Past Projects
I have worked on a number of projects as a writer, director and as a creative consultant. Explore to see what I have been up to; these are some of my favourites!
Donegal County Council
Wolf Notes
Year
October 2025
Writer
Karen Quinn
Artist
Aoife Gallagher
Photographer
Lauren Carroll
A short Gothic poetry collection inspired by Irish Folk Tales.
After a spate of dogs were bought to keep people company during the pandemic, many have been abandoned in the street, up and down the country. A little girl comes across one of these abandoned dogs and befriends him. Determined to save him from the dog-pound, and an eccentric dog-catcher, she enlists the help of a local ice-cream man, who's going through his own problems with a son, and his failing eyesight, to help 'Pablo' evade the dog-catcher.
RTÉ GUIDE
Once Upon a Bedtime Contributor, The Little Owl
This short story follows a little owl who tries very, very hard to learn how to hoot.
BBC Radio 4
Shopping all the Way
Year
December 2024
Year
January 2024
Timber Films and
Operation Pablo
Writer and Director
Karen Quinn
Producers
Keith and Louise O’Grady
In the hopes of boosting Christmas cheer, or maybe Christmas revenue, the boss of the Merry Little Christmas Shop has promised a bonus to the staff member who makes the most sales.
BBC Radio 4
MENopause
Year
February 2023
Writer
Karen Quinn
Producer
Michael Shannon
Reader
Caolan McCarthy
Executive Producer
Andy Martin
JJ is an ally. And woke. Well, mostly woke. Unfortunately, that isn't helping his relationship with his menopausal employee Madge.
Writer
Karen Quinn
Producer
Sylvie Conway
Reader
Beccy Henderson
Self-published
Colours and You
In this charming book, a lovely Robin tries his very best to make his friend, Squirrel, happy. Written by K.M.L. Quinn and beautifully illustrated by Aoife Gallagher, this book brilliantly describes how wonderful the world can be.
Year
October 2022
Writer
Karen Quinn
Artist
Aoife Gallagher
Year
October 2022
Writer
Karen Quinn
“AN award winning Rathmullan writer is using her platform to shine a light on the struggles women face in a 21st century society.”
— Derry People, Donegal News
Dramacast
Designed as a study aid for students, DramaCast was co-produced by An Grianan Theatre and Workshouse Theatre Company.
I was the Director of Photography on this project.
Little Acorns
Little Acorns was a series of online short plays, produced by An Grianan Theatre.
Little Acorns was filmed using equipment kindly funded by the Arts Council of Ireland / An Chomhairle Ealaíon Capacity Building Support Scheme.
I was the Director five of the six plays, and the Director of Photography for one.
The Bull was my first play, written as a student of Queen’s University, Belfast. Directed by Colm Doran, it will always be the script closest to my heart: it set the foundations for the writer I strive to become.
It was performed at An Grianan Theatre in Donegal.
Awards & Recognitions
-
I was selected to be involved in BBC Writersroom Voices for 2022; there, I received support from the BBC Writersroom team in the creation of a treatment document for new and original series idea.
Between March and June of 2022 the writers room team participated in a range of craft workshops, expert masterclasses and panels with writers including Alice Seabright, Tony Schumacher, Daragh Carville and Lisa Holdsworth, plus industry talks from agents, producers and key industry organisations such as BAFTA Albert and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
-
This scheme was run by Mammoth Screen in partnership with BBC Writersroom, and BBC Drama Commissioning, to search for the most exciting writers, particularly with a strong connection to Northern Ireland, to develop bold, original drama and comedy-drama television series for BBC network broadcast.
My television pilot, Roget’s Wonderland, was longlisted from 135 submissions.
-
“Created in 1989, The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation has its own Constitution, Officers and independent Board of Trustees.
Each year, The Foundation administers the Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award. The competition is designed to motivate non-American novice writers under the age of 30, and offer them the recognition and encouragement that might lead to a successful career in television scriptwriting. Entrants are asked to create a completed half-hour to one-hour English-language television drama script “ (iemmys 2022, para. 1-2).
I was shortlisted twice for this award for two of my television scripts: No Great Artist and The Nighthorse.
-
Organised by Grand Scheme Media, the six winning writers received industry support to develop their sitcoms.
As a result of this, my sitcom Bakersville was performed at the Belfast Media Festival in 2016.