Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies Writing Fellowship

Scottish Writing Fellow 2026

Donald S Murray

Donald S Murray is one of the most accomplished and versatile writers in Scotland. He is a poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and writer of non-fiction. He is the winner of the Paul Torday Memorial Prize for his novel As the Women Lay Dreaming and has been shortlisted and longlisted for numerous other prizes. A Niseach, from Ness at the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis, he has lived for twenty years on Shetland.

Donald is in Dunedin as the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies Writing Fellow for 2026, and we’re grateful to the Stuart Residence Halls Council, the Eamon Cleary Trust, and the Caselberg Trust for making Donald’s visit possible.

Irish Writing Fellow 2025

Nicole Flattery

Nicole Flattery is the holder of the 2025 Irish Writing Fellowship at the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago. Nicole’s work has appeared in The Stinging Fly, The London Review of Books, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and Sight and Sound, amongst others. Her first collection of stories, Show Them a Good Time, was published in 2019, and was the winner of the An Post Irish Book Award, the Kate O'Brien Award and the White Review Prize, and also appeared in the Irish Times list of the 100 Best Irish Books of the 21st Century. Her novel Nothing Special was published in 2023 and was widely acclaimed. Her work has been translated into eight languages.

Nicole will spend the months of August and September in Dunedin, where she will be attached to the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies. Along with mentoring postgraduate students, she will contribute to undergraduate courses in Irish Studies and creative writing, and give a number of public lectures and readings.