Professor Glenn Patterson has been the Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's since 2017. Glenn has written four works of non-fiction including Backstop Land (2019) and The Last Irish Question (2021), and ten novels, most recently Where Are We Now? (2020). With Colin Carberrry, he co-wrote the film Good Vibrations, for which the pair were nominated for Outstanding Debut at the 2014 BAFTA Film awards. He has written plays for Radio 3 and Radio 4, and with composer Neil Martin, he wrote Long Story Short: The Belfast Opera in 2016. 

After 34 years, Bookfinders recently closed its doors. To honour its legacy, we wanted to provide a space for writers in the way that Mary Denvir and Bookfinders Cafe did for decades. Purchasing the iconic yellow table and red chair, we have established the Bookfinders Chair (and Table) in Creative Writing, to be awarded to a graduate of the Centre. The first was awarded to Caitlin Newby, this year we are delighted to welcome Sheila McWade to take her seat in the Bookfinders Chair.

Hear more from Sheila in her Writers' Rooms interview here...