Writing RIGHTS: Meadhbh Corrigan (16) - The joy of writing and seeing the World as an inspiration.
Meadhbh Corrigan (16), is a young poet who enjoys observing people and finds inspiration in their stories and their lives for her work. She feels that being at the Fighting Words young writing centre gives her the freedom to express herself openly, through her words, in a way that interests her, rather than simply following the convention of learning and exams.
On a journey of self discovery, and a longing to find tales of others, Meadhbh sets out on the Camino, a trek across the North of Spain, for 5 weeks. By talking to people along the way, Meadhbh is exercising her right to find out information through any means possible. We're looking forward to adding her work to the project and seeing what the Camino inspires in her.
Accompanying Music: 'Seven' by Michael Gallen.
© West Pole Music and Management Ltd.
Fighting Words is a creative writing centre established by Roddy Doyle and Sean Love. http://www.fightingwords.ie/
Transcript below
00:00 - Music
00:05 - Meadhbh: My name is Meadhbh Corrigan and I’m 16 and I’m from Balbriggan in County Dublin.
00:11 - Music fades up.
00:14 - Meadhbh: I usually write about, like, personal experience ‘cause I find it the easiest to write about. I like writing about people because I find people, like studying people and stuff, really interesting. And like, even just people you might see on the street or the stories behind them and things like that.
00:31 - Music fades up.
00:32 - Meadhbh: Fighting Words is really good for like, they’re really cool with anything you want to do and you meet the best people here. Like, they’re so intelligent and with amazing ideas so it’s really good for like encouraging, just writing whatever you want to write. Like expressing yourself through writing or whatever. Even in say English in Junior Cert, like storywriting is a part of the English exam but you have to do it to a particular format. You have to include, like, this kind of plot happen in it, you know build up and resolution so Fighting Words would give you the opportunity to do what you’re more interested in yourself and not have to conform to like, particular structures or whatever.
01:16 - Music fades up.
01:18 - Meadhbh: I’m leaving to walk across the North of Spain and you walk for about 25 Km evry day which is about 6 hours. And you get up at 6 and you finish about 2 and you just get to like explore the town or city you’re in. So I’m doing that for 5 weeks with my Dad. And my Dad, he’s done it before and he just thought it was the most incredible, liberating experience like, because, you don’t have the mundane worries that you’d have here like, you’ve got no tests, you’ve got no bills really, you just worry about are you going to get a bed in the next hostel. Like, even, you wear the same clothes for 5 weeks. There’s no focus on material things. It’s all, just the people you meet and the stories they have to tell. And I think it’ll be an amazing experience.
02:06 - Music fades up.
02:08 - Meadhbh: Since I do like writing about people and studying people and things like that. I’d say, getting to know all these different stories will definitely help me with my writing. It’ll be such a different experience to what I’m used to for the past 16 years that I think it’d be hard for it not to have an effect on you, you know? And I think it’s just, the different people from all around the world, you get to meet and chat with so I don’t think you can grasp fully what it is until you’ve actually gone on it. But I know, I know I’m going to really enjoy it. It will be hard work but you’ll get into a rhythm and I think it’ll be great.
02:47 - Music. Fade out. 03:01 - END