Jessica Traynor is a poet and poetry editor at Banshee. Her debut Liffey Swim (Dedalus Press, 2014) was shortlisted for the Strong/ Shine Award. The Quick (Dedalus Press, 2018) was an Irish Times Book of the Year. Pit Lullabies (Bloodaxe, 2022) was a PBS Recommendation, an Irish Times book of the year, a Guardian Best Read, and was awarded the 2023 Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award. New Arcana (Bloodaxe, 2025) was an RTÉ and Irish Independent Book of the Year. 

Abeer Ameer is a poet of Iraqi heritage living in Cardiff. Her debut collection, Inhale/Exhale, was with Seren Press (2021) and was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year 2022. Her poem, 'at least', won the 2025 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in the written category. She is currently working on her second collection and shares her poems on YouTube. 

John Hewitt is closely associated with artists such as Colin Middleton, John Luke and Basil Blackshaw, but his connection with Deborah Brown has never been properly explored. As a family friend, Hewitt was quick to notice Deborah Brown’s remarkable talent as a painter in the late 1940s when, shortly after leaving school, she was already achieving recognition. When she returned from Paris in 1950, having also completed her studies at NCAD, John Hewitt was a notable supporter of her work, organising exhibitions, collecting her work, and writing about it. 

In addition to looking at Hewitt’s friendship and professional relationship with Deborah Brown, the talk will also look at some of Hewitt’s interactions with other women artists in Northern Ireland from the 1930s to his departure from the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery in 1956. 

Dickon Hall is an art historian, consultant and art dealer. He has an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a PhD. From Ulster University. He has written extensively on twentieth century and contemporary Irish, British and European art, and has curated almost eighty exhibitions.