Her second collection, Dart (Faber and Faber, 2002), the result of years of research into the history, environment and community along the River Dart in Devon, won the T.S. Eliot prize. Her third collection, Woods etc (Faber, 2005), was a Poetry Book Society Choice and was shortlisted for both the Forward Prize for Best Collection and the T. S. Eliot Prize. It also won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial prize. A Sleepwalk on the Severn (Faber, 2009) won the Hawthornden prize, while Weeds and Wild Flowers (Faber, 2009), her collaboration with the artist Jessica Greenman, won the Ted Hughes award.

Oswald’s book-length poem Memorial (Faber, 2011), serves as both translation and accompaniment to Homer’s Iliad. It is characterised by a unique homage to the moods of Homer’s writing. In 2016 Cape Poetry published Falling Awake, a collection which addresses “Mutability – a sense that all matter is unstable in the face of mortality”, with its lines in “… constant motion, approaching, from daring new angles, our experience of being human, coalescing into poems of simple, stunning beauty.” (Cape). Falling Awake won the Griffin Poetry prize and the Costa Poetry award.

In the words of Michael Longley, “With its exquisite refractions of homers Iliad, Alice Oswald’s […] collection Memorial was one of the finest of the decade. In Falling Awake she combines that concentration with the free-flowing music of her earlier, justly celebrated Dart. At heart a contemplative and devout artist, she is nevertheless always on the move, always taking risks. Falling Awake is full of beauty and profound poetry.”

We are no longer posting the zoom link via our social media channels. Upon written request to info@obheal.ie with a sentence outlining your reason for participation, a link to join the session will be emailed to you on the evening of the event. The session is expected to run for between 2-3 hours.

8.30pm: Five Word Challenge (max 30 – after the allotted 15 minutes writing time);
9.30pm: Featured Guest Poet (35/40 mins + Q&A);
10:20pm: Open-Mic Session for original poetry (No limit on participants for our end of year event).

Geraldine has given a TED Talk for TEDx Belfast, and read at the Poems Upstairs Series in association with Poetry Ireland. She was recipient of the Artist Career Enhancement Scheme ‘15/16’ from Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and one of Eyewear’s Best New British & Irish Poets 2017. Her poems have been listed in the Melita Hume Prize, The Over The Edge Cuirt 2019 Reading and Glebe House Harmony Trust poetry competitions.

Her debut full collection Unsafe will be published by Salmon Poetry in late 2020. Her micro poetry pamphlet Quick Succession is available to purchase via Pen Points Press.

Geraldine is co-host and regular reader at the Purely Poetry open mic nights in Belfast. She has also curated two multi-platform exhibitions, (Poetic Perspective and Product of Perception) and is editor of Panning for Poems.

Colin is a previous ACES recipient from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His work has been listed in the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing, the Erbacce Prize, Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Award, and the Saboteur Awards, as well as being published widely throughout Ireland, the UK and USA.

In 2018, Colin was commissioned by ACNI and NICON to write a poem for the 70th anniversary of the NHS. In 2019, his poem Affinity – commissioned by CO3 and ACNI – was presented to Senator George Mitchell at an award event to honour his leadership role in peacebuilding within Northern Ireland.

We are no longer posting the zoom link via our social media channels. Upon written request to info@obheal.ie with a sentence outlining your reason for participation, a link to join the session will be emailed to you on the evening of the event. The session is expected to run for between 2-3 hours.

8.30pm: Five Word Challenge (max 30 – after the allotted 15 minutes writing time);
9.30pm: Featured Guest Poets (20 mins each);
10:20pm: Open-Mic Session for original poetry (max 30).