Wordsworth at 250“His poems celebrate and honour ordinary people.”

As heard on Today with Sean O'Rourke

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250 years before the pandemic, the man who will forever be associated with daffodils was born in the Lake District in England. William Wordsworth (for it is he) was the second of five children and his early life was the stuff of a streaming mini-series: separated from his beloved sister at 8, orphaned at 13, child out of wedlock at …

Olivia O'Leary on the Song of Amergin‘It’s a poem that sounds a deep echo with any of us born on this island.’

As heard on Drivetime

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Sometimes a song is enough. A song and a place. I was 14, in a proper Gaeltacht for the first time. Baile na Sceilige. Ballinskelligs in County Kerry. Inlander as I am, used to the gentle river valleys of home, I was stunned by the epic beauty of this place. But I was still resisting the actual Irish classes until the teacher taught us a local song. It …

Eileán Ní Chuilleanáin: Who are the readers of poetry? ‘You’re reaching out to people… but you don’t know that they’re there, so you really flip back and forth between speaking to them as if, of course they’ll understand, and shouting into the void.’

As heard on arena

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“Every poet is in that position of saying, where’s my public?” said Eileán Ní Chuilleanáin in conversation with Sean Rocks on Arena.  Eileán is due to deliver the Chair of Poetry lecture in Trinity College on Wednesday, March 14th and this year, the title is “I have my people and they are waiting: Who are the readers of poetry?”  The …

Fighting Mental Health Stigma with Art‘We’ll have two shows of live spoken word.  We’ll also have live street art…  For a small fee we’ll write a personalised poem to you…’

As heard on arena

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First Fortnight is upon us, a festival aimed at destigmatizing issues surrounding mental health.  As part of the programme, Out Straight, a collective that celebrates urban life and art, is taking over The Bernard Shaw Pub in Dublin on Saturday 6th January.  They’ll be putting on a visual art and poetry extravaganza aimed at bringing to light social and economic …

Hand-written Poems“Good poetry in general actually is there to help people get through bad stuff.”  

As heard on arena

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Stuck for gift ideas for the poetry lover in your life? Poet, writer and teacher Dave Lordan might have the answer to your prayers. Dave appeared on Monday’s Arena, and told Seán Rocks that, for a modest sum, he’ll hand write one of his poems, as well as a personal note to the recipient, and send it off in the …

Poet Erin Fornoff‘Growing up in the South…you know that there is some ugliness in your background’

As heard on arena

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Poet, Erin Fornoff, debuted some poems from her first collection of poetry, Hymn to The Reckless, on Arena with Seán Rocks. Fornoff is American-born, from the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina. She has a complicated relationship with her home nation. It influences her work. She uses her writing as a way to, as she puts it, “express homesickness”. “One thing I’ve learned about homesickness…being far away…It’s not that it goes away, it just kind of changes shape. You find new things to miss or different things …