معرفی
Kelly McCaughrain is a Children’s Writing Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast and the Seamus Heaney Centre, appointed by the Arts Council Northern Ireland (2019-2021). Her role focuses on promoting youth creativity, addressing declining creative opportunities in schools, and fostering creative writing groups. She launched The Blank Page, a resource platform for educators, offering guides, books, and activity kits to support post-primary school writing initiatives.
Her debut novel Flying Tips for Flightless Birds earned multiple awards including the Children’s Choice Award 2019 and Northern Ireland Book Award 2019, alongside a Carnegie Medal nomination. Kelly advocates for accessible creative education through author visits, workshops, and partnerships with libraries and schools across Northern Ireland, England, and Wales.
Her professional activities include judging competitions like BBC Radio’s Two Minute Tales and collaborating with Belfast Met’s supported learning classes to engage teens with special needs. During the pandemic, she emphasized isolation’s impact on creativity, balancing novel-writing with gardening and reading classics like War and Peace.
- Awards: NI Book Award, Eilis Dillon Award, Book of the Year
- Grants: Arts Council Northern Ireland Fellowship
- Advising: Mentors young writers via Fighting Words and school visits
She leads the NI Scrubs sewing initiative for healthcare workers and contributes to literary podcasts and Tiny Masterclasses, advocating for introverts in creative spaces.
