Julie Irigaray
Writer. Teacher. Researcher.
Welcome to my website. As an author who lived in four different countries, I aim to create a better understanding of the world and our place in it — a mission which has cast me in many different roles: writer, teacher and researcher.
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I am a creative writing tutor and literature researcher. You can find out about my publications, experience, research, awards, and more on this website.
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What's New
Autumn 2025
​I will be reading one of my prose pieces at a specially curated evening: “STORIE: Experiments in Working-Class Prose” on 16th October in Birmingham. This event is part of the Birmingham Literature Festival 2025, and the line-up includes authors from the West Midlands.
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My poem 'Assyrtiko' has been nominated by The Madrid Review for the Best of the Net Anthology, curated by Sundress Publications.
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This autumn, I'm teaching three courses with City Lit: Poetry workshop: intensive (30/09/25 - 04/11/25), Writing the body in poetry (02/11/2025) and Writing women's experiences in poetry​ (15/11/25).
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I'm teaching several courses with the European Writers Salon this academic year. First, an online course on the body in poetry on 19th October 2025, and a year-round poetry course, 'Exploring Poetic Concepts and Forms'. The first class begins on 26th October, and all classes will be held on Sunday evenings. You can book each class individually or buy all eight classes at once.
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Whalers, Witches and Gauchos
My poetry pamphlet Whalers, Witches and Gauchos was published by Nine Pens Press last April.
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Whalers, Witches and Gauchos explores narratives of displacement, the way we navigate between countries and cultures, and how where we come from makes us who we are. Using my Basque ancestors as a point of reference – these same whalers, witches and gauchos who travelled to the other side of the world or were persecuted – I conjure up my memories of living in the Basque Country, France, Ireland, Italy and the UK. This pamphlet depicts what it is to migrate between places and languages seeking homes that can both sustain us and allow us to grow.
