It is with heartfelt pleasure that we at ‘Ireland Writing Retreat’ are excited to present Emily DeDakis, who will join Irish-born journalist, editor, publisher, author and public speaker, Sean Hillen, as writing tutor at this September’s week-long event.
Daughter of a choral musician & a journalist and sister of two drummers, Emily grew up in the southeast U.S. She earned a B.A. in literature & history at Tulane University in New Orleans, and in 2005 moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Writing
Holding M.A. & Ph.D degrees in creative writing from Queen’s University Belfast, Emily has taught writing extensively – to undergraduates, ex-prisoners, school-kids, playwrights & community groups.
Her current writing projects are Voicetown (a novel), 47¢ (a collection of flash fiction, with photographer Twy Miller), Shipwrecks & Lighthouses (a stage play) and Stowaway City (a soundwalk, with sonic artist Isobel Anderson).
Dramaturgy
Currently, Emily is dramaturg & producer for Accidental Theatre, a Belfast-based new-writing company working in alternative formats and in collaboration with other art forms (like performance art, music composition & videography). She has developed scripts with dozens of playwrights, and has acted as dramaturg for numerous performances, including: Gordon Osràm’s Funeral by Dave Kinghan (immersive play/gallery; Accidental 2016), The Lost Martiniby Accidental Theatre & Shannon Yee (immersive play/jazz club; 2015), The Kitchen, the Bedroom & the Grave by Donal O’Hagan (stage play/film documentary; Accidental 2014), Arrivals and Arrivals 2 (intercultural plays; Terra Nova 2014 & ’15), Katie, Don’t Go (photo-sound installation; The MAC 2013) and The Dutiful Wife (dance theatre; OffTheRails 2015).
Emily is a script reader for New Writing South (Brighton) and recipient of 2014 & ‘15 dramaturgy fellowships from the BBC Performing Arts Fund. As a theatre-maker in Belfast, she has pioneered Playwrights’ Bootcamps (alternative workshops for scriptwriters) and the Belfast version of Fast & Loose (a 24-hour play project, now in its 10th year at the Lyric Theatre).
Editing
A voracious editor, Emily has worked professionally on all sorts of texts: poetry, policy documents, literary magazines, book manuscripts, a university newspaper and two international academic journals.
Only a few places left so book your place now at this Autumn's Writing Retreat.