Rosaline lives in Derry, Northern Ireland along with her independent rescue cat, Beannacht, and Hereditary Amyloidosis, a rare, genetic, ultimately fatal condition originating in a fifteen-mile ribbon of coastline in Donegal, for which there was no treatment until a few years ago. She has self-published her book ~ Donegal Amy: A Rare Inherited Disease from Ireland and is the Founder of Amyloidosis Ireland Support Group. Her poems appear in Heartland and Threshold by the Community Arts Partnership, Drawn to the Light Press, Issue 8, Brick by Brick by Silver Apples, and Autumn Fragments by the Seamus Heaney Homeplace. She read … Continue reading Rosaline Callaghan – 2024 Soundwaves Winner – Trophy for Best Poetry Piece 

Robin Holmes believes that growing up on a small hill farm in the Mourne Mountains has been a deeply formative experience for his writing. In his poetry he explores themes of the natural world, the life of birds, the changing seasons and man’s problematic relationship to the environment. His work has appeared regularly in the Bangor Literary Journal and the annual Community Arts Partnership Poetry in Motion Anthologies. Video recordings of his poems ‘Psithurism’ and ‘Fred Dibnah’ are available on the Bangor Literary Journal’s YouTube channel. His poem ‘ The Swans of Gaza ’ was longlisted for The Seamus Heaney … Continue reading Robin Holmes – 2024 Soundwaves Winner 

Being a Belfast woman who has been uprooted and replanted several times in different countries and continents, has made Noreen Kane a little peculiar.  Having performed poorly at school under the loving tutelage of the nuns, she found herself at 30 yrs old avidly studying in a foreign country to become an Occupational Therapist and now at 69 yrs old doing an Open University degree in Arts & Humanities and Creative Writing.  With a short little span of attention and all the traits of a Scorpio she is consistently sucking the marrow out of life.  After writing alone for 65 … Continue reading Noreen Kane – 2024 Soundwaves Winner

Sarah McCaughan grew up in a family of 4 in Kilrea, Co Derry, Northern Ireland. She went on to do an English degree at Queen’s University Belfast, then trained as an English teacher. After her son’s autism diagnosis and her own late diagnosis at the age of 33, Sarah sought to understand the condition more deeply. This prose piece tells her story of genetic autism, familiar in many communities, and aims to dispel rumours and inspire a kinder world. Sarah currently works for an online educational resource site, while writing in her spare time. She previously worked as an English … Continue reading Sarah McCaughan – 2024 Soundwaves Winner – Trophy for Best Prose Piece

A BBC staff journalist for twenty years based in Northern Ireland during the conflict, Felicity McCall is a writer and broadcaster. She has more than twenty published titles, thirteen plays staged professionally and four screenplay credits. Genres include young adult fiction, literary fiction, short stories and memoir for Little Island, Guildhall Press, Penguin and Blackstaff. Her theatre life saw her founding and running three professional touring companies and acting for stage and film, as well as co-founding the multi-disciplinary group, Literary Ladies. Career awards include the Tyrone Guthrie award for stage and screenplay,  a best Heritage project UK Big Lottery … Continue reading Felicity McCall – 2024 Soundwaves Winner

Michaela McDaid has been published in The RTE Guide and Derry Journal, and has written and read for BBC Radio Foyle.  She has also read at Tenx9 events and the John Hewitt International Summer School, and been filmed reading a memoir extract for the Playhouse in Derry.  With short stories published in two anthologies, as an Eco-therapist she has contributed to Different Diagnoses, Similar experiences, just published by Emerald Publishers. Michaela was also a Winner in the Prose Category of the 2023 Soundwaves Competition. As a ‘late starter’ Michela believes she always had a strong voice, she just needed to clear her throat. North Coast At the edge … Continue reading Michaela McDaid – 2024 Soundwaves Winner – Trophy for Best Performance

Seamus Mc Dermott , living in Donegal, Ireland, is a member of ‘The Diamond Writers’ and ‘This Writing Thing’ He has had poems published in Corncrake Magazine 2023, Honest Ulsterman 2023, The Madrigal Literary Magazine February 2022, Little Gems Magazine Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter editions (2019 –2023), 11th edition of Crossways Literary Magazine June 2021, The Bangor Literary Journal issues 15 and 18, and Hidden Donegal, anthology of Donegal poets 2022. He has also been shortlisted in the Allingham Arts Poetry Competition 2020/2021/2022/2023 and in The Bangor Literary Journal 2021 Forty Words Competition. His poems have been Highly Commended … Continue reading Seamus McDermott – 2024 Soundwaves Winner

Stan is based in  Co. Donegal, Ireland. A parent of three grown children, an organic farmer and wind farmer, his writing takes inspiration from a rural environment, and his Irish Antrim and Leitrim roots. After a career, encompassing engineering, teaching and farming, Stan started creative writing in 2019. Having produced a series of short stories, a mixture of memoirs, family-related tales and fiction, his work has been published in the Leitrim Guardian,  Fingerpost, The Corran Herald, The Bangor Literary Review, The Galway Review, and in the Ulster-Scots publication Yarns. He has contributed to the Bloody Sunday 50th Anniversary Community Writing … Continue reading Stan McWilliams – 2024 Soundwaves Winner

Born and raised in Liverpool, Sue made her way south through England before settling on the banks of a small river near the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland. After a career spanning education and psychotherapy, she is still searching for just the right words and is happy to have found a group of people engaged in that same search.  Her work has been published in journals, anthologies and magazines. It can be found on the YouTube channels of The Bangor Literary Journal, Issue 11 and in the Community Arts Partnership anthologies, Heartland (2021) and Threshold (2022) where her poems, The Goldfinch and  a naming of parts, were longlisted for the … Continue reading Sue Steging – 2024 Soundwaves Winner

A retired businessman from Portstewart, Peter is married to Maggie, with four children and five grandchildren. Loving poetry from an early age he had always planned to concentrate on his poetry in his retirement.  During his years at school, he loved to read but could not spell, which held him back from pursuing an academic career. Advances in technology meant writing became easier for him. He now has a desire to share his poetry with other likeminded people. The Felling Where grows the tree which will bury me? Are you in a forest, wood or hedgerow do children climb in … Continue reading Peter Osbourne – First Time Published