A class night of jazz-poetry with Patrick Cotter accompanied by Mo O’Connor, Pat Barrett and Niall Dennehy, and followed by an excellent open-mic for our 7th jazz-poetry night. The videos (filmed by Stephen O’Riordan) of both the main set and the open-mic are here.

[L-R] Adam Steiner, Saleha Begum, Adam Wyeth, Kathy D’Arcy and Cal Doyle

[L-R] Saleha Begum and Adam Steiner at Béal na Bláth

This year’s Cork-Coventry Twin Cities poetry exchange welcomed five new and talented voices. Representing Coventry were two exciting young poets: Adam Steiner and Saleha Begum, while Cork returned with three well-known local poets: Adam Wyeth; Kathy D’Arcy and Cal Doyle. Over three days in July the Coventry poets gave readings at Ó Bhéal, the West Cork Literary Festival and at the Whitehouse in Limerick. They visited Lord Mayor Cllr. Mary Shields at City Hall and travelled through counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, making various detours to visit historical monuments and rare curiosities like The Time Traveller’s Bookshop in Skibbereen. In November the Cork poets gave readings at The Big Comfy Bookshop in Coventry and also in Burton-on-Trent, visited Lord Mayor of Coventry Hazel Noonan who accompanied them on a tour of the old Cathedral ruins. They were interviewed live by Kate Hills on Hillz FM Radio and also visited Stratford and Birmingham.

“I am finishing now and I say this; I cannot think of a better place to bring this state visit to a close than among the Irish community; with the Irish of Britain active for 40 years with groups like the St. Patricks Club, Leamington Spa, the Coventry Irish Society, the Coventry County Association and the Coventry Cork Poets.” – President Michael D Higgins at the Guild House, Coventry, April 2014

For the full review from the participants, with photos, click here.