Finnuala Brett

Finnuala is a Nottingham-based writer, covering arts and culture, travel and the outdoors. She's currently Environment Editor for the Left Lion Magazine.

A background in interdisciplinary humanities informs Finnuala's creative approach to interpreting her subject matter. Her most recent piece uncovers a city-wide movement for cyclists, interviewing riders, activists and organisations along the way.

Other pieces include an interview with Sylvia of MTN Notts, examining the role she's had in connecting Notts' street art scene to the local and international community, and an exhibition review of Kate MccGwire's Quiver, showing at the Lakeside Arts Centre. She's held a position as Travel Editor for her university's award-winning student magazine The Croft. Other pieces have been published in Bogbodies Press' Mnemotope 009, Intrepid Times and National Geographic Traveller.

Contact: finnualabrett@hotmail.com

Articles

Journalism, travel pieces, personal essays, and my award-winning submission to the National Geographic

16th October 2026

Pedal to the Metal: envisioning how Notts could be transformed via sustainable transport

What could Nottingham look like if cyclists, not cars, came first? Speaking to riders, campaigners and charity workers along the way, Finnuala Brett uncovers a city-wide movement bigger than any single ride.

5th January 2026

Exhibition review: Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom

Basel Abbas’ and Ruanne Abou-Rahme's largest-scale exhibition yet is not an easy work to grapple with but demands that the visitor does just that.

5th November 2025

Exhibition review: Quiver at Lakeside Arts

Kate MccGwire's latest solo exhibition, Quiver, is a powerful overview of 25 years' worth of work. Typically, it does not shy away from the uncomfortable.

31st October 2025

Flying colours: a look inside legendary local paint shop Montana

A cornerstone of Nottingham’s creative scene, Montana has made a name for itself as not just a paints shop, but a hub for local artists of all kinds.

Left Lion • 27th August 2025

From grassroots to Fields

Drury Hill's DIY, offbeat and grassroots ethos runs deeper than their distinct sound; it's been shaped by the band members’ shared adolescence in Nottingham.

Intrepid Times • 1st March 2023

The Quiet of the Peripheries

A solo traveller in Antigua tracks down a municipal pool on the city’s outskirts and watches as expats, locals, and tourists mingle in the dreamlike setting.

National Geographic • 6th October 2022

Alone On A Slow River

Finnuala Brett’s entry, ‘Alone On a Slow River’, runner up in National Geographic’s Travel Writing Competition 2022.

Editorial Work

Subediting text, graphic design, photography

The Croft: Issue 2, Sin (2022), pages 20-21

The Croft: Issue 3, Sonder (2022), pages 20-21

The Croft: Issue 4, Soiree (2022), pages 30-31

The Croft: Issue 8, From the Source (2023), pages 14-15