About Tina O’Rourke
Hi, I’m Tina. I’m an Irish writer based in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. I write short fiction, essays and children’s fiction. My work often begins with observation — something seen, remembered or encountered that stays with me long enough to find its way onto the page.
Writing has been part of my life for more than thirty years. In my twenties, I founded and ran Clockwork Theatre Company, writing, directing and producing work for the stage. My screenplay Paper Dolls received an RTÉ short script award, and I later wrote for magazines and worked as an editor.
Over the years, I have worked across theatre, film, publishing, design and education. I have written and published children’s stories and craft books, including Sewing Animal Dolls, published in 2020.
The writing
I am drawn to the ordinary, the overlooked and the slightly strange.
My fiction often explores the point at which everyday life shifts and something unexpected appears. In my essays, I write more directly from experience, particularly around memory, place, loss and the ways we make sense of our lives.
I also write for children, something I have returned to throughout my writing life.
Alongside this, I write about travel and place. I live in Galway with my husband, Alan, our Springer Spaniel, Millie, and our cat, Mr Lumpy, and we spend part of our time travelling in our campervan, Daisy Blue. I’m interested less in traditional travel writing than in capturing the experience of being somewhere.
This website brings together my current writing and selected work from my archive.
After many years of working across different creative forms, writing is now at the centre of my work.