Dairena Ní Chinnéide‘s most recent book Cloithear Aistear Anama was published by Coiscéim in November 2013. A collection of meditation poems written in the stunning surroundings of Clogher beach on the Dingle Peninsula, this is Dairena’s sixth poetry collection. Among her other collections are An Trodaí & Dánta Eile / The Warrior & Other Poems published by Cló Iar Chonnacht and Bleachtaire na Seirce published by Coiscéim. Her new bilingual collection Sí [sh-e] is just completed and she is currently working on Irish translations of Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva. For further info visit www.dairenanichinneide.com.

Joseph Horgan was born in Birmingham, England of Irish immigrant parents and it is this background that forms much of the character of his work. He is a poet, writer, journalist and reviewer. He is a past winner of the Patrick Kavanagh Award and was previously shortlisted for a Hennessy Award. He is the author of two poetry collections and a prose work. His first collection Slipping Letters Beneath the Sea (2008) was published by Doghouse and contained much of the work awarded the Patrick Kavanagh prize. His second book, The Song at Your Backdoor (Collins Press, 2010), a prose work about identity and place was chosen as an RTE Book on One. His third book, An Unscheduled Life (2012) was published by Agenda Editions, and was a collaboration in poetry and pictures with the artist Brian Whelan. His work has appeared in various journals including Irish Pages, The Stinging Fly, Poetry Ireland Review, The Shop and Agenda. His current work is a collaboration with the poet Antony Owen and he is also completing a second solo collection.

Adrian Boyle is a traditional musician from Bray, Co Wicklow. He is a flute player, percussionist and accordianist. Reared in the culture of Irish traditional music, his father was his first teacher. He is a well respected session musician, music teacher and runs a popular music business at www.thedrummingsection.com. Adrian has arranged a number of traditional tunes for the Men Without Names CD he is recording with Joseph Horgan and has composed a number of original tracks. He plays all of the instruments on the CD which has received funding from Cork County Council Arts Department and is due to be released in the spring of 2014.

Mae Leonard is a poet, children’s writer and short-story writer from Limerick, now living in Co. Kildare. She is a member of Poetry Ireland’s Writers in Schools programme. For many years she has been broadcast regularly on RTE Radio One’s Sunday Miscellany programme. Her awards include the Gerard Manley Hopkins Poetry Award and the Cecil Day Lewis Award for her collection Six for Gold (1988), Scottish International Poetry Awards, The Golden Pen, Francis McManus Short Story Competition and the Belmont Prize for Children’s Poetry. Her collection of poetry I shouldn’t be Telling You This was published by Doghouse in 2011.

Mae Leonard is a natural storyteller, possessing an unerring ability to build a beguiling narrative out of everyday occurrences. – Cliodhna Ni Anluain

Michael Gallagher was born on Achill Island, worked in London for forty years and now lives in Lyreacrompane, Co. Kerry. His poetry, prose and songs have been published throughout the world and have been translated into Croatian, Japanese, Dutch, German and Chinese. His short stories have been long-listed by both RTE and BBC.

Annette Skade is an award-winning poet, and teacher, living and writing on the Beara peninsula on Ireland’s south-west coast. Her first collection Thimblerig was published following her receipt of the Cork Literary Review Manuscript prize in 2012. She has a degree in Ancient Greek and Philosophy from Liverpool University and she has just completed an MA in Poetry Studies from Dublin City University, where she read everything from Anne Carson to the York Mystery Plays, Elizabeth Bishop to Maurice Scully.