FAMILIES NOMINATION GUIDELINES AND FORM
We are looking for families who enjoy spending time together, families who would like to share stories about what they do together, be it going to matches, hiking, cooking or playing music. We are looking for a wide range of families, from Clonmel natives, to foreign born, Irish incomers and/or people who have married locally, families that are mixed, multicultural, blended or single-parent, families that represent the wide spectrum of Clonmel residents today. Nominations should be made by a family member or a third party ( friend, neighbour, carer, colleague) who will commit to be the liaison person between the family members and the project coordinator, so as to ensure transparency, safeguarding and ease of communication.
Applefest will match each family with a community writer who will interview the family in a place of their choice. Ideally the nominator should be present to ensure best safeguarding practice and assist with the interview process. Please note that all candidates will go through the same nominations process. Nominating a family does not guarantee that they will be included in the final shortlist.
FAMILY PROFILE
Nominated families should be:
- Clonmel residents for at least 10 years.
- Comprise at least 3 people preferably of several generations.
- Be comfortable sharing stories and key events from their lives.
- Attend an introductory workshop with other Clonmel families.
- Highlight family aspects that are special and precious to them.
- Be willing to be photographed by John D.Kelly.
- Be willing to proofread the final story and give feedback.
- Be willing to have the final essay and photograph published.
Deadline for nomination form: 10th May. Final shortlist will be announced on the 15th May. For questions and inquiries, please email: familiesofclonmel@gmail.com
if you would like to nominate a family, please fill in the form here
For our fifth year, Clonmel Applefest launches its ‘Families of Clonmel’ project, highlighting the life stories of families in Clonmel and what they do when they spend time together. This project follows on previous highly successful writing projects in collaboration with a vibrant cohort of locally-based community writers who previously met and wrote about local artisans, elders, and/or incomers into our area, complemented by beautiful photographs by John D. Kelly.
As per previous years, the selected community writers will learn to fine tune their interviewing, structuring and editing skills during two evening masterclasses in May with Sean O’Connor, an accomplished writer and editor specialising in the Japanese Haibun form, a type of prose writing alternating prose and short poems in Haiku form. Sean is also an experienced teacher and writing mentor and will offer guidance on how to structure and edit the essay.
Each writer will be assigned a family cluster (max. 3) by Applefest which they will be invited to interview during the month of June; the family will be accompanied by his/her nominator to ensure best safeguarding practice and to allow for direct communication before, during and after the interview process. The nominator will also be on hand to assist with the interview and/or help with practical matters and follow questions if needed.
We welcome suggestions of suitable candidates to interview. However, all candidates will go through the same public nomination process to ensure transparency and safeguarding. We are looking for 10 community writers to take part in our book project: please read carefully through the guidelines below before applying:
GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS:
Writers involved in this project should:
- have a personal writing practice and/or some experience in writing essays or articles.
- be available for Zoom masterclasses on Wednesday 21st & 28th May, 7 to 9 pm.
- be available to interview a family in person during the month of June
- attend a follow up sharing and feedback session on 18th June at 7pm.
- be willing to submit a first draft by 29th June
- be available to attend a Zoom mentoring session during early to mid July
- complete a second draft by 30th July
Please note that there is no fee nor payment to participate in this project. Writers will be fully acknowledged for their contributions (including biography) and invited to the Launch event on Thursday 25th September as part of Clonmel Applefest. Furthermore, as per previous years, each essay is likely to be published in the Nationalist Newspaper as part of a series in the Spring 2026. Deadline for application 10th May. Questions and inquiries can be sent to familiesofclonmel@gmail.com
If you are interested in taking part in this project, please complete the registration/expression of interest form here
SEAN O'CONNOR
Sean O’Connor is an award winning poet, author and editor from Nenagh. He is the founder and editor of The Haibun Journal, was editor of the Irish print journal Haiku Spirit 1998-2000 and has judged several international literary contests. O’Connor’s work has been widely published, translated, and anthologised worldwide. He won the HSA Merit Book Award: Best Haibun Book 2021 for Fragmentation (Alba Publishing 2021) and his haiku nights drawing in won second place in the HSA Haiku Award 2022. Also in 2022, his title The God of Bones was awarded honourable mentions in both the HSA Merit Book Award and in the Touchstone Distinguished Books Award. His sixth book, A Patch of Earth, was awarded an honourable mention in the HSA Merit Book Awards, 2024. He was awarded Literature Bursaries by the Arts Council of Ireland in both 2021 and 2022. See: www.seanwriter.com
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