Colm Keegan has extensive experience working with young adults in secondary schools, youthreach, third level and beyond. He was integral in the development and running of WRaPParound (a rap and poetry project run by the Department of Education & Poetry Ireland). He has been a writer in residence in Collinstown Park Community College Clondalkin since 2012 where he runs a ten module course for transition year students as well as two writing groups for junior and senior students in the school.
He has mentored numerous young writers to award winning standards. Films he has co-written and produced with young people have been shown in the Lighhouse Cinema and have won awards at CAST national Film Festival two years running. He has mentored some of the most well known young writers working in Ireland today.
He is a qualified youth leader and Kayak instructor who received The Gold Gaisce award from President Mary McAlese and was presented with the Gulbenkian Award for community involvement. This youth background informs his empowering and developmental approach to how writing is taught to young people.
Workshops can be provided in the following, either as once of workshops or as part of a series.
Take a look at the options below or get in touch with Colm here.
Workshops
POETRY & SPOKEN WORD
Start with the heart, pour it out on the page and then take it to the stage. From form and page poetry to performing for an audience, the broad spectrum of poetic writing is utilised to produce poems in class.
SCREENWRITING
Break down the art of screenwriting to find out what makes great movies tick. Using online screenwriting software participants can write their own short scenes or collaborate over a series of sessions to produce their own film.
RAP
Dig into the roots of rap from the Golden Age to current date, participants collaborate with classmates to produce lyrics tuned to the ear and backed up by live beats.
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SLAM SESSIONS WITH COLM KEEGAN AND JOHN CUMMINS
Both All Ireland Poetry Slam Champions, Colm Keegan and John Cummins are two of Ireland’s best known contemporary poets. Forever compelling on the page and electrifying in performance, these two have joined forces to create The Slam Sessions.
Working in tandem in two separate sets of classes, they’ll provide a day’s worth of workshops and return to put on a slam poetry competition of epic proportions one week later, where young poets will perform to a gigantic audience of their peers. This gig is guaranteed to blow the roof off your school!
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SHORT STORIES
Colm is four times Hennessy New Irish Writing Short Story comp nominee and a widely published prose writer. Colm will share what he knows while discussing the great short story writers, students learn how plot makes character and character makes plot, before developing their own short stories. This workshop is especially useful for leaving cert students.
Contact Colm
To talk to Colm about a commission, project or workshop, please fill in this form.