In 2026, SYP Ireland is running the Into and Ahead streams of the mentorship scheme.
If you have any questions, please email SYP Ireland Co-Chairs (and temporary Membership Officers) Beatrice and Swantje at syp.ireland.membership@gmail.com.
Click here to apply to the mentorship Into stream.
Click here to apply to the mentorship Ahead stream.
Meet some of the SYP Ireland Mentors for 2026!
Catherine Hearn
Communications and Impact Manager at Skein Press
Catherine joined Skein Press in 2025 as Communications and Impact manager. She holds an MA in Gender Studies from the University of Utrecht, where her research centered on postcolonial feminism and anti-imperial masculinities. Prior to completing her MA, Catherine worked in communications at the National Women’s Council. In addition to her work at Skein, she serves as the founding editor of TOLKA, a biannual journal of creative non-fiction that has been publishing since 2021. She is a passionate human rights advocate and believes in the power of the arts to shape a more equal, more tender society for us all.
Bridget Farrell
Executive Editor at Bullaun Press
In 2021 Bridget Farrell founded Bullaun Press, the first press in Ireland dedicated to literature in translation. As well as promoting literary translation in an Irish context, Bullaun aims to support translators and foster cultural exchange between Irish citizens and diaspora communities. In 2025 Bullaun Press was the first ever Irish publisher to win the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses with Gaëlle Bélem’s There’s a Monster Behind the Door (tr. Laëtitia Saint-Loubert and Karen Fleetwood), which was also longlisted for the International Booker Prize that year.
As Executive Editor, Bridget oversees all operational aspects of the press: book production, editing, commissioning reports on potential new titles, liaising with translators, agents and publishers; sales reps and distributor in Ireland & UK; cover designer and typesetter. The role also encompasses administration, budgeting, contract drafting, grant applications, website content, managing PR, social media presence, direct sales. Bullaun’s primary funder is The Arts Council.
Adrian Bullock
Director at Oxford Publishing Consultancy LTD; Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University
I have been involved in publishing since 1970 when I joined Oxford University Press, specialising in production and project management. In 1986, I left OUP and set up Oxford Publishing Consultancy LTD, which provides publishing services for companies and individuals covering everything from authorship to distribution. Since 1989, I have taught publishing at Oxford Brookes on the BA and MA publishing programmes.
In 1982, I started working as an educational publishing consultant, since when I have worked on textbook development and school projects for national governments and NGOs in more than 65 countries worldwide. I have written four books – the latest being the second edition of Book Production, published in 2026 by Taylor & Francis.
I have a wealth of experience and knowledge which I like sharing with others. My email address is: acbullock@brookes.ac.uk, and I live and work in Oxford where, in addition to being an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes I am an Associate Fellow of Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Stephen Reid
Publishing Manager at The Lilliput Press
Stephen Reid is Publishing Manager of The Lilliput Press. He has been working in Irish Publishing since 2017 across both editorial and sales in various roles at New Island Books, Brookside Publishing Services and HarperCollins Ireland. Stephen has worked on numerous bestsellers and critically-acclaimed works in fiction, non-fiction and children’s. He holds an M.Phil in Irish Writing from Trinity College, Dublin.
Joanna Smyth
Editorial Director at Hachette Ireland
Joanna Smyth is Editorial Director at Hachette Ireland, working with bestselling fiction and non-fiction authors including Sophie White, Dr Niamh Lynch, Una Leonard, and Roisin Meaney. She completed a Master’s in Literature and Publishing at the University of Galway, joining Hachette Ireland as an editorial assistant in 2010. Joanna was a Publishing Ireland board member for four years, serving as President from 2020 to 2021.