iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

HERETIC PRIDE | WEDNESDAY 8 JULY AT 3PM | PEOPLE'S MUSEUM, LIMERICK A booklet that uses symbols of old Irish mythology and paganism to depict queer life – with nine trans writers and artists from across the island of Ireland. Eds. Dylan Ryan and me Created as part of Limerick Alternative Pride

183

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

🏳️‍⚧️ OPEN CALL FOR IRISH TRANS WRITERS AND ARTISTS 🏳️‍⚧️ I'm putting together a trans arts booklet with Dylan Ryan and Limerick Alt Pride! Pays €100, deadline 26 April. All details below!

A designed heading reading "HERETIC" in red text.

Text reads:
"ARTS BOOKLET OPEN CALL
DEADLINE: 26 APRIL, 11:59PM
PAID OPPORTUNITY

Heretic Pride will be an arts booklet produced by the Trans Limerick community with Clara Laherty as Prose & Poetry Editor and Dylan Ryan as Visual Arts Editor.

Submissions are open to the entire trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming community across all of Ireland.

The booklet will twin ancient Irish pagan traditions with contemporary queer experience to explore life on the fringe. The launch will form part of Limerick's Alt Pride this July."

Text reads:
"The booklet takes its working title from a 2008 Mountain Goats song of the same name, in which an angry mob drags the speaker from their house:
'And I feel so proud to be alive / And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives.'

We are interested in artworks – short/flash fiction, poetry, photography, illustration, anything that can be printed on a page – from people who are all of the following:
- non-cis or gender-nonconforming
- Irish or living on the island of Ireland
- eighteen or older

We are most interested in submissions relevant to any of the following:
- Ireland’s occult tradition and mythology, especially where it intersects with queerness
- The Weird as an expression of queerness
- surprising perspectives or personal experiences of pride in any form, positive or negative
- alienation from the world
- joy and resilience as it relates to pride

If you don't have any work that fits these themes, hit us with your best shot anyway!

Text reads:
"CONTRIBUTORS WILL RECEIVE A FEE OF €100 IF WORK IS SELECTED.

- You can submit up to 3 images. All visual art submissions should be at least 400 dpi and sent in .jpeg format.
- You can submit up to three poems. Poetry submissions should not exceed 80 lines.
- Prose submissions should not exceed 1,000 words.

Please send all submissions in a .doc or .docx format.

We have no rule against previously published works, but priority will be given to new and unpublished works. If your submission has been published elsewhere, please let us know and specify where, and please check that you are acting in line with the previous publishing agreement.

Please ensure all links are working correctly and passwords are included when required.

We are not accepting any submissions created, wholly or in part, with generative AI.

Please send submissions and any queries to translimerick@gmail.com with the subject line 'ZINE SUBMISSION'.

This booklet is kindly supported by Trans Limerick Community.
We look forward to seeing your work!"

064

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

- Amelia Cheeseheart! - I really have been spreading the word of Don't Trust Fish

A hand holds a copy of Amelia Cheeseheart Investigates: Chocolate Cheat! by Cat Weldon & Nene Lonergan. The cover is an illustration of Amelia, a mouse wearing pilot goggles, on a propellor plane with her best friend Webster the spider. In the background, there is a museum to the right and an Aztec temple and huge snake to the left.

My buddy Kara sitting on a couch smiling while reading the picture book Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat.

041

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Had a lovely evening. Big congrats to Ruth on the launch 🌊

A gloved hand holding a copy of 'Shorelines' by Ruth Ennis at the launch in the Gutter Bookshop. The cover has an illustration of a mermaid.

071

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

I'm in this! 'ON BEING AN ARTIST', ed. Caoilfhinn Geary, with contributions by myself and other artists. A zine that aims to break down the artistic process and offer an insight into what being an artist can look like. Available at Dublin Art Book Fair and Cork Zine Fest!

One image on top of another, with the lower image forming a border. In the top image, a hand holds a zine. The cover reads 'ON BEING AN ARTIST' in large, green handwriting alongside black, typewriter-style text reading 'ON BEING AN ARTIST', 'A ZINE BY CAOILFHINN GEARY'. The border image is of Caoilfhinn's work desk, with several copies of 'ON BEING AN ARTIST' and other materials.

082

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Such a lovely weekend at the Dublin Book Festival, especially the Raising Voices Showcase yesterday. Thank you to @childrensbooksireland.ie and @dublinbookfest.bsky.social for having me!

Me speaking behind a podium at the Grafton. I have dark, curly hair and wear round glasses and a denim jacket and skirt. I'm leaning forward in a kind of intense storyteller way.

2101

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

I'll be speaking at @dublinbookfest.bsky.social about my Irish-mythology YA novel! Swing by the Bartley's Lounge at the Grafton Hotel, Dublin on Saturday, 8 November at 4.45pm. Tickets free, booking necessary: dublinbookfestival.com/event/raisin...

1103

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

This might bear some relation to the original Starbucks logo! Their website says the designer Terry Heckler looked through "old marine books".

100

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

they mixed up the labels for Intermediate and Advanced

Completed 'Intermediate' newspaper sudoku in red ink

020

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Graffiti on the bridge down to the Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick

On a grey boundary beside a footpath, there is graffiti of a fluffy, anthropomorphic cartoon animal laying horizontal as if being blown along by the flow of traffic. They have pointed, tufted ears and a spiral in the centre of their torso.

041

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Limerick has a faintly terrifying brutalist obelisk just outside the city centre. Used to form part of the mill Ranks. There used to be two of these, one on either side of the road. But it took ages to bring the other one down. They tried to blow it up four times but it stayed standing. Too much HP

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

I don't usually cop out and crosspost Insta stories outright but I like how I look here. Happy bi visibility day 🤸‍♀️

070

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

This was such an exciting, mental weekend – I feel like I've really joined the whole kids lit world this year. All thanks and praise due to @childrensbooksireland.ie for organising the conference and for making it possible for me to come along! Here's me with my friends Coireall and Nene:

Nene Lonergan sits in an orange chair and reads a book with a played-up hand-on-chin thoughtful expression. To the right, Coireall Kent and I both sit on a rug on the floor, each holding a hand to our own faces with exaggerated expressions of awe and wonderment. Behind us, there is a bookcase.Two display bookcases on a stage. To the left, there is a signpost with three signs pointing in different directions, reading: 'WHOLE', 'WILD', 'WORLD'. On top of the right-hand-side bookshelf stack, there is a hand-drawn peace sign and a hand-drawn sign reading 'RESISTANCE' in orange bubble font.

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Jessica Love really got me thinking about 'representation' – when picture books try to Teach Kids About Racism, does that just leave the kid feeling scared, like "I'm supposed to fix this?!" Instead, she says: "It's not a lesson. It's a rehearsal."

Jessica Love speaks to an audience. She wears a yellow cardigan over a light-yellow top. A spread from 'Júlio is a Mermaid' is projected behind her. In the spread, a dark-skinned child with a mermaid tail is underwater, in among a shoal of fish in all the colours of the rainbow.

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin told us the history of ⭐ Irish-language kids press Futa Fata ⭐ the Irish language ⭐ himself, for the craic The illustrations were so fun! And you know the speaker is good when the ISL interpreter is communicating tone with expressions like that

Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin speaks to an audience in front of a bookcase display, his expression a little intense. An ISL interpreter to the left of him is signing, and her expression is very intense.

A black-and-white illustration of an old woman telling a story to three people. Over their heads, four swans fly through the air.

A cartoon of a cross King Henry the Eighth sayjng "SPEAK ENGLISH!"

A black-and-white cartoon of a happy child saying, in three speech bubbles, "Tá Gaeilge agam!", "Eu falo Portugués!", and "I speak English!". The child has long hair and wears a hoodie and shorts with a fish pattern (don't trust fish).

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Black and Irish founder Leon Diop talked about his new memoir 'Mixed Up' and about being mixed race – how much his life improved when he stopped thinking of himself as half-anything and instead as "100% of everything I am."

Leon Dip speaks to an audience. He wears a grey jacket and dark trousers.

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Kids are under a lot of pressure to be good readers. Here's a guide on how to be a *bad* reader, supposedly by @louiestowell.bsky.social but really by Loki, God of Mischief.

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Lauren O'Hara's talk included a live painting of a BEAUTIFUL Firebird, complete with Stravinsky:

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Day 2! With so many outstanding writers and illustrators – and a bookstand that threatens financial ruin for me

Multiple tables covered in a varied, colourful range of children's books.

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

It's a gorgeous event: the chats, the buzz, being in a room packed with people who care about the things you care about. Here ends day 1

Two display bookcases on a stage. To the left, there is an orange armchair and a signpost with three signs pointing in different directions, reading: 'WHOLE', 'WILD', 'WORLD'. On top of the right-hand-side bookshelf stack, there is a hand-drawn peace sign and a hand-drawn sign reading 'RESISTANCE' in orange bubble font.

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

And the launch of 'Making It Up As You Go Along: A Children's Guide to Writing Stories'. A gorgeous thing to make. Mary Murphy's illustration is so funny and smartly pitched. And Trish – well. She's kids-lit's answer to Miggeldy, complete with cries of "Please don't go!"

A hand holding a copy of 'Making It Up As You Go Along: A Children's Guide to Writing Stories'. In the background and out of focus, Mags Walsh addresses an audience. She's seated around a coffee table with Patricia Forde and Mary Murphy.

121

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

The Children's Books Ireland Annual Award went to Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, founder and director of Futa Fata!

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Loads of amazing stuff today: ⭐ Two Children's Laureates in conversation, Patricia Forde and Frank Cottrell-Boyce – SO funny ⭐ Anna McQuinn on US book bannings, the racism that causes them, and how to fight that – with stories ⭐ Briony May Smith on her new book Hogbert (the art is gorgeous???)

Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Patricia Forde laugh together. They're both sitting in chairs behind a coffee table. Frank wears a white shirt, dark trousers, and loafers. Patricia wears all black shirt and trousers.

Anna McQuinn addresses an audience from behind a podium. She wears a pink shirt and dark trousers.

Briony May Smith beams at something lut of frame, up and to the left. She wears glasses, a light-coloured top, and a dark skirt. A sign-language interpreter stands to the right of her.

The cover of 'Hogbert' by Briony May Smith on a screen. It's an illustration of a baby boar in bushes with flowers and strawberries.

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

I'm up at the Light House Cinema for the @childrensbooksireland.ie Conference! Stacks of children's writers, illustrators, and all the different people who make it happen – all in one place.

A street near the Light House Cinema in Dublin city.

160

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Had a gorgeous week on residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre last week! @childrensbooksireland.ie have done loads for me – I'm halfway through my second draft now, somehow. And I adore everyone else in Raising Voices 💜

In the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Caoimhe Hennessy, Eve Magrahan, Amelia Etherton, me (Clara Laherty), and Coireall Kent sit around a table having a conversation in a bay window.

A room with a wooden desk and chair in front of a window. The desk holds a laptop, cup and saucer, lamp, and various books and notebooks. There is a bookcase to the left of the desk. Through the window, a grassy area and a lake can be seen.

In the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, I stand by a piano looking at Coireall Kent, who sits with their hands on the keys. We both wear glasses and green shirts. Coireall has dark hair cut short. I have big, dark, curly hair and wear yellow trousers with vertical and horizontal lines.

020

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

an old story calls for old tech my version of 'the tale of balor' will appear in 'Radiant Work-ings II' this week, including an accessible audio version on my trusty 2009 ipod nano opening this thursday the 28th, 6–9pm at spacecraft studios, limerick. running for the rest of the week from 11am–5pm

041

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

I have a short story in an exhibition! My story is a retelling of an old folk tale about Balor, a wicked general prophesised to be killed by his own grandson. We're kicking off the show on Thursday the 28th from 6–9pm in Spacecraft Studios, Limerick. See you there?

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Then Kevin Moran of The Doomsday Club, an Irish spin on Goosebumps! I'm having fun coming along to children's book events, and Kevin was so lively with it and great with the kids.

100

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

My last day at #WCLF2025 – I got started with Will Sliney, comics mastermind of Star Wars, Spider-Man, and The Shrouded College. Very funny, great to see such success. Bantry House was a beautiful venue too!

Will Sliney, seated, speaks to an audience in a sheltered area outside Bantry House.

Bantry House, a lovely old three-storey building with bricks in warm colours. My buddies Caoimhe Hennessy and Anna Higgons walk along in front of it.

100

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

And finally: grapevvine! A storytelling platform by fellow NUIG Creative Writing alumni Daniel Galvin. Massive fun, massive laughs. Great cap to the whole day

Daniel Galvin speaks into a microphone to an audience at Marino Church.

100

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Then back to church for Seán Farrell and Quynh Tran, both writing novels for adults with child POVs. Different tone to children's writers of talking about the work, but similar central concerns: capturing the voice of a child (not in an evil magic way)

Quynh Tran speaks into a microphone to an audience at Marino Church. Seán Farrell is to his right.

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

In the middle of this, we have the launch of the second edition of Rainbow Library, tge youth LGBT anthology. Fair play to Kel Menton again for facilitating the project So gorgeous. Really strong, cool work. Also I watched @griffski.bsky.social teach a teenager how to draw the cool S.

Five teenage contributors to Rainbow Library pose for a photograph in a school hall

131

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

In the Marino Church, Balsam Karam talked about her new novel The Singularity with her translator Saskia Vogel. So many writers at the festival this year engaging with motherhood and children in really interesting ways

Balsam Karam speaks to an audience in Marino Church from a seat behind a table. Saskia Vogel is to her right

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Then I swung to the library for a reading from assorted writing groups facilitated by Leeanne O'Donnell – lovely, lovely stuff. And such an attractive venue. What library has a waterfall?

A person reads to an audience in a library

A waterfall built around a balcony next to a street

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

First up today was @kelmenton.bsky.social of A FIX OF LIGHT – it's so good to have trans writers hitting it big in Irish YA, and Kel is the real deal (and a dote)

Kel Menton reads from his novel A FIX OF LIGHT into a microphone to an audience at Bantry Bookstore. Molly Twomey is to their left. Kel wears a white shirt and glasses and has short, fair hair.

120

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Kids writers/illustrators meetup!

Me, Amelia Etherton, Jen Wallace, and Caoimhe Hennessy pose for a photo

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Then later, Caoilinn Hughes and Claire Kilroy in the Maritime Hotel discussing their process and their new novels – really sharp, insightful, and funny #wclf2025

Caoilinn Hughes speaks into a microphone to an audience in the Maritime Hotel. She wears a white top and her hair is tied up. Claire Kilroy is on her left, and the MC is on her right (I didn't get the name, sorry to her). Behind them, a projector screen reads "West Cork Literary Festival, Friday 11 – 18 July 2025, Bantry, Co. Cork" with a red circle over it, surrounded by a red, dotted-pattern design.

110

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

My first event was @childrensbooksireland.ie! Where I learned lots: - You don't usually have to give directions to an illustrator for a chapter book - My book is probably 10,000 words too long - And much more... @sarahwebbwriter.bsky.social @pforde123.bsky.social @leonaforde1.bsky.social

Patricia Forde speaks to an audience in the Work Shop. She has red hair and wears a brown dress. Sarah Webb is to her right, and Leona Forde is to her left. In front of her, a table holds loads of children's books.

240

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

She also bankrolled my new NAILS – I got these done at Odd on Thomas Street in Limerick, by Anastasiia. loving them. so fun to get funky and silly with it! #TreatyCity

My nails with nail art: a white base with pastel red, blue, and green polka dots.

160

clara @claralaherty.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

it's my 30th coming up – and look what my gf @kimberleychiu.bsky.social painted for me. how amazing is this

A painting of me on a yellow-stone balcony, facing away. I wear a burgundy T-shirt and aqua-blue chinos. I'm looking at a parking complex in the background. The painting is, you know – very good!!!

3243