Spotlight Writer’s 2026
Spotlight Writer’s 2026 is a new programme with the Martello. These three writer’s have been selected to work with us on their pieces for each of our upcoming editions this year!
Keelan Gallagher
Keelan Gallagher is a short story writer, screenwriter and film essayist from Letterkenny, Co. Donegal and resident in Rush, Co. Dublin. His short fiction has featured in Ragaire Magazine, Sparks Literary Journal, SWERVE Magazine, The Martello Journal and ROPES Journal. His feature script ‘An Solas’ is currently in development with N.I. Screen and TG4. He is a regular contributor to filmindublin.ie where he has just concluded an article series entitled ‘75/‘25 comparing the films of those years.
Sarah O’Connor
Sarah is a writer from Cork, now living in Vancouver, Canada with her husband, four children, and her dog. Her work has appeared in The Closed Eye Open (Mayas Micros, Issue 36) and 50-Word Stories, with forthcoming work in Bending Genres.
Diarmuid Maolalai
DS Maolalai has been described by one editor as "a cosmopolitan poet" and another as "prolific, bordering on incontinent". His work has been nominated fourteen times for BOTN, eleven for the Pushcart and once for the Forward Prize, and released in three collections; "Love is Breaking Plates in the Garden" (Encircle Press, 2016), "Sad Havoc Among the Birds" (Turas Press, 2019) and “Noble Rot” (Turas Press, 2022)