The Mighty Pen (with Brain Injury Matters, Open Arts, and Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's)
Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s, Belfast, BT7 1NJ
Friday 2nd October 2026
The Mighty Pen
Poetry, readings, and script-in-hand performance
£5 pass to all Mighty Pen events (free to participants)
Access: BSL.
3:00 – 4:00 pm: Concrete Poetry - New Writings from Brain Injury Matters
Concrete poetry is a modern term for poetry that uses letter arrangement in visual form to convey meaning. In this approach, how words look is as important as what they mean. Concrete poets often seek an international style, so even without understanding the written language, meaning can be grasped through visual shape. These poems seek to ignite the imagination and challenge the boundaries of language and art.
4:30 – 5:30 pm: 'Words, Worlds and Wonder' - Open Pen Writing Group (Open Arts) - Readings based on Gulliver's Travels
This session presents writing from the Open Pen Group's 2026 workshops inspired by wordplay, the alphabet, and Gulliver's Travels. The group explores language, communication, and identity, to reflect on how words can connect, confuse, delight, and inspire.
6:00 – 7:30 pm: Off the Page with Bounce Festival - Rehearsed Table Readings
A special edition of Seamus Heaney Centre's Off the Page script development programme, led by playwright Darcey Youngman. Four writers are supported by Darcey and other theatre-makers to prepare scripts in progress ahead of this public performance. This event will include rehearsed readings from new activism-themed writings by disabled and neurodivergent writers:
Poetry, readings, and script-in-hand performance
£5 pass to all Mighty Pen events (free to participants)
Access: BSL.
3:00 – 4:00 pm: Concrete Poetry - New Writings from Brain Injury Matters
Concrete poetry is a modern term for poetry that uses letter arrangement in visual form to convey meaning. In this approach, how words look is as important as what they mean. Concrete poets often seek an international style, so even without understanding the written language, meaning can be grasped through visual shape. These poems seek to ignite the imagination and challenge the boundaries of language and art.
4:30 – 5:30 pm: 'Words, Worlds and Wonder' - Open Pen Writing Group (Open Arts) - Readings based on Gulliver's Travels
This session presents writing from the Open Pen Group's 2026 workshops inspired by wordplay, the alphabet, and Gulliver's Travels. The group explores language, communication, and identity, to reflect on how words can connect, confuse, delight, and inspire.
6:00 – 7:30 pm: Off the Page with Bounce Festival - Rehearsed Table Readings
A special edition of Seamus Heaney Centre's Off the Page script development programme, led by playwright Darcey Youngman. Four writers are supported by Darcey and other theatre-makers to prepare scripts in progress ahead of this public performance. This event will include rehearsed readings from new activism-themed writings by disabled and neurodivergent writers:
- Isaac Quinn (Strabane): activism and theatre from a trans perspective
- Johanna Gallagher (Belfast): immigration and activism
- Andrew McNeill (Belfast): conflict and other social issues from a working-class perspective
- Alex Cregan (Derry): intersectionality and queerness
