‘A’ Level Lecturer Amy Rafferty is set to take part in this year's Aspects Literary Festival (23 September – 4 October 2026), one of Northern Ireland's leading literary events, which attracts acclaimed authors, poets and audiences to Bangor each year.
Religious Studies and Social Sciences Lecturer Amy, (who publishes as Amy Louise Wyatt) a poet and visual artist, will take part in New Poets Collective (23 September 2026, 6:00 - 7:00pm, Seacourt Print Workshop) a Southbank Centre (London) initiative which brings together 15 poets from locations across the UK, encouraging them to work with their communities to tell local stories, celebrate dialects and languages, and demonstrate that poetry is for everyone. Amy will share readings from new poems developed as part of the Southbank Centre programme alongside fellow poet and visual artist Denisa Hasieberova which is part of 'A Poet in Every Port'.
SERC’s Bangor Campus will be the venue for three further events (all free to attend) during the festival:
The Inkwell Journal @ SERC (28 September 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm) Join current and past students from SERC to celebrate The Inkwell Journal's most recent publication. There will also be pop up events throughout SERC Bangor Campus during the Festival.
Science Fiction Writing (29 September 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm) Sci-Fi Ireland has a mission to find and publish the best new short science-fiction from the Island of Ireland. Their first anthology was launched in 2026.
The Writing Journey (30 September 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm) Join writer and experienced literary editor Seán Farrell in conversation about his debut novel Frogs for Watchdogs.
As part of the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Southbank Centre, 'A Poet in Every Port' will be visiting the Aspects Literary Festival, on 25 – 26 September, in a specially designed mobile poetry library. SERC students will also read some of their poetry alongside Amy at open mic event in Ward Park on Saturday 26 September.
And if you are a budding poet aged sixteen or over, and fancy winning the opportunity to perform one of your poems at next year’s London Literature Festival, you will want to check out The Word Exchange, a national competition celebrating poetry, language and dialects.
Visit the Aspects Literary Festival website for full details.
