Winners of Christy Nolan inspired creativity competition announced

Posted on: 07 May 2025

Six talented Trinity students have been named as the winners of a creative competition held to honour the legacy of Irish author, Christy Nolan, and to mark the 25th Anniversary of Trinity disAbility Service.

The competition, Perseverance Through Words: A Tribute to Christy Nolan,was open to all disabled staff and students in Trinity, with all art forms welcome, including literary, visual arts, film, and performance. It was organised by Trinity disAbility Service in collaboration with the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

The winners are:

• Anna Lopuchowycz, for a poem entitled ‘Notch’
• Aoife O’Donovan, for a musical composition inspired by Christy Nolan’s words which he used in his autobiography to describe the beginning of his venture as a Trinity student; ‘Zealous mercurial dreams were about to be realised’
• Ava Rose Beggy, for an untitled oil painting; inspired by the above quote
• Avantika Singhal, for an untitled personal essay, inspired by Christy words; ‘Now could he ever get his chance to let folk see what they thought never existed?’
• Claudia Clarke Gosalvez, for a charcoal drawing entitled, ‘Hearts’
• Holly Wolohan, for poem entitled ‘Private Piano Portmanteau’

Aoife O’Donovan holds the score for her musical composition inspired by Christy Nolan

The winners were announced at a ceremony in Trinity Library’s Long Room on Wednesday, May 7th, which included speeches from Yvonne Nolan, Christy Nolan’s sister, and Rosaleen McDonagh, author, playwright, and disability activist.

The overall winner, a musical composition by Aoife O’Donovan, will now form part of the current exhibition in the Long Room entitled "Zealous mercurial dreams were about to be realised: New treasures of the Old Library", which features archival material from the Library’s Christy Nolan archive. An online exhibition about the Christy Nolan archive can be viewed here.

Christy Nolan (1965-2009) remains a shining example of Irish creativity and literary talent. At just fifteen, he published his first poetry collection, Dam-Burst of Dreams, followed by his memoir, Under the Eye of the Clock, and later the critically acclaimed novel The Banyan Tree. During his time as an undergraduate at Trinity College Dublin, Christy's disability was secondary to the interactions he had with fellow students and his lecturers.

Claudia Clarke Gosalvez, with her charcoal drawing entitled ‘Hearts’

Declan Treanor, Director of Trinity disAbility Service, Trinity College Dublin, explained: “Christy Nolan once said that ‘nobody made him feel different’ at Trinity — a powerful reminder of what this university can be at its best: a place where disabled people are not only accepted but celebrated.

“As we mark the 25th anniversary of the Trinity disAbility Service, and honour Christy’s extraordinary legacy, we affirm that creativity and self-expression lie at the heart of both our history and our future. The development of the disAbility Hub has creativity embedded in its very foundations — a space where imagination, voice, and talent are nurtured. Through this competition, we celebrate the richness of disabled voices in all their forms, just as Christy once did.”

Laura Shanahan, Head of Research Collections, Library of Trinity College Dublin, added:  

"Partnering with the DisAbility Service on this competition project, using the Christy Nolan Archive and his published works as inspiration, has been a huge privilege for the Library. Christy's archive was donated to Trinity by his family, ‘in tribute to his bravery, and his exceptional body of work… and as a testament to what is possible through love and indomitability’.   In the act of preservation of the archive and through the re-promotion of his works in our exhibition, we are grateful to have played just one small part in ensuring Christy's legacy amongst the great Irish writers of the twentieth century.

“The Library feels strongly that what we collect now must contain diversity of voices and experiences. The history of Christy's experience has particular resonance in a University context because it demonstrates the role that science, technology, medicine and education had in in enabling the humanistic expression of his art."

The judging panel for the competition comprised: Sunniva Corr, Christy Nolan’s niece and a student on Trinity’s MPhil in Creative Writing; Dr Nick Johnson, Associate Professor of Drama; Eoin McNamee, Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing; and Jen O’Connor, Disability and Inclusive Internship Programme Officer.

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