SiarScéal Festival 2019

SiarScéal is a historical, literary, bilingual festival hosted annually and inspired by the culture and heritage of County Roscommon and the west in general, held annually in the library in Roscommon town. The festival includes the annual Hanna Greally Literary Awards, and this year I was lucky enough to be the overall winner with my poem The Burma Road Blues, about the now disused Collooney - Claremorris railway line.

On the Friday evening the festival featured the launch of the Beneath Western Skies exhibition, which featured poetry from a number of primary schools including Bunnanaddan NS in Sligo and photography and poetry by Anni Wilton Jones. This exhibition is going on tour to local libraries.

On Saturday, 12 October I attended the prize-giving and readings. It was great to see the good attendance, meet writers from all over the country and see the enthusiasm the organizers bring to the event. Well done to Gwen McNamara Bond and all involved.

After the official opening by the leas-cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council, adjudicator Faye Boland announced the results. Faye, pictured below, is the author of the poetry collection, Peripheral, and she was overall winner at the Hanna Greally International Literary Awards in 2017. She spoke with great insight about my poem and recalled a grandfather who had similar experiences and empathy with railway lines.

It was great to hear many of the other winning and listed pieces, prose and poetry and also to see that County Sligo was well represented by Going Back by Anne McManus and Borrowed Time by Maureen Harkin. Well done also to Louise G Cole, joint winner in the story section.

One of the children's poems on display.