May Over The Edge Writers' Gathering: Jean Folan, Dave Lordan, Fiona Smith, Kevin Doyle & Jo Hemmant

May Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering

at Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop

presents

readings by Fiona Smith & Kevin Doyle,

the LAUNCH of

Jean Folan’s debut poetry collection Between Time

plus The Galway Launches

of The Light Knows Tricks by Jo Hemmant

& The First Book Of Frags by Dave Lordan

The May Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering presents readings by Fiona Smith and Kevin Doyle and the Galway launch of Between Time by Jean Folan, The Light Knows Tricks by Jo Hemmant & The First Book of Frags by Dave Lordan. The The event will take place at Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Middle Street, Galway on Friday, May 17th, 6.30pm. All are welcome. There is no cover charge.

Fiona Smith is a freelance journalist and translator. She has published a wide range of journalistic work in both Irish and international publications. She currently writes on Irish topics for the German Press Agency dpa and translates from Scandinavian languages into English. She has published poetry in Southword and in the Hennessy New Irish Writing page in the Irish Independent. She won the poetry section of the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition in 2012 with the poem 'At Letterfrack'. She is currently working on a first collection.

Kevin Doyle is from Cork. His short stories have been published in Cork Literary Review, Stinging Fly, Southwords, Burning Bush, Cúirt Journal, Duality, Liblit and Sunday Tribune. His work has also been included in anthologies such as Irish Writers Against War (Dublin, 2003), Pulse Fiction (London, 1998) and Snapshots (London, 1999) as well as Cork millennium collection, An Gob Saor. He has been shortlisted for many prizes (including Over The Edge, 2010) and has won top placings in the Ian St James Short Story Award, Kilkenny Prize, Tipperary Short Story Weekend Prize and the Highlands and Islands Short Story Award. His work was described by the late Patrick Galvin as ‘terse and original’. He blogs regularly at on Irish and radical politics from an anarchist perspective (http://kfdoyle.wordpress.com).

Jean Folan was born in Galway in 1951. She lives in Inishcrone, Co Sligo and is enrolled on the MA in Writing in NUI Galway. Between Time is her first collection of poems and is published by Lapwing. Jean Folan was shortlisted for the Cúirt New Writing Prize 2007, and the Over the Edge Showcase 2008, and was a featured reader at Over the Edge 2007. She was the winner of the Impromptu Haiku, Culture Night 2010, Ballina Arts Centre, Co. Mayo and runner-up at Culture Night 2012, Kenny’s Bookshop, Galway.

Jo Hemmant was born in Manchester in 1967, and this was to be the first of many places she has lived, including Sicily, Holland and Hong Kong. She has always worked with words—after brief stints teaching English as a foreign language and writing PR puffs, she moved into journalism and editing. This experience in publishing prompted her to set up Pindrop, a boutique poetry press, in 2010, which has published twelve titles to date. She now lives in the Kent countryside with her husband and two sons and is involved in local poetry, acting as Secretary of The Kent and Sussex Poetry Society and running creative writing workshops. Her poems have been published in various magazines and anthologies, such as Magma, Iota, Dream Catcher, Jericho (Cinnamon Press, 2012) and nothing left to burn (Ragged Raven Press, 2011) and she has won prizes in several competitions, including first prize in The New Writer Poetry and Prose Competition 2011(collection category), second prize in the Torriano Poetry Competition in 2011 and runner-up in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition 2012. Her poetry collection, The Light Knows Tricks, is just published by Doire Press.

Dave Lordan is the first writer to win Ireland’s three national prizes for young poets. He is the current holder of the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary Award and previous winner of both the Patrick Kavanagh and Strong Awards for poetry. He has won wide acclaim for his writing and is a renowned performer of his own work, with the Irish Times calling him ‘as brilliant on the page as he is in performance’. He has read his work by invitation at festivals and venues across Europe and North America. His collections are The Boy in The Ring (2007) & Invitation to a Sacrifice (2010), both published by Salmon Poetry. His poems are regularly broadcast on Irish national radio and he reviews for the flagship Arts show Arena, as well as many publications including Ireland’s leading literary magazine, The Stinging Fly, of which he was a guest editor for summer 2012. He teaches contemporary critical theory and poetic practice on the MA in poetry studies in Dublin City University and he teaches creative writing at primary, secondary, third, and adult education levels. Dave’s debut collection of short stories First Books of Frags is just published by Wurm Press.

There is no entrance fee.

For further information contact 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of

the Arts Council and Galway City Council.

Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase Reading: Dearbhaile Houston, Damian Cunniffe & Eimear Ryan PLUS Hugo Kelly Cúirt New Writing Fiction Prize Winner

Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase Reading:Dearbhaile Houston, Damian Cunniffe, Eimear Ryan PLUS Hugo Kelly Cúirt New Writing Fiction Prize Winner



Dearbhaile Houston

Damian Cunniffe

Eimear Ryan

Caolinn Hughes

Hugo Kelly 

  

2013 Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase Reading

Thursday, April 25th, 4:30pm

Town Hall Theatre

All welcome

There is no cover charge

The 2013 Cúirt Over The Edge showcase reading takes place as part of this year's Cúirt International Festival of Literature at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway on Thursday, April 25th, 4:30pm. The writers showcased this year are Dearbhaile Houston, Damian Cunniffe & Eimear Ryan. The reading will be introduced by regular Over The Edge host, Susan Millar DuMars.

This event has grown since its inception in 2006 to become one of Ireland's premier platforms for showcasing new poets and fiction writers. Participating writers have previously been Featured Readers at Ireland's most successful reading series, the Over The Edge: Open Readings in Galway City Library. Hugo Kelly, the winner in the fiction section of the Cúirt New Writing Prize will read with the Over The Edge writers. We also congratulate Caoilinn Hughes, the winner in the poetry section, who is now living in New Zealand and will be unable to make it to read at Cúirt. The Cúirt New Writing Prize is kindly sponsored by Tigh Neactain in memory of Lena Maguire. http://www.cuirt.ie/Site-Content/cuirt-new-writing-prize-submissions-2013.html

Dearbhaile Houston grew up in Co. Galway. She is in her second year of New Media and English at the University of Limerick, learning the art of procrastination and strong coffee. She began attending Creative Writing classes with Susan Millar DuMars in Spring 2011 and won the Seán Uí Riordáin prize for poetry in the Oireachtas na Gaeilge Literary Competition 2011. Dearbhaile was a Featured Reader at the January 2012 Over The Edge: Open Reading. http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.ie/2011/12/over-edge-celebrates-ninth-birthday.html

Damian Cunniffe is from Abbeyknockmoy in North County Galway. In 2011 he was longlisted for the Fish Publishing International Short Story Prize, the Ink Tears Prize and was joint winner of the Lonely Voices Short Story Introductions competition run by the Irish Writers Centre. He was runner-up in the fiction section of the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer Of The Year competition. His work has been published in Crannóg and the Cúirt Journal. He is currently working on a play and a collection of short stories. Damian was a Featured Reader at the January 2012 Over The Edge: Open Reading. http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.ie/2011/12/over-edge-celebrates-ninth-birthday.html

Eimear Ryan’s fiction has appeared in The Irish Times, The Stinging Fly, New Irish Writing, Necessary Fiction and Horizon Review. She was the winner of the Sean Dunne Young Writers' Award 2011 and the Hennessy Award for First Fiction 2009. She is currently studying creative writing at Trinity College and is writing a novel. Eimear was the 2011 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year and was a Featured Reader at the May 2012 Over The Edge: Open Reading. http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.ie/2012/05/new-writer-of-year-eimear-ryan-for-may.html
 

Caoilinn Hughes is a Galway-born poet and novelist, currently completing a Ph.D. in Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in Ireland, the U.K. and New Zealand, including: Poetry Ireland, PN Review, The Irish Times, Southword, The Yellow Nib, New Zealand Books, NZ Listener, Landfall, The Cuirt Annual and elsewhere. Her first collection of poetry, Gathering Evidence, won the 2012 Patrick Kavanagh Award and will be published by Carcanet Press in 2014. Caolinn was a Featured Reader at the first ever Open Reading in Galway City Library in January 2003.

Hugo Kelly has won many writing awards for his short fiction including the Brian Moore Short Story Competition and the Start Chapbook Award amongst others. He has twice being shortlisted for the Hennessy Award in Emerging Fiction and the Fish International Short Story Competition. His work has appeared in various publications including the Sunday Tribune, Verbal Magazine, the Stinging Fly and the Cúirt Annual. BBC Radio 4 and RTE Radio 1 have broadcast his short stories and in 2007 he was shortlisted for the Francis MacManus Award. He also writes for younger readers and won the inaugural Children’s Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook Short Story Award in the UK. Hugo works as a librarian in NUI Galway. He was a Featured Reader at the September 2005 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

 
Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing support of Galway City Library, Galway City Council, The Arts Council and The Cúírt Festival of International Literature.

http://www.cuirt.ie/ga/event/140-cuirt-over-the-edge-showcase.html  

DAYTIME CREATIVE WRITING AT GALWAY ARTS CENTRE WITH SUSAN MILLAR DUMARS STARTING IN MAY

In May, Galway Arts Centre presents a daytime class for all those beginner and continuing creative writing students out there, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. Susan Millar DuMars writes both poetry and fiction. A collection of her stories, Lights In The Distance, was published in December 2010 by Doire Press; she has published three collections of poetry, Big Pink Umbrella (2008), Dreams For Breakfast and, most recently, The God Thing (March 2013), all with Salmon Poetry. She is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers.

The class is suitable for both beginning and continuing creative writing students, working in either poetry or fiction. Students will spend their week responding to writing exercises designed to inspire, rather than inhibit. In class, they will receive gentle feedback on their work from their classmates and from the teacher. The class takes place on Monday afternoons, 2-3.30pm, commencing on Monday, May 13th and runs for eight weeks.

The cost to participants is 90 Euro with a concession price. Booking is essential as places are limited. For booking please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie

SPRING POETRY WORKSHOPS AT GALWAY ARTS CENTRE WITH KEVIN HIGGINS

Starting in May, Galway Arts Centre is offering aspiring poets a choice of three poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins, whose best-selling first collection, The Boy With No Face, published by Salmon Poetry, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet. Kevin’s second collection of poems, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in 2008 by Salmon Poetry and his poetry is discussed in The Cambridge Introduction to Modern Irish Poetry. His third collection Frightening New Furniture was published in 2010 by Salmon and his work also appears in the generation defining anthology Identity Parade –New British and Irish Poets (Ed. Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010). A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published in 2012 by Salmon Poetry. His next collection of poetry, The Ghost in The Lobby, will be published in early 2014, also by Salmon.

Kevin is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. One of his workshop participants at Galway Arts Centre won the prestigious Hennessy Award for New Irish Poetry, two have won the Cúirt New Writing Prize, one has been awarded an Arts Council Bursary and yet another won the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam, while several have published collections of their poems. Kevin is also co-organiser of the successful Over The Edge reading series which specialises in promoting new writers.

Each workshop will run for eight weeks, commencing the week of May 13th. They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm (first class May 14th), Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class May 16th); on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class May 17th).

The Tuesday evening and Friday afternoon workshops are open to both complete beginners as well as those who’ve been writing for some time. The Thursday afternoon workshop is an Advanced Poetry Workshop, suitable for those who’ve participated in poetry workshops before or had poems published in magazines. The cost to participants is €90, with a concession rate.

Places must be paid for in advance. To reserve a place contact reception at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie 

Launch of 'Poems for Patience X' & 'This Never Happened 2' with Matthew Sweeney & Kevin Higgins

Launch of Poems for Patience X

- Selected and Introduced by Matthew Sweeney

&

 This Never Happened 2

– Edited and Introduced by Kevin Higgins

Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust invites you to come along to the launch of the tenth series of the very successful Poems for Patience initiative.

Poet Matthew Sweeney will introduce 21 poems he has selected, including works by poets reading at this year’s festival. The poetry is circulated throughout the waiting areas of University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital.

For the duration of the festival, the poems will be on display on the Art Corridor, University Hospital, Galway. This project is organised by Margaret Flannery.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the ‘Poems for Patience’ project, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust launched a poetry competition in 2013. The Trust was delighted with the incredibly high standard and the huge response from poets. The winning entry is called ‘The River’ by Jane Clarke. Jane will be presented with a copy of her poem in a poster format and will read it at the launch on Friday.
____________________________
Creative Writing by patients and staff at University Hospitals Galway will also be launched on the Art Corridor. Writer in Residence Kevin Higgins is the editor of their publication: This Never Happened 2.

Directions: From the main entrance of the University Hospital, go through the foyer and take the second right.

For further information contact Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust at 091 544979 or guhartstrust@hse.ie

Doire Press invites you the launch of 'Accurate Measurements' by Adam White

Salmon Poetry Invites You To The Galway Launch of The God Thing by Susan Millar DuMars

Salmon Poetry invites you

to the Galway launch of The God Thing,

the new collection of poetry by Susan Millar DuMars.

The book will be launched by Reverend Canon Maureen Ryan

at Galway City Museum

on Saturday, March 23rd at 2pm.

 Everyone is welcome.

Maureen Ryan has lived most of her adult life in Galway. She has published two novels and over 400 academic papers, essays, sermons, meditations and reflections. She is a psychologist, a Priest in the Church of Ireland and a Canon in the National Cathedral of St. Patrick’s, Dublin.

In The God Thing, Susan Millar DuMars writes with compassion and clarity about the terminal illness and death of a family member, and her own resulting struggle to keep faith and love alive within herself. The poems question and rage, and find unexpected moments of humour and buoyancy. DuMars looks for God in the stories of the Bible’s women; in the transcendent paintings of Matisse and the soulful images of Hopper; in the transience of cities, the memory of mountains, the freedom of water and the spilt sugar stars in the sky. An excavation of grief which unearths, if not the Divine, then hope – as necessary and fragile as our next breath.

For more about The God Thing http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=286&a=39

March Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering showcases SKYLIGHT 47 possibly Ireland's most interesting poetry publication

Tony Curtis

Kevin Higgins

The March Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering a showcase reading for Skylight 47 probably Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication with SPECIAL GUESTS TONY CURTIS & (at the invitation of the editors of Skylight 47) KEVIN HIGGINS and many many more. All contributors to the first issue of Skylight 47 are invited to come along and read their poem from the magazine.

The event will take place at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, March 15th, 8pm. All are welcome. There is no cover charge. Skylight 47 is generously sponsored by Food 4 Thought & Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop.

Tony Curtis was born in Dublin in 1955, he studied literature at the University of Essex and Trinity College, Dublin. Tony Curtis is an experienced facilitator of poetry and creative writing workshops with both adults and children and is a regular contributor at the Clifden Arts Festival. In 1993, his poem ‘The Dowser and the Child’ won the Poetry Ireland/Friends Provident National Poetry Competition, while ‘These Hills’ won the Book Stop Poetry Prize. He also edited As the Poet Said (1997), a selection of quotations from Dennis O'Driscoll's regular column in Poetry Ireland Review. In 2003 he was awarded the Varuna House Exchange Fellowship to Australia. Tony Curtis is a member of Aosdána and has published numerous collections of poetry, including Folk (Todmorton, Lancs. UK, Arc Publications, UK, 2011); An Elephant Called Rex [Illustrated and designed by Pat Mooney] (Dublin, Black Hills Press, 2011); Sand Works [Photography by Liam Blake] (Real Ireland, 2011); Days Like These [with Theo Dorgan & Paula Meehan] (Brooding Heron Press in Washington State; a fine art edition, editing and design by Sam and Sally Green, 2008); The Well in the Rain (Todmorton, Lancs. UK, Arc Publications, 2006); The Book of Winter Cures (Dublin, Black Hills Press, 2004 [Limited Edition]); What Darkness Covers (Todmorton, Lancs. UK, Arc Publications, 2003); Three Songs of Home (The Dedalus Press, 1998); This Far North (Dublin,The Dedalus Press, 1994); Behind the Green Curtain (Beaver Row Press, 1988) & The Shifting of Stones (Dublin, Beaver Row Press,1986).

Kevin Higgins facilitates poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre; teaches creative writing at Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words programme. He is also Writer-in-Residence at Merlin Park Hospital and the poetry critic of the Galway Advertiser. His first collection of poems The Boy With No Face was published by Salmon in February 2005 and was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award. His second collection, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in March 2008 by Salmon. One of the poems from Time Gentlemen, Please featured in the Forward Book of Poetry 2009. His work also features in the anthology Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010). Frightening New Furniture is his third collection of poems and was published in 2010 by Salmon Poetry. Kevin’s fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost In The Lobby, will be published by Salmon Poetry in 2014. Kevin has read his work at most of the major literary festivals in Ireland and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in Kansas City, USA (2006), Los Angeles, USA (2007), London, UK (2007), New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011), Canberra, Australia (2011), Amherst, Massachusetts (2013) & Boston, USA (2013). His most recent publication, Mentioning The War: Essays & Reviews (1999-2011) has been described by Clare Daly T.D. as “a really good and provocative read. It will jolt you; it will certainly touch you; make you laugh; maybe make you snarl a little bit as well, depending on where you come from or what your background is.” This is the first major reading Kevin has given in Galway since 2007.

There is no entrance fee. The Kitchen @ The Museum has a wine licence.

For further information contact 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of the Arts Council and Galway City Council.

Susan Millar DuMars & Kevin Higgins to read in Amherst, Massachusetts birthplace of Emily Dickinson

Poets Susan Millar DuMars & Kevin Higgins will read their poetry at Amherst Books,     8 Main Street, Amherst, MA 01002, USA on Monday, March 11th.

The reading starts at 7pm. ALL WELCOME

For further details contact • 413.256.1547 • 800.503.5865 • books@amherstbooks.com  

• http://www.amherstbooks.com/  

The reading is organised by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and generously supported by Culture Ireland. http://www.cultureireland.ie  

Susan Millar DuMars teaches creative writing at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway Arts Centre, Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words creative writing programme for people with disabilities. Her debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. Her first full collection of short stories Lights in the Distance was published by Doire Press in 2010. Susan has read her work at festivals and events all around the country and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011) , Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, USA (2013) & Boston, USA (2013). She has also on several occasions read her poetry and participated in workshops in Lorient, Britanny as part of Galway-Lorient twinning events. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary for her fiction. Her next collection of poetry, The God Thing, is just published by Salmon Poetry.

To buy Susan’s books see http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=286&a=39
and http://www.doirepress.com/HOME.html

Kevin Higgins facilitates poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre; teaches creative writing at Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words creative writing programme for people with disabilities. He is also Writer-in-Residence at Merlin Park Hospital and the poetry critic of the Galway Advertiser. He was a founding co-editor of The Burning Bush literary magazine. His first collection of poems The Boy With No Face was published by Salmon in February 2005 and was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award. His second collection, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in March 2008 by Salmon. One of the poems from Time Gentlemen, Please, ‘My Militant Tendency’, featured in the Forward Book of Poetry 2009. His work also features in the anthology Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010). Frightening New Furniture is his third collection of poems and was published in 2010 by Salmon Poetry. Kevin has read his work at most of the major literary festivals in Ireland and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in Kansas City, USA (2006), Los Angeles, USA (2007), London, UK (2007), New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011), Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, USA (2013) & Boston, USA (2013). Kevin’s fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost In The Lobby, will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2014. Kevin is co-organiser of Over The Edge literary events. Mentioning The War, a collection of his essays and reviews was published last April by Salmon.

To buy any of Kevin’s books see http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=255&a=108

Colm Keegan, Yvonne McEvaddy & Pat McDonnell for March Over The Edge: Open Reading

The March ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, March 28th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Colm Keegan, Yvonne McEvaddy & Pat McDonnell. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome.

Pat McDonnell writes fiction (which doesn’t pay the bills) as an antidote to his work in mechanical engineering (which does pay the bills). He lives in Galway where he plays flute in pub sessions and aspires to write his one great novel. In 2011, he compiled a collection of short stories into  a book Straight Out of Rehab and Udder Storys. He gave away all seven copies of the first edition during Christmas 2011 and subsequently printed seven copies of the second edition, which he also plans to give away soon. He believes that seven is a lucky number. He was shortlisted for the 2012 Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition.

Yvonne McEvaddy lives in Headford. She is the author of two novels, Passion Killer and Shadows of the Dead. She was long-listed in the 2012 Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition. She took part in the first ever short story compiled by tweets, found at: http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/shortcrimestory. Yvonne is a member of the Java Writers, who, before Christmas, published Infusions, an anthology of their work. She recently collaborated with a group of writers from around the globe to write an ebook called 8 Slices of Cake. She is currently working on her third novel, and a children’s book.

Colm Keegan has read and performed his poetry at various festivals, including the Flat Lakes Festival, Electric Picnic and the Festival of World Cultures. He was the All Ireland Slam Poetry Champion in 2010. He also writes short stories and screenplays and has been shortlisted four times for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award for both poetry and fiction. In 2008 he was shortlisted for the International Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Competition. In 2011 he was nominated for the Absolut Fringe’s ‘Little Gem’ Award for the play Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About (co-written with Kalle Ryan and Stephen James Smith) which is touring 2012/2013. He is a poetry/arts reviewer and contributing poet for RTE Radio One’s nightly arts show ARENA and co-founder of ‘Nighthawks at the Cobalt’. He is co-founder and facilitator of Inklinks, a young writers club in Clondalkin and teaches creative writing in secondary schools across Ireland. He maintains a popular blog and his poetry performances are widely viewed on YouTube. He is currently finishing his first novel. Colm’s debut collection of poetry, Don’t Go There, was published last year by Salmon Poetry.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome at the open-mic. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council.

Galway Rape Crisis Centre's Dead Good Poetry & Music Society: Kevin O'Shea & Susan Millar DuMars

THIS FRIDAY April 5th 7.30pm

Kevin O'Shea &Susan Millar DuMars read for Galway Galway-Rape Crisis-Centre's

Dead Good Poetry & Music Society

ALL WELCOME

@ Galway Rape Crisis Centre,

"The Lodge",

Forster Court,

Galway City.

Business Line: 091-564800

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/events/574859779199502/  

Celebration for New Writing from Galway @ University of Missouri-St. Louis

Irish Studies @ the University of Missouri-St. Louis

presents

A CELEBRATION OF NEW WRITING FROM GALWAY

with Susan Millar DuMars & Kevin Higgins.

Venue: 331 Social Sciences & Business Building,

University of Missouri-St. Louis

TUESDAY, MARCH 5th, 12.30-1.45pm

The reading is generously supported by Culture Ireland http://www.cultureireland.ie  & sponsored by the Smurfit-Stone Endowed Professorship in Irish Studies, International Studies & Programs, University of Missouri-St. Louis. http://www.umsl.edu/services/cis/files/pdfs/galwaywriters.pdf  

Susan Millar DuMars teaches creative writing at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Galway Arts Centre, Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words creative writing programme for people with disabilities. Her debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. Her first full collection of short stories Lights in the Distance was published by Doire Press in 2010. Susan has read her work at festivals and events all around the country and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011) , Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, USA (2013) & Boston, USA (2013). She has also on several occasions read her poetry and participated in workshops in Lorient, Britanny as part of Galway-Lorient twinning events. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary for her fiction. Her next collection of poetry, The God Thing, is just published by Salmon Poetry.

To buy Susan’s books see http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=286&a=39
and http://www.doirepress.com/HOME.html

Kevin Higgins facilitates poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre; teaches creative writing at Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words creative writing programme for people with disabilities. He is also Writer-in-Residence at Merlin Park Hospital and the poetry critic of the Galway Advertiser. He was a founding co-editor of The Burning Bush literary magazine. His first collection of poems The Boy With No Face was published by Salmon in February 2005 and was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award. His second collection, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in March 2008 by Salmon. One of the poems from Time Gentlemen, Please, ‘My Militant Tendency’, featured in the Forward Book of Poetry 2009. His work also features in the anthology Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010). Frightening New Furniture is his third collection of poems and was published in 2010 by Salmon Poetry. Kevin has read his work at most of the major literary festivals in Ireland and at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in Kansas City, USA (2006), Los Angeles, USA (2007), London, UK (2007), New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011), Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, USA (2013) & Boston, USA (2013). Kevin’s fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost In The Lobby, will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2014. Kevin is co-organiser of Over The Edge literary events. Mentioning The War, a collection of his essays and reviews was published last April by Salmon.

To buy any of Kevin’s books see http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=255&a=108

Skylight 47 is now accepting submissions for its Summer Issue, to be launched in July

Skylight 47 is now accepting submissions for its Summer Issue, to be launched in July.

As we are still celebrating the launch of Issue 1, we are extending our submission closing date to 1 April 2013.

Please send up to four poems, with a short biographical note, to skylightpoets47@gmail.com.

Poems to be no longer than 40 lines.

The editors would be interested to receive ideas for reviews, particularly of recent début poetry collections, and original artwork.

Please send your poems as an attachment (.doc, .docx, .txt or .rtf) and in the body of the email. Work should be unpublished.

Contributors will receive one copy of the magazine.

More information about

Skylight 47

at http://www.skylight47poetry.wordpress.com 

Never Ending Wild Stories - a play by Miceál Kearney at Claremorris Drama Festival

Never Ending Wild Stories

A 15 minute play, by Miceál Kearney about how manufactured terrorism is sold through the news. Starring Lisa Allen, Anthony Daly and Brendan Murphy.

March 10th at 4pm in the Dalton Inn Hotel, Claremorris.

Admission is free.

Written by Galway native Miceál Kearney. This is his first play, having previously published a collection of poetry, Inheritance, with Doire Press. In-between writing and farming he argues with vegans on Facebook.

The play is part of the fringe festival at the Claremorris Drama Festival, March 8th to 18th.

More information http://www.claremorrisdramafestival.com

February Over The Edge: Open Reading with Mia Gallagher, Ruth Quinlan & Dawn Wisniewski PLUS details of 2013 New Writer of The Year Competition

Mia Gallagher

Ruth Quinlan, Dawn Wisniewski & Mia Gallagher for February Over The Edge: Open Reading PLUS announcement of details of 2013 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition

The February ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, February 28^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Mia Gallagher, Dawn Wisniewski & Ruth Quinlan. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome. The evening will also see the announcement of details of this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which will then be made available here on our website.

Ruth Quinlan is from Tralee, County Kerry. She worked in IT before taking a break in 2011 to try and scratch the writing itch and graduated from the MA in Writing at NUI Galway in 2012. She was shortlisted for the 2012 Cúirt New Writing fiction prize and longlisted for last year's Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition. Her work has been published by Emerge Literary Journal, Thresholds, SIN, Scissors and Spackle and she is longlisted for the current Irish Independent Hennessy New Irish Writing awards. She recently contributed towards two group anthologies, Abandoned Darlings (fiction) and Wayword Tuesdays (poetry). You can find her blogging occasionally at http://ruthquinlan.wordpress.com.

Despite a lengthy career in the logical world of information technology, Dawn Wisniewski has carved a tunnel into the creative side of her brain, allowing her to formulate everything from poetry to fantasy worlds, and even a little artistry on the side. With the help of Kevin Higgins’ poetry workshops, she has gained not only confidence in her poetic ventures but better skills to craft her prose. Also aided by Susan Millar-Dumars’ classes, Dawn has developed a portfolio of short stories and enhancements to the series of fantasy novels she has written. With the first of the series of novels finally ready for submission, Dawn is actively seeking an agent or publisher. Her blog is http://www.musingsbymd.com

Mia Gallagher is a writer and performer based in Dublin. She has written many short stories and is working on a third novel. Her short fiction won the START Short Fiction award (2005) and was shortlisted for the Fish, Hennessy and William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen Awards. Her debut novel HellFire (Penguin Ireland, 2006) was critically acclaimed and received the Irish Tatler Literature Award. An extract from her second novel Beautiful Pictures of the Lost Homeland appeared last year in Literary Imagination (Oxford University Press). In September 2012, Carpet Theatre produced The Trick and Burning Love, two of her adaptations of plays from the classic if schlocky Grand Guignol Theatre of Horror! In 2012 she appeared as the female lead in TG4 docudrama The Enigma of Frank Ryan, which has shown at film festivals internationally. Mia was writer-in-residence at IADT/dlr Arts Office in 2009-2010.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome at the open-mic. THE EVENING WILL ALSO SEE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF DETAILS OF THIS YEAR’S OVER THE EDGE NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council.

'In Ashes' Having the Conversation About Faith with poet Susan Lindsay

In Ashes

Having the Conversation –

About Faith

Starting, with Susan Lindsay

February 25th, 2013 Cost: € 55

The Harbour Hotel for

Five Monday evenings before Easter.

Faith, by definition, includes doubt. What do you put your faith in now?

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Using poetry as a starting point, discuss questions of faith and disbelief with an experienced facilitator and former psychotherapist.

Susan Lindsay’s first book of poetry, Whispering the Secrets (Doire Press) was published in 2011. Her book The Love Crucible (Marino 1995) discusses life as a potential journey of transformation from the perspective of humanistic and transpersonal psychology.

Prayer is a poem by self declared atheist and poet laureate of the United Kingdom, Carol Ann Duffy in Theo Dorgan’s anthology of poetry: The Book of Uncommon Prayer (Penguin Ireland, 2007). Poets have expressed faith and darkness in lyrical and all manner of ways over the centuries. Their writings enable us a neutral space, in terms of religion, to open a conversation in a spirit of free enquiry.

You don’t need to know anything about poetry to join in this Socratic conversation and can be of any, or no, religion.

TO BOOK (or enquire about post Easter courses in Creative Living)

Telephone Susan Lindsay at 091-776881. Mob. 086/1671524.

E-mail enquiries to susanharrislindsay@gmail.com

Starting week APRIL 8th: Taking a Word for a Walk ; Designing a Creative Life

North Beach Poetry Nights returns with Special Guest Kimberly Campanello

North Beach Poetry Nights returns on Monday 25th February in The Crane Bar, Sea Road, Galway at the very NEW TIME of 6.30 pm with Special Guest Kimberly Campanello

Kimberly Campanello was born in Elkhart, Indiana. She now lives in Dublin. Her chapbook Spinning Cities was published by Wurm Press in 2011. She was featured poet in the Summer 2010 issue of The Stinging Fly; her poems have appeared in magazines in the US, UK, and Ireland, including Tears in the Fence, nthposition, Burning Bush II, Abridged, The Penny Dreadful, and Irish Left Review. In 2011, she was selected to read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. Kimberly's first full collection CONSENT will be available from Doire Press in May 2013.

Poets wishing to enter the Slam on the night need 2 max. three minutes poems. The poem for the 2nd round should be performed without script. The prize for the winner is a bottle of wine and entry to the North Beach Grand Slam in December.

Door: 5/3 euro

Info: John @091/593290

North Beach Poetry Nights wishes to acknowledge the continued support of Galway City Council.

2013 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase at The Kitchen @ The Museum FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH

The 2013 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase featuring Mary O’Rourke, Sarah Clancy, Máire Holmes, Kevin O’Shea, Lorna Shaughnessy, Java Writers, The Tuesday Knights poets, James Lawless, The Abandoned Darlings writers, Elaine Feeney, Micheál Ó'Coinn, Away With Words writers, Michael Faherty, Merlin Park Hospital writers & Amit Mediratta will take place at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, February, 15th at 8pm.

In this annual retrospective of the year just past, Galway-based poets who published a new collection of poems during 2012 are invited to read three poems from the collection in question. There will also be short readings from the anthologies Abandoned Darlings (NUI Galway MA in Writing class of 2012), Wayword Tuesdays (The Tuesday Knights poetry group), Jessica Casey & Other Works (Away With Words writers, published by Salmon), This Never Happened (Merlin Park Hospital Writers) and Infusions (Java Writers). There will also be a reading of poems from Elaine Feeney & Sarah Clancy’s poetry CD Cinderella Backwards.

All welcome. There is no cover charge. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of The Arts Council and Galway City Council.

Galway Arts Centre February Poetry Slam

The first Poetry Slam of 2013 will take place next Tuesday, the 12th February at 7pm at the Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street.

There will be another slam on the 19th March before the Cúirt Grand Slam Final, which will take place during the week of the Cúirt Festival in April. Participants are required to bring one poem/piece that will take a maximum of 3 minutes to perform. The winner will be selected on the night and will be invited to perform as a guest speaker at the March poetry slam, in addition to qualifying for the Grand Slam Final. The winner’s piece will be published on the Galway Arts Centre website along with a short biography of themselves. Anyone can participate on the night, and new comers are very welcome.

Admission is free and wine will be provided. All are welcome.

Over The Edge Celebrates Tenth Birthday with Harry Clifton, Jennifer Matthews & James Martyn Joyce PLUS the Launch of SKYLIGHT 47 possibly Ireland's most interesting poetry publication

Over The Edge Celebrates Tenth Birthday with Reading by Harry Clifton, Jennifer Matthews & James Martyn Joyce PLUS the Launch of the first issue of Skylight 47 (possibly Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication)

 

Harry Clifton

Over The Edge in association with Poetry Ireland presents the first ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ of 2013 at Galway City Library on Thursday, January 24^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are James Martyn Joyce, Jennifer Matthews & Harry Clifton. This is a very special occasion as it is now ten years since Over The Edge was born in Galway City Library in January 2003. A most important part of the evening will be the launch of the first issue of Skylight 47, the new bi-annual poetry paper from the Skylight Poets, which will be on sale for the first time on the evening. The first issue includes new poems by established and emerging poets, an interview with Harry Clifton, a poetry masterclass with Paul Maddern and reviews. The magazine is generously sponsored by Food 4 Thought restaurant & Charlie Byrne's Bookshop.

James Martyn Joyce is from Galway and he is a member of The Talking Stick Workshop. His work has appeared in The Cúirt Journal, West 47, Books Ireland, Crannog, The Sunday Tribune, The Stinging Fly and The Shop. He has had stories broadcast on RTE and BBC and has won the Listowel Writers Week Originals Short Story Competition. He was shortlisted for a Hennessy Award in 2006. He was shortlisted for the Francis McManus award in 2007 and 2008 and The William Trevor International Short Story Competition in 2007 and 2011. His first collection of poetry, Shedding Skin, was published by Arlen House in 2010. His collection of short stories, What’s Not Said, was published by Arlen House in 2012.

Jennifer Matthews writes poetry and book reviews, and is editor of the Long Story Short literary journal. Her poetry has been published in The Stinging Fly, Mslexia, Revival, Necessary Fiction, Poetry Salzburg, Foma & Fontanelles and Cork Literary Review, and anthologised in Dedalus's collection of immigrant poetry in Ireland, Landing Places (2010). In 2012 she read at Electric Picnic with Poetry Ireland, and had a poem shortlisted by Gwyneth Lewis in the Bridport poetry competition. She is currently working on a collaboration with poet Anamaría Crowe Serrano.
  
Harry Clifton was born in Dublin in 1952. He studied at Blackrock College and later at University College Dublin. He was also an International Fellow at the University of Iowa. In 1981, he won the Patrick Kavanagh award. He has published seven books of poems and two books of prose. Le Canto d'Ulysse his Selected Poems in French, was published in 1996. His book Secular Eden won the Poetry Now / Irish Times award in 2008. He teaches at University College Dublin and is Ireland Professor of Poetry. His most recent poetry collection is the highly acclaimed The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass, which was published by Bloodaxe in May 2012.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, who have funded Over The Edge since 2004; The Arts Council, who have funded us continuously since 2006; and Poetry Ireland who have sponsored several readings over the years, including this reading by Harry Clifton.