Bailieborough Poetry Festival 2018

Another very successful and well-attended poetry festival in Bailieborough, the sixth consecutive celebration of poetry here which opened opened with a collaboration between artist Ruth McDonnell and LitLab writing group. The exhibition and festival were officially opened by Iggy McGovern.

Poets Brendan McCann and Enda Wyley read on Friday night and enthralled the audience. An open mic  followed.

Saturday morning had workshops by Enda Wyley and AnneMarie Ní Churreáin.

The afternoon saw the Irish Writers Centre launch their Poetry master class series. The launch included a reading by Noel Monahan who is one of the tutors.

Then Noel, the Bailieborough Poetry Competition judge, announced the result. Winners were:
1st ‘Shannon of the Eye’ Jane Burn, Co. Durham; 2nd ‘Illuminated Manuscript Trinity College Library 2016’ Glen Wilson, Co. Armagh; 3rd ‘Gently Pulling Two Pieces of Poorly Glued Paper Apart’ Jamie Stedmond, Co Dublin.

The festival concluded on Saturday evening with readings by PJ Kennedy and Annemarie Ní Churreáin which were enjoyed by the large audience in Murtagh's lounge.

Bailieborough Poetry Competition

The second Bailieborough Poetry Festival will take place on the weekend of Thursday 9 to Saturday 11 October. 

As part of the festival there is a poetry competition. Full details are on the website.

Briefly
Closing date for entry is Friday 26 September 2014.
First prize of €250 for winning poem with 2nd and 3rd prizes also to be awarded.
Each poem must not exceed 50 lines, and should be typed, single-spaced.
Up to three poems may be submitted per entry. You may submit as many entries as you wish. A fee of €5 per entry (3 poems) is payable. Payment should be made via the PayPal button on the website.
Submissions can be emailed or posted.

The judging panel this year is chaired by Michael Farry, assisted by Máiréad Donnellan and Paddy Smith.

All shortlisted poems will be featured at a reading at Bailieborough Poetry Festival on Saturday 11 October 2014, and authors will be invited to attend.

Last year's winning poem by Annette Skade, and the shortlisted poems are on this page.