Máire Dinny Wren
You can listen to Máire’s reading here.
Máire Dinny Wren was born in Gaoth Dobhair County Donegal. She writes poetry and fiction. She lived in London for twenty one years where she was a member of the Green Ink Writers group. She is now living back in Gaoth Dobhair. Her short story Ag Tearnamh chun Baile won Duais Fhoras na Gaeilge at The Listowel Writers’ week in 2010. her poem Lúb ar Lár won Comórtas Uí Néill in 2011. Her poems have been broadcast or Raidió na Gaeltachta and Raidió Uladh and her work has been published in Comhar, an tUltach, Feasta, Irish Pages, An Gael, Goitse, North West Words Arts Magazine, Winners Anthology 2010 – Writers Week Listowel.
Coiscéim published her first collection of poetry Ó Bhile go Bile, in 2011 and four of her short stories have been published in a collection of short stories go dtí an lá bán, by Éabhlóid in 2012. One of her short stories Thar an Tairseach has been adapted for radio and was broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 Drama on One on St. Patrick’s day 2013.
Is as Cois Cláidí i nGaoth Dobhair do Mháire Dinny Wren. Is scríbhneoir filíochta agus gearrscéalta í. Chaith sí tréimhse fada dá saol i Londain. Nuair a bhí sí i Londain bhí sí mar bhall den ghrúpa scríbhneoirí, Green Ink Writers. Phill sí go hÉirinn i 1999 agus tá sí ar ais i gCois Cláidí le cúpla bliain. Bhain gearrscéal dá cuid Ag Tearnamh chun Baile duais Fhoras na Gaeilge ag féile litríochta Lios Tuathail i 2010. Bhain dán dá cuid Lúb ar Lár comórtas filíochta Uí Néill i 2011. Craoladh samplaí dá cuid filíochta ar Raidió na Gaeltachta agus ar Raidió Uladh agus foilsíodh cuid dá saothar in irisí mar Comhar, An tUltach, Feasta, Irish Pages, An Gael, Goitse, North West Words Arts Magazine, Winners Anthology 2010 – Writers Week Listowel.
D’fhoilsigh Coiscéim cnuasach dá cuid filíochta, Ó Bhile go Bile, sa bhliain 2011. Tá ceithre cinn dá cuid gearrscéalta sa leabhar, go dtí an lá bán, a d’fhoilsigh Éabhlóid i 2012. Craoladh léiriú ar ghearrscéal dá cuid darbh ainm Thar an Tairseach ar an chlár Drama on One ar RTÉ Raidió a hAon ar Lá Fhéile Pádraig 2013.
David Butler
You can listen to David’s reading here.
David Butler is a full-time writer whose first novel The Last European was published in 2005 (Wynkin de Worde, Galway), while his debut poetry collection Via Crucis (Doghouse, Tralee) appeared in 2011. A second novel The Judas Kiss was published in 2012 by New Island Press (Dublin), who have also accepted his third novel, City of Dis for publication in 2014. A short-story collection, No Greater Love, has just been published in London (Ward Wood). Awards for poetry include the Féile Filíochta, the Ted McNulty and the Brendan Kennelly poetry prizes.
Monica Corish
You can listen to Monica’s reading here.
Monica Corish lives in Kinlough, County Leitrim. In her previous life she studied Physiology, picked raspberries in Norway, travelled overland from Nairobi to Cairo, taught English in North Sudan, trained as a Nurse, taught Community Health Workers in South Sudan, wrote a book about reproductive health for WHO, did a Masters in Development Studies, worked as a health adviser for GOAL, and wrote the occasional poem.
A cervical disc injury in 2005 brought an end to her old life. Now she writes, paints, and leads writing workshops. She has received literature bursaries from The Arts Council, the Arts and Disability Forum, and Leitrim Arts Office. Her poetry has been published in The Stinging Fly (where she was the Featured Poet in spring 2009), Cyphers, THE SHOp, Southword, Crannóg, Revival, Books Ireland, The Cathach and New Irish Writing 2011 and 2012; and anthologised in Works Seven and Census 3. Her first collection of poetry Slow Mysteries, was published by Doghouse Books in June 2012.
Monica is a trained AWA writing group leader. She leads writing and poetry workshops in the North-West, and quarterly writing workshops for Returned Development Workers in Dublin. www.monicacorish.ie
Lisa C. Taylor
You can listen to Lisa’s reading here.
Lisa C. Taylor is an American author of the poetry collection Necessary Silence (Arlen House/Syracuse University Press) published in early 2013. She also has two published chapbooks with Finishing Line Press, Talking to Trees (2007) and Insufficient Thanks (2012) and a full-length collaborative collection of poetry with Irish poet and writer, Geraldine Mills, The Other Side of Longing (Arlen House/Syracuse University Press, 2011). The Other Side of Longing was chosen for the Elizabeth Shanley Gerson Honor at University of Connecticut and both Lisa and Geraldine Mills were Lecturers of Irish Literature in 2011. This book was used in University of Connecticut Irish Contemporary Literature classes and her newest collection will be taught in a literature class at Manchester Community College in the fall of 2013. Lisa holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program, and she teaches creative writing at Eastern Connecticut State University.
Her honors include two AAUP Faculty Development Awards, a Pushcart nomination and several finalist distinctions. Her work has been widely published in many national and international journals and magazines such as Crannóg, The Birmingham Poetry Review, The Worcester Review, Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Pacific Review, Midwest Review and Connecticut River Review. She has also had poetry featured in two national anthologies, Written with a Spoon: A Poet’s Cookbook and XY Files: Poems on the Male Experience (Western Edge Press, New Mexico) and new poems will be appearing in the Voices of Poetry Anthology in 2014. Lisa has read widely in New England, New York, Florida, and Ireland. She has been a guest on radio shows and television shows in Connecticut, Connemara and Galway, Ireland. Her latest book has been discussed on American National Public Radio. Lisa has received residencies from the Vermont Studio Center and will be in residence at Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland in 2013. For more about Lisa, visit her web site www.lisactaylor.com
Christine Murray and Phil Lynch
Christine Murray is a City and Guilds Stone-cutter. Her poetry is published in Ropes Magazine, Crannóg Magazine, The Burning Bush Online Revival Meeting (Issue 1), Carty’s Poetry Journal, Caper Literary Journal , CanCan, The Southword Journal (MLC) and the Diversity Blog (PIWWC; PEN International Women Writer’s Committee). Her poem for three voices, Lament, was performed at the Béal festival in 2012.
She has reviewed poetry for Post (Mater dei Institute), Poetry Ireland and Writing.ie. Chris writes a poetry blog called Poethead which is dedicated to the writing, editing and translation of women writers. She is a member of the International PEN Women Writer’s Committee, and the Social Media coordinator and Web-developer for Irish PEN.
Phil Lynch lives in Dublin. He began writing poetry as a teenager and first took part in poetry readings in Dublin in the late 1960s/early 1970s in what became known as the Tara Telephone sessions. He also had work published in various magazines and journals in those years and some of his poems were featured on national radio (Austin Clarke’s Poetry Programme). He subsequently became a founder-member of a poetry & music event to showcase and encourage writers and musicians in a social setting. His involvement then became more sporadic as he took a ‘sabbatical’ to concentrate on other commitments. He lived in Belgium during part of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s where he was a founder-member of a poetry group and gave readings at a number of events there.
Since returning to Dublin in late 2009, Phil has become very engaged again in writing and related activities. His poems have appeared recently in a number of publications and anthologies including: Boyne Berries, Revival Literary Journal, Circle Time, Bare Hands (e-publication), Bare Hands Print Anthology, The Poetry Bus Magazine, Census 3, Outburst (e-publication). His work has also been featured in a number of radio broadcasts including RTE’s Arena Programme.
He has read/performed his work extensively at events and festivals featuring spoken word including on the Wordstage at the Electric Picnic Festival, on Balcony TV for Dublin Poetry Week (here), The Shore Writers’ Festival, The First Fortnight Festival, Poetry Now Fringe Festival, The Glor Sessions, The Brown Bread Mixtape, Nighthawks, The Tongue Box, The Monday Echo, Dublin’s Underground Beat, LOQ Spoken Word, The Last Wednesday Series and other showcase events organized by the Seven Towers Agency, The Ash Sessions and a host of other events in Ireland. He has also read at events in Brussels and New York.
Phil is a member of the Dalkey Writers’ Workshop and also participates in the Dublin Writers’ Forum.
Kimberly Campanello
You can listen to Kimberly’s reading here.
Kimberly will also be holding a wordshop entitled Writing Poetry about Visual Art
from 7.00pm to 8.30pm at Ó Bhéal. For more details click here.
Kimberly Campanello was born in Elkhart, Indiana, and now divides her time between Dublin and London. Her pamphlet Spinning Cities was published by Wurm Press in 2011, and her first collection Consent was published in May 2013 by Doire Press. She was featured poet in the Summer 2010 issue of The Stinging Fly, and her poems have appeared in magazines in Ireland, the UK, the US, and Canada.
In 2011, Kimberly was selected to read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. She recently performed her poems on the sheela-na-gig stone carvings in the National Concert Hall (Dublin), Kaleidoscope Night at the Odessa Club (Dublin), and the Palau Maricel (Catalunya). Kimberly has an MFA from the University of Alabama, an MA from the University of Cincinnati, and is in the final year of her PhD at Middlesex University (London). She has taught Creative Writing at Florida Gulf Coast University, Big Smoke Writing Factory (Dublin), Middlesex University (London), and the Irish Writers’ Centre (Dublin).
‘The dark satiric edge of these poems compels us to see eros and thanatos, submission and coercion, as entangled — so that the whole world, from its shit to its lyric shine, is compromised and complicit… Campanello has given us a post-feminist classic, undeceived and sharp as knives in a drawer.’ — Todd Swift, author of When All My Disappointments Came at Once (Tightrope Books)
‘… this collection keeps shocking the reader awake in the best possible way, in the way that makes us suddenly alert against the malicious banality of our ad-jingle planet… These poems are a clarifying antidote to all that poison and guff, awakening us to the horrible thrill of our existences in the way that all the freshest, coolest new writing should.’ — Dave Lordan, author of Invitation to a Sacrifice (Salmon Poetry)
‘Campanello seizes our attention with her piercing intelligence and beguiles with her arch humor and crisp music. Are we giving our consent or is it being taken? That ambiguity is Campanello’s subject, and the source of her book’s deep pleasure. A masterly — no, a mastering debut.’ — Joel Brouwer, author of And So (Four Way Books)
Mícheál Ó Ruairc
Mícheál Ó Ruairc was born in Brandon, Cloghane in the West Kerry Gaeltacht of An Leitriúch in the Dingle Peninsula. He currently resides in Dublin. He is the author of three collections of poetry, the first of which Fuil Samhraidh (Coiscéim) was published in 1987. He has published one collection of short stories and twelve novels in the Irish language. He has also published one collection of poems in English, Humane Killing (Aisling Press, 1992). His poetry in Irish and English has been published extensively in journals and magazines.
He won the first prize for a poem in the Irish language at the 18th Annual International Poetry Competition organised by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in 2007. His book of short stories Daoine a Itheann Daoine (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2011) won the first prize in the Oireachtas in 2011. His novel for teenagers An bhFaca Éinne Agaibh Roy Keane? (Coiscéim, 2003) has been reprinted six times. He has won several other awards for his novels in the Irish language.
A frequent visitor to Cork, he regards the city as the source of his inspiration, especially when he is in the mood for writing poetry. He is currently working on poetry collections in Irish and in English.
Rugadh Mícheál Ó Ruairc i mBréanainn, sa Chlochán, i nGaeltacht an Leitriúigh in Iarthar Chiarraí atá laistíos den chnoc ó Dhaingean Uí Chúis. Tá cónaí air i mBaile Átha Cliath faoi láthair. Tá trí chnuasach filíochta i gcló aige agus foilsíodh an chéad cheann acusan, Fuil Samhraidh (Coiscéim), in 1987. Tá cnuasach amháin gearrscéalta agus dhá cheann déag d’úrscéalta i gcló aige sa Ghaeilge. Tá cnuasach amháin filíochta Béarla, Humane Killing (Aisling Press, 1992), foilsithe aige. Foilsíodh a chuid filíochta i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla go forleathan in irisí agus i dtréimhseacháin.
Bhuaigh sé an chéad duais do dhán as Gaeilge san 18ú Comórtas Filíochta Bliantúil Idirnáisiúnta eagraithe ag Comhairle Chontae Dhún Laoghaire-Ráth an Dúin in 2007. Bhuaigh a chnuasach gearrscéalta, Daoine a Itheann Daoine (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2010), an chéad duais i gcomórtas an Oireachtais, 2011. Go dtí seo tá an séú cló buailte ar An bhFaca Éinne Agaibh Roy Keane? (Coiscéim, 2003), a úrscéal do dhéagóirí. Tá neart duaiseanna eile buaite aige dá chuid úrscéalta freisin.
Mar chuairteoir rialta go Corcaigh é, braitheann sé gurbh í an chathair áirithe sin foinse a chuid inspioráide, go háirithe nuair a bhíonn an giúmar air filíocht a chumadh. Faoi láthair tá sé ag obair ar chnuasach dánta as Gaeilge agus ar chnuasach dánta as Béarla.
presents a Twin Cities Celebration with Coventry poets
Tom Wyre, Sarah James and Martin Brown
You can listen to Tom’s reading here.
Tom Wyre was shortlisted for Staffordshire Poet Laureate in 2012 and was recently a prize recipient of the Walsall Mayor’s Poetry Awards. End of March 2013, he had two poems “The Lucid Door” & “Cellophane Man” accepted for publication by Kumquat Poetry.
Wyre has performed at many festivals and notable open mic events across the UK. He continues to highlight worthy causes through the use of poetry and stagecraft when a guest performer at charity events. An audio book of new work is planned for the summer of 2013 to supplement his first collection Soliloquy published in 2009.
Sarah James is a widely-published and award-winning poet, short story writer and journalist. Her first poetry collection Into the Yell (Circaidy Gregory Press, 2010), won third prize in the International Rubery Book Awards 2011.
She has been a guest poet across the Midlands, read at the London Troubadour and read alongside Cork-born poet Bernard O’Donoghue at this year’s Cheltenham Poetry Festival in April. Sarah also has a poem on the Polesworth Poets Trail, a poem muralled on the wall of a Worcestershire and enjoys collaborating with other poets and artists. The Oxford modern languages graduate (French and linguistics, Trinity College) is currently finishing her final year portfolio and second collection for an MA in Creative Writing (online poetry route) at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her website is at www.sarah-james.co.uk
Martin Brown has been writing poetry in Coventry for around fifteen years now. He tries to raise the flag and standard of poetry in his local newspaper by frequently contributing to it and gaining a fan club of sorts. He has self-published two poetry books, Shake Rattle and Custard, allegedly for adults, and A Thousand Scary Cabbages, an illustrated book of poems supposedly for children. He has won prizes in a few poetry competitions, including the Bridport, had poems published in the West Midlands Arts publication Raw Edge as well as local anthologies, and reads regularly at local poetry events. His poems have a tendency towards rhyme and metre, though they can lean in other directions, and frequently fall over.
Liam Ryan
You can listen to Liam’s reading here.
Liam Ryan was born in Donohill, Co. Tipperary 1955. He attended Vocational School in Tipperary town, worked in Dublin from 1975 to 1983 and then moved to County Laois, where he now lives and works near Abbeyleix. Married with two grown up daughters, he has been running his own Architectural business since 1997.
Ryan has had poems and reviews published widely before Doghouse Books published his debut collection of poems Touching Stones in May 2009. He has recently had poems appear in The Shop, Revival, The Moth and others forthcoming in Southword, Cyphers, Revival and the Doghouse Anthology. One of his poems was awarded 3rd prize at Strokestown International Poetry Competition in 2012, and another poem won 3rd prize at the inaugural Galway University Hospital Poetry competition April 2013.
