Thursday 27 April 2017 www.poetryday.ie | #PoetryDayIRL

1 POETRY CONNECTS! Poetry Day Ireland Thursday 27 April 2017

Established by Poetry Ireland in 2015, Poetry Day Ireland is a major one-day festival of Irish poetry at home and abroad. The many wonderful events in this brochure are a testament to the dedication and commitment of poetry lovers and event promoters around the country, who do so much to keep Ireland’s poetry landscape vibrant, all year round. From Kerry to Derry, more than 100 creative, inspiring and thought- provoking events will take place on Thursday 27 April.

This year’s theme is Poetry Connects, and organisers and collaborators have been invited to embrace the theme, ignore it, or make it their own. You’ll encounter poetry that deals with every aspect of human life – birth, death, friendship, love, separation, displacement, joy and rage, all with that particular transcendent charge that the best poetry brings to our lives. So whether it’s in a café, arts centre, library, bookshop or bar, find an event near you and connect with a poem on Poetry Day Ireland.

connect with us See www.poetryday.ie for full details of all events on Poetry Day Ireland @poetryireland | @poetryireland.eigseeireann | @poetryireland #PoetryDayIRL #PoetryConnects

brought to you by

thank you! Poetry Day Ireland would not be possible without its supporters and partners

principal supporters annual supporters

in partnership with

2 3 D Poetry out and about DPoetry out and about

pocket poems 3 /9 pocket poems 3 /9 Letters from Mount Fuji Espresso Jessica Traynor Pocket Poems Colette Bryce Chocolate Poems A minuscule bird From the top of Mount Fujiyama I send you clinging to a twig letters, Keep an eye out for our Pocket Poems, Poetry Ireland and Butlers Chocolate Cafés written on square pages, then folded is shredding a loop of knotted string in as many different patterns as a snowflake. to a fibre-fuzzy I drop them onto thin air; watch them fall gorgeous mini cards featuring Poetry mist in its bill, are teaming up again to give a taste of some into the world. a haze as soft Open one. In it is a picture from your childhood. as cotton wool Look at it: it melts in your hand Connects-themed poems by writers great coffee and chocolate-themed poetry. On with which to line like the question I ask you, caught on a breeze, a nest no bigger and your answer, taken by the river to the sea. including Colette Bryce, Paul Muldoon, than this small cup Poetry Day Ireland pop into any one of the 19 I lift to my lips Even through this constant, year-devouring snow, while I wait for you I will always send you letters. Seamus Heaney and more. Pick up in this little coffee shop Butlers Chocolate Cafés around the country on the avenue, Thursday 27 April 2017 From Liffey Swim, by kind permission of Dedalus Press for such is April. Find an event near you. Connect with a poem. Thursday 27 April 2017 a Pocket Poem in participating arts #PoetryDayIRL | www.poetryday.ie and select a free, beautifully-presented poetry Find an event near you. Connect with a poem. 9/12 Supported by: 1/12 Supported by: Pocket Poems at Butlers Chocolate Café Read about this poem RTÉ Supporting the #PoetryDayIRLRead |about www.poetryday.ie this poem RTÉ Supporting the 1/6 on poetryday.ie Arts & Iarnród Éireann Don poetryday.ie Arts & Iarnród Éireann butlerschocolate @ButlersChocs venues, libraries and bookshops, before card to take away and cherish, in addition to sharing your favourite poem on Twitter, your free delicious chocolate treat. Customers

pocket poems 3 /9 Facebook and Instagram using the who recite a poem when ordering on Poetry Sister Mystery Medbh McGuckian A translation of Siúrtheanga hashtag #PoetryDayIRL. Pocket Poems Day Ireland will also be rewarded with an by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh In the Library for Muireann Is there any way to decipher can also be downloaded at beside the Sea extra complimentary chocolate! your sister’s bodytalk? Twisting head, darting eyes, Lucinda Jacob her meaning under wraps www.poetryday.ie, where you’ll find a Thursday 27 April 2017 in every poker face and frown, in every flush and every blush. Find an event near you Half the readers are mermaids Connect with a poem My sister is a tradeswoman come up for air and enlightenment. #PoetryDayIRL in feminine expressions, handy guide to the featured poems by They sit damply in corners www.poetryday.ie in swollen eyes, thorn eyes, or swerve round the bookstands mashing of brows. I take on board the depth Niall MacMonagle. slip along shelves, read the news Train Poems of her fidelity, as their new feet dry, or wait the obscured communication it has taken me my whole life POETRY DAY IRELAND takes place on Thursday 27 wide-eyedApril at the 5 deskAGILE GIBBON DARTFor commuters here the water buffalo may rove, can enjoy 15 ROTHSCHILDgreat GIRAFFE Poetry The Indian Peafowl to figure out. 2017. This annual one-day festival of Irish poetry is organisedlike seals at the fishThe Gibbon!ladies. The kinkajou, the mungabey, abound The Giraffe’s Neck Emma Daly by Poetry Ireland and includes readings, events, broadcasts In the dark jungle of a mango grove, age 9, scoil náisiúnta an chroí naofa, co. cork From The Coast Road, by kind permission of The Gallery Press and poetic surprises across the island. AidanT RJenkinsAIN age 9, st john the baptist ns, co. cork Ava Charalambous Read the original Irish version of this poem on poetryday.ie Senior Category Competition Finalist And shadowy lemurs glide from tree to tree – aged 9, scoil náisiúnta an chroí naofa, co. cork Senior Category Competition Finalist 2017 STATION EXIT Thursday 27 April Half the readers are mermaids: Connects-themedThe guardians of some long-lost treasure-trove) poems on(Junior poetry Category Competition Finalist)posters This year Poetry Ireland and Fota Wildlife Park have teamed Find an event near you. Connect with a poem. I jump out and say boo, boo, but… Recount their exploits at the nursery tea The peculiar, plucky peafowl 12/12 Supported by: 1/12 Supported by: up to bring you this family-friendly Poetry Trail Map. Followthey left the coal harbour Always gathers a crowd Read about this poem RTÉ Supporting the #PoetryDayIRLRead |about www.poetryday.ie this poem RTÉ Supporting the I like to say, oo, oo! The giraffe’s long, slippery whoopie neck on poetryday.ie Arts & Iarnród Éireann on poetryday.ie Arts & Iarnród Éireann the trail around the park during your visit, and enjoy someflumped up on Mythe hands hard, up high, in the sky And when the lamps are lit and curtains drawn curled around a treetop deck By posing photogenically great poems about the flora and fauna that you encounter. I know I sound coo, coo! across Demandthe some poetry,DART please. Whose shall fleet it be, for twothrough a hedgeweeks and through a table from Placid, pretty and proud. Pillow Poems slipped and stowed their skins At not quite time for bed?… ate the humongus doornob ledge The map includes poems by world-famous writers like Roald (excerpt) She parades past pedestrians in sailing club lockers. 6 THE TROPICAL HOUSE through the park and over the bench Dahl, TS Eliot, Paul Muldoon and WB Yeats, as well as a 17 and then he goes back home again, Gathering ceaseless praise, Guests of the luxury hotel Group, The selection of wonderful poems by children, the finalists and Hurt No Living Thing 17 April, 11 HARBOUR thanks SEAL to the generoushas a bath, scrubs supportthe table of Pottering around pleasantly winners of our Poetry Day Ireland and Fota Wildlife Park They glide past Christinacomputers Rossetti Seal 6 then he said tomorrow I’ll do it all again. In a peaceful daze Poetry Trail Competition. Hurt no living thing, William Jay Smith If there isn't a peafowl near you and wade through the books until 16 TAPIR Doyle Collection will be in for a treat We hope you enjoy your time exploring Fota Wildlife Parksuddenly swift, Ladybirdsleek cubsnor butterfly, in their wake, IarnródSee how Éireann. he dives There will also be a free There's no need to dwell Munster Football through poetry today! Nor moth with dusty wing, From the rocks with a zoom! Tapir Rescue Because you can find one at coats billowing, Northey cricket stream chirping up cheerily, Marine See how he darts Abi Barron age 8, co. waterford Fota Wildlife Park and hotel. Final 1924 Road Nor grasshopper, so light of leap, 17 Through his watery room Junior Category Competition WINNER Gabriel Fitzmaurice on Poetry Day Ireland. Pillow Poem 1 OSTRICH Nor dancing gnat, poetryPast and crabs and eels music performance at Pearse MARA 7 Abi Barron went off one day (the Mara roams freely around Fota and is often found The Animals are Leaving to the town8 for take-awayNor beetle fat, And green seaweed, for mick o’connell Nor harmless worms that creep. Past fluffs of sandy Over the hills and far away near the African Savannah and in the Woodland areas) Charles Harper Webb fish and ships. Minnow feed! To a rainforest where she met a tapir The Mara Nothing polarises like a war, Thursday 27 April 2017 OMG! Fancy meeting you here. 5 cards will be placed in all hotel rooms 7 GREAT WHITE PELICAN StationSee howto he swims liven up the evening rush hour on And, of all wars, a civil war is worst; One by one, like guests at a late party 9 Ellie Marah aged 12, mayfield, cork With a swerve and a twist, They shake our hands and step into the dark: From Hopscotch in the Sky, forthcoming in October 2017 The tapir smiled with his wobbly snout Senior Category Competition WINNER It takes a century to heal the scars Pillow Poems From The Giraffe and Pelly and Me A flip of the flipper, And even then some names remain accursed. Arabian ostrich; Long-eared kit fox; Mysterious starling. from Little Island Books and Poetry Ireland And all at once he lost his pout #PoetryDayIRL | www.poetryday.ie Roald Dahl A flick of the wrist! With small legs in front, The tragedies of Kerry, open wounds – 10 I think I'll die in this crumbling place at turn-down at each of their hotels One by one, like sheep counted to close our eyes, PoetryQuicksilver-quick, Day Ireland, which will include songs and longer legs behind, We are the window cleaners The trees are disappearingLION at an alarming pace. John Joe Sheehy on the run in ’twenty-four, They leap the fence and disappear into the woods: Softer than spray, ENCLOSUR Mistaken for a hare We will polish your glass The Munster Final in the Gaelic Grounds: Atlas bear; Passenger pigeon; North Island laughing owl; Down he plunges by some of mankind. Till it’s shining like brass Never fear, said Abi There’s something more important here than war. Great auk; Dodo; Eastern wapiti; Badlands bighorn sheep. And sweeps away; They feed on grass, herbs And it sparkles like the sun on the sea! You are coming home with me John Joe Sheehy, centre forward, republican, including The Westbury (Dublin), The by LeonardBefore you can think, Cohen and Bob Dylan (see listings and all other plants. We are quick and polite, To a conservation called Fota Wildlife Park Con Brosnan, Free State captain, centre-field; One by one, like grade school friends, Before you can utter But no beetles, bugs, We will come day and night, Where you can make friends with an advark. For what they love, they both put down the gun – They move away and fade out of memory: Words like "Dill pickle" butterflies or ants. The Giraffe and the Pelly and me! On Con’s safe conduct, Sheehy takes the field. Portuguese ibex; Blue buck; Auroch; Oregon bison; Or "Apple butter," Thank you, said the humble tapir 2018 TAKIN & MARKHOR River Lee (Cork) and The Croke Park Spanish imperial eagle; Japanese wolf; Hawksbill for moreBack up he details). swims Galloping around, In an hour the Kerry team will win. We have tears in our eyes My life was in danger but now I can cheer Sea turtle; Cape lion; Heath hen; Raiatea thrush. Past Sting Ray and Shark, Or bouncing on all fours, Sheehy will vanish, on Brosnan’s bond, again. As we wave our goodbyes, Together they left the forest of green 2019 ASIAN BEARS Out with a zoom, ASIAN They come from South America, We loved being with you, we three. And began their journey to Ireland so clean. One by one, like children at a fire drill, they march outside, A whoop, a bark; SANCTUARY To live on these shores. From Everything to Play For: 99 Poems about Sport So do please now and then (Dublin), as well as the group’s hotels And keep marching, though teachers cry, “Come back!” Before you can say NTRANCE Though classed as a rodent, (Poetry Ireland, 2015) Come and see us again, 17 FREE ROAMING ANIMALS First published in The Lonesome Road: Collected and New Poems Waved albatross; White-bearded spider monkey; Whatever you wish, 17 in the wild or the zoo, The Giraffe and the Pelly and me. 1984-2014 (2014), Liberties Press Pygmy chimpanzee; Australian night parrot; He plops at your side I think they’re pretty awesome... MALLARD Turquoise parakeet; Indian cheetah; Korean tiger; With a mouthful of fish! Because I’m a Mara(h) too! 8 CHILEAN FLAMINGO in the UK and the US. The poems Eastern harbor seal; Ceylon elephant; Great Indian rhinoceros. Ducks’ Ditty The Flamingo Kenneth Grahame HOLLY sponsored by the croke park One by one, like actors in a play that ran for years Elvis the Harbour Seal 17 And wowed the world, they link their hands and bow Richard Medrington Amber Bannon All along the backwater, Nature Table Before the curtain falls. Wildlifeage 9, ballycahill national school, co. tipperaryTrailThrough Poems!the rushes tall, Lucinda Jacob featured will be selected from Poetry Flamingos dress in fetching pink Junior Category Competition Finalist & Schools WINNER Ducks are a-dabbling, But can be rather glum, I’ll bring in a yellow flower 2 3 CHEETAH Up tails all! Hiding in the harbour is Elvis the Seal, with its face turned to the sky Their legs being made of plastic tubes with her rounded belly The Cheetah Speaks From Saturday11 8 April – ThursdayDucks’ tails, drakes’ tails, 27 April, Ireland’s recent anthologies All Through And bits of chewing gum. she can barely be seen. I’ll bring in cool rain Rachel Regan age 11, co. tipperary Yellow feet a-quiver, She is quiet and shy and watches for the thirsty earth Senior Category Competition Finalist 12 Yellow bills all out of sight me with her bright brown eye. 13 Strawberry Milkshakes Busy in the river! I’ll bring in late sunshine Her nostrils are v-shaped, the Night (edited by Marie Heaney) and I see you little girl standing there Emily Dunne age 8, co. waterford visitors to Fota Wildlife Park in Cork can pick and stars at midnight in June After Love your blue eyes fixed on mine. her fur is grey Slushy green undergrowth Junior Category Competition Finalist I’ll bring in a reed Maxine Kumin I feel your fear. and with a flip of her Where the roach swim— to sing of wet places You think I am just a cat, PoetryFlamingos are clouds flipper she swims away. Here we keep our larder, 2 Afterwards, the compromise. Everything to Play For: 99 Poems About I know I am more powerful than that. of candyfloss up a Poetry Trail Map and enjoyCool and full and dim.some17 great, CheeI’llta hbring Run in the sand between my toes Bodies resume their boundaries. You move - I follow at the circus 12 WHITE-TAILED SEA EAGLE from a long hot summer You stop - I stare and their legs are bendy Everyone for what he likes! The Eagle I’ll bring in a white cloud These legs, for instance, mine. 2017 You call out - I growl. straws We like to be Thursday 27 April Lord Tennyson to lower the sky Your arms take you back in. Sport (edited by John McAuliffe), both Trail in yummy Map strawberry family-friendly poems aboutHeads the down, tails up,animals He clasps the crag with crooked hands; Dabbling free! Pillow Poems 4 ROTHSCHILD GIRAFFE milkshakes. 3 I’ll bring in a twig Spoons of our fingers, lips Close to the sun in lonely lands, that remembers a storm #PoetryDayIRL | www.poetryday.ie A Giraffe High in the blue above admit their ownership. Discover poems9 COLOMBIAN about BLACK theSPIDER MONKEY Ringed with the azure world, he stands. Paul Muldoon and trees at Fota. The map Swiftswill whirl and alsocall— include I’ll bring in a holly bush 1 The bedding yawns, a door of which were generously supported by Spider Monkey The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; We are down a-dabbling with the sharp breath of winter animals and plants at Fota! He watches from his mountain walls, blows aimlessly ajar Though her lorgnette John Dunne aged 11, co. waterford Up tails all! And like a thunderbolt he falls. t: I’ll bring in a sleeping bulb MAIN ENTRANCE and evening-gloves Senior Category Competition Winner Daily from Apr - Oc 4 with the promise of spring and overhead, a plane suggest she’s made for the role a selection of prize-winning INDIAN poems PEAFOWL from the singsongs, coming down. The Doyle Collection. of an opera-buff Agile like an arachnid 13 14 RED SQUIRRELAnimal Time The Peacock’s Tail singing along with the score, Darwin arms and legs To a Squirrel10.4 at5 Kyle-Na-NoPenguins ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Nothing is changed, except her mouth’s out of sync Clara Lynch Your tree is a web. WB Yeats 12.45 Cheetahs 1, “The Animals are Leaving” by Charles Harper Webb from Amplified there was a moment when with her own overdub. Poetry Day Ireland and Fotaaged Wildlife 12, scoil náisiúnta an chroí Park naofa, co. cork Dog reprinted by kind permission of Red Hen Press; 4, “A Giraffe” by Paul 2.15 Siamang Gibbons 15 Muldoon reprinted by kind permission of the Poetry Society, London and A giraffe that flubbed RED-RUFFLED LEMUR Come play with me; Senior Category Competition Finalist 14 the wolf, the mongering wolf 10 Cheetahs the author; 7, Excerpt from The Giraffe and Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl her lines coming back to drink Why should you 4run.00 who stands outside the self The peacock spreads his tail like a fan (Puffin Books); 8, “The Flamingo” by Richard Medrington reprinted by just a little more To Walter de la Mare Through the shaking4.30 tree Penguins kind permission of the author; 17, “Duck’s Ditty” by Kenneth Grahame 16 TS Eliot As though I’d a gun Seals A feather ocean full of eyes reprinted as an excerpt from The Wind in the Willows; 18, “Holly” from lay lightly down, and slept. of the bubbly stuff Children’s Poetry5.00 Competition. The Poetry Each one stares at me Hopscotch in the Sky, a forthcoming collection of poems for children by from the dried-out mud hole To strike you dead? The children who explored the brook and found Like a creature from the deep blue sea Lucinda Jacob, illustrated by Lauren O’Neill (published by Little Island and From All Through the Night, edited by Marie Heaney in which a reflection of #PoetryDayIRL | www.poetryday.ie When all I would do Poetry Ireland). A desert island with a sandy cove Shining like the sun on a wave (Poetry Ireland, 2016). From Selected Poems, 1960–1990 her upper body’s already set. Is to scratch your head (1997), with kind permission of WW Norton and Company (A hiding place, but very dangerous ground, Trail MapAnd let you go. is free with entry Ato mesmerising the peacocks park. tail.

sponsored by the doyle collection

4 5 Connacht Connacht

Connections: Local Poets The Poem Guy Cúirt International Thursday 27 April, 10.30am Thursday 27 April, 2–6pm Strokestown Library, Strokestown, Shop Street, Galway Festival of Literature Co. Roscommon tickets: suggested donation €10 tickets: free Bill "Keys" Kelly, aka The Poem Guy, will

on Poetry Day Ireland The Strokestown Branch Library presents a employ his one hundred year old Corona www.cuirt.ie reading by local poets and writers of their typewriter to compose you a poem about own poems, or poems related to this year’s anyone or anything you'd like. Proceeds to Without the Words Poetry Day Ireland theme. COPE Galway. Sunday 23 - Sunday 30 April, 12–5.30pm Galway Arts Centre Clifden Writers’ Group: Poems and Coffee Poetry Workshop with Sarah Clancy tickets: free Thursday 27 April, 11am Thursday 27 April, 3pm Illustrators Ireland present an exhibition of over 50 Clifden Library, Co. Galway Ballaghaderreen Library, Co. Roscommon works inspired by a line from Emily Dickinson’s well- tickets: free tickets: free, booking essential loved poem, ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’ as well Clifden Writers’ Group invite you to join with Poet Sarah Clancy is leading a poetry as Laureate na nÓg PJ Lynch’s ‘The Big Picture’. them and make connections through poetry. workshop supported by Roscommon Bring and read a poem you would like to share, County Council. Booking essential at Poetry Workshop with Martina Evans: or just relax and listen to the flow of words and [email protected]. Towards the Forest ideas while you sip a morning coffee. Thursday 27 April, 10am Letterfrack Poetry Trail Guided Walk Hotel Meyrick, Galway ProZ Translators Powwow Thursday 27 April, 3pm tickets: €25 Thursday 27 April, 11am Letterfrack Poetry Trail Using poetry, art and film, this workshop will explore alvy carragher The Swagman Bar, Sligo tickets: free forests as a metaphor for human relationships and tickets: free Joan McBreen and Brian Leyden will lead a transformations – separating the woods from the Using the translators’ professional network, walk along the Letterfrack Poetry Trail. Meet trees. ProZ.com, this is a Powwow for translators in the Connemara National Park foyer, bring and interpreters based in the North-West to rain gear and walking shoes. Spoken Word Platform share poetry in translation. Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm Artisan House Readings The King’s Head, Galway Local Library Poetry Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm tickets: €6 Thursday 27 April, 1.30pm Artisan House, Connemara West Centre, Performers in this high-energy event will have up to Boyle, Ballaghaderreen and Roscommon Letterfrack, Co. Galway three minutes to present their piece to a panel of three libraries, Co. Roscommon tickets: €6 judges. Pete Mullineaux will oversee proceedings, Three Roscommon libraries will display a Poets Brian Leyden and Joan McBreen will with guest performer Alvy Carragher. Submissions to selection of poems by their members, while be joined by jazz musician Bertrand Huve for [email protected] by Thursday, 13 April. hosting a lunchtime event where the poets can an evening of readings and music, including read their work. poems from fermata: Writings inspired by No Childhood Back in our Day Music published by Artisan House in 2016. Thursday 27 April, 10pm Illuminations: Poetry Reading Róisín Dubh, Galway Thursday 27 April, 2pm tickets: €10/€12 Bookmart, Sligo An evening of song, poetry, social history and tall tickets: free tales with Seamus Ruttledge, Martina Evans, Sarah- Illuminations invites you to a special Anne Buckley, Conor Montague and special guests. afternoon poetry reading. Bring along a piece of work that excites, inspires or moves you! 6 7 Connacht Leinster

Strokestown Poetry Day Ireland International Poetry at Poetry Ireland Thursday 27 April, Festival 11 Parnell Square East, Dublin 1 tickets: free, booking advised www.strokestownpoetry.org www.poetryday.ie

elaine feeney 10.45am Poetry File Coffee Morning Join us for a coffee and a listen to the broadcast of

the first ever Poetry File, RTÉ lyric fm and Poetry Everything to Play For Ireland’s new poetry slot, featuring a single poem by Thursday 27 April, 8pm a leading Irish poet each week. The Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar,

Co. Mayo 12:45–15:45 Typewriter Poems by Lewis Kenny tickets: €10 don paterson Dublin poet and Bohemians' first ever Poet in Poets Michael Gorman and Elaine Feeney Residence Lewis Kenny writes bespoke typewriter read from their work which was included in poems for the people of the city. Just give him Poetry Ireland’s recent Everything To Play a topic and watch him work away. Donations For: 99 Poems about Sport anthology. Chaired suggested. Poetry Appreciation Workshop by poet Ger Reidy. with James Harpur 1–5.30pm Mind your own Business! Thursday 27 April, 4pm Remember This seminar on the practical side of being a poet The Library, Strokestown, Co. Roscommon Thursday 27 April, 8.30pm features a masterclass on the process of publishing tickets: €10 The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim poetry with Don Paterson, award-winning Scottish Join James Harpur for a poetry appreciation tickets: €12 poet and poetry editor for Picador, as well as workshop based on the shortlisted poems for Remember, a performed poetry piece by sessions on marketing and self-promotion, grant the Strokestown International Poetry Prize. Sorcha Fox with an original live score, as application writing, and Alexander Technique for well as readings by poets Colm Keegan and poets. Supported by Words Ireland. Sarah Clancy with The Hermit Collective Rosaleen McDonagh, with musicians Dee Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm Armstrong, Lughaidh Armstrong Mayock 6.30pm Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize Strokestown Park House, Co. Roscommon and Megan Lawlor. Award Ceremony tickets: free colette bryce Raise a glass of wine with the publishers of The Moth Sarah Clancy performs at the opening night Drumcliffe Poets at the Cos Cos Festival as they announce the winner of this year’s Ballymaloe of the Strokestown Poetry Festival. With Tuesday 2 May, 11am International Poetry Prize. A reading by each of music and poetry by members of 'Epic Vintage Café, Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo the four shortlisted poets will be followed by the Award' winners The Hermit Collective. tickets: free announcement of the winner of the €10,000 prize. The Cos Cos Festival's annual Drumcliffe Poets event will feature local and visiting 8pm Colette Bryce & Don Paterson poets and musicians, a stone's throw from Colette Bryce launches and reads from her new WB's resting place. collection Selected Poems (Picador, 2017), alongside

the acclaimed Scottish poet Don Paterson, who is also Colette's editor at Picador.

8 9 Leinster Leinster

Ledwidge: One Hundred Years On A Poet’s Rising – Film Screening Spoken Word Sung Verse: The Healing Power of Words Thursday 27 April, various times Thursday 27 April, 1pm, 3pm & 6pm Enda Reilly & Stephen James Smith Thursday 27 April, 3.30pm Branch Libraries throughout Co. Meath Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, Thursday 27 April, 1pm Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 tickets: free Dublin 1 Cabra Library, Navan Road, Dublin 7 tickets: free, advance booking essential Readings throughout the branch library tickets: free tickets: free An invitation to explore how poetry can network in Meath of poems by and about Commissioned by the Irish Writers Centre On his album Whorls, Enda Reilly selected 15 support us through the most difficult times Francis Ledwidge in his centenary year. and funded by the Arts Council as part of poems by WB Yeats where he blends Yeats’ in life. The event will be guided by a staff ART: 2016, this 30 minute documentary powerful searching poetry with emotive member with experience in art therapy. Poet-Tree sees six acclaimed Irish poets: Theo Dorgan, music. Stephen James Smith is a Dublin Limited to 12 participants. Thursday 27 April, 10.30am Paul Muldoon, Thomas McCarthy, Eiléan poet and playwright central to the rise of the New Ross Library, Co. Wexford Ní Chuilleanáin, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and vibrant spoken word scene in Ireland today. Poetry and Music in Pearse tickets: free Jessica Traynor bring some of the iconic Pearse Station, Dublin 2 Visit the New Ross Public Library’s poem people and places of 1916 to life with newly Yeats Exhibition: Free Public Tour Thursday 27 April, 5–6pm tree and add a leaf with your favourite poem! commissioned poems and original music Thursday 27 April, 1pm Commuters in Pearse Station on Poetry Afterwards, feel free to browse the library’s from Colm Mac Con Iomaire. National Library of Ireland, Dublin 2 Day Ireland are in for a very special treat, poetry collection and take home some new tickets: free with a free performance by a special guest inspiration. The National Library of Ireland is offering performer on the Southbound platform. a free lunchtime tour of their wonderful Inner and Outer Landscapes: A Closer exhibition Yeats: The Life and Works of 1st Anniversary of Tullamore Poetry Club Look at John Montague’s Poetry William Butler Yeats. Thursday 27 April, 6pm Thursday 27 April, 11am Tullamore Central Library, Co. Offaly Castlepollard Library, Co. Westmeath Poetry Aloud With Afternoon Tea tickets: free tickets: free, advance booking essential Thursday 27 April, 3pm A reading of poems written by the poetry The Westmeath County Library presents a Thomas Coogan Library, Castlecomer, club, which will be one year old on 27th April. talk by award-winning poet Noel Monahan. Co. Kilkenny tickets: free Spoken Words Poetry Evening Grá Mór Inspired by America's Favourite Poem Thursday 27 April, 6pm Thursday 27 April, 11am Project, where ordinary people read aloud Pearse Street Library, Dublin 2 paul perry Cultúrlann na hÉireann, Monkstown, UCD Presents their favourite poem, everyone is invited tickets: free Co. Dublin Thursday 27 April, 1pm to share a poem they love! Afternoon tea Pearse Street Library presents an evening tickets: free J208, Newman Building, included. with poets Eithne Cavanagh, Mary Guckian Celebrate Poetry Day Ireland at Cultúrlann UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4 and Phil Lynch. Light refreshments and chat na hÉireann. tickets: free Inner and Outer Landscapes: A Closer from 5.30pm. UCD's School of English, Drama and Film Look at John Montague’s Poetry Poetry and Art presents readings from Paul Perry, Nerys Thursday 27 April, 3.30pm Listen To Me! An Evening of Spoken Word Thursday 27 April, 12pm Williams, Siobhán Campbell, Julie Morrissy, The Aidan Heavey Library, Athlone, Thursday 27 April, 6pm Ardagh Heritage and Creativity Centre, Grace Wilentz, and students from the MA in Co. Westmeath Ranelagh Arts Centre, Dublin 6 Co. Longford Creative Writing. tickets: free, advance booking essential Poet Caoimhe Lavelle will MC an evening tickets: free The Westmeath County Library presents a of spoken word showcasing a diverse bill Do you have a favourite Fairy Poem? Enjoy talk by award-winning poet Noel Monahan. of poets and performers from the Dublin a relaxed afternoon of poetry reading and spoken word scene. create your own art piece based on whatever poem inspires you most. Suitable for all ages from toddler to adult.

10 11 Leinster Leinster

Poetry Connects Blessington Thursday 27 April, 7pm Blessington Library, Co. Wicklow Poetry Day Ireland 5km Run tickets: free Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm A group of Blessington people have been Meeting point at Run Logic, busy creating poems based on the theme Smock Alley Court, Dublin 2 'Poetry Connects', by connecting with tickets: free to join (booking essential), someone in the community and writing a or €10 with special poetry t-shirt poem about them or their experiences. Poet and running enthusiast John O’Donnell leads a 5km Poetry Run with poetic pitstops A Name Unmade: Francis Ledwidge through central Dublin. Presented in (1887–1917) partnership with Run Logic. Please note that Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm there will be no road closures for this event, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co. Meath and runners participate at their own risk. A Name Unmade is a combined exhibition word up collective of archival/biographical material and recent Word Up Collective: Felispeaks, work by contemporary visual artists presented Tebi Rex, JyellowL & Anti-One in response to the life and work of Meath poet Past and Present Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm Francis Ledwidge. Curated by Sabina Mac judith roddy Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm The Liquor Rooms, Dublin 2 Mahon, Visual Arts Curator in Residence. Close Listening Rathmines Public Library, Dublin 6 tickets: €6 Saturday 29 April, 4pm & 7pm tickets: free The coming together of like-minded souls Poetry Connects in Meath Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Co. Louth Celebrate Poetry Day Ireland at Rathmines in the worlds of hip-hop, soul, RnB, funk Thursday 27 April, 8pm tickets: €10/€8 conc Public Library with local poets Pauline Hall and spoken word, the Word Up Collective Castle Arch Hotel, Trim, Co. Meath Highlanes Gallery and Drogheda Arts and Neville Keery. has built a reputation as the home of quality, tickets: €5 Festival present a rehearsed reading of intelligent music and lyrics. ID essential. The Boyne Writers' Group hosts an open-mic selected work from three giants of historic Sean O’Connor Book Launch gathering of Meath Writers Groups. Members and contemporary poetry from Ireland, the Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm Maynooth University Poetry Society of the public are welcome to attend or read. UK and the US – WB Yeats, TS Eliot, and The Teachers Club, Dublin 1 Thursday 27 April, 7pm Sharon Olds. Directed by acclaimed theatre- tickets: free Maynooth University, Co. Kildare Pat Boran & Malahide Singing Circle maker Sarah Baxter with award winning Launch of Even The Mountains – Five Years tickets: free Thursday 27 April, 8.30pm actor Judith Roddy. in a Japanese Village by Sean O'Connor. A reading with poets David Hynes and Oscar Taylors, Malahide, Co Dublin With poet and writer Amanda Bell and Kim Arthur Sheridan in a relaxed and intimate tickets: €3 Richardson of Alba Publishing. atmosphere. Malahide Singing Circle welcomes the renowned poet Pat Boran to Malahide, to Poetry For Pleasure Palmerstown and Poetry Connects read his work during their monthly singing Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm Thursday 27 April, 7pm session. Bring your songs, poems and friends! Polish House, 20 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2 The Coach House, Palmerstown, Dublin 20 tickets: free tickets: free The Glowing Hearth Poetry Group in co- An evening of poetry and prose, showcasing operation with the Irish Polish Society invite some of the work of the Mill Lane Writers you to share a poem of your own creation, or Group and contributions from friends and by a favourite poet. Includes live music and guests of Palmerstown Library at Stewarts. refreshments. With harpist Sinead Walshe.

12 13 Connacht Munster

Cork County Libraries Poetry Wave A Lunchtime Poetry Recital Thursday 27 April, 10am Thursday 27 April, 1pm Cork County Libraries Glin Library, Co. Limerick tickets: free tickets: free Cork County Library and Arts Service has Local and visiting poets are invited to read organised a wave of poetry to roll across the their compositions at this informal event County linking various libraries in its path. A hosted by the Glin Library. poetry event begins every half hour so that all the libraries will offer poetry all through the Words in the Air working day. Thursday 27 April, 1pm Old Market House Arts Centre, Dungarvan WRaPParound with Leanne O’Sullivan tickets: free Thursday 27 April, 1pm A lunchtime recital with poet, Clodagh University College Cork Beresford Dunne and uilleann piper, David tickets: free Power, presented by Waterford City & Award-winning poet Leanne O’Sullivan leads County Council. a lunchtime performance of poetry and rap, featuring students participating in the JCSP Poetry to Connect and Poetry Ireland WRaPParound project, Thursday 27 April, 2pm along with creative writing students from Killorglin Library, Co. Kerry University College Cork. tickets: free Knibs' Writer's Group in conjunction with The Imperfect is our Paradise Killorglin Library celebrate Poetry Day Thursday 27 April, 1pm Ireland with an open session – all welcome. The Hunt Museum, Limerick tickets: free An Afternoon of Coffee, A poetry reading venue is one which provides Chocolate and Poetry both solace and resistance. At this event you Thursday 27 April, 2.30pm will find yourself in a place which allows for Tramore Library, Co. Waterford another and different way of thinking. Part of tickets: free Limerick’s April is Poetry Month. Tramore Library will host an afternoon of coffee, chocolate and poetry. The library's Favourite Poems Classic Book Group members will each bring Thursday 27 April, 1pm a favourite poem to recite on the day. The Book Centre, Waterford City tickets: free Clare Poetry Collective Primary Poetry Local writers, educators, students, journalists, Contest: Reading and Awards book centre staff and business people will Clare Education Centre, Ennis, Co. Clare read their favourite poems for a lunchtime tickets: free celebration of poetry. Join the Clare Poetry Collective in celebrating the poems of primary pupils in County Clare. The students have been invited to write a poem of no more than 15 lines on any subject, in any form.

14 15 Munster Ulster

The Cork Men’s Poetry Parallelogram join in, link up, and connect through the AT The Edge, Cavan invites you to a poetry Thursday 27 April, 5pm power of poetry at their Open Mic Night. Poetry Day Ireland party! Join them for a fancy evening of poetry Waterstones Booksellers, Cork City Food and a wide range of teas and coffees are readings, cakes, tea, and wine. tickets: free available. at Seamus Heaney Celebrate Poetry Day Ireland with readings Poetry and Art at Hambly & Hambly by three fine poets: Patrick Cotter, Gerry Tight Connections HomePlace Thursday 27 April, 7pm Murphy and Matthew Sweeney. Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm Bellaghy, Co. Derry Hambly & Hambly, Dunbar House, MacCarthy's Bar, Castletownbere, Co Cork www.seamusheaneyhome.com Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh Óscar Mascareñas & Steve Boyland tickets: free tickets: free Thursday 27 April, 6pm West Cork Literary Society and Geoff Ward Reflections on ‘The Haw Lantern’ A reading by poet and author Maria Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick City demonstrate how great poetry 'frees us Saturday 22, Sunday 23 & McManus, an exhibition of work from artists tickets: free from the gaolers in our minds', and makes Thursday 27 April, 12-5pm including Cathy Carman and Claire Falconer, Poet and performer Óscar Mascareñas (Mexico/ us aware of possibilities which everyday tickets: free and the Northern Irish book launch of Ruth Ireland), and voice artist Steve Boyland common sense hides. Join in the readings Reflections on 'The Haw Lantern' is a site Le Gear’s new art book, Water Senses. (Liverpool), will read and perform to celebrate and the discussions. specific sound installation created by visual Poetry Day Ireland and to open Reconstructing artist and curator Varvara Shavrova in Women Aloud NI Poetry Recital Memory, a multifaceted exploration of the Martin Figura & Helen Ivory presented by response to a poetry cycle by Seamus Heaney. Thursday 27 April, 7pm approaches to death in Mexican and Irish the Dromineer Literary Festival Houston and Williamson Funeral Home, cultures by Clea Van der Grijn. Thursday 27 April, 8pm Paul Durcan in Conversation 117 Crumlin Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim Nenagh Arts Centre, Co. Tipperary Saturday 6 May, 4pm tickets: free Launch of Close to Home Dromineer Literary Festival in association tickets: free A casual poetry recital in association with Thursday 27 April, 6pm with Nenagh Arts Centre present award- A great admirer of Heaney’s, Paul Durcan’s Women Aloud NI, an initiative which aims to Greyfriars Gallery, Waterford City winning UK-based poets Martin Figura and latest collection, The Days of Surprise, raise the profile of the women’s writing scene tickets: free Helen Ivory. includes the poem ‘Breaking News’, a in Northern Ireland. Artlinks and Waterford City & County visionary tribute in which the voice of his late Council Arts Office present the launch of Modpoets friend comes to him down the chimney of a Poetry Day Ireland in Ballycastle Close to Home by Frank Farrelly. With guest Thursday 27 April, 8pm house in Mayo. Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm speaker, poet Edward Denniston. Greyfriars Gallery, Greyfriars, Thyme & Co Café, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim Co. Waterford tickets: free Spotlight Poetry Presents… tickets: free Convergence Share a Favourite poem – your own or by Thursday 27 April, 7.15pm An open mic session with Modpoets, an ever- Thursday 27 April – Friday 30 June someone else. The Haven Café, Cork City expanding group of Waterford poets, rappers, Verbal Arts Centre, Co. Derry Tickets: Free (donations gratefully received) prosers, novelists and songsters. tickets: free North West Words Poetry Day Ireland Spoken word artist Stanley Notte will read his An exhibition of poetry and photography by Readings poems composed of song titles, and Malcolm Seamus Hogan Launch Noel Connor and David Gepp, two Belfast- Thursday 27 April, 8pm Urquhart will woo with his melodic and Thursday 27 April, 8pm born artists from opposite ends of Finaghy Café Florence, Main Street, Letterkenny, poetic rhythms. The evening will also include Daly's Bar, Ballydehob, Co. Cork Road North. Opening on Poetry Day Ireland. Co. Donegal an open mic and a prompt challenge! All are welcome to the launch of Grey Smoke See www.theverbal.co for opening hours. tickets: free Against A Grey Sky, Seamus Hogan’s new Readings showcasing two poetic traditions Open Mic on the Theme ‘Connections’ and selected works, published by The Eblana Poetry and Cakes in Donegal: Maureen Curran, who writes in Thursday 27 April, 7.30pm Press. Thursday 27 April, 6.30pm English, and Máire Dinny Wren, who writes The Record Break Café, Ennis, Co. Clare Townhall Cavan Arts Space, Abbeyland, in Irish. tickets: free Co. Cavan The Clare Poetry Collective invites you to tickets: free

16 17 CULTUREFOX.IE Broadcasts & Online / Education

Midwest Radio (96.1fm) Facebook Live: Literature Through Music Thursday 27 April, 9.30am Musical Adaptations of Eavan Boland, Mayo Arts Office and Midwest Radio present John Keats & WB Yeats poets Geraldine Mitchell and John F Deane Thursday 27 April, 9pm on Tommy Marren’s show. www.facebook.com/literaturethroughmusic A Facebook Live event, featuring modern RTÉ lyric fm Poetry File musical adaptations of selected poems by Thursday 27 April, 11am Eavan Boland, John Keats & WB Yeats. RTÉ lyric fm and Poetry Ireland launch their new poetry slot, featuring a single poem by a The Merciful Hours leading Irish poet each week. This week Paula Paula Meehan kindly gifted her poem Meehan reads ‘The Solace of Artemis’. ‘The Merciful Hours’ to the Irish Hospice Foundation to mark their 30th anniversary in RTÉ Radio and TV 2016. Paula made a recording of the poem for We were delighted to receive advertising Poetry Day Ireland, which can be accessed at support through RTÉ Supporting the Arts www.facebook.com/IrishHospiceFoundation for Poetry Day Ireland 2017. Tune in to hear or www.poetryday.ie more about Poetry Day Ireland in April. Poetry Day Ireland Freebies! NEVER Poetry fans can look forward to a number of free treats on www.poetryday.ie on 27 April. Log on to download a free ebook of work by 2016’s Poetry Ireland Introductions participants, new copies of the journals FourXFour and A New Ulster, and a special ‘Mix Tape’ of audio poems from Lagan MISS Online and Poetry NI.

Education and Schools Poetry-related activities will take place in schools and learning centres across the tara flynn country on 27 April. All schools can access Facebook Live: Poetry Day Ireland lesson plans and educational videos on Thursday 27 April, 1pm www.poetryday.ie, as well as downloadable OUT www.facebook.com/poetryireland.eigseeireann classroom posters. Poetry Ireland Writers in www.facebook.com/facebookdublin Schools will run workshops on island schools, Tara Flynn hosts a Facebook Live broadcast, Derry’s Verbal Arts Centre will celebrate featuring well-known personalities reading poetry in their Reading Rooms project, and their favourite poems. Readers include participants in Dublin’s SAOL Project will former Vice President Joe Biden, Snow gather for poetry writing workshops. Youth Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, activist Sinéad Reach will also announce the results of their Burke, actor Lisa Dwan, The Pogues’ Cáit poetry competition on Poetry Day Ireland. O’Riordan, Marie Heaney and Marian Full details of the education events are at Richardson. www.poetryday.ie. The Arts Council’s new, upgraded CULTUREFOX events guide is now live. Free, faster, easy to use – and personalised for you. 18 Never miss out again. 19 20