Bio

Lianne O'Hara is a poet, playwright, and prose writer. She lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Her work is widely published and anthologised in Abridged, Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, Queering the Green, and elsewhere. In 2020, she was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series and awarded a Literature Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland. Her poetry is preserved in the Irish Poetry Reading Archive and was shortlisted for the 2021 Bridport Prize.

She has an MA in Theatre Practice from University College Dublin & the Gaiety School of Acting, an MA in Creative Writing from UCD, and a BA in English Literature and Linguistics from the University of Amsterdam. She teaches creative writing at UCD, and is currently working on a first full-length collection of poetry, a second theatre play, and a novel.

Her debut play Fluff will be performed at Dublin Fringe Festival 2022 (Smock Alley Theatre, 20-24 September).

Project

During my stay at Faberllull, I will continue developing my second theatre play, Paper Crowns. Set in a mental health facility in Ireland, Paper Crowns is a queer love story which examines what it means to be ‘unwell’ in Ireland anno 2022, and how these perspectives are complicated by social class, personal history, and the uncertainty of our desires when played out against the white walls and green lino of a hospital. Research for this project will encompass interviews with individuals who have spent time in mental health institutions and a historical enquiry into changing attitudes in psychiatry.