Each year, the Seamus Heaney Centre announces three Fellows from the worlds of Poetry, Fiction, Music, Film and Television to explore creative writing in all its forms by working with students and contributing to the Centre’s activities within the University and the wider literary community. 

Author Caoilinn Hughes’s latest novel is The Alternatives, a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her second novel, The Wild Laughter won the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award, and her debut Orchid & the Wasp won the Collyer Bristow Prize. Her short stories have won the Irish Book Awards’ Story of the Year, The Moth Story Prize, and an O.Henry Award.  

Speaking about the appointment, Caoilinn said: "It's hugely meaningful to be invited to be a Seamus Heaney Fellow. I did my undergrad and MA at Queen's, and some of the most formative time I spent there was in the old Seamus Heaney Centre, attending events and workshops, forging friendships, and taking inspiration from the lineage of Visiting Writers in situ at the time, including Sinead Morrisey, Ian Sansom and Ciaran Carson. It's a place that celebrates literature's seriousness and provenance, as well as its pleasure and humour and chance. I look forward to revisiting the space and the larger community, and to the exchanges that will come." 

Belfast-based artist Mark McCambridge has been releasing music under the name ARBORIST for close to a decade. With over three critically acclaimed albums, he has recorded with Kim Deal, Matthew E White and Bill Drummond, and shared the stage with Cat Power, Echo & The Bunnymen and Low. He has also composed music for film, TV and radio. In 2026 he will release his much anticipated fourth LP.   

Mark said: "I have attended and been involved in many events at the new Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s and it has always been such a pleasure to work with the staff and the family around the institution. So, to be invited to become a Fellow is an immeasurable honour and a great sense of personal pride, especially under the historic and eminent name of Seamus Heaney himself. I look forward to spending more time with everyone, being creative and inspired." 

Playwright Conor McPherson, born in Dublin and educated at University College Dublin, began writing and directing while a student. His acclaimed plays include The Weir, The Seafarer, The Night Alive, Shining City, Girl from the North Country (with Bob Dylan), and Port Authority, among others. His stage adaptions include Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, Du Maurier’s The Birds, Pawlikowski’s Cold War (with Elvis Costello), and Kroetz’s The Nest. His work has earned numerous honours, including the Laurence Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award, New York Critics Circle Award, and five Tony Award nominations to name a few. 

Conor commented: “I’m truly honoured to become a Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow this year. I was fortunate to know Seamus and spend a little time with him on a number of occasions. Besides his singular poetic genius, he was always a warmly generous presence, whose curiosity and humour made him a pleasure to meet. So this opportunity to share creative experiences in the shelter of his memory feels particularly moving and I couldn’t be happier. I look forward to it immensely.” 

Seamus Heaney Centre Director Professor Glenn Patterson is looking forward to welcoming the new Fellows. He said: "It is impossible to overstate the breadth of writing experience - the sheer brilliance - these new Seamus Heaney Centre Fellows bring. From poetry to podcasts, through stage, screen, fiction short and long, live and recorded original song they really have, between them, done it all - and in what style! I can’t wait to welcome them to the Heaney Centre."