The Irish Writers Union took an active part in this year’s International Dublin Writers Festival, which ran from 19-21 September 2025.
A small team of IWU volunteers managed a stand in the conference hall, chatting with delegates at break times and between presentations, sharing information about our services, and of course recruiting new members. Our colourful bookmarks – illustrated by committee member Lindsay J Sedgwick – were hugely popular.
Not content with having just one job, four of our committee members also gave presentations and workshops at the Festival:
- The Festival opened with Lindsay J Sedgwick‘s presentation ‘Perfect Pitch’, with essential advice for pitching your book to producers and directors.
- Katherine Mezzacappa (editor and email coordinator of the Union’s newsletter ‘Final Draft’) gave a fascinating presentation on how to build a strong writer’s resumé. Yes, you need one.
- At a panel discussion on Sunday, Gerald M Kilby spoke about why he shuns social media and prefers to use Facebook ads to reach his readers, and Conor McAnally revealed how to actually make progress on your publishing journey and avoid abandoning your manuscript in a drawer for two years.
We have a few more events coming down the line and will notify members in the monthly ‘Final Draft’ newsletter.
To find out more about the Union and the dozens of reasons to become a member, why not visit our Join Us page!
