Reading tomorrow at the Poetry Lobby, Menlo Park Hotel

Exciting news update: Poetry jukeboxes, author interviews, mentoring and upcoming festival appearance

How are you keeping? And how are you enjoying these damp but bright late-Summer weeks as the return to school looms on the horizon? I didn't intend to leave a six-month gap between posts, so I'm mildly shocked to discover my last one was back in February! How the months have flown with many rich and diverse developments in poetry, creative writing and life in general (I had a milestone birthday, my son, Lee made his Confirmation and finished his primary schooling...). Rather than attempting to shape an article that links these disparate events and attempts to find some cohesive thread, I'm going to highlight my literary-related news in pithy bullet points below, which I hope you enjoy reading! • I’m currently working on my fourth collection of poetry. In the meantime, I’m delighted to share that some new poems of mine have featured in a variety of journals between February – August 2023 including: The Honest Ulsterman February 2023, Crannóg 58, Skylight 47 Issue 17, Cyphers 95 and Poetry Ireland Review 140

• I'm excited that my poem, "Bridget's Hope" can now be heard in Galway's Poetry Jukebox as part of the 'Poetry as Commemoration' initiative. The poem, which follows the thoughts of Cumann na mBan activist, 'Bridget', who is based in Athenry as the Truce is declared in July, 1921, was commissioned by Galway Public Libraries as part of their Decade of Centenaries programme. The Poetry Jukebox (see pic below) is a free sound installation, located outside Galway City Museum at the Spanish Arch, that features the work of eleven poets: Nithy Kasa, Attracta Fahy, my colleague at UL, Eoin Devereux, Dominic J Sweeney, Frances Browner, Aodan McArdle, Roisin Leggett Bohan, Michael Farry, Nuala Roche, Diarmuid Cawley and myself. You just choose the poem you wish to hear and crank the handle. Fabulous!

Thank you to Catherine Wilson, Creative Producer of Poetry as Commemoration and to all involved in this unique project. Galway's Poetry Jukebox can be enjoyed for the next twelve weeks, from mid-August onward. To learn more about the Poetry as Commemoration project and its Poetry Jukebox visit www.poetryascommemoration.ie • Next week, I’m delighted to be returning to my home county, 'Lovely Leitrim', to read as part of the 2023 Drumshanbo Written Word festival at 8:00pm on Thursday, 24 August in the Mayflower Ballroom, Drumshanbo. I'll be reading alongside fellow Leitrim poets, Roisin Kelly and Mary Guckian and we'll also be chatting to author and journalist, Ronan McGreevy. Tickets cost €12 and are available from drumshanbowrittenword.ie • It was fun to catch up with multi award-winning UK poet, Roger Robinson over the Summer and to hear all about his most recent poetry projects. My interview with Roger was published in the June 2023 issue of The Honest Ulsterman and you can read it online here

• As part of Glór Art Centre's 'Artist to Artist Mentoring Scheme 2023', I was delighted to be selected to Mentor highly talented, emerging poet, Deirdre Devally. Thank you to Glór Arts Centre in Ennis, Co. Clare for their valuable work in supporting artists. I am holding four mentoring sessions with Deirdre between June and August 2023 and very much enjoying this journey with her. • I also mentored the lovely, gifted poet and artist, Aine Rose O'Connell during January & March 2023 as part of a training initiative by Age & Opportunity to support artists and that was an immensely enjoyable experience. I thoroughly enjoy mentoring other poets and it is always an honour when writers choose to work with me. • Back in April, for Poetry Day Ireland 2023, I hosted a special reading by the MA in Creative Writing students, members of UL Creative Writing team - Donal Ryan & Eoin Devereux -with guest poet, Anton Floyd (pictured below) at 1:00pm - 2:15pm in the Bourn Vincent Gallery, above the University Concert Hall, at the University of Limerick. This was a free event but all donations on the day went to the United Nations Refugee agency Ireland (UNHCR-Ireland).

• To mark the launch of his best-selling Irish novel, My Father's House, I had the great pleasure of interviewing author and Professor of Creative Writing, Joseph O'Connor in a special event at 4:00pm in the Bourn Vincent Gallery, Foundation Building, University of Limerick on Wednesday, 19 April 2023. As everyone knows, Joe is not only a truly inspiring author, but also a thoroughly engaging speaker who is also much loved by all his colleagues and students at UL. We continue to keep Joe and his family in our thoughts at this sad time after the recent tragic loss of his sister, Sinead O’Connor. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Reading at the Limerick Literary Festival this Friday morning, 24 February

Spring is well and truly in the air, it's glorious to be settled into the new semester at the University of Limerick, and I'm looking forward to my first public reading of 2023, at this year's ever-fresh Limerick Literary Festival. I'll be sharing some recent poems, as well as a variety of older poems from my three collections, at 11:00am in Dooradoyle Library this Friday, 24th February. Admission is free and all are very welcome. The festival line-up is reliably fantastic and I'm honoured to be featuring in the first event on this year's programme. Check out the full stellar programme and we look forward to seeing you on Friday morning at Dooradoyle Library!

Three new poems just published & reflection on a busy October

October has been frantically full, from start to finish, but also highly enjoyable. I'm typing this on the last day of the month - Halloween - as I get ready to submit student marks and before we carve our massive pumpkin after lunch. We still have a few final spooky decorations to festoon in the sitting room too. I can hardly believe it's a full month since renowned traditional Irish fiddler, Eileen O'Brien and I performed our commissioned work, 'Sionann: a suite' for its world premiere at the 2022 Dromineer Literary Festival in Nenagh Castle on Saturday, 1st October. I didn't get a spare moment to write about our project at the time, so it is a pleasure to reflect back on that occasion now and I'm delighted to share a few photos from the event, taken by talented photographer, Odhran Duchie.

Having both grown up on the banks of the river Shannon, in Dromineer and Carrick-on-Shannon respectively, Eileen and I created a suite in four movements and words that integrates an air, planxty, slip jig and reel as the river gracefully rises and flows toward Lough Derg and its estuary. Filled with fluvial resonances, 'The Shannon Suite' is our lyrical exploration of our topographic heritage. We set my poem 'I am Sionann' (available to read here) to an original score and performed it live on harp and fiddle. During our recital, we also celebrated the 230th anniversary of the famous 'last gathering of the harpers' at the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival, which continues to inspire my writing (listen to my piece for RTE Radio 1's Sunday Miscellany during August here). It was at this historic event that Edward Bunting transcribed many well known airs, preserving much Irish music for posterity. Eileen and I played a mix of traditional airs that were performed by the 1792 harpers and passed on to Bunting to notate, including 'Carolan's Concerto', collected from Arthur O'Neill. We were thrilled with the audience response to our performance and our new suite - we got a standing ovation and many compliments after. You can enjoy more photos from the event and from many of the other memorable events of the festival at their gallery here. Congratulations to Chairperson, Geraldine McNulty, to Geraldine Cronin and to all the festival team on another super banquet of words and music and thank you again for bringing Eileen and I together for this highly enjoyable collaboration. During October, three more new poems of mine were published. Firstly my sonnet, 'Your Old Letters' features in Romance Options, the sparkling new anthology of love poems edited by Joe Woods and Leanne Quinn and published by Dedalus Press. More recently, during the past week, my poem 'I am Hawthorn' was featured on The Milk House, edited by Ryan Dennis. Lastly, my sonnet 'Anxiety of Influence' has just come out in Issue 7 of the ever-fresh Drawn to the Light, edited and published by the indefatigable Orla Fay and freely available to download here. Happy Halloween, happy reading and I hope you enjoy the poems!

Circling the Square - paying tribute to the late Dennis O'Driscoll

What a memorable day we had yesterday, honouring Dennis O'Driscoll at 'Circling the Square', the inaugural Thurles Poetry Festival. It is 10 years since we lost this great poet and Thurles native and credit is due to local poet, Larry Doherty for his vision and tireless efforts to curate such a special day of readings and music with a staggering line up of participants.(Pictured below: Emily Cullen, Eleanor Hooker, John Noonan & Declan O'Driscoll)

Dennis O'Driscoll (1954-2012) was an Irish poet, essayist, critic and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Dennis left a legacy of nine poetry collections, three chapbooks and two books of essays and reviews. Among his awards were a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2006 O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry from the Center for Irish Studies (Minnesota). A member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of artists, he worked for almost forty years in Ireland’s Revenue and Customs service. He died suddenly on Christmas Eve, 2012, aged 58. Lovingly referred to as “the Irish Larkin,” the majority of his poems were characterised by the use of economic language and the recurring motifs of mortality and the fragility of everyday life. Read his striking poem "Someone" here. His was truly a singular voice, full of 'forgiving humanity' and it was an honour to be part of this exciting new festival and to hear such an array of esteemed poets and musicians, including Eleanor Hooker, Michael Coady, Anne Haverty, Michael Durack, John Noonan, Ger Duffy, Breda Joyce and many more. We each shared 2 poems from Dennis's oeuvre which reminded us of his distinct, timeless vision. A special highlight for me was hearing the poet's brother, Declan O’Driscoll share anecdotes about Dennis and read his well-known poem about his hometown, simply entitled “Thurles”. If you're not already familiar with this poem, I urge you to seek it out for its subtle power, unsentimental tone and its fresh lines such as ‘…but I know where the colander is kept…’ which evoke those minute, idiosyncratic details of home. Indeed, why not immerse yourself in the world of Dennis O'Driscoll and treat yourself to his Collected Poems, published by Carcanet Press in 2017.

UL Creative Writing Festival - a banquet of writers and word-music

It's Tuesday morning already and I’m still lingering in the lilt of language, in the spell of imagination cast by so many writers during the past, full weekend. It’s no exaggeration to say I’m trying to sustain the euphony of the UL Creative Writing Festival where we were treated to note-perfect readings by novelists, Kevin Barry, Lisa McInerney, Roddy Doyle, Kit de Waal, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Sheila Killian, Danielle McLaughlin, Louise Kennedy, Donal Ryan and Sebastian Barry – not to mention poets, Seán Hewitt, Kayssie K, Jane Clarke, Rachael Hegarty and Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi. I was honoured to be reading myself, along side Jane Clarke and Kayssie K on Saturday afternoon. Indeed, I wore a few hats: as poetry curator, introducing our guest poets, as a staff member of the teaching team on the MA in Creative Writing and as a reader and festival participant. Additional gems at the festival were the richly atmospheric, moving stories read by young authors from local secondary schools that collaborated with our MA students on the Creative Writers in the Community module, led by Prof. Eoin Devereux, and the official launch of the brand new issue of UL's own The Ogham Stone - a trove of poetry, prose and creative non-fiction. Don't hesitate to pick up your copy!

The camaraderie, love of written word and mutual support that flows between my Creative Writing colleagues and the MA students (and, dare I say, myself) danced luminously and infectiously around the Irish World Academy of Music; audiences sensed the magical atmosphere that exists on the MA in Creative Writing programme where great teaching goes hand-in-hand with true mentorship. The Festival - completely sold out for the weekend - was a roaring success with a closing event, on Sunday afternoon, which saw two maestros, Sebastian Barry and Donal Ryan, reading from their stunning works-in-progress (a first for the former, who usually shares only his published work with audiences) and introduced so warmly and memorably by another literary giant, gent and Festival Director, Joseph O'Connor. The queue for the book-signing table after was a mile long and many festival attendees retreated to the nearby campus 'Pavilion' restaurant just to stay in the orbit of word-music a little longer, to prolong the enchantment of the weekend. Sincere thanks to my brilliant, truly lovely colleagues and to the wonderful student volunteers for all their hard work, to the poets and writers who performed and spoke so generously and honestly about the writing life, sharing nuggets of wisdom we will remember, to Gráinne O'Brien of O'Mahony's Booksellers, and to everyone who contributed to this masterful Festival in any way, big or small. Here's to it all happening again in 2023! Below are a few photos captured over the course of the weekend, featuring 1) Kevin Barry and Lisa McInerney, 2) Rachael Hegarty, myself and Jane Clarke, 3) Donal Ryan, Kit de Waal, Roddy Doyle and Joseph O'Connor, 4) Rachael Hegarty, Seán Hewitt & Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi and lastly, 5) Jane Clarke, myself and Kayssie Kandiwa. You can also enjoy reading (or listening to) the vivid, witty and powerful story Kevin Barry read, "The Pub with No Beer", in April's edition of The New Yorker here)

Reading at the Eco Showboat Pavilion, Dromineer tomorrow

The Eco Showboat will dock at Dromineer harbour, Co. Tipperary tomorrow (Wednesday, 18 May) as part of Tipperary Bealtaine Festival. The brainchild of artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly of the innovative School of Looking, the duo have been working on the transformation of a century-old heritage barge into a zero-carbon vessel suitable for Eco Showboat expeditions on our inland waterways. A floating art studio and science lab, the solar-powered Eco Showboat aims to connect communities in building a zero-carbon future. I'm delighted to be reading with Eleanor Hooker tomorrow at the Poetry Pavilion alongside the Eco Showboat. A packed programme of free events is promised with registration in advance essential. See the event page here for all details. Hope you can join us!

Here's a poem of mine, on the theme of ecological awareness, that was published last year in the Empty House: Poetry and Prose on the Climate Crisis anthology (edited by Alice Kinsella and Nessa O'Mahony, Doire Press, 2021). "Adam's Apple" was inspired by the contrast between our Western myth of origins, which positions us as masters lording it over the Earth, and those of some First Nations peoples, whose beliefs have always been in much closer harmony with our planet. And how striking that one of our most famous economists in history was baptized 'Adam' Smith!

April is Poetry Month - four very full weeks of events!

Welcome back to my blog. This month is gloriously full with literary activities and poetry events. Below is a list of recent events I participated in and upcoming readings during Poetry Month. Some are in-person events and some are live online and all are free. I hope you can join me! Literary Events - April 2022: Poetry Readings • Wednesday, 27 April: Limerick Writers’ Centre ‘April is Poetry Month’ reading at 7:00pm, Sexton’s Bar, 91 Henry St, Limerick – reading with Eoin Devereux & Michael Durack. • Poetry Day Ireland - Thursday, 28 April: Launch of The Limerick Broadsheet – ‘April is the Cruellest Month’ – curated by Eoin Devereux and featuring work by Donal Ryan, Denise Chaila, Emily Cullen, Kerrie O’Brien, Willzee, John Liddy, Martin Dyar, Jo Slade, Imelda Maguire, Kieran Beville and Eoin Devereux at 1:00pm, The Atrium, University Concert Hall Building, University of Limerick. • Poetry Day Ireland - Thursday, 28 April: Featured poet for Lime Square Poets at 8:00pm online. See event details here: https://www.limesquarepoets.com/event-details/lime-square-poets-featuring-emily-cullen • Saturday, 30 April: Inishboffin Arts Festival - times tbc

Event Facilitation / Public Interviews with Authors • Friday, 1 April: Interview with authors, Nuala O’Connor (Nora) and Raymond Burke (Joyce County) for the ‘Nora Barnacle and James Joyce – The Galway Story’ event (One Dublin One Book) at 6:30pm in St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway • Saturday, 9 April: Introduction of, and interview with, poet Roger Robinson at 8:30pm in the Town Hall Theatre for Cúirt International Festival of Literature

Enjoying my exciting role at UL

Happy Poetry Month! I'm delighted to report that my post as Meskell UL-Fifty Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick’s Creative Writing programme is gloriously busy and immensely enjoyable. The role is quite specific: I teach on aspects of poetic technique on the MA in Creative Writing, supervise MA students, offer feedback on their writing and contribute to various literary and outreach projects on the campus. My colleagues have all been so warm and welcoming since I started on 31st January and, because my passion for teaching poetry and mentoring younger writers is part of my own poetry practice, the combination of the creative and the academic is an ideal fit. It became apparent to me, early on, that there is a significant need for this kind of work at UL, both to mentor and support new creative writers, specifically poets, and to play a role in positioning poetry as an integral part of the University. In response to requests from the students about particular areas of interest, I enjoyed leading a series of poetry seminars for all MA students on aspects of prosody and poetic technique that focused on: tone, voice, diction, building tension and surprise, line breaks, punctuation, revision, ending poems and preparing a manuscript for publication. These 2-hour seminars were part-lecture, part-practical workshop and included in-class freewriting and the provision of feedback on poems in progress. I was recently interviewed about my role and about the importance of poetry by Jim Miley of the Association of Irish Universities and you can view our brief conversation here

I am also delighted to be part of a series of five women poets invited to read for the Limerick Literary Festival in honour of the wonderful Kate O’Brien and to celebrate ‘April is Poetry Month’ in Limerick. Here is my poem entitled “Time”

My next post will give more information about events I am taking part in for Poetry Month.

Exciting announcement: appointed Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick

I am thrilled to share the news that I have been appointed Lecturer / Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick. My role will involve teaching Creative Writing, supervising postgraduate work, organising some literary events and personal creative writing projects. I cannot wait to start in the new Spring semester, 2022. I view the teaching of Creative Writing and mentorship of other writers as integral to my creative practice and literary citizenship and so this is a dream post for me. The inspirational poet-teacher, Theodore Roethke once observed that "teaching is an act of love, a spiritual cohabitation, one of the few sacred relationships left in a crass secular world" and I completely agree with him. I am truly looking forward to working with the Creative Writing students at UL and with the sensational team at the School of English, Irish & Communication. My appointment was announced in The Irish Times today.

To read the full article, please click on this link.

Twitter thread reveals identity of a muse

Thanks to a conversation on Twitter today, which was brought to my attention since my own Twitter account is currently inactive, I now have a very good idea of the identity of my muse on the bicycle with the hula hoop that day in Salthill who inspired "Poise" from my collection, Conditional Perfect (Doire Press, 2019)... She, la petite Francaise, it must surely be... This doesn't happen every day and I'm grateful to the wonderful Martina Callanan of Galway Cycling Campaign, for shedding light on the mystery. May those spokes keep turning!

Final places left on The Craft of Poetry Writing online course - starting Thursday

There are a couple of places left on my new 'Craft of Poetry Writing' course which begins at 7pm this Thursday, 7 October. The course delivery is online, via Zoom and each session runs until 8:30pm. To bag your place, click on the short courses Eventbrite page here. (A recent cyber attack on the NUI Galway website wreaked a bit of havoc and the previous links for registration are currently undergoing maintenance). I can't wait to embark on another creative adventure with a new group of budding and emerging poets. If you think someone you know may be interested, please spread the word.

Autumn Poetry Course at the Centre for Adult Learning at NUI Galway and Recent Poetry Projects

It's that time of year again when our thoughts turn to new opportunities for lifelong learning, developing skills or delving deeper into our favourite pastimes and activities. I'm delighted to share that I will be teaching 'The Craft of Poetry' again for the Centre for Adult Education, NUI Galway. This 8-week course starts at 7pm on Thursday, 7 October and booking will close over the next few days. There are a few final places left, so don't delay if you are thinking of registering! During the spring semester I was fortunate to facilitate this course for a really talented, vibrant group of people - a mix of beginners and improvers - and we had immense fun each week, exploring great contemporary poetry, sharing new drafts and honing our craft together. That course was a great success and it was wonderful to learn that the participants have kept the group going in their own time and are actively sending work out for publication, and even winning prizes already. Ger Duffy, I'm thinking of you - heartiest congratulations again! So to say that I am looking forward to working with a new group of emerging poets as we embark on this course is an understatement! If you would like to know more about 'The Craft of Poetry Writing', you can read the description below and view the course booklet here for more information:

At the start of the Summer, I was one of five Galway-based poets invited to participate in an exciting project on the theme of climate change; the initiative involved the creation of poetry with schoolchildren to build a 'Wall of Words' for a 'Climate of Hope.' It was a pleasure to collaborate with Miss Evans and her lively, engaged groups in third and fourth class at Castlegar National School in May and June and a privilege to inspire and empower budding poets to express their voices on this crucial topic. The pupils composed an eye-opening variety of wish poems, list poems and animal poems - both as a group and individually - that reflected on the impact of climate change on our planet and envisioned steps we can take to nurture a brighter future. Focusing on our connection to nature and on positive climate action, the project clearly aided the students in developing their understanding of how human choices can affect their environment. All of the childrens' poems were displayed in the Eyre Square Centre for Cruinniú na nÓg on Saturday, 12 June and have been up for all to view and enjoy since then. Sincere thanks to Creative Ireland Galway City, Galway Public Libraries, Clarice Evans at Castlegar National School and the children of third and fourth class for a memorable experience which enriched our understanding, through poetry and art, of the long-term causes and effects of global warming, rising sea levels, extreme weather events and the thinning ozone layer. In accordance with the project goals, our 'Climate of Hope' succeeeded in "enhancing the creative and imaginative lives of young people on a topic of vital importance for our planet and one that will make a lasting impact on the collaborators and spectators it connects with - at a time when connection is more important than ever." We had lots of great fun along the way and I was advised by some of the pupils to set myself up as 'the poetry person' on TikTok! You never know, I may well heed their suggestions yet...

Emily Cullen, poet-in-residence with Clarice Evans, teacher of 3rd and 4th class, Castlegar National School at the 'Wall of Words' in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre

Summer Poetry Course - new start date

Summer online poetry course… starting soon

“Poetry is the music of being human,” wrote Carol Ann Duffy, memorably. She also observed that “you can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” Would you like to devote more time to attuning to the music of your humanity this Summer? Would you like to uncover and shape the poetry that is latent in your everyday world? James Tate rightly observed that “poetry is everywhere, it just needs editing.” I am delighted to announce that I will be facilitating another online poetry course focused on the craft of poetry starting in mid-June and running for six weeks. While the course is aimed at emerging poets or those who have some experience writing poetry and may have recently started to publish their poems, more advanced writers will also find stimulation and encouragement.

As someone who thoroughly enjoys teaching courses on Creative Writing (I have taught undergraduate students and adult learners at the University of Melbourne, NUI Galway and online from home) during the past few years, I agree with poet, Theodore Roethke's observation that "teaching is an act of love, a spiritual cohabitation, one of the few sacred relationships left in a crass secular world." For this online course, you will enjoy creating new work within a warm and supportive atmosphere. We will begin at 7pm on Wednesday, 9 June with duration of about an hour - 1 hour 15 mins. To find out more and book your place, please contact me now on: emilycullendavison@gmail.com.

Take 5 for poetry each day during Poetry Month!

Another gorgeous initiative from Galway Public Libraries - Take 5 for poetry - started at 11am today with Galway's own Gerry Hanberry reading his stunning poem, "On Nimmo's Pier". I'm delighted to be part of this 'Community of Reciters' and my own poem, "Through the Cracks", will be going out at 1pm on Saturday, 24 April and again as part of the feast of poetry on National Poetry day, Thursday, 29 April. Tune in on Galway Public Libraries Facebook and Instagram whenever you can to get your "espresso shot of thought", (to quote poet Daljit Nagra on what a poem is). The daily poetry slot times are 11am, 1pm and 4pm and the full schedule is below.

Thursday 22nd April 11.00am Gerry Hanberry 4.00pm Joan Finnegan Friday 23rd April 11.00am Elaine Feeney 4.00pm Danny McDonnell Saturday 24th April 11.00am Kevin Higgins 1.00pm Emily Cullen 4.00pm Bernie McGuire Sunday 25th April 11.00am Susan Miller duMars 1.00pm Luke Morgan 4.00pm Joan Hardiman Monday 26th April 11.00am Moya Roddy 4.00pm Carmel Dempsey Tuesday 27th April 11.00am Pete Mullineaux 4.00pm Mary Donoghue Wednesday 28th April 11.00am Nuala O’Connor 1.00pm Mary Mannion 4.00pm Teresa Dempsey Thursday 29th April – Poetry Ireland Day schedule 9.00am Kevin Higgins 9.30am Joan Hardiman 10.00am Emily Cullen 10.30am Jimi McDonnell 11.00am Gerry Hanberry 11.30am Mary Mannion 12.00pm Moya Roddy 12.30pm Teresa Dempsey 1.00pm Louis de Paor 1.30pm Bernie McGuire 2.00pm Elaine Feeney 2.30pm Carmel Dempsey 3.00pm Pete Mullineaux 3.30pm Joan Finnegan 4.00pm Susan Miller duMars 4.30pm Mary Donoghue 5.00pm Luke Morgan 5.30pm Nuala O’Connor. Here is my poem for Poetry Day: "Through the Cracks" from my third collection, Conditional Perfect.

Poetry news update – three new poems coming soon

Happy Poetry Month! It has certainly been a strange time of flux for the creative impulse during the past year. Like many others, I worried, during the first lockdown, that my pull towards poetry would be compromised - even suspended indefinitely. With the all-consuming pandemic anxiety, fear of the unknown and our national sense of grief for the casualties of covid-19, making new art was no longer a priority; it became something I genuinely jostled with. In the depths of the prevailing stasis, however, I found that my hunger for reading poetry had in no way subsided. And little by little, my appetite to create my own new work reawakened, so that when “Henrietta’s Confession” was published in the June 2020 issue of The Honest Ulsterman, I actually did a happy dance. Subsequently, when I was invited by Galway Contemporary Music Project to compose a poem in response to Debussy’s string quartet, I was truly excited to take up the ekphrastic challenge. I’ve written a short article about this experience elsewhere on this blog. By that stage, I was making my peace with lockdowns, recognising that, in spite of all, the seasons remained constant around me and life went on, albeit in a radically altered world. I also published a poem for a dear new friend, Cassie, whom I met immediately prior to the first lockdown, and about our friendship which flourished, in spite of the challenges of social distancing, and this poem appeared on that wonderful nurturing blog, Pendemic. Lastly, I wrote an essay on the value of literary citizenship which appeared in issue 13 of Skylight 47, a journal I greatly admire. Unsurprisingly, there were dodgy, existential covid-anxiety poems along the road too, but on the whole, I kept the pen moving, without forcing the words forth on stickier days. And so, when the year turned, and we had survived, all things poetic seemed to be looking up considerably. Since early February of this year, I’ve been teaching ‘The Craft of Poetry’ to a dedicated, vibrant group of poets for the Centre for Adult Education at NUI Galway and that conversation with a community of writers has been wholly energising. And I’m also delighted to share with you that three newly composed poems will be coming out shortly. Firstly, my poem “Ode to Blue Cheese” will feature in issue 14 of Skylight 47, due to be launched in early May. I certainly indulged my love of cheese varieties during the three consecutive lockdowns, and sometimes we just have to eulogise the little things that keep us going, don't we? Hopefully that ode supremo, Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), would have approved!

Another new poem of mine, “Adam’s Apple” features in a brand new anthology about climate change that has just come out from the wonderful Doire Press: Empty House: poems and prose on the climate crisis and which is due to be launched on Earth Day, 22 April. See invitation to this online launch below and please do join us!

This poem was inspired by the observation that creation myths in First Nation cultures tend to be much closer to the natural world, and in much greater harmony to it, than our own Western myth of origins, which positions us as masters lording it over earth and the food chain. Last but not least, I was recently commissioned by Strokestown Poetry Festival to compose a poem on the theme of ‘new beginnings’ as the country slowly starts to re-open and as more and more people are safely vacinated against covid-19. My poem, “Summering” takes inspiration from that famous quote, once uttered by Seamus Heaney, which gave solace to many through the various stages of the pandemic: “If we winter this one out, we can Summer anywhere.” But that’s about all I can divulge at this stage as a recording of the poem will be going out on the Strokestown Poetry Festival website during the festival between 1-2 May. Stay tuned for further updates soon. In the meantime, thanks so much for checking in, stay safe and enjoy Poetry Month to the full!

Nuala O'Connor is my final guest for the Women Writers of the West online book club

In the final two weeks of the 'Women Writers of the West' online book club we will be discussing Nuala O'Connor's Becoming Belle - a gorgeous novel based on the life of Isabel Bilton - the entertainer in Victorian London who lived on Garbally estate, Co. Galway after she married her Viscount of the Clancarty earls.

It's a wonderfully rich read, full of period detail and depicting a vibrant life. I got my copy in Charlie Byrnes and you should be able to get your hands on a copy from any of the book shops.

Nuala will also give us a sneak preview into her latest highly acclaimed novel, NORA - about Galway's own Nora Barnacle - in the final session too. Don't miss the chance for more book-lover's camaraderie in an atmosphere that is equal parts fun, sociable and informative! Register for your free place here. #womenwritersofthewest #galwaypubliclibraries In other, somewhat related, news all four sessions of the previous online book club I facilitated for Galway Public Librares - 'Journeys in Words - From Galway to Dublin' - exploring the short fiction of Maeve Brennan and Liam O'Flaherty are now up on the Galway Public Libraries Youtube channel and can be enjoyed at your leisure. In the final session I had the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Maurice Casey about the life, times and politics of Liam O'Flaherty as well as about the translations of his work in soviet Russia. Casey has fascinating new research on O'Flaherty and you can enjoy our discussion at the link below. Thank you to all our special guests during the course of the 'Journeys in Words' book club and to everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this immensely enjoyable textual voyage.

On International Women's Day - reflecting on the recovery of women's voices

Not only has the historical record often underestimated the contribution of women to society, but art can also be guilty of this travesty, consciously or unconsciously. The title poem of my debut poetry collection, "No Vague Utopia", is a short monologue in the voice of Eva Gore-Booth who is politely, but adroitly, addressing W.B. Yeats beyond the grave (since he was so taken with communication from the spirit world!). Eva (1870-1926) was a poet, dramatist, suffragist, committed social worker and labour activist who was especially vocal about the conditions for women workers in the cotton factories in England.

Yet, in his poem "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz" Yeats writes about Eva: "I know not what the younger dreams - / Some vague Utopia...". His wistful and understandably human nostalgia for by-gone days still glosses over Eva's achievement as she is memorialised as a vague dreamer, now wizened and gaunt.

Should Con and Eva have frozen in time by the great windows of Lissadell, eternally youthful and gazelle-like in their silk kimonos just to placate Yeats's aesthetic reverie? My poem is a gentle riposte to Yeats as Eva seeks to make the point that her life and vision did not amount to 'some vague utopia.' No Vague Utopia was published by Ainnir Publishing in 2003 and I hope you enjoy this poem. Happy International Women's Day and here's to the ongoing recovery of all those important female voices muted by history, patriarchy, art....!

Between a rock and a soft place

A bit of a magpie, I’ve always been fascinated by gemstones; by their colours, textures and especially their exotic names. Some time ago, during my years as a doctoral researcher, I found myself working in a jewellery shop; the owner knew me from coming in to hover and purchase small gifts and offered me a part-time job. I was smitten with a large slab of labradorite at the time. Set in silver, its discreet iridescent flash of blue lit up its swampy grey as if declaring: don't judge by surface appearances! Look deeper to find the energy. I took the job. Though I’ve never been fully ‘on board’ with New Age theories about the healing vibrations of crystals, I was in love with everything else about them. Carrying secret stories about how the earth evolved over millions of years, they are full of the hidden music of its DNA. It was inevitable that a poem would gradually crystalise and here it is! I’m delighted to discover that it was last Friday’s ‘Poetry Break’ on Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s youtube channel and you can enjoy it here