Dublin (November 15th, 2021). Author Margarita García Robayo was the selected mentor by the Embassy of Colombia in Ireland to participate in the Words Ireland Mentoring Programme 2021. For the second year running, as part of the Plan for the Promotion of Colombia Abroad, the Embassy will provide a mentoring opportunity for an aspiring writer residing in Ireland, from among the candidates applying to the Words Ireland programme.

The selected mentee, Sadhbh Moriarty, commenced working with author Garcia Robayo in October to complete what would be her debut novel. Sadhbh Moriarty is an award-winning playwright and fiction writer, Born and raised in County Kerry, her writing reflects the nuances of rural Irish living often tinged with elements of magical realism.

Margarita García Robayo (Cartagena, Colombia, 1980) is the author of the novels Hasta que pase un huracán (2012; Waiting for a Hurricane, 2018), Lo que no aprendí (2014) and Tiempo muerto (2017; Holiday Heart, 2020), the story collections Cosas Peores (Worse Things) recipient of the Casa de las Américas Award in 2014; and the personal essays collection Primera persona (2017). In 2018, her collection Fish Soup was published in English, which was followed by the winner of the PEN Translates Award, Holiday Heart. Her books have been widely published in Latin America and Spain, and have been translated into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Hebrew, Turkish and Icelandic language.

The Embassy of Colombia is the only non-Irish institution participating in this initiative along Dublin City Libraries, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, Galway City Arts Office Kildare Arts Service, Kilkenny Arts Office, Limerick City & County Arts Office, Mayo Arts Office, Meath Arts Office, The Source Arts Centre in Tipperary, among others.

The Plan for the Promotion of Colombia Abroad is a tool of cultural diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, whose objective is to support the achievement of the foreign policy objectives of the Colombian State.