We were lucky to catch up with Dianne McPhelim recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dianne, appreciate you joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

In 2020 I returned to college as a mature student, studying English Literature and Writing. In our first year, we were invited to enter a creative writing competition—200 words; on any theme, for a newspaper. We ruled ourselves out immediately; who did we think we were, entering contests, and showing our work to the public? We weren’t real writers. Or that’s what we told ourselves. Our lecturers reminded us we were there to write; therefore, we were writers. On the day the competition closed, I edited a piece I had been working on and emailed it swiftly, before I had a chance to talk myself out of it. By submitting, I had crossed an invisible line I had drawn for myself, another step towards calling myself a writer.
I won the competition. My short story, ‘Night Windows’ prompted by an Edward Hopper painting, appeared in an Irish newspaper Christmas week. The prize not only meant an income but offered a sense of elation; a confirmation that I was on the way to becoming a professional writer.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My professional background is in tourism, heritage and community development. As part of my work, I often wrote history and heritage-themed articles and press pieces, and loved the buzz of seeing them in print. I’ve always been creative, and in 2020 decided to take a chance and return to full-time education, It was the best decision I’ve ever made, and have recently graduated from Atlantic Technological University in Sligo, Ireland with an honours degree in English Literature and Writing. Many of our lecturers are published authors, so we gained not only writing skills but also a solid insight into the literary scene, publishing and film industries. I enjoyed the experience so much that I’m undertaking a Master’s in Modern English Literature beginning this September.

Inspiration for my poetry, essays and fiction comes from observation of the small narratives that unfold about us. Be it in a cafe, graveyard, or supermarket, I collect overheard conversations and random sentences to explore, develop and reimagine later. Death and the natural world always find a way to feature throughout my narratives, and many draw on vignettes from memory or place. I’ve always found the process of creating both grounding and stimulating and, as a child, my stories were always bookmarked by drawings. Art still continues to play a considerable role in my writing, my work is illustrative, using colour to influence imagery and create depth of feeling. Creating rich visuals that impact all senses greatly inspires and enhances my writing experience.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

One of the more recent positive supports happened here in Ireland, where the government are trialling a ‘living’ payment for professional artists. This means they receive a stipend to enable them to focus on their work without worrying about how to pay the bills. In my experience, people (sometimes) don’t appreciate or understand the time artists and creatives put into their work. Henry Thoreau once said ‘The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it’. Artists, crafters, writers, musicians – they all dedicate their lives (and by that I mean their time) to imagining, developing and finishing a creation, and it’s often a long process that goes unseen.
All the public sees is the finished piece, which hasn’t been conjured out of thin air over the course of a few hours. Most of the time the remuneration asked for, say for a painting or sculpture, does not equate to the hours or materials invested.
As adults, we need to value creatives more. We need to teach our children to do the same. We live in a throwaway society; happy to spend money on cheap items that don’t last. We should invest in pieces that are made/created with integrity and thought and will last forever. The next time you make a purchase, visit your local crafters/markets and buy directly from the maker. Want music? Visit the bands’ website, purchase it directly, and even better, buy a t-shirt as well. Order books directly from the publisher or from an indie bookstore. 
And when you find something you love, tell a friend. Recommendations are worth their weight in gold to creatives!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I would say I have two rewarding times. Firstly when a new idea really ‘works. The type where you spend hours submerged in a poem or story, without even noticing the time. There’s no struggle – the words just flow. And the other time is when a stranger tells me they enjoyed reading my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bio.site/DianneMcPhelim
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thiswrittenlife/
• Other: https://issuu.com/atlantictechnologicaluniversity/docs/scrimshaw_journal_2023_digital_version?fr=sYmUyMzU5OTc3MTU