Paul Perry
You can listen to Paul’s reading here
Paul Perry was born in Dublin in 1972 where he now lives. He is the author and editor of a number of critically acclaimed books including The Drowning of the Saints, Goldsmith’s Ghost, 108 Moons and The Orchid Keeper. He teaches creative writing for Kingston University, London, and University College Dublin and is Course Director in Poetry for the Faber Academy in Dublin.
His new book is The Last Falcon and Small Ordinance (The Dedalus Press, 2010).
Perry has won the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year Award and The Listowel Prize for Poetry and has been a James Michener Fellow of Creative Writing at The University of Miami, and a Cambor Fellow of Poetry at The University of Houston. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers, TLS, Granta and The Best American Poetry 2000. He has been a Writer in Residence for Co. Longford, the University of Ulster, and Rathlin Island.
Maureen Gallagher and Afric McGlinchey
You can listen to Maureen’s reading here
Maureen Gallagher was born in Monaghan, and now lives in Galway City. Her first collection of poetry, entitled Calling the Tune, was published by Wordsonthestreet Press in December 2008. Her poetry, prose and criticism have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, THE SHOp, The Cork Literary Review, The Stinging Fly and others. She was a prizewinner in the Wicklow Writers’ Award 2008 in both poetry and prose and winner of the Leyney Writers’ Short Story Award 2009. More recently she was shortlisted for the prestigious Gregory O’Donoghue Award.
Irish-born Afric McGlinchey was raised in Africa from the age of five, but returned to Ireland in 1999. She is a freelance journalist, editor and teacher. Her poetry has appeared in a number of journals and anthologies in Ireland and abroad, including Southword, Poetry Ireland Review, THE SHOp, Revival, Tear in the Fence, Scottish Poetry Review and Acumen. She lives in Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Noel King
You can listen to Noel’s reading here
Noel King is a writer, actor and musician, native of Tralee, Co. Kerry. His poetry, haiku, short stories, articles and reviews have appeared in publications in over thirty countries. He has had poetry in journals as diverse as Poetry Ireland Review, The Sunday Tribune, Bongos of the World (Japan), The Dalhousie University Review (Canada), Kotaz (South Africa), Poetry Salzburg Review (Austria) and Polestar (Australia). Along the way he has been a singer with the famous Bunratty Castle Entertainers and has worked as an arts administrator. He edits Doghouse Books, a poetry imprint, with 30 titles published since 2004.
This will be the Cork launch of Noel’s debut collection, just out from Salmon Publishing, Prophesying the Past.
From the title cover: “As the title, Prophesying the Past suggests this collection plays with our sense of space and time moving back and forth across dates; locations; time zones; generations and even across the boundary between life and death.” … “[the poems] in Prophesying the Past are never sentimental or didactic, it is left to the reader to savour the cumulative effect as the poems speak through an urban voice; rooted in history, both social and political. The personas in this work give voice to the personal and economic dilemmas of a people, from wartime Ireland through to the post Celtic Tiger era.”
Quincy Lehr
You can listen to Quincy’s reading here
Quincy R. Lehr‘s first book, Across the Grid of Streets, was described by Fiona Sampson in the Irish Times as showing “much energy and narrative talent.” Lehr’s poetry and criticism have appeared in numerous journals in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Australia, and the Czech Republic, and he is the associate editor of the Raintown Review.
He curates the long-running Carmine Street Metrics reading in New York with Wendy Sloan, and he co-founded Modern Metrics Press with R. Nemo Hill in 2006. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Ó Bhéal in association with the Heaventree Press and Cork City Council
presents a Twin Cities Celebration with Coventry poets
Anthony Owen and Barry Patterson
You can listen to Antony’s reading here
Antony Owen is from Coventry, England, his first collection of poetry My Father’s Eyes Were Blue was published in May 2009 by Heaventree Press to rave reviews from award winning poets.
In July 2010 Owen has been selected again to represent Heaventree Press as part of a twin city project between Heaventree Press Coventry and O’Bheal Cork. This successful twin city project has enabled Owen and a selected number of other poets to perform at well known festivals in both England and Ireland including a recorded reading in 2009 at The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University Belfast alongside other poets Jon Morley, Mike McKimm & Paul Casey.
In November 2009 Owen arranged a remembrance themed poetry event backed by Falklands Hero Simon Weston OBE which raised over £2,000 and inspired several other creative projects expected to raise up to £10,000 for JJ’s Memorial Fund and Help for Heroes.
Owen is currently working on his second collection of poetry titled The Dreaded Boy and has also been published in Avocado Magazine, Sherb: An Anthology Of River Poems (Heaventree Press), Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus by Gilbert Gigliotti (Entasis Press).
Barry Patterson is a writer and performer living in Coventry. The philosophy of the poems in his debut collection, Nature Mystic (Heaventree, 2009), is in their shared ethos of Dharma and Druidry.
Patterson, both a trained scientist and a spiritual practitioner, uses poetry, passionate and contemporary in its style and, further, with its own formal regulations and restrictions, as a medium – perhaps the best medium – to attempt an expression of the unutterable mystical experiences he has encountered in both religions, and in the natural world. The poems are his journey, written during several years of exploring this hidden dimension, but Patterson also brings his poetry to life in vivid, musical performances encapsulating flute, bodhran and song.
Ó Bhéal in association with Poetry Ireland presents
John McNamee
You can listen to John’s reading here
Dublin poet John McNamee is the director of the Out to Lunch reading series at The Writer’s Centre , Parnell Square, which is now in its ninth year. He is the author of eleven books of poetry since his first collection Flight was published in 1977 by Sparrow Press. He also published two CDs of his work in 2005 entitled Out to Lunch (2005) and When will the loganberries be ripe?.
As a journalist McNamee has written articles for many newspapers including The Irish Times, The Phoenix, The Examiner and Northside People. He has made numerous appearances on TV and Radio and has read his work in a wide variety of venues. He writes passionately about Dublin and Dubliners.
Elaine Feeney and Dave Lordan
You can listen to Elaine and Dave reading their poems in alternation here
Elaine Feeney was born in Galway in 1979. She graduated in 1999 from UCG with a degree in English and History and completed post graduate study in UCC and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. In 2007 she published her first chapbook, Indiscipline with Dave Lordan and Maverick Press. In 2008 she won the Cuirt Festival Poetry Grand Slam.
Feeney has read at many venues including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Vilenica Festival and The Electric Picnic. In 2009 she was the chosen writer on eek.collectives’ One Sheet, a collaboration with an artist and Graphic Designer (See http://eekcollective.wordpress.com/). This production is about taking art to the streets is currently exhibited throughout Dublin. Elaine has recently finished her first Drama, Playing with Women. Her work has been translated into Slovene. She lives in Athenry with her partner Ray and sons, Jack and Finn.
Dave Lordan‘s debut collection of poetry The Boy in the Ring (Salmon 2007) won The Patrick Kavanagh Award in manuscript form in 2005. In 2008 it won the Rupert and Eithne Strong Award for best first collection and was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award. It was named as a book of the year by RTE Radio 1’s Arena show in 2009.
Lordan’s first play Jo Bangles, starring Mary Mcevoy, enjoyed a sell out run in Dundrum’s Mill Theatre in February 2010. His second play ICE, will be produced by the newly re-opened Focus Theatre in Dublin. His second poetry collection Invitation to a Sacrifice is to be launched this summer and accompanied by a national tour of readings alongside Elaine Feeney.
Dave will also be holding a workshop before the reading entitled Sound, Style and Substance from 7.00pm to 8.30pm at Ó Bhéal. For more details click here.
Ó Bhéal in association with Foras na Gaeilge presents a bi-lingual evening with
Seosamh Ó Guairim
You can listen to Seosamh’s reading here
Seosamh Ó Guairim is a poet as well as being the postman at Carna, Connemara. His publications include Tra Thaoile na nEan published in 1986, and Croi na Cloiche, a book and cassette which appeared in 1995. This collection was translated into Romanian.
Ó Guairim’s work has been broadcast widely by RTE and TnaG and he appeared on the EuroNews TV channel a couple of years ago reciting his work. He has given a number of poetry readings including at Cuirt, Roisin Dubh in Galway, Coventry in England, and many other venues around the country.
