The Nerve: An English and Arts Podcast

This final episode of the podcast for the academic year features BA Arts graduate Dr Caleb O’Connor. After his degree in English and Psychology at then-WIT, he went on to do an MA in Gender, Sexuality and Culture at UCD. He then won a UCD Ad Astra scholarship to complete a PhD in queer ecology and a Fulbright Award to pursue his studies at NYU. As well as lecturing at UCD, he has published in a variety of collections on queer ecology and also works as a Community and Outreach Engagement Lead at Outhouse. During the podcast, he talks about the confidence he gained from his time at WIT/SETU and UCD, explains what queer ecology is and discusses its importance to questions of sustainability and environmental and social justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jen Bray’s first novel, The Lies Between Us, is set in the seaside village of Dunmore East in Co. Waterford, where a disappearance and a murder cause old wounds to be reopened and family secrets to be unveiled. This first novel has shot to the top of bestseller lists in Ireland and has now been sold to publishers in Germany, Poland and the United States. However, Jen also holds down a full-time job as Political Editor of The Sunday Times and was formerly a political journalist with The Irish Times. In this episode of the podcast, she chats about juggling these roles, the joy that writing gives her and how she processed her own brush with violence through her novel.

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This episode of the podcast celebrates the launch of the new student-led literary magazine Glór. The first of its kind at SETU, the magazine features work by students from across disciplines and departments and spans art, poetry, fiction, reviews and interviews. The editorial team behind the magazine comprises a group of dedicated second year English students who have big plans for future issues and talk about the realities of balancing college work, part-time jobs and editing responsibilities as well as the pride and motivation they’ve enjoyed through developing and launching the magazine. If you are a student at SETU and want to submit to the magazine, you can find them @glormagsetu on Instagram or glormagazine@gmail.com

The first issue of the magazine was funded by The Growth Hub and the second issue will be funded by the Department of Arts. 
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Natasha Everitt is a former student of Theatre Studies and English at SETU and since graduating, she has worked as a drama instructor, writer, actress and voiceover artist. Her upcoming show, Time Passes, will take place at Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford on 6th and 7th March. Directed by Deirdre Dwyer, the production focuses on a young woman whose mind starts to unravel to the point where she dreams of becoming a lawnmower. In studio, they discuss the process of developing and producing a one-woman show, the responsibility of representing mental health challenges in the theatre, and the hopes that they have for the future of the production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her collection of personal essays, This Interim Time, Oona Frawley details the ways in which we try to make sense of the world as our loved ones pass on. Her mother’s descent into dementia and the death of her beloved friend after a battle with cancer cause her to meditate on the loss of her father decades earlier in New York, where she grew up. Now a lecturer in Maynooth University, Dr Frawley’s research interests span late-19th and 20th century Irish Studies, Memory and Trauma Studies, ecocriticism, and writing from New Zealand and Australia, and she teaches on the Creative Writing programme alongside Paul Lynch (Prophet Song) and Belinda McKeon (Tender). Her novel, Flight, was published in 2014 and was nominated for an Irish Book Award. In this first episode of the podcast for 2026, Oona talks about her connection with America and with Ireland, the impact of having actor parents and what it’s like to be vulnerable in your writing when you are also a lecturer standing in front of 400 students.

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