April 9th marked the launch of the 7th issue of Revival at The Whitehouse in Limerick, featuring readings from some of the contributors. Editor Teri Murray gave welcome and Galway poet Kevin Higgins introduced the collection, while John Johnston compèred in the abscence of Barney Shehan, who we hope to see back at the microphone soon.
It’s not surprising that the Shannon’s Whitehouse emanates one of the more popular Irish poetry journals. Revival features over forty contemporary poets from across the island and far beyond, and has become widely in demand thanks to the committed work of Teri Murray, Mark Whelan and Dominic Taylor. A great display of verse from a great venue.
Submissions are being accepted for Revival issue 8 (July 2008), and guidelines can be found at http://revivalpoetrybook.blogspot.com
The Revival readings were followed by the launch of Kevin Higgins’ latest collection, Time, Gentlemen Please
For videos from the evening, click here.
in An Cupán Tae café, Carraroe
Over the past year, artist-poet Aoife Casby has been holding a series of bilingual evenings in Carraroe, Co. Galway.
Earlier this month and with the support of Údarás na Gaeltachta, Aoife hosted readings by Trish Casey and Micheál Ó Cuaig, who also sang sean nós. In a cheerful Gaeltacht style, Ceara Conway creatively eMCeed the proceedings which later included an open-mic session featuring Maire Uí Eidhin, Pádraic Harvey, Aoife Casby (reading a poem by Dan O Flatharta), Annette Lohan, Caroline Lynch and Biddy Jenkinson.
A spirited Connemara crowd filled the venue and after a most pleasurable few hours the evening ended with an impromptu sing-along. I think one enjoys poetry that much more in an inspiring setting, and gently rolling, luminescent Carraroe with its panoramic views of the Aran Islands and the cliffs of coastal Clare, proves ideal.
To see the videos from the evening, click here.
