Moya Cannon is an Irish poet with five published collections, the most recent being Keats Lives (Carcanet Press, Manchester). The mountains, the sea and our primal and enduring responses to the beauty of the endangered earth are the inspiration for many of her poems. Archaeology and geology figure too as gateways to deeper understanding of our mysterious relationship with the natural world and our past.

Music, particularly traditional Irish music, has always been a deep interest and is a constant theme. She has given many readings with musicians and singers, among them the harper Kathleen Loughnane, the traditional singers Maıghréad and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaıll and the RTE Con Tempo String Quartet.

Moya has been invited to read in Ireland, Europe, in the Americas, North and South, in Japan and India. A selection of her work has been translated into Spanish by the distinguished Argentinian poet, Jorge Fondebrider and further translations to Portuguese and German will be published in 2017.

She has been honoured with the Brendan Behan Award and the O’Shaughnessy Award and she was Heimbold Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University in 2011. She was editor of the Poetry Ireland Review and is a member of Aosdána.

James Harpur is a member of Aosdána and poetry editor of the Temenos Academy Review. He has had five books of poems published by Anvil Press and has won many competitions, including the 2010 Michael Hartnett Poetry Prize and the 2016 Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize. James Harpur believes that poetry has a nourishing effect on anyone who comes into contact with it. He sees his poetic mission as one of engaging with grass-roots audiences to entertain and thought-provoke using poems old and new, literary and non-literary, through the medium of readings, workshops and talks.

Photo: Mike Byrne Strokestown 2017

‘The Hermit Collective’ is an eclectic ensemble of writers, artists and musicians. They formed in May 2014 and so far have put on twenty-two pop-up shows in venues across the north west counties, including: The Hawk’s Well Theatre, Claremorris Town Hall, The Secret Village Festival, Five Glens Arts Festival, King House Boyle, and Strokestown Park House.

In 2016 they won the prestigious ‘Epic Award’ for the island of Ireland, which recognised their achievements in community inclusion and the arts.

Rita Ann Higgins was born in 1955 in Galway, where she still lives. She left school at 14, and was in her late 20s when she started writing poetry. She has since published eleven books of poetry, including Sunny Side Plucked (Poetry Book Society Recommendation) (1996), An Awful Racket (2001), Throw in the Vowels: New & Selected Poems (2005), Ireland Is Changing Mother(2011) and Tongulish (2016) from Bloodaxe, and Hurting God: Prose & Poems (2010) from Salmon. Throw in the Vowels was reissued in 2010 with an audio CD of her reading her poems. Her plays include Face Licker Come Home (1991), God of the Hatch Man (1992), Colie Lally Doesn't Live in a Bucket (1993), Down All the Roundabouts (1999), The Plastic Bag (2008), The Empty Frame (2008) and The Colossal Longing of Julie Connors (2014). Her many awards include a Peadar O'Donnell Award in 1989 and several Arts Council bursaries, and she is a member of Aosdána

Longfella is the new professional name for "the towering wildfire that is Tony Walsh" - "one of the UK's most renowned performance poets" and a respected writer, workshop leader and community organiser.   

Standing out from the crowd at nearly two metres tall, Longfella - Tony to his friends, is humbled when described as a "colossus" and a "true giant" of the performance poetry scene whilst performing everywhere from The British Library to The Glastonbury Festival. From schools, universities, prisons, conferences, festivals, museums and theatres to the magnificent Palace of Science and Culture in Warsaw, Poland as a guest of The British Council.  Tony's poetry has been published on both sides of the Atlantic as well as displayed with an LS Lowry image at both Tate Modern and The British Museum as part of a Heritage Lottery Fund "Best of British" exhibition. A multiple winner and finalist in top-level poetry slam competitions, Tony is the current Manchester Literature Festival Comedy Slam Champion and was the runner-up in "The Times" UK Allstars Slam Final at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2008.

Now a full-time freelance artist based in Manchester, Tony has, until recently combined his writing and family commitments with over twenty years of public service in a wide variety of Principal Officer roles, the majority spent working to engage and empower some of the Uk's most deprived communities.

Performances at Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Latitude, Kendal Calling, Wychwood, Shambala, Manchester Literature Festival, Bridport Literature Festival, Cheltenham Literature Festival, Electric Picnic (Ireland), European Slam Days Conference (Berlin).

He is more recently known for his poem 'Mancunians forever' which he read after the Manchester Bombing in 2017.

https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2017/may/23/mancunians-forever-tony-walsh-reads-poem-manchester-vigil-video

Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa was born in Ballineen, West Cork. He has edited many publications in Irish. An Clóchomhar published his first poetry collection, Faoi Léigear, in 1980. Mearcair (Coiscéim, 1996) and An Dara Bás (Coiscéim, 2002), were both awarded the Oireachtas Poetry Prize. Other books include a history of Conradh na Gaeilge in Kerry (1995) and  Tóraíocht an Mhíshonais (The Pursuit of Unhappiness), an Irish-language introduction to Freud and Jung (1997). Geasa (2011) is his latest poetry collection. He served as president of Conradh na Gaeilge, 2008–2011. He edits the literary monthly, Feasta.

Rugadh Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa i mBéal Átha Fhinín in Iarthar Chorcaí i 1947. D’fhoilsigh an Clóchomhar a chéad leabhar filíochta, Faoi Léigear, i 1980. Ghnóthaigh na cnuasaigh Mearcair agus An Dara Bás príomhdhuaiseanna filíochta an Oireachtais i 1996 agus 2002 fá seach. I measc na leabhar eile uaidh tá Conradh na Gaeilge i gCiarraí (1995) agus Tóraíocht an Mhíshonais, méar ar eolas ar Freud agus Jung (1997). Geasa, 2011, an cnuasach filíochta is déanaí uaidh. Bhí sé ina uachtarán ar Chonradh na Gaeilge, 2008-2011. Tá sé ina eagarthóir ar an míosachán liteartha Feasta.

Pete Mullineaux lives in Galway and works in Development Education.
His poetry has been described by reviewers as 'tender & lyrical' and
'gorgeously resonant'. His collection Session was described by Irish
Music Magazine as 'a gem'. He has been published widely in Ireland,
UK, USA and as far afield as India and Japan. His four collections
are: Zen Traffic Lights (Lapwing 2005) A Father's Day (Salmon 2008)
Session (2011) and How to Bake a Planet (Salmon 2016). Pete has also
written several plays for the stage and RTE radio.

The Poetry Divas are a glittery group of women poets who read their own material at events and festivals all over Ireland including Electric Picnic, Feile na Bealtaine, Dingle, Dublin Writers Festival, Dromineer Literary Festival and Kildare Readers Festival. Each lineup and show is different, blended to the occasion but they guarantee a deliciously infectious show that's bound to touch a nerve and blur the wobbly boundaries between page and stage.

Kate Dempsey’s poetry is widely published in journals in Ireland and the UK including Poetry Ireland Review, Magma and Stony Thursday. Prizes for her writing include The Plough Prize, Cecil Day Lewis Award, shortlisting for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award for both Poetry and Fiction and two commendations for the Patrick Kavanagh Award. Her debut collection, The Space Between, was published by Doire Press in 2016 from which she had a poem selected as highly commended for the Forward Prize.

Tríona Walsh is a writer and poet originally from Dublin.
She has enjoyed success with her short stories, among others, having won the Molly Keane short story competition, the Jonathan Swift short story competition and been a runner-up in the Penguin Ireland/RTÉ Guide Short Story Competition. Her poetry has been shortlisted a number of times, most recently in The Red Line Book Festival poetry competition. Her poems have appeared in Boyne Berries issue 14 and The Poetry Bus 1 & 3.  Her novel, The Dead Ringer, was a finalist in the IWC Novel Fir competition, 2015.

Barbara Smith is a native of Armagh and currently lives in Dundalk, County Louth. She holds an MA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Queen’s University, Belfast, 2008. Kairos, her debut poetry collection was published in 2007 by Doghouse Books. Her second collection, The Angels’ Share, was also published by Doghouse Books in 2012. In 2009, she received the Annie Deeny Prize, a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre for Writers and Artists; was a prize winner at Scotland’s Wigtown Poetry Competition and was shortlisted for the Poetry Business pamphlet competition and the Basil Bunting Poetry Competition. In 2005 she was selected for Poetry Ireland’s Introductions reading series. She has read at venues such as Edinburgh’s Poetry at the … series, and the London Oxfam Series of readings. She is also an enthusiastic reader of her work with the Poetry Divas and the Prufrocks, including diverse venues such as Electric Picnic, Dromineer Literary Festival, the Flatlake Literary and Arts Festival and Phizzfest.

Mark Roper’s latest collection Bindweed, published by Dedalus Press in September 2017 is one of five books chosen for the 2018 Irish Times Poetry Now Award shortlist. A Gather of Shadow, Dedalus 2012, was shortlisted for The Irish Times Poetry Now Award in 2013 and won the Michael Hartnett Award in 2014. He has collaborated on two publications with photographer Paddy Dwan, The River Book and The Backstrand. The pair are currently finishing a book about the Comeragh Mountains, to be published Autumn 2018. He has also written librettos for two operas composed by Eric Sweeney.

LEMN SISSAY MBE is associate artist at Southbank Centre, patron of The Letterbox Club and The Reader Organisation, ambassador for The Children’s Reading Fund, trustee of Forward Arts Foundation and inaugural trustee of World Book Night and an honorary doctor of Letters. He has been a writer from birth and foremost he is a poet. Lemn is author of a series of books of poetry alongside articles, records, broadcasts, public art, commissions and plays. Sissay was the first poet commissioned to write for London Olympics. His Landmark Poems are installed throughout Manchester and London. They can be seen in The Royal Festival Hall and The Olympic Park. His Landmark Poem,Guilt of Cain, was unveiled by Bishop Desmond Tutu in Fen Court near Fenchurch St Station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzZs1w3NWzg 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m6jQUQj7Ys&t=2s 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR2NqAZvwBM 

Mary Turley-McGrath lives in Letterkenny. She holds an M Phil. in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin. Her three poetry collections are: New Grass under Snow (Summer Palace Press, 2003); Forget the Lake (2014), and Other Routes (2016), both published by Arlen House. Mary was the winner of the Poetry Ireland /Trócaire Competition 2014. Her poems have appeared in the Irish Times and in literary magazines and anthologies.

Paddy Bushe, Photo Mike Byrne

Paddy Bushe, who lives in Kerry, is a poet, editor and translator. He has published ten collections of poetry, seven in English and two in Irish, as well as four books of translations. He has also edited Voices at the World’s Edge: Irish Poets on Skellig Michael (Dedalus 2010). Ó Choill go Barr Ghéaráin (Coiscéim 2013) is a translation into Irish of the collected poems of Sorley MacLean. His latest collection, On A Turning Wing, was published by Dedalus and won the Irish Times poetry Now 2017 award. Among his other awards are the Michael Hartnett Award and Duais an Oireachtais. He has had a long association with the Strokestown International Poetry Festival, as attendee, prize-winner and director. Paddy Bushe is a member of Aosdána.

Photo: Mike Bryne, Strokestown 2017

Ar Lorg Shomhairle - Tracing Sorley’s Footsteps 

Presented by Paddy Bushe

Featuring Aonghas MacNeacail, Meg Bateman,  Mark Wringe, John Purser, Rody Gorman,

Photography Éanna de Buis

Editing Éanna de Buis

Production Co-ordinator Fíona de Buis

Colour Grading Kieran Fitzgerald

Produced and directed by Éanna de Buis

Running time - 1 hour

Fis Productions, Ard Na Gaoithe, An Rinnín, An Coireán, Co. Chiarraí, Eireann. Tel +353 86 3452087 Email eanna@fisproductions.ie

Web www.fisproductions.ie

The overwhelmingly beautiful landscape of the Scottish Islands of Skye and Raasay are the backdrop for this film. Sorley MacLean is widely recognised as the most significant Gaelic poet of the twentieth century, and has been described by Seamus Heaney as a poet of world stature. Love, world politics and the tradition and heritage of his people are the driving passions of his work. This film explores how the universality of his poetry is grounded in the landscape which he loved. The awesome Cuillin mountain-range, the wonderful seascapes around the bays and inlets of the islands, the heartbreakingly empty beauty of the villages cleared by greedy landlords – these are soil in which his poetry flowered. Paddy Bushe has translated MacLean’s poetry into Irish, and in this film he traces the poetry which celebrates that extraordinary landscape.

Is é áilleacht thar chuimse taobh tíre an Oileáin Sgiathanaich agus Oileáin Ratharsair amach ó chósta thiar-thuaidh na hAlban atá mar chúlra ag an scannán seo. Tá aitheantas forleathan ar Shomhairle MacGill-Eain mar an file Gaelach is suntasaí den bhfichiú aois, agus dar le Seamus Heaney gur file de thábhacht domhanda é. Is iad an grá, polaitíocht an domhain mhóir chomh maith le traidisún agus oidhreacht a mhuintire na mianta a thiomáineann a chuid filíochta. Deineann an scannán seo iniúchadh ar an slí go bhfuil uilíocht a chuid filíochta préamhaithe sa taobh tíre a raibh a chroí istigh ann. An Cuilithionn diamhrach, iontas na farraige timpeall cuanta agus góilíní na n-oileán, áilleacht croí-bhristeach na mbailte a bhánaigh tiarnaí talún craosacha – is iad seo an ithir as ar bhláthaigh a chuid filíochta. Tá filíocht MhicGill-Eain aistrithe go Gaeilge, agus sa scannán seo téann sé ar lorg na filíochta a dheineann an taobh tíre diamhrach sin a cheiliúradh.

In the first Bealtaine commission of its kind, HOME is a collaborative project by poet Enda Wyley & visual artist Anita Groener working with Dún Laoghaire Active Retirement Group. Employing immersive imagery interwoven with text, this film poem interprets tales of home and belonging rooted in the conversations and generous sharing from the community collaborators.

Moya Roddy      Out of the Ordinary                      Saturday 5th 12pm

Erin Fornoff      Hymn to the Reckless                   Saturday 5th  4.30pm

Louise G Cole                                 Saturday 5th  4.30pm

https://louisegcolewriter.wordpress.com/

Louise G Cole Bio
Louise G Cole won Strokestown Poetry Festival’s Roscommon Poets’ Prize in 2017, and was nominated for a Hennessy Literary Award for her poetry in March 2018; she also writes fiction and was shortlisted for a Hennessy Award in 2015. She blogs at: https://louisegcolewriter.wordpress.com/, where she explains the ‘G’ in her moniker is to avoid unnecessary confusion with an underwear model. Beyond the Green Bridge is her first collection.

Beyond the Green Bridge
Beyond the Green Bridge is a compilation of some of the poetry that has earned Louise G Cole publication in the Irish Times, Crannóg Magazine, Skylight 47, Poetry Ireland Review, a win in the Strokestown Poetry Festival Roscommon Poet’s Prize, third place in the Oliver Goldsmith Festival Poetry Prize, runner up in Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition, and places on Poetry Masterclasses with UK Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, and National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke. She also won an Arts Council of Ireland Travel and Training Award in 2017. Louise was nominated for a Hennessy Literary Award in March 2018.

Majella Cullinane                          Saturday 5th 4.30pm

Published simultaneously in Ireland by Salmon Poetry, Majella Cullinane's  second collection, Whisper of a Crow's Wing, is the work of a poet with a distinct and powerful voice. These poems weigh and examine oppositions – the distance of time and place, the balance of life and death, the poet's New Zealand home and her Irish heritage. Cullinane conjures the ghosts that haunt places and objects; our inner and outer world, with rich, physical language. She writes with lyrical intensity about motherhood and family life, including the experience of miscarriage, and the process of moving through grief and loss to a place of acceptance and healing. This is a profound collection from a poet alive to the hidden world of memory and imagination, of the sublime in the everyday, tempered always by a shadow of the fragility of life and love.  (Otago University Press. Launch date: May 30th 2018)

Bio: 

Originally from Limerick, Majella Cullinane has lived in New Zealand since 2008. With an MLitt. in Creative Writing from St Andrew's University, Scotland, in 2011 she published her first poetry collection, Guarding the Flame, with Salmon Poetry in Ireland. In 2014 she was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship at Otago University, and in 2017 was the Sir James Wallace Trust Writer in Residence at the Pah Homestead in Auckland. She won the 2017 Caselberg International Prize for Poetry, and has been shortlisted for the Strokestown and Bridport International Poetry Prizes. Majella is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, Otago University. She lives in Port Chalmers with her partner Andrew and their son Robbie.  

Eva Bourke, Seeing Yellow   Sunday 6th May 11.45am

Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin  Cyphers, Sunday 6th May 12pm

Bosom Pals  Monday 7th 11am

Bosom Pals, published by Doire Press, and edited by Marie Cadden was written by a group of poets who have survived Breast Cancer.  The poetry collection is based on their experiences.

Marie's final gift before her death in December 2017, was the editing and launch of Bosom Pals. It features herself, Mary Madec, Mary Hanlon, Susan Lindsay, Lorna Shaughnessy, Robyn Rowland, Marion Cox and Mari Maxwell.  All breast cancer survivors with Galway connections. Marie Cadden and her husband Mick were annual attendees at the Strokestown festival. Illustrations are by Marie's daughter, artist Ruth Cadden, and all proceeds go to www.breastcancerresearch.ie

Danny Diamond is a fiddle player, composer, and recording engineer based in Dublin, Ireland.

In his music, Danny creates a unique sound-world, rooted in the rich heritage of Irish traditional music, while also incorporating wider influences from Nordic and American folk to baroque music to electronic music.

Danny plays with the contemporary Nordic/Irish band Slow Moving Clouds, with whom he has released an album, Os (2015), and created the score for Teac Damsa's acclaimed dance theatre work  Swan Lake / Loch na hEala (Best Production, Irish Theatre Awards, 2017).

His debut recording Fiddle Music (2014) and follow-up NORTH (2016, with Conor Caldwell) were both widely hailed as contemporary classics, with NORTH being nominated for The Irish Times Traditional Album of the Year 2016. Danny is currently working on a follow-up solo recording, Elbow Room, for release in Autumn 2017.

Danny was one of the founder-members of Mórga, a band which grew out of the vibrant traditional music scene in mid-2000s Galway. Mórga have been universally acclaimed for rekindling the energy of the seminal Irish traditional recordings of the 1970s & 1920s. With Mórga, Danny gigged extensively around Ireland, Europe and the USA, and released two albums, Mórga (2009) and For the Sake of Auld Decency (2013).

From 2006-2016 Danny worked with the Irish Traditional Music Archive, managing ITMA's collections of historic and contemporary field recordings, while also conducting recordings in the field and in ITMA's Dublin studio.

As a recording engineer/producer, his credits include Lankum/Lynched's Cold Old Fire (2014), Mórga's For the Sake of Auld Decency (2013), and his duo recording with Conor Caldwell NORTH (2016).