something of an all rounder but has found her authentic voice prefers the mode of writing as an expressive outlet above all else. She has had several of her quasi stream of consciousness essays published online by such publications as Prism and Pen, Rainbow, An Injustice and Empowered Trans Woman. Find her at: @FionaJFeng1 | |
| Valkyrie Loughcrewe Val makes movies, music and other assorted distractions under the name surgeryhead, can be found under that name on Twitter, Bandcamp and YouTube, and has released CROM CRUACH, a horror novella in verse, with Tenebrous Press. Find her at: @surgeryhead In the catalogue: Crom Cruach | |
| Anna Loughran In her poetry pamphlet Chords of Inquiry, Belfast-raised Anna interrogates questions of gender and identity with a lightness of touch and a remarkably imaginative and tender approach to phrase and language. Find her at: @annaloughran_ In the catalogue: Chords of Inquiry, Banshee #12 | |
| Aoife Martin Aoife Martin is an IT professional and regular columnist with TheJournal.ie. Her articles have appeared in Image Magazine, Irish Tatler, The Irish Examiner and several other publications. In the catalogue: Bang! Programme | |
| Llaura McGee Founder of the game studio DREAMFEEL, Llaura is an award-winning game maker best known for co-writing the 2020 visual novel If Found… about a trans girl in 1993 dealing with isolation and connection on Achill Island. Find her at: @ldreamfeel | |
| Kel Menton Kel has devised, written, and produced plays for several years and their plays have been performed at events such as the Cork Midsummer Festival and Playshare 2020. They have a number of articles and fiction pieces published in The Irish Examiner, and have published a variety of pieces in Good Day Cork. Find them at: @kelmeton | |
| Ois O’Donoghue Ois is a theatre writer and director and co-founder of Jaxbanded Theatre. She has written and directed a number of shows including AION, a digital interactive theatre piece, and HYPER, a deep dive into transness and music. Find her at: @oisin_o_ver_it | |
| Rían Browne O’Neill Rían is a queer writer and advocate whose areas of interest include gender and sexuality, culture and social change, and current affairs. Rían was previously Editor-in-Chief (2018/19) for the National Student Media Award Nominated magazine Sexpress and has had his work featured in publications such as Headstuff, SpunOut and Motley Magazine. Find him at: @rianbrowne | |
| Fionn O’Shea Fionn is a trans healthcare researcher living in Glasgow who has also edited and contributed to a number of zines circulating around trans Dublin. Find him at: @MrFinnOShea In the catalogue: 3.7.17, Bee Safe, Unpredictapple, Bombinate Vol. 1, Bombinate Vol. 3 | |
| Sam Furlong Tighe Sam Furlong Tighe is a writer from North Dublin. They used to be the editor of Icarus Magazine, and now write the fortnightly newsletter Select All, Delete. Their first play was called EELS and debuted at the Samuel Beckett Theatre. Recent poetry can be found in ROPES, VIBE, Sonder, and Wax Nine. Find them at: @samfurlongtighe | |
| Philippa Ryder Philippa is the author of My Name is Philippa, “a remarkable memoir, and above all, a story about love, understanding and a family who stuck together as Philippa moved from husband and father to wife and mother”. Find her at: @Philippa_Ryder1 In the catalogue: My Name is Philippa | |
| Jayne A. Quan Jayne is, in no particular order, a queer, trans-masculine, non-binary Asian American writer with work featured in Banshee, Call & Response, First Person PBS, and Advice For and From the Future. They were shortlisted for the 2019 Cosmonauts Avenue Non-Fiction prize. Their collection of essays on love, grief, transition and memory All This Happened, More Or Less released with Skein Press in 2022. Find them at: @janewithawhy In the catalogue: Banshee #10, All This Happened, More Or Less | |
| Emma Tobin Emma is a writer, poet, and recipient of the 2021 Eavan Boland Emerging Poet Award. Find them at: @EK_Tobin | |
| Anna Walsh Anna Walsh is an Irish writer based in Glasgow. Their poetry and prose have been published by The Stinging Fly, Extra Teeth, Cipher Press and others. They are currently editing the first anthology of Irish trans writing, and completing several books. They are represented by Kat Aitken, and have work forthcoming with Neon Hemlock, Architecture Ireland and more. Find them at: @annaw999 In the catalogue: So Hormonal, Unreal Sex |
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