Celebrating the Reinventing the Protagonist Retreat

Published Mon 20 Apr 2026 - By Literature Wales

Reinventing the Protagonist 2026 Cohort with Kaite O'Reilly

Over a magical weekend at Tŷ Newydd, the National Writing Centre of Wales, a cohort of Wales’ talented Deaf/Disabled and/or Neurodivergent writers enjoyed three days filled with creativity, connection, exploration, and expressing their own voices. The retreat was led by the internationally renowned playwright and writer Kaite O’Reilly.

Delivered in partnership with Disability Arts Cymru, the residential formed part of Literature Wales’ Reinventing the Protagonist, a programme nurturing 8 Deaf/Disabled and /or Neurodivergent writers from across Wales.

The writers were selected following an open call-out in autumn 2025. Applicants didn’t need formal experience, just a passion for creative writing and a commitment to their craft. Find out more about the writers here.

The 2026 edition of Reinventing the Protagonist builds on the success of two years of running the course online from 2023-2025, and in addition to offering the in-person retreat at Tŷ Newydd, the cohort will receive one-to-one tutorials by Kaite.

Over the weekend, the cohort explored the history of the social model of disability and a variety of genres including poetry, monologue, fiction and creative non-fiction, expertly guided by Kaite. Kaite’s guidance was warm, generous, and transformative, giving each person the confidence to explore, question, and take risks on the page.

Guest readers also included members of last year’s cohort Amy Grandvionet and Regina Beach who generously shared their reflections, learnings and some of their creative writing developed since the course.

This residential offered a space in which the cohort were connected, supported, and inspired. They left not only as stronger writers, but as part of a growing network of people who explore their disabled identity and express their lived experience in their creative work, raising their voices across the literature in Wales.

This programme is funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Wales & Fenton Arts Trust.