We’re excited to press start on the launch of CTRL: Essays on Video Games . Editor Dean Fee will be joined by contributing writers John Patrick McHugh, Róisín Kiberd, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan and Paul Whyte, reading from the anthology, exploring all things video games as an art form: how they have shaped us, given us new ways of looking at the world (or alternate worlds), how AI may impact their artistic integrity, and more…
All are welcome to attend, refreshments will be served.
Attendance is free but booking is essential.
ABOUT CTRL
In CTRL, writers turn their focus to one of the most influential - and persistently misunderstood - art forms of the modern era. Through memoir, criticism, and narrative exploration, these essays chart the ways video games intersect with memory, identity, imagination, and the complicated business of being human.
Featuring Essays by:
Sheila Armstrong, Rob Doyle, Joe Dunthorne, Donal Fullam, Úna-Minh Kavanagh, Róisín Kiberd, Anna Loughran, Darragh McCausland, Lisa McInerney, John Patrick McHugh, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, Brenda Romero, Stephen Sexton, Paul Whyte
Video Games featured:
Final Fantasy IX, Fallout: New Vegas , Pokémon , Doom , Tomb Raider , Disco Elysium , The Stanley Parable , Wanderstop , Urban Chaos , The Elder Scrolls , The Witcher , Lemmings , Star Wars , Grim Fandango , Monkey Island 2 , Discworld , Bioshock , Hotline Miami , Red Dead Redemption
ABOUT
DEAN FEE is a writer and editor based in Donegal. His work has been published in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, Banshee, on BBC Radio, and elsewhere. He is a founder and the managing editor of The Pig’s Back literary journal.
JOHN PATRICK MCHUGH is from Galway. His work has appeared in Banshee , Granta , The Stinging Fly , The Tangerine and Winter Papers . Pure Gold was his debut collection of short stories, published in 2021. His debut novel, Fun and Games , was published in 2025.
RÓISÍN KIBERD has written for the New York Times, the Guardian, the Dublin Review, the Stinging Fly, Winter Papers and others, and her first book, The Disconnect: A Personal Journey Through the Internet, was published by Serpent’s Tail in 2021. Her second, The Most Normal Woman: Essays on Appearances will be published by Tramp Press in 2026. She was the non-fiction editor of The Stinging Fly, and currently teaches creative writing at the University of Galway.
PAUL WHYTE is a writer and Dad. Originally from Tipperary, he now lives in Dublin. His short fiction, essays and articles have been published in The Moth , The Lonely Crowd , The Irish Examiner and more. In 2021 his debut novel Harrow the Boys was published by Maverick House. He is currently editing his follow-up and working on an essay collection.