Launch of anthology from Kildare creative  writing students

A BOOK is "a tiny thing, and a huge thing", those attending the launch at Woodbine Books in Kilcullen of Indent, an anthology by the graduates of the Maynooth University Certificate in Creative Writing for Publication 2025, were told by author and actor John MacKenna. 

"Every book is important because it has an effect on somebody else, and doubtless this one will have an effect on many people who will read it," said John, who conducts the Maynooth course with Angela Keogh. 

"But it also had an effect on those who wrote it. They are not just writers, they created this work — they sat down and decided, ‘We’re going to do this.’"

The book's title reflects John's constant emphasis on the importance of formatting to hold the reader's attention, especially indentation. That also inspired the group's name. 

"When we graduated last year, we had all got on so well that we didn't want it to end," said Paula Kavanagh, one of the graduate group, who organised the launch in her home town. "We had already formed this writing group, called The Indentations. Then we asked ourselves, why not publish a book and have something concrete from all we had done on the course?" 

One course module led by Angela Keogh, who runs Harvest Press with John, had explored the publishing industry, including discussions on self-publishing. 

Karen Brown, a member of the group who has published on Amazon, prompted them to consider this option. The outcome is a very professional publication of 32 stories, available in hardback, paperback, and as an eBook on Amazon.

"It was a massive team effort," said Paula. "Some of us handled editing and proofreading. Another member has a friend, Tríona Walsh, who is an illustrator, and she designed the cover, posters, and invitations for the launch. Stephen McDonagh, Sandra Linnie's husband, built our website, took photographs, and is managing our social media. All of this has been a labour of love, and I’ve gained an incredible group of friends from the course."

For John MacKenna, who has published 26 books, including novels, short-story collections, memoirs, and biographies, the biggest reward of running this course over more than two decades has been "meeting several hundred people interested in writing and spending time with people who love books". 

He estimates that around 20 course participants have actually published their own books over that time. 

"It's not just about the books, though. It's about people being committed to beginning and middling and finishing something, even if it doesn't get published. That they have the discipline to work on it — that's brilliant too."

Introducing the evening, Paula described the group as "creative, collaborative, and wonderful people" who put their words, hearts, and energy into creating something special from day one. 

"We’ve laughed and cried together. We've listened respectfully. We've slagged unmercifully. We've come together like no other group I've been part of. I'm so proud of us."

John noted that the group did not see writing as a competition but rather as a communal effort. 

"Yes, of course, writing is a solitary act. It's about being on your own, telling your stories, making your own way of writing, meeting characters, and getting to know them over weeks, months, perhaps years. But with a writing group, there also needs to be a sense of cooperation and community. Once the course ended, the group didn’t. They kept writing, meeting, and then they put together this book."

The evening continued with a unique 'pop-up' set of readings from the 11 members of The Indentations present. Each read around 90 words from their piece to keep the launch lively and swift. 

Closing the event, Paula thanked the School of Adult Education in Maynooth for hosting the course, along with John and Angela, and Kilcullen's own Ilona Blunden, who also teaches on the course. 

"We owe them a debt of gratitude, because we are a product of their legacy, turning writers into authors."

Finally, presentations were made to John, Tríona Walsh, Stephen McDonagh, Karen Brown, and Dawn Behan of Woodbine Books, before Paula said the magic words: "It's not over yet, there's booze left ..."

If there was one valuable lesson the writers had learned from the course, it was how to end a story properly.