Skein curates and publishes thought-provoking stories not commonly featured in the literary arts in Ireland. We are passionate about storytelling and counter-storytelling in all its forms and facilitate writers and artists to bring their work to the public through traditional publishing as well as other media.
We believe in the power of stories to change the world. Storytelling is at the heart of what it means to be human; it is how we consider new ideas, offer insights into universal experiences, and share our perspectives. See the latest stories from Skein below.
Throughout this award-winning collection rooted in rural Asturias, Raquel F. Menéndez inverts the generational roles of daughter, mother and great-grandmother, invoking the legendary figure of Shahrazad – the storyteller who spun tales against death – to reveal how the past is held within the present.
A remarkable testament to all that is found in translation: a collection of poems, a matrilineage, the Asturian poetic tradition, and a reminder that every storyteller since Shahrazad keeps it all alive.
Not yet with the ashes this ragged thing / Ni a gye a sloha a turpog inox is a new poem by Oein DeBhairduin, written in response to his experience of rereading the Commission on Itinerancy Report (1963), a report which sought to eliminate Travellers from Irish society.
It was a remembrance and unexpected echo in me to realise, that while others may have wrapped us up in things, we can take that off and garment ourselves in our own understandings.
‘Thinking Aloud, Thinking Together’ is a series of live and recorded conversations amplifying voices that have been silenced in Irish cultural life. It gives space to artists, writers and thinkers who offer radical new perspectives on existing narratives.
Our first conversation takes the form of a podcast series, curated by Dr Phil Mullen (Assistant Professor of Black Studies at Trinity College Dublin and a leading researcher on the historical experiences of ‘mixed-race’ people growing up in Ireland). Using the audio format, Phil has created an anonymised, open space for ‘mixed-race’ people who grew up in Irish care institutions to explore the impact of their erasure from institutional abuse history and discourse in Ireland. Through this conversation, they aim to undo that erasure, one voice at a time.
Delivered in partnership with the Museum of Literature Ireland.
‘I wanted to be totally honest… and that’s the way I wrote the book’
Listen to the penultimate instalment of our ‘In the Half Light’ series.
In the seventh episode of In the Half Light, curator Phil Mullen returns to a conversation with three writers about their experiences of growing up mixed-race in Ireland: Marguerite Penrose (author of Yeah But Where Are You Really From?), Jackie McCarthy O’Brien (author of We Made It, Kid) and Leon Diop (author of Mixed Up: An Irish Boys Journey to Belonging)
At Skein, we focus on contributing to literary and cultural landscapes that celebrate the richness of the world we share. Recognising that change happens at individual, communal, structural and societal levels, we work across three intersecting and mutually reinforcing areas — curating publications and conversations that offer alternative perspectives, investing in development opportunities and new modes of expression for artists, and engaging in cultural activism to tackle systemic barriers.
Working with individuals traditionally underrepresented in Irish literature and publishing. Skein is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive Irish literary and publishing scene. We want to see long-term impact in the cultural sector in Ireland so that inclusion, equality and diversity are not an add-on and Irish publishing and literature and the cultural scene become genuinely diverse.
At Skein, we focus on contributing to literary and cultural landscapes that celebrate the richness of the world we share. Recognising that change happens at individual, communal, structural and societal levels, we work across three intersecting and mutually reinforcing areas — curating publications and conversations that offer alternative perspectives, investing in development opportunities and new modes of expression for artists, and engaging in cultural activism to tackle systemic barriers.
In 2021, the Play It Forward Fellowships were established, with an aim to nurture and amplify the talents of writers whose voices and stories have traditionally been underrepresented in Irish literature and publishing. Run jointly by Skein and The Stinging Fly, spearheaded by poet and editor Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, this pilot programme sought to advance new perspectives in contemporary cultural discourse, and broaden conversations around diversity, inclusion, access and opportunity across the literary landscape.
Our model is collaborative and not-for-profit, and our goal is to create the conditions for equality to flourish in the literary and publishing sphere. We acknowledge that we are constantly striving for better, and that failure is part of the process. We continue to review our business model to maximise income for the writers we work with through commission fees, appropriate advances, sale of subsidiary rights and robust and creative sales and marketing plans.
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