Deirdre Cartmill from Moy in Co Tyrone will soon begin her new role as Belfast Cathedral’s first Writer in Residence.
Deirdre has published two poetry collections and is also an award winning screenwriter and playwright.
She will write a series of poems inspired by her time in the cathedral as part of the residency, and will also run a writing workshop and host a post residency reading and Q&A.
On announcing the appointment, Deirdre said: “I had two heart attacks in a week at 43 and my life fell apart. I had to find a new way of living and I stumbled onto a spiritual journey. It turned my received ideas on their head.”
She hopes that during her time in residency she can “explore the tension I feel between religious labels and my own personal experiences of spirituality. And I’m sure it will also provoke some thoughts on my upbringing. I was brought up Catholic and it will be interesting to explore the similarities and differences between my childhood experiences and the world of this Church of Ireland Cathedral.”
