Battle of the Books, Swift Satire, Trim 2013

The Swift Satire Festival, Trim starts tomorrow, 4 July, with the official opening and the Battle of the Books. This is the fifth year of this satire competition between the two Trim-based writers groups. The holders are Meath Writers Circle and the pattern so far is a different winner every second year. So the pressure is on Boyne Writers Group this year.

The format has been changed. Previously the contest was held as part of the Bite of Satire lunch which featured some other entertainment as well as the contest. This year it is a stand alone event taking place at 9pm this Thursday immediately after the official opening in the Trim Castle Hotel.

The teams of three submit their satire scripts in advance to the judges who will be familiar with the material before the event. Contestants take turns to deliver their satire, maximum time allowed five minutes, and receive an immediate judgement and score.

The teams have been given a general definition of satire which includes:

In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be funny, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour in itself so much as an attack on something of which the author strongly disapproves, using the weapon of wit. 

It is still difficult to be definitive as regards what is or is not satire so every year the judges query if a particular piece is satire or not.

This year of course we will miss the late Tommy Murray who captained the Meath Writers Circle in previous years and who died suddenly at the end of last year.

Frank Murphy is their captain this year, a worthy successor to Tommy. Frank has participated in each contest so far and has usually scored highly.

So let the battle commence. I should however mention a few excuses in case we are beaten. The weather is against us. Every year we won the sun was splitting the stones. One of our members has come down with a bad cold. Cough! Cough! Our team is entirely composed of amateur satirists unlike the opposition. 

My own satire for this year? I got this great idea one day while thinning turnips but the finished satire is pretty poor. As usual it pokes gentle fun at a few sacred bulls, is very innocuous, not designed to upset anyone. Complete rubbish!  Not!!

Swift Satire Festival on Facebook.

Picture above: Festival patron Noel Dempsey presenting last year's trophy to the winning side, Meath Writers' Circle; from left, Michael Shiels, the now sadly deceased Tommy Murray, and Frank Murphy.

The Blackfriary Community Archaeology Project

It's a busy time. This weekend sees the Hay Festival in Kells, the Swift Satire Festival takes place next weekend in Trim and early next week there is an archaeology conference in Trim.


Power, Prayer and Public Archaeology, a conference in celebration of 750 years since the foundation of the Black Friary, Trim will be held on 2nd-3rd July 2013 in the Knightsbrook Hotel Spa & Golf Resort, Dublin Road, Trim.

More details and the full programme are available here.

The Blackfriary Community Archaeology Project is an initiative of the Irish Archaeology Field School, Cultural Tourism Ireland and Meath Local Authorities working in partnership with the local community and stakeholders.

The project aims to carry out a detailed archaeological investigation of the Black Friary; a four acre site including the ruins of the thirteenth century Dominican Friary, once a significant part of the history of the medieval town of Trim.

This project is engaging with the local community and stakeholders, to conserve the site and create a space where community and visitors alike can explore heritage and use the site in a sustainable way. I attended the recent open day there and was impressed by the site and the discoveries being made.


The Blackfriary Community Archaeology Project and the heritage of Trim has been included in the National Geographic book ‘100 Places That Can Change Your Child’s Life,’ (2013). Author Keith Bellows, in an interview with CNN Travel listed his Top 10 experiences from the book; which included Trim and the
archaeological project at the Black Friary.

For more information about the Irish Archaeology Field School and the Blackfriary Community Archaeology Project go to the website or the Facebook page.

Winner - Fermoy International Poetry Competition

"The overall winner of the Fermoy International Poetry Festival Blue Max Review competition is Michael Farry from County Meath Ireland.

Judge Noel King said 'selections were made on the overall skill across the batches of 3 poems rather than individual poems'."

I was delighted to get the phone call from Gene Barry and I'm looking forward to attending the Fermoy Poetry Festival at the beginning of August. I've passed through Fermoy many times on my way to Cork (before the bypass) but I don't think I ever stopped there. 

When I saw my name among those of all those other great poets on the long list earlier this week I was honoured to be in that company and to have been declared the winner is brilliant. The three poems I entered are recent, all written this year and scrutinised by Boyne Writers Group and LitLab members. Thanks!


Thanks especially to the organisers and to the judge. The programme for the Festival looks very interesting with a number of overseas poets attending and reading. I'm looking forward to a good few days in Fermoy.

Hay Festival Kells

The newest chapter of the Hay Festival takes place in Kells in County Meath next week-end, 28–30 June 2013.

The impressive programme includes novelists John Boyne, DBC Pierre, John Banville, Tiffany Murray; poets Owen Sheers, Nerys Williams, Eurig Salisbury; memoirs from Jeanette Winterson; children's writers Jenny Valentine, Sarah Webb; playwright Frank McGuinness; actors Peter Sheridan, Lisa Dwan; a film animating The Secret of Kells; academics Germaine Greer on Shakespeare and Dr Bernard Meehan on the Book of Kells; politician Jesse Norman on Burke; and musician Alex Valentine.


The rather pretentious title for the festival is IMAGINE THE WORLD: SAMHLAIGH AN DOMHAN, whatever that is supposed to mean. Why imagine the world? It's all around, just look at it!

The full programme is available on the website.

On Sunday 30 June at 2pm poets Peter Fallon and Vona Groarke will read in the Church of Ireland, Kells. Poet, editor and publisher, founder of The Gallery Press, Peter Fallon reads poems from his published works alongside award-winning poet Vona Groarke, whose collections include Spindrift, Juniper Street and Flight. Admission: €4.00

Among the many interesting smaller events organised for the week-end is a Victorian Afternoon Tea hosted by the Kells Arts Club with literature, poetry and song. This takes place in the Edmund Rice Centre, Bective Street, Kells from 2pm to 6pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Feel free to drop in and listen and if you have a poem or a song you might even be tempted to recite, read or sing!

North West Writing Weekend

North West Words group has organised a very interesting Writing Weekend in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal  on the weekend July 19-21 2013.

Weekend Programme:
 
Friday July 19
Launch at Café Blend, High Road, Letterkenny. 7.30pm
Reading by workshop facilitators, with music by Seoirse O’Dochartaigh

Saturday July 20 
Gallagher’s Hotel, Upper Main Street, Letterkenny
9.30am Registration
10.00-11.30am Workshop 1:
Collage Workshop or Deepening Your Writing Practice

12.00-1.30pm Workshop 2:
Turning Memories into Writing or Writing for Younger Readers

2.30-4.00pm Publishing Panel Chaired Discussion with Declan Meade of Stinging Fly Press, John Walsh and Lisa Frank of Doire Press and wordlegs editor Elizabeth Reapy

4.00-5.00pm Café Blend
Reading by Freya McClements, Deirdre Hines, with music by Shay Halligan, and Open Mic

8.00pm Gallagher’s Hotel
Reading by workshop facilitators, with music by Simon Mc Cafferty, and Open Mic

Sunday July 21 
Gallagher’s Hotel
9.30am Registration
10-12.30pm Poetry Workshop
1.30-4.00pm Techniques in Editing Fiction or
Poetry Clinic with John Walsh

Facilitators and Contributors include Celine McGlynn, Ellen Factor, Kathryn Daily, Denise Blake, Malachy Doyle, Declan Meade, Lisa Frank, John Walsh, Gréagóir Ó Dúill and Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons.

Course fee: Saturday only: €40. Sunday only: €50. Both days: €80. Course fee includes entry to all readings and open mic events over the weekend. Fee must be paid in full at the time of booking. Places are limited so early booking is advised. Bursaries may be available for those who need financial assistance with the fee.

Work must be submitted by email in advance for Sunday’s master classes, further details on booking.

Preferences allocated on a first come first served basis.
Enquiries to maureenwcurran@yahoo.ie Bookings and payment by cheque or postal order to NWW Writing Weekend, 54 Thornberry, Letterkenny, Co Donegal

North West Words has been hosting monthly poetry and prose readings in Letterkenny since 2010. They publish a quarterly magazine of writing and arts news which they distribute across Donegal free of charge. They run an annual schools poetry competition and last year they organised their first poetry competition for adults. In the summer they present events at festivals in Donegal.

Remarkably, they run on donations, support from the County Arts Office and from Donegal Local Development Company Ltd (DLDC) under the Local and Community Development Programme 2013.

Sixth Swift Satire Festival, Trim

Full details of the Sixth Swift Satire Festival, Trim, Co. Meath, which will be held from 4 July to 7 July 2013, have been posted on the website.

This annual event celebrates the life, works and legacy of Jonathan Swift by bringing together distinguished guests from the arts, politics, the media and comedy to celebrate satire.

Swift was appointed vicar in Laracor, just out the road from Trim, in 1700. The author of such famous satires as Gulliver’s Travels, A Tale Of A Tub and A Modest Proposal, had many firm friends in the town of Trim itself.

The full programme is on the website as is a downloadable brochure.

The launch takes place on Thursday 4 July at 8pm in the Trim Castle Hotel. Admission is free, wine and canapés will be served and the launch will be followed by the first event of this year’s festival, the perennial staple of  The Battle of the Books, the satire competition between keen rival groups Meath Writers Circle and Boyne Writers Group. This takes place at 9pm, also in the Trim Castle Hotel. Admission: €5.

A novel event (Pun! - Gulliver's Travels is usually considered to be a novel) is The Gulliver Gathering reading. All 302 pages of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels will be read by 302 people (one page per reader) in the biggest simultaneous reading event ever undertaken in Ireland. Places can be pre-booked on the website.

This takes place on Saturday 5 July. Registration of readers from 11.30am on the day, and the reading will start at 1pm sharp. Venue: Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station). Don't miss being part of this!

Other events include: A Bite of Satire in the company of President Michael D. Higgins: Eneclann Genealogical Roadshow: Poetry in Motion: Project Swift – a spectacular projection of the life, travels and works of Jonathan Swift: Satire-Day Comedy Festival: Satire-Day Evening Show: Oliver Callan’s Satire Circus: The Swift Round Table with Barry Murphy, Alan Shortt and Very Special Guests: The Swift Tour.

Full details on the website.

A Selection of Irish Poetry

Paddy Smith and myself were asked to provide about 30 minutes of Irish poetry for a group of visitors to Trim and to Meath who were investigating their Irish roots as part of The Gathering.

We came up with the following list which with short introductions actually went on for nearer 50 minutes. But no-one complained and the audience enjoyed the readings greatly. Paddy introduced the event, and then we took turns.

We had quite a discussion as regards the composition of the list. Paddy, a former journalist, was strong on the entertainment aspect of the poems while I, the former teacher, wanted to include the important Irish poets.

We made sure to include some Meath poets and I also thought it important that we read one in Irish. You can figure out which were Paddy's selection and which mine.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Biddy Mulligan Seamas Kavanagh

Anois Teacht an Earraigh Antaine Ó Raifteirí (1784-1835)

I see His Blood Upon the Rose  Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887-1916)

Lament for Thomas MacDonagh Francis Ledwidge (1887-1917)

The Fairies William Allingham. (1824-1889)
 
The Stolen Child William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Father and Son F. R. Higgins (1896-1941)

Digging Seamus Heaney (1939- )

Kerr's Ass Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967)

The Priesting of Father John

A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Are You Right There Michael Percy French (1854-1920)

A Soft Day Winifred M. Letts (1882-1972)

The Great Blasket Island Julie O’Callaghan (1954- )

Bewley’s Café Paul Durcan (1944- )

The Song of Wandering Aengus William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Poetry Press Workshops

Poetry Press Workshops by fellow Doghouse poet, Monica Corish, in Kinlough, Co Leitrim.

Saturday, June 29, 11 am - 6 pm. : A Day of Writing: Finding your Poem.
Sunday, June 30, 10 am– 5 pm. : A Day of Manuscript Response: Strengthening your Poem.

These two workshops, suitable for both beginner and more experienced writers, will be led by poet and AWA trained writing group leader Monica Corish. Participants may choose to attend either one workshop or both at a discounted price.

More information about the workshops, including cost and accommodation details, can be found on Monica's website. Places are limited, so advance booking is essential.

Monica Corish's poetry has been nominated for the Patrick Kavanagh and the Hennessy New Irish Writing Awards; she was the Featured Poet in the Spring 09 edition of The Stinging Fly; and she has received writing bursaries from the Arts Council, the Arts and Disability Forum, and Leitrim Arts Office.

Her first collection of poetry, "Slow Mysteries", was published by Doghouse Books in June 2012.

Yeats Day - The Sisters

This year Yeats Day included the launch of a 10-day rescheduled and re-branded Craftfest Northwest festival honouring WB's sisters Susan and Elizabeth - affectionately named Lily and Lolly by her siblings.

Susan (Lily) was a keen embroiderist.  Elizabeth (Lolly) trained under the renowned artist and textile designer William Morris in London. She was an artist and the main inspiration for the Cuala Press which she ran with her sister. They printed the work of WB Yeats and many other well-known writers including Ezra Pound, Douglas Hyde, Rabindranath Tagore and Elizabeth Bowen.

The LilyLolly Craftfest will build on the success in recent years of the Northwest Craftfest. The rebranded and rescheduled festival - promoted by Made in Sligo craft workers group - will now be launched on Yeats day every year.

I went along to see the exhibition of quilts suitable titled The Fascination of What's Difficult by the Yeats County Quilters. Wonderful work. The top, smaller quilt, is a Sligo Heritage quilt of theirs.

Fathers' Day

This Sunday, 16 June, is Fathers' Day in this part of the world.

I spotted this nice display for Fathers' Day in Liber Bookshop, O'Connell St., Sligo on Thursday. "No ties, Just lots and lots of great Jackets"!!

Indeed! and I was delighted to see my history book jacket in there among Dan Brown and Benjamin Black.

Yeats Day 2013 Sligo

This second Yeats Day in Sligo seems to have been a great success; a lot of people around the town, attending the various events and there were lots of events.

I got to the Hilary Pyle talk on the Jack B Yeats exhibition, Enter the Clowns in the Model, the official launch of the Tread Softly Yeats Festival, the Happy Birthday Mr Yeats celebration in O'Connell St, the exhibition of Yeats’ work from The National Library, Sligo County Library and IT Sligo in the old Pollexfen building in Wine Street, the art installation at the Yeats statue at the old Ulster Bank, the quilt exhibition by Yeats County Quilters and I even read two poems at the Poetry Parlour in the Yeats Memorial Building.

Pictures:
Top: The O'Connell St celebrations in the afternoon.
Above: The launch of the Tread Softly Festival by the Mayor of Sligo beside the new portrait of Jack B Yeats in the Model Art Gallety.
Below: The art installation at the Yeats statue by art students Hugh McGettigan and Ciara Finan. Four of his poem were printed on the stands. After reading each poem you were invited to go under the cloth and look at a photographic interpretation of the poem.

Yeats' Day 2013

 Poetry, painting, song, craft and ... eh ... wine and sausages? All will be on the menu for Sligo's second annual Yeats Day celebration throughout the town on Thursday June 13, birthday of Nobel Prize Winning poet W.B. Yeats.

This year the day will be a dawn to dusk celebration not just of Sligo's Nobel Laureate and his works, but also of his brother Jack, one of the country's most significant painters of the last century, and his sisters Susan and Elizabeth- who made an enormous contribution to the Gaelic art and crafts revival in the early 20th century.

The highlight will be the birthday celebrations on O’Connell Street, Sligo from 3pm to 6pm with poetry, balloons, birthday cake and music.

A sample below of the many events scheduled for the day. Full list on this page.

8am Lough Gill: Boat Trip, Full Irish breakfast and poetry readings €40. Booking essential. Email: info@roseofinnisfree.com Tel:  087 2598869

11am Hawk's Well Theatre: The Gathering - Flock of 400 Textile Birds created by children and adults from across Co. Sligo sponsored by Borough 400

12.30pm County Library: Choral Yeats - Children in costume recite Yeats poetry

12.30pm Various venues: The Wine and Sausage Lunch - celebrate the Nobel Prize winning poet’s award as he did; a glass of wine and a sausage!

1pm The Model: Jack B. Yeats ‘Enter the Clowns’ - Official Launch and curated tour with the National Art Gallery’s renowned Professor Hilary Pyle

2pm Drumcliffe Churchyard: Feis Shligigh and Feis Ceoil Yeats Cup poetry winners perform The Nobel Prize - an interpretation of W.B.Yeats’ speech on being awarded the Prize; with actor Michael Fish

3pm Yeats Building: Afternoon Tea with Aleck Crichton - His personal memories of W.B. Yeats

4.30pm Departs Parke’s Castle: Hazelwood Heritage Boat Trip Readings of poetry by W.B. Yeats, history of Lough Gill and Hazelwood Tickets €20, available in advance, from Fáilte Ireland Office, O’Connell St, Sligo

6pm Hargadons Pub: Party Piece - Read, sing or perform your own favourite W.B. Yeats poem

6.30pm Yeats Building: Poet’s Parlour - Poetry, drama and family fun

7pm Sligo Abbey: The Icelandic Connection - Writer Brian Leyden reads W.B. Yeats with poet Andres Eiriksson’s ‘Icelandic Translations’

Poetry Ireland Director

Poetry Ireland are currently recruiting for a Director who, under the direction of the Board, will work with a dedicated team and will develop and lead the organisation towards its 40th anniversary.

Poetry Ireland is the national organisation for poetry in Ireland, dedicated to developing, supporting and promoting poetry throughout Ireland. As the largest literary resource organisation in Ireland we deliver through four core strands: publications, readings, education (which involves writers of all genres) and the provision of an information and resource service, we seek to promote access and excellence by embracing and fostering poetry and language as tools for living.  

We are looking for a creative and strategic individual who has a deep knowledge, passion and concern for poetry and literature in general. Highly developed organisational, strategy, financial and management skills are required, alongside excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Salary will be commensurate with knowledge and experience.   

A detailed job description and further information are available to download from the Poetry Ireland website.

Interested applicants are invited to submit a detailed CV, highlighting relevant experience, and a covering letter in strict confidence to the Chairman by email: chairman@poetryireland.ie (preferred option) or by post: Chairman, Poetry Ireland, 32 Kildare St., Dublin 2

The closing date for applications is next Tuesday 18 June, 2013 at 5pm

Swift Satire Festival Trim - Programme

Full details of the 2013 Swift Satire Festival, 4 July - 7 July, are on the website where you can also book tickets. Quite a number of changes in this year's programme. The Battle of the Books satire competition is going ahead but the time and day has been changed.


The Swift Satire Festival Launch takes place at 8pm on Thursday 4 July in the Trim Castle Hotel. Admission is free, wine and canapés will be served and the launch will be followed by the first event of this year’s festival, the perennial favourite, The Battle of the Books.

This annual satirical joust between our Boyne Writers Group and Meath Writers Circle will take place at 9pm in the Trim Castle Hotel, Admission: €5. Time to get the satire ideas down on paper, polish up the delivery, check the timings, decide the running order and hope for the best.

Another novel event to look out for and maybe take part in is the simultaneous reading of Gulliver's Travels at 1pm on Saturday 6 July. All 302 pages of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels will be read by 302 people (one page per reader) in the biggest simultaneous reading event ever undertaken in Ireland.

Places can be pre-booked on the special website page. Registration of readers from 11.30am on the day, and the reading will start at 1pm sharp. Venue: Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station). Admission: Free.

Romancing Charlotte

As well as being a member of Boyne Writers Group I'm also a member of LitLab which is a Cavan/Meath writers group which was started in 2006 by Meath and Cavan Arts Offices to mentor and encourage writers in the two counties.

The group has prospered and meet fortnightly in Bailieborough. Over the last few years one member, Pat Devaney who has an impressive list of publications to his credit, brought for criticism some episodes of a series of his which was being published in a monthly Irish magazine.

The serial has concluded and Pat has had it published as a novel under a pen name, Colin Scott. It is available as an e-book or paperback from Authorhouse and from Amazon.

This is how Pat describes the book:

Set in Post-Celtic-Tiger Ireland, this novel follows the efforts of PJ, a returned Yank, to win the love of Charlotte, attractive English-born widow of Sir William Herbert and owner of the local Big House. Differences of religion and class would seem to doom the romance but the growing relationship between PJ's son and Charlotte's daughter and a shared interest in saving a local bog from illegal turf cutters dramatically alter the situation.

Roger Hudson's Dublin Launch

Poems that tell stories is a major feature of Roger Hudson’s new collection Plaything of the Great God Kafka (Lapwing Publications, Belfast) which will be receive its Dublin launch at Monday Echo, basement of International Bar, Wicklow Street, Dublin 1 at 7.00pm on 10 June. 

Roger has chosen Monday Echo to express his thanks to Dublin’s fringe venues and performance poets like Karl Parkinson, who launches the book, Stephen James Smith, Raven and others who showed him exciting ways to communicate his own poems. 

Since then he has gotten into performing with improvised music and in a group with multiple voices as well as performing solo, which should be reflected in the evening’s presentation. Lending support will be Anne Tannam, Steve Downes and other poets.

Roger promises that the poems will give a colourful view of the development over a lifetime of his often quirky worldview, assembling narratives of life incidents and social and political observations that range through Vietnam War atrocities, the Cuban missile crisis, puberty, propaganda, prejudice, prostate biopsy, the banking crisis and much more.

Roger has lived in Dublin and Drogheda for some twenty years now. As leader of Drogheda Creative Writers, he has organised and hosted its awards, open mics, anthologies and slams, as well as working on his previous collections Lifescapes (in Side-Angles with Steve Downes) and Greybell Wood and Beyond, also with Lapwing, and his historical crime novel Death Comes by Amphora.  

He grew up in Surrey, England, and lived and worked in London and Dublin in various forms of writing, editing and film-making.

All welcome. Supported by Create Louth. Signed copies available on the night at €10. Seating limited, so don’t be late.

Launch of 4 Salmon Poetry Collections

Salmon Poetry are launching four new poetry collections at the Irish Writers' Centre on next Thursday 6 June at 6.30pm.

The God Thing by Susan Millar DuMars
Shy White Tiger by Richard W. Halperin
The Stern Wave by Noel King
Offspring of the Moon by John W. Sexton

Quite a collection there! It should be a great evening of poetry. Each poet will read a selection.

Visit the Salmon website to read more about each collection and/or purchase copies.

On the other hand attend the launch and get a signed copy.

Boyne Berries Magazine - Guest Editor

Boyne Berries magazine is open for submissions until 13 July. We are delighted to have Kate Dempsey as our guest editor for this issue. Kate's poetry and fiction is widely published in Ireland and the UK including in Poetry Ireland Review, The Moth, Orbis and Magma. She won the 2011 Plough Poetry prize for a short poem and her first book of poetry, Some Poems, was published by Moth Editions, also in 2011.

Picture: Kate with member Orla Fay at one of our Open Mics in 2010.

We look forward to working with her and expect that the magazine will profit from her expertise and experience. Kate blogs here.

We accept poetry and prose. Please check the submission guidelines carefully and follow them meticulously. The guidelines are here.

I am always astonished at how heedless some people can be. We can all make mistakes but if a magazine asks for three poems why send four? If the line limit is 60 lines why send a 70-line poem? And if you are asked to send a brief biography why send a page listing your every publication credit?

And please proof read your work very carefully before you send. The editor does not have time to check with you if the strange spelling in stanza three is a clever literary pun or a mistake.

We get many more submissions than will fit in our little magazine so if you get a rejection don't take it personal. Send it off again to another magazine and send us something else next time.

This will be Boyne Berries 14 and the provisional launch date is Thursday 26 September 2013 in Trim.

Bloom in the Park Gardens

I went to visit Bloom, the gardening show, in the Phoenix Park for the first time on Thursday morning last and spent two hours there before the large crowds arrived. I enjoyed the show gardens especially, not as much artificiality as I had expected.

These gardens caught my eye:
The Kerry Group / Concern Worldwide 1000 DAYS Garden. It won a Gold Medal and Best in Concept Garden Category. On Thursday the President was especially interested in this. The "water features" in this had a practical irrigation purpose.

'Past Times' - A 70s Retro Garden which won a Silver Medal. Remember those days!

A Love Letter to The West. Ah yes! This Medium Garden was a Silver-Gilt Medal Winner. The designer lives and works in County Leitrim. The planting was wonderful here.

Destination Bloom. A Concept Garden which was a Silver-Gilt Medal Winner. A crash-land garden with some of Irelands worst invasive culprits.

Bealtaine Poetry Reading

The Bealtaine reading by the members of the Bealtaine Writers Group in the Hugh Lane Gallery yesterday was a most enjoyable event in a splendid setting. The group members read their poems, responses to artworks in the gallery, especially concentrating on works by modern Irish artist Sean Scully.

The Gallery is featuring an exhibition of his works at the moment. These are generally large and abstract, based on simple geometric shapes and at first glance not easy subjects for poems. One painting from the Doric series above. But the group responded with great creativity and skill and the poems made you want to go back to the paintings and look again.

Tom Dredge, above, the only male reader on the day, is also a member of our Boyne Writers Group.

The group's poems on this topic were developed from a series of writing and editing workshops with the poet Macdara Woods in the Irish Writers Centre, supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.


Well done to all!

Poetry on Thursday

The long established Bealtaine Writers Group will visit The Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square, Dublin and read poems they have written inspired by artworks in the gallery. This event is free and open to the public on Thursday 30 May at 1.15pm as part of the Bealtaine Festival.


A member of Boyne Writers Group, Tom Dredge, who is also a member of the Bealtaine group will be reading at the event.

Their poems have developed from a series of writing and editing workshops with the poet Macdara Woods in the Irish Writers Centre, supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.

And the first series in the Poetry Ireland Introductions Readings 2013 featuring Madeleine Barnes, Stephenie Conn, Brian Kirk and Annemarie Ní Churreáin takes place at the Irish Writers' Centre, Parnell Square on the same day, Thursday at 6.30pm, admission free.

A History of Coolaney in 15 Objects

The talk in Coolaney on Saturday evening went very well. I was delighted to see such a great crowd and to meet some old school friends. The renovated Centre looks very well. Congratulations to the committee and the people of Coolaney.

This is the list of the objects I used to frame the talk. Most were illustrations but some, 9-13, were actual objects which I had there on display.

1. Rathbarran food vessel and axe c. 1,500BC (National Museum)

2. Miniature portrait of Cormac O'Hara, Coolaney c.1590. (O'Hara Family, Annaghmore)

3. Map of Coolaney 1716. (O’Hara Papers, National Library)

4. Engraving of Meemlough Castle. (The Antiquities of Ireland, Francis Grose, London, 1791)

5. Ordnance Survey map of Coolaney village 1837

6. Drawing of Coolaney old bridge by Raymond Piper. (Hayward, This is Ireland, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, London, 1953)

7. Wanted Notices 1838-40. (National Archives, Dublin)

8. Relief Application Form, 28 April 1847 Kate P. Thompson, Knockadoo House. (National Archives, Dublin)

9. Envelope of letter from Coolaney about election, 1852. (O’Hara Papers, National Library)

10. National Schools Amalgamation Brochure 1972

11. Railway warning sign c.1895

12. A Coolaney brick c.1907 (Photo above)

13. Account book of Coleman’s Coolaney 1902-1924 (Photo in post below)

14. Census Form 1911 Charles Mackenzie, Coolaney court clerk

15. Cartoons of Peter Cawley, Coolaney politician (Roscommon Herald 1912, 1914)

Coolaney Community Centre

Coolaney is a small village on the southern slopes of the Ox Mountains in County Sligo. I was born in the the parish and wrote a short history of the parish and published it in 1985.

The population of the area increased enormously during the tiger years and the village regularly comes out on top in Sligo in the Tidy Towns competition.

The local committee have just finished a major renovation of the Community Centre in the village and it is being re-opened this Friday, 24 May. I was asked to do a talk on the history of the village on Saturday evening 25th. I was delighted and decided to call it A History of Coolaney in 15 Objects, reflecting a current trend in such things.

Most of the 15 objects are in museums or libraries but I will have six or seven actual objects with me on the evening including the one pictured above. More on the night. I'm looking forward to the event and hope I do the occasion justice.

The well-known Book of O'Hara which contains 37 bardic poems of the late sixteenth century was compiled in honour of Cormac O'Hara, head of the family who lived in Coolaney and died in 1612. Some of these poems were written by the poet, Tadhg Dall O'Higgins, born close by near Achonry.

And of course five of my poems about the area, including one called Coolaney, were published in an anthology, Imagination and Place: Cartography,  in Kansas, USA earlier this year.

Scripts, Ireland’s Playwriting Festival

Birr Theatre and Arts Centre presents Scripts, Ireland’s  Playwriting Festival, 8-14 September 2013.

Scripts, Ireland’s newest playwriting festival is dedicated to new Irish plays - the writing of them, the development and nurturing of them. Playwrights can submit original 10 to 15 Minute plays on the theme Home for selection.

Those selected will benefit from a professional development process where they will be mentored by professional playwright Eugene O' Brien in an exciting work shopping process. Closing date 1 July.

For 7 days in September the picturesque heritage town of Birr, Co. Offaly, a haven of Georgian elegance, will play host to an ensemble of playwrights, producers, actors and directors, all working towards one goal -  to produce 7 outstanding new Irish plays in 7 fun-filled days!

You can also register to be part of a “Pop Up” Play in a Day Challenge. Playwrights will have 24 hours to write the 5 minute plays which will be performed as Pop Up Plays in cafes in Birr throughout the festival and again at the "It's A Wrap" event on Sunday September 15th.

Visit the website for more info on this exciting new festival.

The Swift Festival in Trim had a five-minute play competition last year which was a great success. Not sure if something similar will take place this year.

Strong / Shine Poetry Award Shortlist

The shortlist has just been announced for the 2013 Strong / Shine Award for debut volumes of poetry, to be presented at the Poetry Now at Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival in September.

The four are: Eleanor Hooker's The Shadow Owner's Companion, Mary Noonan's The Fado House (both Dedalus), Rebecca O'Connor's We'll Sing Blackbird (Moth Editions) and Michelle O'Sullivan's The Blue End of Stars (Gallery Press).

The dlr Strong Award in partnership with Shine is presented annually to the author of the best first collection of poems published by an Irish poet in the previous year.Last year's winner was Sound Archive by Nerys Williams published by Seren.

Congratulations to the four authors and best of luck. Eleanor was another of the Poetry Ireland Introductions Class of 2011.

Get Digital - Converting Books to eBooks

Eoin Purcell, Commissioning Editor at  New Island Books, will be hosting a workshop on converting books into ebooks in the Irish Writers Centre on Saturday 8 June from 10am until 2pm.

This course is specifically tailored towards published writers who now own the rights to previously published material which they would like to make available as ebooks. 

Over the course of the morning ebooks will be examined with a section on how to create them, where to upload them, covers, pricing, marketing and a brief guide to rights.

*Please note this course is only open to published writers. To book please visit the Centre's website.

Eoin Purcell is the publisher of Irish Publishing News the source of news and information about Irish publishing and The Irish Story, a digital magazine and ebook publisher that focuses on Irish History. They published a review of my Sligo book recently.

Eoin writes occasional blog posts and columns on the Irish book trade for The Bookseller magazine and several other publications. He has kept a blogs on publishing and digital change since 2006.

The Caterpillar Magazine for Children

Announcing The Caterpillar, a new arts and literature magazine for children, featuring stories, poems and artwork. ‘As far as I can tell,’ says its editor Rebecca O’Connor, ‘there is nothing else quite like this out there for children.’

It features:
Poems and stories for children aged 7–11.
Well known children’s writers.
Full colour original artwork throughout.
Interactive pages for children to encourage creativity.

The first issue, to be launched on 2 June 2013 at the Moth Studios, Cavan, will feature the likes of Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse; Mark Lowery, shortlisted for a Roald Dahl Funny Prize this year; and Janet Wong, who has read her poems on the Oprah Winfrey Show and at The White House, as well as such well known Irish writers as Matthew Sweeney and Julie O’Callaghan.

There will be four issues a year – in March, June, September and December. Available online, at Easons and at select bookshops, price €4/£4.

A school or library annual subscription costs €40 (including postage) and can be purchased at www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com or you can email enquiries@thecaterpillarmagazine.com or call 00 353 49 4362677 to set up payment.

New Poetry Collections

Another poet from the class of 2011, the Poetry Ireland Introductions of that year, is publishing a first collection.

Consent, the debut poetry collection by Kimberly Campanello, published by Connemara-based Doire Press, is being launched on Thursday 16 May at 7pm in the  Irish Writers’ Centre, Dublin.

Evelyn Conlon will do the honours on the night. Well done Kimberly!

More information here on Facebook.and here on Kimberly's website.

And it has also just been announced that another of the class of 2011, Donna Sandahl Sørensen, has just  signed a book deal and her debut poetry collection, Dream Country, will be published by New Island Books later this year.

Poetry Reading and Writing Workshop - National Library

As part of the Bealtaine Festival the National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin will host two Australian poets, Diane Fahey and Ali Cobby Eckermann for a poetry reading, 1.10pm - 2pm, followed by a  poetry writing workshop, 2.30pm  – 3.45pm, on next Wednesday, 15 May.

No need to book, just drop-in on the day.

Diane Fahey grew up in Melbourne and now lives in Clifton Springs  in south-eastern Victoria. She has written individual poetry collections on Greek myths, fairy tales, and insects. The poetry of place and nature writing, with a special emphasis on birds are abiding creative concerns.

Ali Cobby Eckermann, a celebrated poet and writer, lives in Koolunga, South Australia, where she has established an Aboriginal writer’s retreat. Ali has won several awards and has published poetry collections and verse novels. Her poetic memoir, Too Afraid To Cry, is being released in 2013.


These poets have been chosen for the Australian Poetry International Tour to Ireland in 2013, funded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council.

Themed Thursdays - Animals

I'm delighted to be taking part in the Seven Towers Thursday Themed Reading (6.30-8.00 pm every second Thursday 2013) in the Workman's Club, Wellington Quay, Dublin. on this Thursday

In these readings four writers/poets read on a specific theme for five to seven minutes each followed by a short open mic.

The temptation is to bend the rules and intepret "animals" very widely as one could. I've searched around, found enough poems on real or imaginary animals and am ready.

These are the other readers:

David Murphy is an award winning Science Fiction Writer. He is co-founder of Irish fiction magazine Albedo One, and has published two novels, Akron Chronicles and Longevity City and a collection of short stories Lost Notes.

Alma Brayden is a well-known Dublin poet and accomplished visual artist, a member of Dalkey Writers’ Workshop and has had poetry published in many anthologies and magazines.Her first collection Prism was published by Seven Towers in 2010

Seamus Cashman's poetry collections are Carnival (1987); Clowns & Acrobats (1997); and New & Selected Poems (Salmon, 2007). He has edited, with Bridie Quinn, The Wolfhound Book of Irish Poems for Young People, (Wolfhound Press, 1975) and Something Beginning with P (O’Brien Press, 2004) He established Wolfhound Press in 1974 and was its publisher for 27 years.

I'm delighted to be reading in such good and varied company. The Seven Towers events are always friendly and welcoming so I'm looking forward to the event.

Headspace: A New Magazine Promoting Positive Mental Health

HeadSpace is a writing and art magazine based around the theme of mental health which began with a group of young people who felt that a greater understanding of mental health in all its forms  is needed.

In particular, people who spent time in psychiatric wards found that there was a lack of reading material there, and felt they would have gained a sense of solidarity and support to read and see the work of writers and artists who understood their own experiences.

The name HeadSpace was motivated by the idea that in culture and society, we are not given the time or capacity to express, create and think as time is money, but all of us feel the need to buy some 'headspace' in order to maintain positive mental health.

HeadSpace features inspiring, deeply moving personal accounts involving dealing with depression. There are articles on how to make yourself more confident, the importance of mental health and how to cope when your mental health is not as strong as it sometimes is.

It also features a range of spectacular creative writing, with poems and short stories dealing with the panic, depression, and confusion that comes with mental health difficulties and diseases as well as stories of hope and recovery coming from unlikely places  Its pages are also packed full of evocative, thought-provoking art.

Issue One is to be launched on May 11 in  in the Twisted Pepper, Abbey St., Dublin at 6 pm (Coiniciding with Mental Helath awareness month) and will be distributed for free to a psychiatric ward and a school catering to pupils with mental health difficulties.

The magazine is entirely not-for-profit and was created by a group of volunteers. Costs have been met via crowdsourcing and fundraising events. Issue One is now available for advance orders online here for €5 including delivery. For more information please visit the facebook page.

Drogheda Poetry Readings and Workshop

Drogheda Arts Festival 2013 and Droichead Arts Centre in association with Gallery Press present

Gallery Goes……

an afternoon of poetry, discussion and book signings with three of Ireland’s finest poets, Tom French, Medbh McGuckian, Conor O'Callaghan on Saturday 4 May, 1.30pm in Droichead Arts Centre. Tickets €5 Teas/Coffees/Scones.

This will be the first outing for Conor O’Callaghan’s new collection, The Sun King. The readings will be followed by a creative writing workshop with Conor O’Callaghan entitled “Describing Sex”  Fee €15 (includes reading).

The workshop is a practical embarrassment-free workshop about the crucial skill of describing acts of love in writing. We will look at successful poems and famous scenes from fiction, identifying a few aspects common to these pieces and how those aspects make them work. We will also look at a few less successful examples. Limited number of places on the workshops.

Box office: 041 9833946. Free online booking.

Panama Cafe Poetry Reading, Dundalk

This was actually a great idea which worked very well as part of the Dundalk Book Festival - readings in two cafés in the town centre from 2pm to 7pm. The two were the Panama Café, where the coffee certainly is good, and The 23 Seats, where the coffee is probably as good.

An eclectic collection of writers and performers kept the diners amused and entertained all day. It was difficult to tell who had come for the food and who had been enticed by the writers. Some came for food and stayed for poetry and vice versa.

Lots of Dundalk writers, poets but also writers of novels, science fiction, memoir, journals etc. A wonderful variety. Many of the local writers seem to be involved with one or other of the groups facilitated by the multi-talented Ferdia MacAnna, writer in residence in DkIT. Many featured in the recent publication, No Bother.

I read twice in the Panama, early and late and really enjoyed it. Start with something that gets a laugh and the audience is on your side, so I started with The Truth (still here halfway down on the Prole Competition page) which did the job. I also read my Manchester United poem in honour of another great season - there didn't seem to be many supporters there though.


Poet Richard Halperin read in both cafés and was one of the stars of the day. He read from his Anniversary collection (Salmon) and also from his second collection which is being launched in the Irish Writers Centre on 6 June.

Barbara Smith, fellow Doghouse poet, did a fine job as MC and with her Poetry Divas contributed greatly to the colour and fun of the event. They had copies of their new chapbook Poetry Divas 4 for sale. It contains many of their Greatest Hits including their Pair Bond (now performed with visual aids) and Flaming for Vincent, each stanza of which starts Oh give me a red-headed man. The chapbook should be available on Kate Dempsey's blog page.

Reading at Dundalk Festival Today

Off to Dundalk this afternoon to do a spot at the Cafe reading there at the Dundalk Book Festival. I'm one of the various authors, poets and performers who will be "entertaining, inspiring and spellbinding [some hope!] audiences" at two local cafes The Panana Café in Market Square and The 23 Seats in Crowe Street. I'm on in the Panama sometime between 2 and 3 and probably will do a spot in the other cafe later.

What to read? Something funny or even amusing (I must have something like that) something topical (No! No! not the recession - but it's funny!)something easy to read and easy to "get" at one listed. Well, I'll try me best. I do have a cafe poem, just published in the Galway Review actually and online here. Wonder what the chocolate cake is like in the Panama Cafe. I've heard the coffee is good.

The Panama MC is local writer and Doghouse poet, Barbara Smith, and she and her Poetry Divas will perform their own brand of performance poetry to open and close the reading. Others who are expected to perform include writers from the Dundalk No Bother group and Ardgillen/Skerries writers as well as John King children’s writer, Christine Larkin fiction, May Toal poetry/fiction, Nessa Toale fiction, John Gilmore humourist and Richard Halperin poetry. Noel McGee will perform an extract from his one man show I Kavanagh.

Other events include Irish Crime Writers Niamh O’Connor, Declan Hughes and Declan Burke being interviewed and reading from their work at 1pm. Successful local author Jaki McCarrick will launch her new latest book at Carroll’s bookshop 5-6pm.

In the evening evening, Irish Women Writers Christine Dwyer-Hickey, Claudia Carroll and Catherine Dunne take the stage (7-9pm) to read from their books.

Full programme on the website.

Poetry Readings - Mullingar and Sligo

Two poetry readings one after another, Mullingar Scribblers on Monday evening and the Poets' Parlour, Yeats Memorial Building on Tuesday evening. I really enjoyed both and was impressed by the numbers at each and the enthusiasm shown by the participants.

Mullingar Scribbers is a writing group facilitated by Grace Brennan. I talked about my writingand the experience of having a collection published, interspersed with readings of some of my poems. We had a lot of discussion about form and themes, language and grammar, and we ended with an exercise.

I gave them as a prompt half a line from one of my poems "I remember my cat". They produced a great variety of pieces, prose and poetry,taking the prompt to unexpected places. The Scribblers meet every week and publish anthologies of their work regularly, volume 5 was published last year.

Then the Poets' Parlour in the Visitors Centre of the Yeats Memorial Building in Sligo. A very friendly setting with a fire on and fellow Doghouse poet Monica Corish present. The first half consisted of the open mic which had the usual impressive variety of theme and treatment. Almost everyone present was a writer and read on the night so it was a very knowledgeable and sympathetic audience.

Eily Kilgannon was a great host and MC and contributed to the evening by reading some of the love poetry of Shakespeare it being the week of the Bard's birthday. We also had poems by W.B.Yeats, Hilaire Belloc and Brian Patten.

I was the second half of the night and read about twelve poems mostly from the Doghouse collection. I really enjoyed reading in Sligo. I think was the first time I had read poetry in the county so it was special.This Poets' Parlour takes place once a month and will take a break during the summer. Check the website for details.

There is also a Yeats Poetry Circle which meets every Wednesday morning in the Visitors centre from 10.30am to 12.30pm which gives an opportunity for poetry lovers to socially gather, to share their favourite poetry,  poetic inspiration and recite from heart. All Welcome!

Now a rest before Dundalk on Saturday.

Dundalk Book Festival

A major new book Festival will be held in Dundalk on the week-end April 26-27, 2013.

The festival will be launched by author and playwright Peter Sheridan (whose mother hails from Dundalk) at DKIT at 1pm on Friday April 26. Peter will read from and perform his own works, including his latest book.

On Saturday April 27th, Dundalk town centre will host a series of book festival events featuring readings and Q and As by famous Irish crime novelists, graphic novelists, poets, short story writers, memoirists and other performers.

The line-up includes Irish women writers Christine Dwyer-Hickey, Claudia Carroll, Catherine Dunne and Jaki McCarrick, celebrated crime writers Declan Burke, Niamh O’Connor and Declan Hughes, best-selling author, founder of Writing.ie and self-publishing guru Vanessa O’Loughlin, acclaimed children’s writing workshop Fighting Words, successful children’s writer Sarah Webb, Irish graphic novelists Tommie Kelly, Alan Nolan, Patrick Brown and Rob Curley, and magnificent, unpredictable and captivating foursome The Poetry Divas, along with local writers and performers.

Various local (and some not so local) authors, poets and performers will be entertaining audiences at two local cafes The Panana Café in Market Square and The 23 Seats in Crowe Street from 2 until 7 or later. The line up is not finalized but I'll be there as will John King, Christine Larkin, May Toal, Ciara O’Connor, Nessa Toale, John Gillmore and Richard Halperin.

And of course that mega-talented foursome The Poetry Divas will be there to enthrall the public and terrify the other performers!

Full details of the programme on the website. More on their Facebook page.

Reading at the Poet's Parlour, Sligo

The Poet’s Parlour, organised by the Yeats Society, Sligo is a monthly social gathering for poetry lovers as well as aspiring, emerging and experienced poets who may wish to share their own poetry with others.


It takes place in the Visitors Centre of the Yeats Memorial Building at Hyde Bridge in the centre of Sligo.

I'm delighted to be the guest poet at the next Poet’s Parlour which will take place on Tuesday 23 April at 8.00pm.

All welcome. The evening will include an open mic. Entry 5.00 euros (2.00 euros for members) including refreshments.

Spring at Last. I Think!

The change in the weather recently is very welcome. Everything in the garden seems a month behind this time last year. Our primroses and cowslips are in full bloom. The equivalent picture from last year is here.

A nice display from the few Snake's Head Fritillaries also. A poem about these flowers by Anne Ridler (1912-2001) here on the Poetry Archive site.

Roger Hudson's Poetry Launch in Drogheda

 

A well-attended, enjoyable launch of Roger Hudson's latest poetry collection Plaything of the Great God Kafka in Drogheda on Friday evening. The book is published by Lapwing in Belfast and is available on their website here.

The launch took place at the Highlanes Gallery, a former church, in Drogheda, and the Mayor of Drogheda, Paul Bell welcomed everyone and complimented Roger on his work in Drogheda. Joe Woods, poet and Director of Poetry Ireland, himself a Drogheda native, launched the collection remarking on the wide range of styles and experience which were evident in the work.


Roger then read some of the poems, some he performed with musical improvisation by Breifne Holohan and others in multiple voices with Brian Quinn and Nuala Leonard.

Good to see other Louth poets there including Susan Connolly, published by Shearsman and Marie MacSweeney also published by Lapwing.

Photos Top: Joe Woods launches the collection. Below: Roger reads from the work.

International Poetry Chapbook Competition

Doire Press, Galway, has just announced its 2013 Second Annual International Poetry Chapbook Competition.

The winner will each receive 75 copies of their own professionally edited and printed chapbook published by Doire Press. Chapbook will be perfect-bound, contain up to 40 pages, feature colour front and back cover, as well as their own isbn and barcode.

Ten shortlisted entries will be included in a print anthology.

Entries: 3 poems per entry (6 pages max). Deadline: 29 May 2013.

Entry fees: €10 for first entry, €8 for each additional entry.

Judge: Kevin O’Shea, author of  The Art of Non-Fishing (2012). Kevin won the 2012 Cuirt New Writing Prize for poetry and was twice shortlisted for the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition. He is a member of the Skylight Poets.

The judging for the contest is completely anonymous. Entries must include cover page with full contact information and titles of the three poems. Entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Entries will not be returned unless accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope.

Entries must not have won any other competition but can have been published in literary journals or magazines.

Enter by post or by email. Full details on the competition page here.

Roger Hudson Drogheda Poetry Launch

“More than a Booklaunch” is how Drogheda poet Roger Hudson sees the launch of his latest book of poetry Plaything of the Great God Kafka (Lapwing Publications, Belfast) to be held at the Highlanes Gallery, Laurence Street, Drogheda on Friday 12 April at 7.30pm. It will be launched by Joe Woods, poet and Director of Poetry Ireland, himself a Drogheda native.

The event will also feature display of a selected number of Roger’s complex photomontages that present multi-faceted views of modern life comparable to the poems – “visual poems” he calls them or even “motionless movies”. Some poems will be performed with musical improvisation by Breifne Holohan and others in multiple voices with Brian Quinn and Nuala Leonard.

Roger promises that the poems coupled with the pictures will give a colourful view of the development over a lifetime of his often quirky worldview, assembling narratives of life incidents and social and political observations that range through Vietnam War atrocities, the Cuban missile crisis, puberty, propaganda, prejudice, prostate biopsy, the banking crisis and much more in what amounts to a kaleidoscopic autobiography.

Roger has lived in Drogheda for over ten years now, playing an active role in its artistic life including Drogheda Creative Writers and its awards, open mics, anthologies and grand slams, and exhibiting his photomontages at Droichead as well as working on his previous collections Lifescapes (in Side-Angles with Steve Downes) and Greybell Wood and Beyond, also with Lapwing.

Drogheda Mayor, Councillor Paul Bell will officiate. Refreshments will be served. All welcome. Event supported by Create Louth. Signed copies available on the night at €10.

Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition 2013

I'm delighted that the Boyle Arts Festival is recommencing its Poetry Competition for 2013. I've been shortlisted for this a couple of times and one of the Boyne Writers, Brendan Carey Kinane, won it in 2007.

Prizes:  €500 first prize plus 4 x €50 highly commended. Closing Date 15 June.
Shortlisted poems will be notified ahead of the awards which will be held on Sunday 28 July 2013  in King House, Boyle at 7pm.

Rules:
Entry €5 per poem
Entry form must accompany poems.
Entrants may submit as many poems as they wish
The name of the entrant must not appear on the poem itself
Poems, in English must be the unpublished, original work of the author
Poems must be printed on one side of A4 paper maximum length 40 lines
Poems will not be returned.

Poems will be judged by Geraldine Mills who has published two collections of short stories and four collections of poetry. She has been awarded many prizes and bursaries including the Hennessy/Tribune New Irish Writer Award, an Arts Council Bursary and a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. Her next short story collection is forthcoming from Arlen House in 2013.

Geraldine will also be hosting a poetry workshop on Sunday 28th July between 11.30 and 1pm, €20.
This workshop is aimed at writers who wish to explore the elements that are necessary to produce a good poem. Using a series of short writing exercises, participants will engage with weaving words together to create a poem that is a primary experience for writer and reader.

More information and entry forms from the website or email info@boylearts.com

My Tara Project

Artist Michael Fortune wants to know about your Tara. My Tara is a project which considers the various relationships people have with the Hill of Tara in County Meath. Between now and July 2013 the artist is inviting people to become involved in the project by contributing their stories and photographs to compile a broad range of personal experiences of Tara

These accounts will be published on a website, a Facebook page and a selection will be included in a limited edition photographic-based publication which will be launched in September 2013.

Stories and photos can be about something which happened 5 minutes, 5 years or 50 years ago; a family pic taken when a relation was home from abroad; an account of a walk you regularly take there; an early morning sunrise you witnessed from the site etc. Contributions are welcome from anyone; local residents, visitors, international tourists; natives and strangers alike.

To be part of this project please send Michael your photos and stories by email (mytaraproject@gmail.com) or the Facebook page (My Tara Project). If these methods don't suit feel free to contact him by phone and you can arrange to meet Michael on phone at 087 6470247.

The project has been supported by the Arts and Heritage Office's of Meath County Council and is part of their ongoing creative exploration of the Hill of Tara.