Mary Moynihan, MA, she/her, is an award-winning author of novels, plays, poetry and films, originally from Dublin, Ireland. Mary has an honours BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin and an honours Masters in Film Production from TU Dublin.  Mary embarked upon her award-winning career as a writer in theatre and film and has garnered much acclaim for her plays, poetry and short film scripts and for creating inter-disciplinary artworks combining writing and photography presented in galleries and online.  She established and became Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and is Artistic Curator for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival.

After raising four children, now all adults, and following her recovery from serious illness, Mary dedicated her time to becoming a writer. She writes fiction for young people and adults featuring stories of courage, laughter, tragedy, happiness, love, death and action-packed adventures. Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel series Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. In her adult fiction, Mary’s characters are clever, fearless, vulnerable,  crazy, and strong, looking for love, fun, success and happiness. Her work promises enthralling plots, dramatic lives, lots of laughs, serious flirting and sexual intrigue and insights into love, happiness, creativity and meaning in life.

Mary pens a series of articles and Creative Musings on Arts, Creativity, Leadership and Self-Esteem which appears in the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality newsletter and on Mary’s website marymoynihan.ie

In her free time Mary loves to spend time with her four adult children, hang out with friends and swims in the sea all year round.  She loves the ocean, sky and moon and has a spiritual connection to the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, to the environs of Dublin bay and to the mystical landscapes of Valentia Island and the surrounding Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, her spiritual home. She is a big fan of the Dublin GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams.

Hina was born in Born in Pakistan in 1980 and completed an MFA, majoring in Miniature Painting from Pakistan. Hina’s work uses a mixture of traditional and innovative techniques in Miniatures. She portrays social issues, immigration, humanitarian crises like prostitution, gender discrimination, gender restrictions, trauma, child abuse and killing etc in her work.

Hina has chosen Miniature because of its intricacy and delicacy of brush work which has a unique identity. Most of Hina’s work is a mixture of traditional and contemporary miniature. My work is the constant search for the best way to interpret the ideas expresses my own ideologies through symbolism. Shifting my practice to installation, videos, 3D.

According to Hina ‘I am creating a dialogue through my art. My art is a reflection of inner connection, and how immigrants and nomadic artists are a part of this land. Migration is deeply rooted in my blood. I have carried two cultures, one from where I was born and the other is this culture where I am trying to re-root myself. Sometimes a situation is not in our control, but life always takes us on different voyages. This journey has built up a constant transition in my art, personality, experimentation, enabling me to evolve my art practice.’

Hina has participated in number of groups shows in Pakistan from 2002 to 2011. Hina came to Ireland in 2015 and participated in a number of exhibitions in Dublin, Laois, Mayo, and Cork. Hina was awarded several residencies with Fire Station Arts Center, Create Ireland, West Cork Art Center and Cow House Studio and has displayed solo exhibition at Ballina Art Center, Mayo, and Stradbally Art house, Laois.

Hina’s next solo exhibition will be exhibited in the coming months.  Her art pieces are also in the permanent collection of Arts Council Ireland. She is the recipient of several Awards from Arts Council Ireland, Create Ireland, and different counties.

Hina says that, ‘as an artist, I am inspired by Sadequain, Michelangelo, Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Shahzia Sikander and Anselm Kiefer.’