CISSF 2026 Stepsisters: Stories from the Irish in English
Cork Arts Theatre, Ireland, T23 X72D
Wednesday 14 October 2026
Munster Literature Centre presents
Stepsisters: Stories from the Irish in English
Cork International Short Story Festival 2026
Duration of event is 1 hour
Tickets: €5
Katherine Duffy writes poetry and stories, the latter in both Irish and English. Her stories have appeared in Comhar, Oghma, The Sunday Tribune, Best European Fiction 2018 (Dalkey Archive Press) and Stepsisters: Stories from the Irish (Mercier Press, 2024). Work in Irish has earned Oireachtas awards; in English, the Hennessy Writer of the Year Award 2006, and third prize in the 2020 RTÉ Short Story Competition. Katherine has also translated the work of leading Irish language writers, and several of her translations appear in The Quick and The Dead: Selected Stories of Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Yale Margellos, 2021).
Róise Ní Bhaoill’s first short-story collection, Imram agus Scéalta Eile, was awarded An Post Irish language Book of the Year 2023. Her poetry collection, Idir an Dá Fhearsaid, was nominated for Gradam Uí Shuilleabháin 2024. Dordéan was awarded Best Poetry Collection, Oireachtas na Gaeilge literary awards 2025. Mo Chroí Gránúill, a translation of the Farsi poetry of Mohsen Hosseinkhani was published last year. She has also edited collections of bilingual short stories, folklore and cultural essays and is the author of resources for learners of Irish. Originally from the Donegal Gaeltacht, she has mainly lived in Belfast since the 1990s.
Réaltán Ní Leannáin was awarded Oireachtas na Gaeilge’s Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin in 2022 as editor of the short story anthology Bláth na dTulach. The accompanying podcast series was shortlisted for the Irish Podcast Awards. Her short story from that anthology, 'Maeirí', is on the Leaving Certificate Syllabus as well as others from the compilation. Bláth na dTulach and two of her own solo works have been nominated for the An Post Irish Language Book Awards in the last few years. Éabhlóid are to publish a new collection of her short stories, Trom agus Éadrom, this year.
“In a myriad of manners, means, styles and senses, [these stories] offer a mosaic of contemporary Ireland … offering a more complete, more diverse and more nuanced vision of families, communities, society and nation throughout the island.” — Tara MacLeod & Brian Ó Conchubhair
(Moderator) Dr. Katie Ní Loingsigh is an Irish-language lecturer in UCC who hails from Baile Mhúirne in the Muskerry Gaeltacht. Her research interests include modern Irish literature, Gaelic revival, literature and culture of West Muskerry.
Stepsisters: Stories from the Irish in English
Cork International Short Story Festival 2026
Duration of event is 1 hour
Tickets: €5
Katherine Duffy writes poetry and stories, the latter in both Irish and English. Her stories have appeared in Comhar, Oghma, The Sunday Tribune, Best European Fiction 2018 (Dalkey Archive Press) and Stepsisters: Stories from the Irish (Mercier Press, 2024). Work in Irish has earned Oireachtas awards; in English, the Hennessy Writer of the Year Award 2006, and third prize in the 2020 RTÉ Short Story Competition. Katherine has also translated the work of leading Irish language writers, and several of her translations appear in The Quick and The Dead: Selected Stories of Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Yale Margellos, 2021).
Róise Ní Bhaoill’s first short-story collection, Imram agus Scéalta Eile, was awarded An Post Irish language Book of the Year 2023. Her poetry collection, Idir an Dá Fhearsaid, was nominated for Gradam Uí Shuilleabháin 2024. Dordéan was awarded Best Poetry Collection, Oireachtas na Gaeilge literary awards 2025. Mo Chroí Gránúill, a translation of the Farsi poetry of Mohsen Hosseinkhani was published last year. She has also edited collections of bilingual short stories, folklore and cultural essays and is the author of resources for learners of Irish. Originally from the Donegal Gaeltacht, she has mainly lived in Belfast since the 1990s.
Réaltán Ní Leannáin was awarded Oireachtas na Gaeilge’s Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin in 2022 as editor of the short story anthology Bláth na dTulach. The accompanying podcast series was shortlisted for the Irish Podcast Awards. Her short story from that anthology, 'Maeirí', is on the Leaving Certificate Syllabus as well as others from the compilation. Bláth na dTulach and two of her own solo works have been nominated for the An Post Irish Language Book Awards in the last few years. Éabhlóid are to publish a new collection of her short stories, Trom agus Éadrom, this year.
“In a myriad of manners, means, styles and senses, [these stories] offer a mosaic of contemporary Ireland … offering a more complete, more diverse and more nuanced vision of families, communities, society and nation throughout the island.” — Tara MacLeod & Brian Ó Conchubhair
(Moderator) Dr. Katie Ní Loingsigh is an Irish-language lecturer in UCC who hails from Baile Mhúirne in the Muskerry Gaeltacht. Her research interests include modern Irish literature, Gaelic revival, literature and culture of West Muskerry.
