Margaret O’Brien

Margaret O’Brien is a writer, workshop leader and creative activist. She has been facilitating writing workshops called Writing Changes Lives for about a decade and a half, based on the radical, empathetic work of the late Pat Schneider. Margaret is the founder and curator of the Brewery Lane Writers’ Weekend and the open mic, Poetry Plus, both of which have been running in Brewery Lane Theatre, Carrick-on-Suir for over a decade and is also Irish editor of the literary journal Trasna. Her own writing, both poetry and prose, has appeared in a range of publications. She has previously been a lecturer in Waterford Institute of Technology (now SETU).

Her book Weather Report, a 90-day journal, offers the space and the tools to pause and take stock of how you are on a daily basis and has been featured on the Ryan Tubridy Show. It uniquely uses the Beaufort Wind Scale as a tool to scaffold your reflections and monitor your inner weather. There is also a daily invitation to notice beauty in your day and the opportunity for a guided weekly reflection. Margaret writes further on the importance of beauty in Weather Report: On Beauty on the Substack platform.

Because writers also have bodies, Margaret O'Brien trained as a mentor with The Happy Body, founded and developed by Jerzy and Aniela Gregorek, and takes great joy in mentoring others, especially women over fifty, helping them to achieve increased physical and mental strength, flexibility and stamina. The Happy Body is a system of physical exercises, but more than that, it is a way of thinking, a way of living that understands that “there is overwhelming gracefulness in living without waste.” Those who practise it agree that it’s a route to deep health and that, in addition to increased strength and flexibility, it fosters a greater mental focus and also a sense of calmness.