Finding Our Story with Kit de Waal
What a night. Honestly, what a fantastic evening.
On Tuesday, we gathered at the gorgeous Bankside Hotel for our creative writing workshop with our very own Women's Irish Network ambassador, the wonderful Kit de Waal, moderated by the brilliant Claire Solon. The room was packed to the rafters, the wine was flowing, and the canapés were, well, we'll just say there weren't many left by the end of the night.
Kit opened the evening with a 30-minute workshop…
…and she had us hooked from the start. She read out a beautiful poem built from a family scene, piece by piece, person by person. Then she turned it over to us. What names have you been called over the years? What's the saying in your house that nobody outside your family would understand? What are those little idioms, the ones your mum or your nana said a hundred times, that have shaped who you've become?
Because that, Kit told us, is your story. It's already there. You just have to start writing it down.
You could feel the whole room thinking about their own families. There were a few knowing laughs, a few "oh God, my mother used to say that" moments, and plenty of scribbling.
Then Claire, podcast producer, radio & TV producer, and all-round brilliant woman, sat down with Kit for a proper chat. She asked Kit about her upbringing and her Irish roots, and whether she sees more of herself in her Irish nana or her Black nana. Kit was so honest and open with us. She told us how her two nanas were basically the same woman at heart, and yet the two of them never got on. It was funny, it was moving, and it said so much about the different ways we all experience family, identity and where we come from.
It was one of those evenings that stays with you on the tube home.
So a huge thank you to Kit and Claire for giving us so much of themselves. Thank you to the Bankside Hotel for hosting us so beautifully. And thank you to everyone who came along and filled that room.
To everyone who supports the Women's Irish Network over and over and over again, go raibh míle maith agaibh. We couldn't do any of it without you. 💚
