Celebrate the act of running and the art of writing as creative responses to the world around us. 

For some authors, writing a novel is akin to running a marathon – the journey is as essential and as meaningful as the destination. Running and writing are, in their own contexts, deeply creative undertakings. How does the loneliness of the long distance runner affect the writer? Can running free up the creative mind in ways we haven’t previously considered? Along an inspiring run through the streets of Dublin, children’s author and regular runner Shane Hegarty will pause for breath at key points along the way to talk about the synergies between running and writing – the pursuit of physical and creative goals. We’ll draw on insights from Irish and international writers and take a peek into Jonathan Swift’s surprisingly innovative fitness programme! 

This will be a leisurely and thoughtful run but participants should be suitably fit for a 5km run with stops along the way. Shane Hegarty is the bestselling children’s author of the Darkmouth series and the wonderful Boot series about a robot who wakes up in a rubbish grinder with only two-and-a-half memories. Darkmouth was nominated for the Waterstones Prize and is currently undergoing a film adaptation, and Boot was the UNESCO City of Literature Dublin CityWide Read in 2020.