Culture
17 Aug 21

Poet Laureates for Poetry Ireland's forthcoming initiative announced

20 Poet Laureates have been selected as a part of Poetry Ireland's Poetry Town initiative, which will bring poetry-related activities to towns around Ireland to celebrate creativity, talent, and strength.

Poetry Ireland has announced the poets who have been selected as part of their Poetry Town initiative. The 20 Poet Laureates will write and present poems for their respective towns during the week-long event in September, which will feature poetry-related activities in towns all over Ireland.

Niamh O'Donnell, the director of Poetry Ireland, said that they are "delighted" to have such a "strong cohort of Poet Laureates."

"The aim of Poetry Town is to celebrate the vitality and strength of our towns and communities, and to shine a light on the wealth of creativity and talent that can be found in them," said O'Donnell. "The diversity of this talent is reflected in the selection of Laureates, which includes both well-known visionary poets and powerful new voices."

Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland's Open Call funding and supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Poetry Town includes poets such as Sasha Terfous and Elaine Feeney.

Terfous, the Poet Laureate of Wexford Town, Co. Wexford, is a part of the Word Up Collective, alongside artists like Tebi Rex and Natalya O'Flaherty. Earlier this year, she performed testimonies of those who have had to travel to the UK for abortions at an event for the National Women's Council.

Feeney, the Poet Laureate of Athenry, Co. Galway, released her debut novel As You Were in 2020. In an interview with Hot Press, she said she "wanted to write about intergenerational secrecy after hearing stories of women concealing illness to protect loved ones." She is also the head of Creative Writing and Community Output for the Tuam Oral History Project.

O'Donnell added that the nonprofit organisation hopes the initiative "will be an inclusive celebration of people and communities across the country" and "will help to amplify diverse voices and broaden the understanding of what a Poet Laureate looks like today."

In addition to the Poet Laureates' poems about their towns, activities for the initiative will also include poetry workshops, public poetry displays, and "pocket poems" distributed by local businesses. Musicians, artists, and other poets will also be involved in each event.

Poetry Ireland and Local Authority Arts Offices have partnered together for this initiative. Learn more about it here.

See the list of Poet Laureates below:

Edward O'Dwyer (Adare, Co. Limerick)

Elaine Feeney (Athenry, Co. Galway)

Mairéad Donnellan (Bailieborough, Co. Cavan)

Kate Newmann (Ballycastle, Co. Antrim)

Matthew Geden (Bandon, Co. Cork)

Anne Walsh Donnelly (Belmullet, Co. Mayo)

Kayssie K. (Bray, Co. Wicklow)

Vincent Woods (Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim)

Billy Fenton (Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary)

Noel Monahan (Cootehill, Co. Cavan)