Thought provoking documentary on the impact of homelessness in Kilkenny

An insightful and thought provoking documentary which uses the medium of poetry to tell the stories of homeless service users in Kilkenny was screened in Set Theatre recently.

Writing Home was developed by poet Colm Keegan and is supported by Kilkenny County Council Creative Ireland and Poetry Ireland. Its genesis began in Kilkenny when Director of Services, Mary Mulholland, who is responsible for housing with the local authority was moved by listening to the poet, Colm Keegan reciting his work.

“I knew he would be able to connect with the people who access emergency accommodation in the housing department,” she said.

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The initiative was developed to improve understanding around issues of homelessness while supporting social integration and aims to inform policy decisions around the use of the arts within state funded services. Colm worked with several service providers across the country, developing and delivering a programme of workshops to engage with homeless service users in Dublin, Kilkenny and Waterford with each location working towards a public celebration of the creativity of participants.
Colm worked with selected groups over a period of six weeks. These groups explored multiple means of written self-expression and reflection, like rap and spoken word as well as looking at structure, character and storytelling. Each participant created a small body of work, based on their own life experiences.

The process was far more successful than envisaged, with real engagement from homeless service users, a marginalised group who can be difficult to reach using established Arts project delivery. The creative potential unleashed and the wellbeing outcomes were such a revelation that the initiative was awarded Best Education/Training Initiative at the All Ireland Community & Council Awards (LAMAs).

Facilitator and project creator, Colm Keegan remarked that ‘making art is a transformative experience that profoundly impacts the individual’.

“With the right support, the processes and results of creative programmes like Writing Home could be used to bring more empathy into a multitude of systems in Ireland, especially those tasked with caring for people in challenging circumstances.”

The Kilkenny participants penned a poetry collection “Look at Me and Try and Understand” which was launched recently.

“You know read the poems and then maybe even if only one or two people maybe out of ten will have a different view of the

people in the Good Shepherd,” said one of the participants.
colmkeeganpoetry.com