Foyle Pride 2026: Queer Archives Writing Workshop

For Foyle Pride 2026 CCA invites writer and organiser Séadgh Donohue to deliver a creative writing workshop, Where did our stories go? This workshop will manoeuvre around queer Irish archives. Leafing through accounts of queer existence and activism in books, pamphlets and photos found in the Rainbow Project in Derry, the Linen Hall Library in Belfast and beyond. Held in Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, on Saturday 22 August 2026, 12-2pm. Free, all welcome, no writing experience necessary!

Séadgh Donohue is a writer and organiser in Marseille. They are currently training in creative writing workshops at Aix Marseille University. They work in a school in Marseille, outside of paid work they participate in a queer community archive and a weekly anti-carceral radio show.

"12th October 2023,

I peered into the bungalow next to the multi-storey car park until you came to open the door, "Séadgh?"

In we go. You offer me a cup of coffee. In the back room, you gestured toward a cardboard box. You began explaining how it wound up in Derry's Rainbow Project.

/ sifted through:

~ news clippings from Derry Prides from 2015 and 2016,

~ a B&W photocopy of Out & About @ Foyle Pride party,

~ film photos of Derry Pride in 1995 (my birth year),

~ handmade lesbian bisexual striped flags (not classic lesbian or bisexual colours)

All the while surrounded by a mural of Derry's queer histories on the bungalow's walls as you shared the story of how a gay man from Derry secured the LGBTQIA+ spot in the NYC St Patrick's Day parade."

This workshop is designed for queer/trans writers, non-writers, and artists and aims to provide a creative community for the sharing of resources and strategies and is open to everyone, with or without writing experience.

This workshop is free, secure your place here, drop-ins will also welcome on the day. This workshop is suitable for ages 16 and over.