I received an Arts Council Ireland Project Award to create the Institute of Physics' inaugural Writer in Residence Programme for 2023. My focus for this programme was to investigate the relationship between poetry and science communication, while platforming voices from backgrounds and identities underrepresented in STEM. The programme consists of a series of events, a workshop for young people, and a body of work based on interviewing physicists about their research stories and turning them into poems. Below are details about the events and projects.
To book me for your STEAM event or workshop, head over to my contact page!
To book me for your STEAM event or workshop, head over to my contact page!
Mapping the Depths of Us: a pamphlet of physics poems
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To create my poems for this residency, I interviewed physicists and wrote poems based their stories. Instead of writing poems directly about physics I wanted to write about the human side of the research process. I asked my interviewees to tell me about their careers, their high points and low points, pivotal moments and challenges, and selected key moments to turn into poems. When choosing interviewees, I specifically wanted to talk to people from minoritised backgrounds that are underrepresented in STEM, but also wanted to make sure they did not feel pressured to discuss diversity in any way and focus on their work and interests instead. Thank you so much Rucha, Temi, Femi, Siddhi and Linda for your stories, and to Brendan Owens for sending the IOP physicists my way. And special thank you to designer Gareth Jones for his amazing work designing the pamphlet!
The pamphlet is free to download below. 
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Since 2023, this pamphlet has been distributed to the following places:
- Dublin Book Festival, Dublin, 2023
- Institute of Physics Annual Spring Meeting, Dublin, 2023
- Science Week Ireland launch event, Dublin, 2023
- Dingle Literary Festival, Dingle, 2023
- Åva Gymnasium, Stockholm, Sweden, 2024
- The Goethe-Institut, Dublin, 2024
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From left to right: Picking up the pamphlet from Plus Print; Dr Tapasya Narang with the pamphlet at Dublin Book Festival, two photos from the Science Week Ireland launch night, and the pamphlets at Dingle Literary Festival.
From Stem Cells to Stars: Poetry and Physics at Dublin Book Festival/Science Week Ireland
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As part of Dublin Book Festival and Science Week Ireland 2023 audiences joined me for an afternoon of physics and poetry with poetry readings, a panel discussion and Q&A, and the launch of my pamphlet of physics poems to mark the end of my writing residency.
PERFORMERS
Writer producer and performer Saoirse Anton
Biomedical engineering researcher Rucha Benare
Fellow Emeritus in Physics at Trinity College Dublin Iggy McGovern
Award-winning poet Rosamund Taylor
ISL interpretation by Bridge Interpreters
Filming and captions by BNL Productions
PERFORMERS
Writer producer and performer Saoirse Anton
Biomedical engineering researcher Rucha Benare
Fellow Emeritus in Physics at Trinity College Dublin Iggy McGovern
Award-winning poet Rosamund Taylor
ISL interpretation by Bridge Interpreters
Filming and captions by BNL Productions
BIOGRAPHIES
Rosamund Taylor is a winner of the Telegraph Poetry Prize 2023, The London Magazine Poetry Prize 2020 and the Mairtín Crawford Award for Poetry 2017. Her debut collection, In Her Jaws (Banshee Press 2022), was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Poetry Prize for a First Collection and the Yeats Society Poetry Prize. Her work has been recorded for BBC Radio 4 and RTÉ radio.
Iggy McGovern is Fellow Emeritus in Physics at Trinity College Dublin. He has published three collections of poetry with Dedalus Press: The King of Suburbia (2005), Safe House (2010) and The Eyes of Isaac Newton (2017). Other works include verse biographies of William Rowan Hamilton and Erwin Schroedinger (both with Quaternia Press). Prizes include The Hennessy Award for Poetry and The Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry.
Saoirse Anton is an Irish writer, producer and performer. She is also a feminist, optimist, enthusiast, opinionated scamp and human being. As a poet, she has performed extensively in Ireland and the UK. Selected poems have been published in Rise Up and Repeal, an anthology from Sad Press Poetry, and in Cardiff 75: Writings from the City, an anthology from Parthian Books. She was commissioned by NoFit State Circus to write a poem for their 2022 Clifton Street Festival, and in 2023 was Poet-in-Residence on their production, Sabotage. She has been commissioned by Studio 9 animation studio and RTÉ to write two short poetry films for children, An Oíche is Speisíalta (2020) and Navigating the Rough Seas (2022). She is currently busily writing preparing her debut pamphlet and album. When not writing, she performs with the Sparklettes Hula Hoop troop and works as a freelance producer.
Rucha Benare is a biomedical engineering research student with a passion for rediscovering myths, biophysics, psychology, and poetry while living in different places and continents. Her heart currently oscillates between Ireland and India; chai and spice bags are her constant companion as she works on projects such as art book on biomechanics for charity and organ-on-chip technology.
Iggy McGovern is Fellow Emeritus in Physics at Trinity College Dublin. He has published three collections of poetry with Dedalus Press: The King of Suburbia (2005), Safe House (2010) and The Eyes of Isaac Newton (2017). Other works include verse biographies of William Rowan Hamilton and Erwin Schroedinger (both with Quaternia Press). Prizes include The Hennessy Award for Poetry and The Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry.
Saoirse Anton is an Irish writer, producer and performer. She is also a feminist, optimist, enthusiast, opinionated scamp and human being. As a poet, she has performed extensively in Ireland and the UK. Selected poems have been published in Rise Up and Repeal, an anthology from Sad Press Poetry, and in Cardiff 75: Writings from the City, an anthology from Parthian Books. She was commissioned by NoFit State Circus to write a poem for their 2022 Clifton Street Festival, and in 2023 was Poet-in-Residence on their production, Sabotage. She has been commissioned by Studio 9 animation studio and RTÉ to write two short poetry films for children, An Oíche is Speisíalta (2020) and Navigating the Rough Seas (2022). She is currently busily writing preparing her debut pamphlet and album. When not writing, she performs with the Sparklettes Hula Hoop troop and works as a freelance producer.
Rucha Benare is a biomedical engineering research student with a passion for rediscovering myths, biophysics, psychology, and poetry while living in different places and continents. Her heart currently oscillates between Ireland and India; chai and spice bags are her constant companion as she works on projects such as art book on biomechanics for charity and organ-on-chip technology.
The Whole Scope of Sky: Underrepresented Voices in Science Writing at NI Science Festival
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Photos by Brendan Owens
In this event I brought together writers to talk about science writing across genres and disciplines, from science fiction, to poetry, to science communication.
SPEAKERS
Poet Viviana Fiorentino
Medical expert, journalist, editor and public educator Dr. Shubhangi Karmakar
Rsearcher and poet Dr Carolann North
Writer and curator Morgan L. Ventura
Filming and Captions by Alan Meban
SPEAKERS
Poet Viviana Fiorentino
Medical expert, journalist, editor and public educator Dr. Shubhangi Karmakar
Rsearcher and poet Dr Carolann North
Writer and curator Morgan L. Ventura
Filming and Captions by Alan Meban
Biographies
Viviana Fiorentino lives in Belfast. Her poems appeared in anthologies (Dedalus Press, Salmon Poetry, Arlen House) and magazines ( i.e. The Stinging Fly) and were recorded for the Irish Poetry Reading Archive (UCD). She translated Irish poet Freda Laughton into Italian (Arcipelago Itaca Press, bilingual Ed.). In Italy she published a novel and two poetry collections. She is one of the winners of the 2022 Irish Chair Of Poetry Student Prize. Viviana is supported by a SIAP grant founded by the ACNI. She is a board member of the Irish PEN and Le Ortique, an initiative to rediscover forgotten women artists.
Dr. Shubhangi Karmakar is a Clinical Tutor in Psychiatry, with postgraduate degrees in Translational Medicine and in Medical Law. They are a TEDx speaker, a public educator with contributions to the Oireachtas, IHREC and BBC News, and a freelance journalist writing for the Business Post, Medical Independent, the Journal, among other publications. They are Trainee Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry, with almost a decade of experience in journal reviewing and editorship, including as Editor in Chief of the Trinity Student Scientific Review, and the Trinity Postgraduate Review and International Journal of Medical Ethics. They have also been an Advisor shaping the programming and communication priorities of the Science Gallery Dublin. They are a READ Advisor to the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, working on inclusive co-production in ethical clinical research affecting vulnerable communities. They hold the 2021 Jeremy Swan Medal in Medical Jurisprudence, Ethics and the Law in Trinity College Dublin, and they are currently training in a postgraduate law degree at the King's Inns. They are passionate about developing rights- and choice-affirming physical health, public policy and social services for vulnerable people.
Dr Carolann North is an independent researcher and poet in Northern Ireland and co-investigator on the 2022 Books Beyond Boundaries NI project which fostered diversity in speculative writing. Her specialisms include identity politics in SFF and contemporary American literature, and is recognised internationally for her creative and academic publications.
Morgan L. Ventura is a writer and curator, who recently obtained their MA in Poetry from the Seamus Heaney Centre. Currently PI of a digital repatriation project funded by the University of Exeter's Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts initiative, Morgan also holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Their short fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lackington's, Strange Horizons, and The Honest Ulsterman, among others. Morgan's research and writing has received support from the Fulbright-Hays, Mellon Foundation, American Philosophical Society, Chicago's Field Museum, and Poetry Day Ireland.
Dr. Shubhangi Karmakar is a Clinical Tutor in Psychiatry, with postgraduate degrees in Translational Medicine and in Medical Law. They are a TEDx speaker, a public educator with contributions to the Oireachtas, IHREC and BBC News, and a freelance journalist writing for the Business Post, Medical Independent, the Journal, among other publications. They are Trainee Editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry, with almost a decade of experience in journal reviewing and editorship, including as Editor in Chief of the Trinity Student Scientific Review, and the Trinity Postgraduate Review and International Journal of Medical Ethics. They have also been an Advisor shaping the programming and communication priorities of the Science Gallery Dublin. They are a READ Advisor to the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, working on inclusive co-production in ethical clinical research affecting vulnerable communities. They hold the 2021 Jeremy Swan Medal in Medical Jurisprudence, Ethics and the Law in Trinity College Dublin, and they are currently training in a postgraduate law degree at the King's Inns. They are passionate about developing rights- and choice-affirming physical health, public policy and social services for vulnerable people.
Dr Carolann North is an independent researcher and poet in Northern Ireland and co-investigator on the 2022 Books Beyond Boundaries NI project which fostered diversity in speculative writing. Her specialisms include identity politics in SFF and contemporary American literature, and is recognised internationally for her creative and academic publications.
Morgan L. Ventura is a writer and curator, who recently obtained their MA in Poetry from the Seamus Heaney Centre. Currently PI of a digital repatriation project funded by the University of Exeter's Imagining Futures through Un/Archived Pasts initiative, Morgan also holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Their short fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lackington's, Strange Horizons, and The Honest Ulsterman, among others. Morgan's research and writing has received support from the Fulbright-Hays, Mellon Foundation, American Philosophical Society, Chicago's Field Museum, and Poetry Day Ireland.
Institute of Physics Spring Meeting Presentation
I presented an updated version of my talk 'Written in the Stars: A Migrant's Journey in Science Communication and Poetry' to the Institute of Physics annual Spring Meeting in Armagh, Northern Ireland, and presented my short installation Solar Flares. This was an amazing opportunity to be amongst the physics community, to learn about what they are researching and working on in Ireland and around the world, and also to bring a discussion about art and science into the physics space.
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Poetry and Physics Workshop with Trinity Access Programme Students
I was very excited to be given the opportunity to run a Poetry and Physics workshop as part of the TAP programme. Below is a summary of the programme by TAP Pathways to STEM Coordinator Ruth Saunders:
'Trinity Access Programmes (TAP) were delighted to host a workshop by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan. We arrange a Summer School for students who are entering their final year of secondary school. Students are invited from the 21 TAP linked schools, schools that are designating as DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools). The students are divided into six separate modules such as Physics, Film Studies and Law. Students work on their course work in the morning and then have activities in the afternoon. As the Pathways to STEM coordinator, I have been tasked with supporting students to engage with STEM disciplines. I have been trying to find a way to engage students who are not just wooed to STEM with robots and computer games. I have been looking for ways to convince students that they can bring their creativity with them if they embark on a STEM programme of study. When Chandrika got in touch, it was the answer I had been looking for!
'Trinity Access Programmes (TAP) were delighted to host a workshop by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan. We arrange a Summer School for students who are entering their final year of secondary school. Students are invited from the 21 TAP linked schools, schools that are designating as DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools). The students are divided into six separate modules such as Physics, Film Studies and Law. Students work on their course work in the morning and then have activities in the afternoon. As the Pathways to STEM coordinator, I have been tasked with supporting students to engage with STEM disciplines. I have been trying to find a way to engage students who are not just wooed to STEM with robots and computer games. I have been looking for ways to convince students that they can bring their creativity with them if they embark on a STEM programme of study. When Chandrika got in touch, it was the answer I had been looking for!
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On Wednesday the 28th of June, students self selected workshops to participate in. The options included Comedy debate, Musical society and the Creativity in STEM workshop. We had 16 students in the room. Chandrika had created a perfectly pitched and paced 90 min workshop. She was extremely warm and welcoming and did a beautiful job of setting norms and expectations of behaviour and engagement. She began with writing exercises which all of the students worked away on and even shared their work. Students really relaxed into the process and were engaged the entire time. Next was a group exercise where students shared the type of STEM discipline they were interested in and why, drawing from this shared document students were tasked with composing a poem. Chandrika then showed a fascinating clip from 'The Summer of Soul' documentary where people are discussing the moon landing and how it relates to their communities. This seeded a discussion about 'who is Science for?' which was a really energising topic for the students. The workshop was excellent from start to finish. It really broadened the student perspective on ways to engage with STEM and the creative arts.'
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