Associates

Activity at The Crescent and Belfast Book Festival is a collaborative endeavour. Each year, we work with a pool of Freelancers who bring their expertise, ideas and range of perspectives to inform and shape our programme. For 2024/25, we are delighted to be working with: Music Associate - Donal Scullion; and Belfast Book Festival Associate - Emma Cummins.

Donal Scullion

Music Associate

Donal Scullion is a performer, songwriter and arranger who has worked with a wide variety of acts over more than 20 years.

He is a solo acoustic performer, band leader and songwriter for NI Soul Troop, a member of reggae outfit The Vibes, and guitarist and vocalist in The Unholy Gospel Band.

As an arranger and session musician he has worked with artists including Cormac Neeson, Malojian, Ciara O’Neil and Owen Lamont.

His performances have taken him to venues and festivals across the UK and Ireland including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Ulster Hall, supporting artists such as Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Specials, Craig Charles and Damien Dempsey.

Click here to read more about Donal

Emma Cummins

Belfast Book Festival Associate 2025

Emma Cummins is an Associate for Belfast Book Festival 2025 and former manager of the Guardian Bookshop.

She previously worked for Guardian Masterclasses as a programmer and copywriter, while her essays and reviews have appeared in publications including The Quietus, The Guardian, Open Democracy, Flash Art International and Aesthetica.

Emma’s fiction and non-fiction work has been recognised through awards and readings with the Seamus Heaney Centre and John Hewitt International Summer School.

She is currently developing a series of short stories exploring identity, migration and returning home to Northern Ireland.

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