Stephen McMahon

Stephen is a native of Drogheda in County Louth and has been teaching at university level and with Study Abroad students since 2002. 

He read for a Master of Arts in English (Creative Writing) at Queens University, Belfast and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Human Development at Dublin City University (St. Patrick's College), where he was nominated for the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholarship Award.  In recent years, he has continued his studies in third level teaching, learning and facilitation at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at University College Dublin.

A specialist in small group facilitation, he has taught in several multidisciplinary Study Abroad programs with students from the USA and France, focusing on the creative arts in Ireland, with an emphasis on literature, writing, and photography. From 2002 to 2010 he taught with the Department of English at St. Patrick's College of Education, DCU. He has a particular interest in mentoring students in all aspects of their learning experience, academic studies and creative endeavours.

In conjunction with his teaching and facilitation commitments, Stephen writes short fiction and poetry and has been shortlisted for awards including the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and The Fish Short Story Prize.  His work has been published in several creative writing journals and anthologies including New Soundings: An Anthology of New Writing from the North of Ireland, published by Blackstaff Press in 2004.

Aside from teaching and writing, Stephen has a passion for photography, with particular interests in travel, documentary and sports photography.  In recent years he has been commissioned to cover several international sporting events including the Tour de France and World Track Cycling Championships.  In April 2011, Stephen was awarded the distinction of Licentiateship of the Irish Photographic Federation (LIPF) for a panel of sports images. When the time presents itself, Stephen loves to cycle and to travel, combining the two whenever possible, and has toured Europe, the USA, Australia and the Caribbean.

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