SPRING POETRY WORKSHOPS WITH KEVIN HIGGINS AT GALWAY ARTS CENTRE

 SPRING POETRY WORKSHOPS AT GALWAY ARTS CENTRE

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. His work also appears in the generation defining anthology Identity Parade –New British and Irish Poets (Ed. Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010) and one of his poems is included in the forthcoming anthology The Hundred Years’ War: modern war poems (Ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe April 2014).  A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2012. Kevin’s poetry has been translated into Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Italian, Japanese & Portuguese. His fourth collection of poetry, The Ghost in the Lobby, is just published by Salmon.

Each week Kevin will give participants a poetry writing exercise for the following week and will offer each participant constructive suggestions as to how her or his poem can become the best possible poem it can be.

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, and yet another the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam, while several have published collections of their poems. In 2013 a group of his students set up the poetry newspaper Skylight 47, which publishes new poems, reviews of poetry books and opinion pieces about poetry related matters. 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 12^th. They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm (first class May 13^th); on Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class May 15^th) and on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class May 16th).

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 an €80 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  

2014 Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase Reading with Ruth Quinlan, Jennifer Matthews & Pat McDonnell PLUS this year’s Cúirt New Writing Prize winners

2014 Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase Reading with Ruth Quinlan, Jennifer Matthews & Pat McDonnell PLUS this year’s Cúirt New Writing Prize winners Colm Scully &  Philip Connor

Thursday, April 10^th, 4pm

Town Hall Theatre
All welcome

There is no cover charge

The 2014 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 10th, 4pm. The writers showcased this year are Ruth Quinlan, Jennifer Matthews & Pat McDonnell. 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. Colm Scully, the winner in the poetry section of this year’s Cúirt New Writing Prize, will read with the Over The Edge writers. Philip Connor, the winner in the fiction section, is unable to attend Cúirt to participate in the reading. We offer Philip our congratulations on the major achievement that winning the The Cúirt New Writing Prize is kindly sponsored by Tigh Neactain in memory of Lena Maguire.

Jennifer Matthews is originally from Missouri but lives in Cork where she works at the Munster Literature Festival. She 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). Jennifer was a Featured Reader at the January 2013 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

Pat McDonnell writes fiction as an antidote to his work in mechanical engineering. He lives in Galway where he plays flute in pub sessions and aspires to write his one great novel. He has participated in Creative Writing classes with Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Technical Institute. He was shortlisted for the 2012 Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition. Pat was a Featured Reader at the March 2013 Over The Edge: Open Reading. 

Ruth Quinlan is from Tralee, County Kerry. She 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 won the 2013 Irish Independent Hennessy New Irish Writing award for First Fiction. Ruth was a Featured Reader at the February 2013 Over The Edge: Open Reading.

Colm Scully is from Cork and an active member of O’Bheal Open Mic group at the Long Valley Bar. He has been published recently in Cyphers, The Stony Thursday book, Boyne Berries and The Poetry Bus. He was shortlisted for the 2012 Fish Poetry prize. He is the winner in the poetry section of this year’s Cúirt New Writing Prize.

Philip Connor is a current MA in Publishing student at University College London.  He previously worked in Galway’s Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop. He has a BA from the NUI Galway in English, History and Creative Writing. In 2013 he was awarded the inaugural Faber & Faber Scholarship which will include 5 weeks placement at Faber's London office. Philip is the fiction winner in this year’s Cúirt New Writing Prize.

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

March Over The Edge: Open Reading with Breda Spaight, Maureen Curran & Afric McGlinchey

The March ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, March 27^th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Afric McGlinchey, Breda Spaight & Maureen Curran. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are especially welcome.

  Afric McGlinchey

Breda Spaight is a poet and novelist from Co Limerick. Her poems have appeared in The Stony Thursday Book, Revival, and Skylight 47. Two of her poems are forthcoming in The SHOp (2014), and one in ROPES (2014). Competition shortlists include, Listowel single poem (2007), Dead Good Poetry Prize (2013), Red Line Poetry Competition (2013) and Over The Edge New Writer of the Year (2013). She has an M.Phil. in creative writing, Trinity College. Her debut novel God on the Wall received wide critical acclaim. She was a guest reader at the Paris Book Fair (2005).

Maureen Curran lives in Donegal where she is a teacher. She is one of the organisers of the North West Words readings in Letterkenny. She writes with The Garden Room Writers and her poems have appeared in Boyne Berries, Crannóg, Envoi, Poetry Bus, Revival, the Stony Thursday Book, Skylight 47, Southword and Word Bohemia. Her flash fiction has been published online by wordlegs.com She blogs with her group at http://gardenroomwritersdonegal.blogspot.ie

Afric McGlinchey’s debut poetry collection, The lucky star of hidden things, based partly on her upbringing in Zimbabwe,was published in 2012 by Salmon. Published translations of her work have appeared in Irish, Spanish and Italian. She has been invited to read and give talks at festivals in South Africa, Northern Ireland, France, Zimbabwe and Italy as well as Ireland. A Pushcart nominee, Afric received the Hennessy Poetry Award for 2010 and the Northern Liberties Poetry Award for 2012. Her website is www.africmcglinchey.com

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. 

Over The Edge March Writers’ Gathering at The Kitchen @ The Museum-Christopher Locke, Enda Coyle Greene, Alan Jude Moore, Bernie Crawford, Kevin O’Shea & Marie Cadden

The Over The Edge March Writers’ Gathering presents readings by visiting and Galway poets. Christopher Locke, Enda Coyle Greene, Alan Jude Moore, Bernie Crawford, Kevin O’Shea & Marie Cadden will read their work at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on Friday, March 14^th, 8pm.

Christopher Locke was born in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1968. He is the author of the poetry collections How To Burn (Adastra Press, 1995), Slipping Under Diamond Light (Clamp Down Press, 2002), Possessed (Editor’s Choice Award, Main Street Rag Press, 2005), The Temple of Many Hands (Dead Drunk Dublin Press, 2010), End of American Magic (Salmon Poetry, 2010), Waiting For Grace & Other Poems (Turning Point, 2013) and the memoir Can I Say (Kattywompus Press, 2013). Billy Collins says Locke’s poetry will have you “helplessly engaged.”

Enda Coyle-Greene was born in Dublin where she still lives.  She has published widely in journals and anthologies in Ireland and elsewhere and is also a frequent contributor on RTE radio.  The manuscript of her first collection poems, Snow Negatives, won the Patrick Kavanagh award in 2006 and was published by the Dedalus Press the following year.  Her second collection, Map of the Last, also from Dedalus, was published in 2013.

Alan Jude Moore is the author of four collections of poetry: Black State Cars (Salmon Publishing, 2004), Lost Republics (Salmon Poetry, 2008), Strasbourg (Salmon Poetry, 2010) and Zinger (Salmon Poetry, 2013). Widely published in Ireland and abroad, he has read at venues around the world including The Troubadour Club (London), Riflessidiversi (Umbria, Italy), The Nabokov Museum (St. Petersburg), The Henry Miller Memorial Library (California) and the Istanbul International Poetry Festival (Turkey). He is co-editor of the online literary magazine The Burning Bush 2. He lives in Dublin. 

Bernie Crawford won the 2013 Galway Rape Crisis Centre Poetry competition, judged by Clare Daly TD and Kevin Higgins. Bernie is one of the editors of the Skylight 47 poetry paper, probably Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication.

Kevin O’Shea won the 2012 Cúirt New Writing Prize for Poetry. His first collection of poetry, The Art of Non-Fishing, was published by Doire Press in 2012. Kevin is one of the editors of Skylight 47. 

Marie Cadden won the 2011 Cúirt New Writing Prize for Poetry. Her satirical poem, ‘Mammogram’, is a contemporary classic. She is an editor of Skylight 47. 

There is no entrance fee.  All welcome. For further information contact 087-6431748.

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

From Galway City Library to Seattle: 4,445 miles

It is about 4,445 miles from Galway City Library to the Seattle Sheraton Hotel where our anthology Over The Edge - the first ten years had its U.S. launch last evening at the 2014 AWP Conference.

Over The Edge-the first ten years is edited by Susan Millar DuMars and includes poems and stories by the 47 writers who have gone on to publish a first book since they did a Featured Reading at one of our Over The Edge: Open Readings in Galway City Library.

The contributors to the anthology are Adam White, Aideen Henry, Aileen Armstrong, Alan McMonagle, Brendan Murphy, Caoilinn Hughes, Celeste Augé, Dave Lordan, Deirdre Kearney, Donna L. Potts, Eamonn Harrigan, Edward Boyne, Elaine Feeney, Fiona Smith, Gary King, Ger Burke, Geraldine Mitchell, Gerry Galvin, Grace Wells, Jarlath Fahy, Jean Folan, Jenny McCudden, Jim Mullarkey, John Corless, John Walsh, Kate O’Shea, Kevin O’Shea, Lorna Shaughnessy, Martin Dyar, Mary Madec, Miceál Kearney, Michelle O’Sullivan, Nicki Griffin, Noel Duffy, Órfhlaith Foyle, Paul Casey, Pete Mullineaux, Sandra Bunting, Sarah Clancy, Sarah Griff, Seamus Scanlon, Seán Kenny, Sheila Phelan, Stephen Murray, Susan Lindsay, Tom Duddy, and Trevor Conway.

 

The book can be purchased here.

Over The Edge-the first ten years anthology SEATTLE LAUNCH

Over the Edge - the first ten years anthology U.S. launch next Friday at the 2014 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Conference in Seattle.  

Launch of 2014 Cúirt Festival Programme ALL WELCOME

Tuesday, March 5^th, 6pm @ The House Hotel 

- the 2014 Cúirt Festival programme 

will be launched by Patrick Lonergan.