Saturday 1st May 8.00 pm

Sunday 2nd May 5.00 pm

Poetry, the legacy of famine and the landscapes around Strokestown are at the heart of Hunger’s Way/Bealch an Fhéir Ghortaigh, a new film by Edwina Guckian and Vincent Woods specially commissioned for the Strokestown International Poetry Festival 2021.

The film features new poems by Eiléan NÍ Chuilleanáin, Paddy Bushe, Moya Cannon, James Harpur, Jane Clarke, Eva Bourke, Pádraig MacFhearghusa and memorable work by Vona Groarke, Tom French, Kathleen Hill and Joseph Woods. Galway artist Miriam de Búrca has made new artwork for the film and it will feature music and song by Danny Diamond, Patsy Hanly, Mai Malone, Fionnuala Maxwell, John Tuohy and Mohammad Saif-Khan. The film was made in and around Strokestown Park House, the National Famine Museum and surrounding landscapes.

Vincent Woods: writer, poet, broadcaster. He edited ‘Leaves of Hungry Grass: Poetry and Ireland’s Great Hunger’. He and Edwina Guckian have worked together on The Leitrim Equation, Open Room, Culture Night Carrick-on-Shannon video 2020 and the online 40-minute book launch (mixing film, images, photos, interviews) of ‘Costume’ by designer Monica Frawley (September 2020).

 Photo Credit: Mike Byrne 2017

Edwina Guckian: dance artist, choreographer, video/filmmaker. She established the ‘Jenny Put the Kettle On’ series of music artist profiles in conjunction with the Irish Traditional Music Archive; worked with Danny Diamond and Vincent Woods in the performance piece ‘Open Room’ (2018) and has spear-headed many community arts initiatives in Co. Leitrim.

Photos

Across Bitter Seas: Mohammad, Hoda and Nor Saif-Khan at Reagh, near Strokestown (Main photo)

In light of Time: Poet Vona Groarke in Strokestown Park House. Her poem ‘The Way It Goes’ features 

In the Clear Air: Flute player Patsy Hanly plays a tune at Ardcarne Cemetery, near Boyle, Co. Roscommon

Pipers’ Tunes: Piper John Tuohy whose music will feature

Drawing History: ‘Potato Plant’, a drawing by artist Miriam de Búrca on the kitchen table at Strokestown Park House, an image from the film