In collaboration with The Telling Room!
Sunday, February 1st
2:30-4:30pm
All are welcome, entry is free!
Join us at the Center for an exciting afternoon of storytelling and reflection with acclaimed Irish author Áine Greaney, in partnership with The Telling Room. This multigenerational writing workshop invites participants to come just as they are—no prior writing experience required!
Rooted in the spirit of Imbolc, this session will explore themes of looking back and looking forward, drawing inspiration from personal memory, family stories, and hopes for the season ahead. The workshop will include guided writing prompts, followed by an optional sharing circle. Áine will also share selections from her own work, alongside participants who wish to read aloud.
Designed for middle schoolers and up, this program is ideal for individuals, families, and friends who want to write together across generations. Expect an encouraging, accessible environment that centers voice, story, and connection. All are welcome, however, and we will have activities for any young friends who may not be ready to engage in the writing but wish to attend!
Details:
📍 At the Maine Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray Street, Portland Maine
🕝 2:30–4:30 PM
Coffee, tea, hot cocoa, juice, and light snacks will be provided!
This is a special opportunity to take a workshop with Áine Greaney and engage directly with an internationally published Irish writer in an intimate, community-centered setting.
About Áine Greaney:
Áine Greaney grew up on a small farm in County Mayo, Ireland. In the late 1980s, she joined the 200,000 (approximately) young Irish who left their native land to emigrate to the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere.
Greaney’s fifth published book, “Trespassers and Other Stories” was released in spring 2025 and is now available to order from the publisher and wherever good books are sold. Trespassers is a transatlantic collection of literary stories about characters (mostly women) who feel perpetually displaced or stuck in misfit places.
In America, Greaney’s work has been cited in “Best American Essays,” and her second novel, “Dance Lessons” was named a “great group read” by the Women’s National Book Association. Her essay, “Sanctuary” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
In addition to her books (Simon & Schuster, Writers Digest/Penguin Random House, Syracuse UP), her essays, features and stories have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, The Boston Globe Magazine, The New York Times, Books Ireland, KevinMD, Another Chicago Magazine, NPR’s WBUR Radio, Salon, The Mindful Word, IMAGE Magazine, The Irish Times, The Wisdom Daily, Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, Tendon, Johns Hopkins Center for Medical Humanities and many other publications.
A trained teacher with a master’s degree in English and certified in leading expressive writing workshops, she has designed and led creative and wellness writing events for 20+ years.
Learn more about Aine Greaney: https://www.ainegreaney.com/
About the Telling Room:
The Telling Room was founded in 2004 by three writers—Sara Corbett, Mike Paterniti, and Susan Conley—who imagined that getting in touch with the youth of Portland and their stories could be like putting your ear to a seashell and hearing the whole ocean. They were right!
Enthusiasm and demand for our programs grew exponentially—The Telling Room now works with over 2,500 young writers each year, reaching students and teachers from over 50 schools and serving more than 100 communities across the state of Maine annually.
Our accomplishments have been recognized with awards and major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Alliance for Arts Education’s Imagination Intensive Communities program, Maine Arts Commission, and the Maine Humanities Council among many others.
In November 2015, our Young Writers & Leaders program won a prestigious National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award as one of the top 12 youth arts and humanities programs in the nation. In 2024, we were awarded the Golden Apple Award by the Maine Education Association.
Learn more about the amazing organization and the programs they offer here: https://www.tellingroom.org/