Saturday, September 15, 2007

Greek Poet For September Over The Edge: Open Reading

The September ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, September 27th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Greek poet and playwright Dimitris Lyacos and Galway-based poets Rita O’Donoghue & Geraldine Keane.

Rita O’Donoghue is originally from County Mayo and lived for many years in the UK, where she won an Eastern Arts Award for Poetry in 1993. She has now settled in Galway where she works at NUIG. Rita has previously read her work at Galway Arts Centre’s Nuns Island Studio, the Westside Library Summer Open-mic and the Over The Edge open-mic. She has taken part in the Advanced Poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre.

Geraldine Keane is a Galway native and received her M.A. in Writing from NUI Galway in 2005. She has published several non-fiction pieces in the U.S. and Ireland, including travelogues in New York’s The Irish Letter. She performed in last year’s BAFFLE festival and was published earlier this year in ROPES. She is currently working on her first book.

Dimitris Lyacos was born in Athens in 1966. He is both a poet and a playwright. His trilogy Poena Damni has been translated into English, Spanish, Italian and German and has been performed extensively across Europe and the USA. A sound and sculpture installation based on his poetry collection Nyctivoe opened in London and toured Europe in 2004-2005. Lyacos’ work has been the subject of lectures and research at various universities, including Amsterdam, Trieste and Oxford.

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

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council
POSTCRIPT: There is a short review of the September Over The Edge: Open Reading on the website of one audience member, Maura McHugh. You can read it at http://splinister.com/blog/?postid=410

BACK WITH A SLAM!

GALWAY ARTS CENTRE’S POETRY SLAM! RETURNS

TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2007
7-8pm, The Ruby Room, The King’s Head

Take to the stage with your own 3-minute poem on any subject.

Need inspiration? See if you can write an ode (or haiku, sonnet, sestina…) to cryptosporidium. The best Crypto-poem will be published online on GalwayArts Centre’s website.

The overall winner goes forward to Cúirt FestivalGrand Slam (April 2008). If the muse doesn’t strike, come along and listen to the eight performers strut their poetic stuff - you may even be picked as one of our audience judges!

Resident MC Pete Mullineaux will keep order, admission is free andall are welcome.

For further information, please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway 091-565886 or info@galwayartscentre.ie

Lucy English at North Beach Poetry Nights and The Friday Lunchtime Reading Series in Galway City Museum

North Beach Poetry Nights
and
The Friday Lunchtime Reading Series in Galway City Museum
present
LUCY ENGLISH
on Thursday Sep. 20th in BK's Winebar, Spanish Arch at 9 pm
and on Friday Sep. 21 in the Galway City Museum at 1pm.

Contribution to each event: 5 Euro

Lucy English is a novelist and performance poet.

She has three novels published by Fourth Estate. As a poet she has toured Holland, Denmark, India, Sri Lanka and the U.S . She appeared with Big Word at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 1999-2002 where she was titled, 'the hippy chick love mother sex goddess'. She was a member of the acclaimed 'Temptation' poetry tour in 2005 and artistic director for the 'Exposed' tour in 2006.She was a guest poet at the Calgary Litfest in 2006 and a finalist in the BBC radio Four poetry slam in Sept 2007. She is a senior lecturer in creative studies at Bath Spa University and runs the only UK module in performance poetry.

also

The North Beach Poetry Nights' 2 - Round Slam

Poets wishing to enter the Slam are requested to bring along 2 poems, max. 3 minutes each.

The winner of the Slam receives a bottle of red wine courtesy of BK's Winebar and automatically goes forward to the North Beach Poetry Nights' Grand Slam on December 22nd. The prize for the winner of the Grand Slam is the publication of a collection of the winner's poetry. Thursday 20 September 9 pm Friday 21 Sep. 1 pm BK's Winebar Galway City Museum Spanish Parade, Galway

Check out the NEW!!! North Beach Poetry Nights MySpace for all the news.
You might be there! www.myspace.com/northbeachpoetrynights

Info: john walsh at 091-593290

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Matthew Sweeney to read at Sheridan's Wine Bar

Over The Edge presents a reading by Matthew Sweeney, Sara Byrne & Edward Boyne, plus the Galway launch of the latest issue of the Limerick-based poetry magazine Revival at Sheridan’s Wine Bar, 14-16 Church Yard Street, Galway on Friday, September 14th, 8pm.


Sara Byrne was born in 1980 in Dublin, where she survived for 18 years before escaping, relatively unharmed to Galway. In 2003 she started to publish some of her poetry. In 2004 she co-founded the North Beach Nights Poetry Slam, which she hosted until relocating to London to pursue a glittering career in sandwich making. In this she has been very successful. In London she continues to read her work to whoever will listen. She is currently completing a BA in Creative Writing.

Edward Boyne is a poet and fiction writer. He has been short-listed for the Hennessy award in both poetry and fiction and for the Francis McManus short story competition. His work has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies. He read at the inaugural Cuirt Festival/Over The Edge showcase reading in April 2006. He lives in Galway.

Matthew Sweeney was born in Donegal, Ireland in 1952. He moved to London in 1973 and studied at the Polytechnic of North London and the University of Freiburg. His poetry collections include A Dream of Maps (1981), Blue Shoes (1989), Cacti (1992), and A Smell of Fish (2000). Selected Poems, representing the best of 10 books and 20 years' work, was published in 2002. He won a Cholmondeley Award in 1987 and an Arts Council Writers' Award in 1999. He has also published poetry for children. Matthew Sweeney has held residencies at the University of East Anglia and the South Bank Centre in London, and was Poet in Residence at the National Library for the Blind as part of the ‘Poetry Places’ scheme run by the Poetry Society in London. His latest poetry collections are Sanctuary (2004) and Black Moon (2007).

This reading will be preceded by the Galway-launch of the latest issue of the Limerick-based poetry magazine ‘Revival’.

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

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

Monday, September 03, 2007

Brendan Murphy in final of BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam

Brendan Murphy is second from right. Also pictured are Denise Heneghan, Steve Murray and Micéal Kearney.

2006 Cúirt Grand Slam Winner, Brendan Murphy, recently took part in the Semi-final of the BBC Radio 4 Poetry Slam in Manchester. Brendan is representing Ireland, having won the Irish heat which took place in Belfast back in May. With some ease Brendan qualified for the Final which will take place in Bristol on Saturday, September 8th, when there will be five other finalists.

Brendan's winning semi-final performance was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, September 6th at 11pm. To listen to it click on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/poetry_slam.shtml

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Sheila Phelan launches poetry collection

'Washington, D.C.', a first collection of poems by Shela Phelan, published by Lapwing, will be launched on Wednesday 26th September at 6.30pm in the Galway City Library.

The speaker will be Michael O'Loughlin, Galway City Council's Writer in Residence.

All are welcome.



Sheila Phelan was born in Dublin in 1971 and now lives in Galway. She has worked with the Baboro Childrens Festival and with Galway Civic Trust. She was awarded an Arts Council Bursary in 2002 and was runner up inthe Patrick Kavanagh Competition in 2005. She is a graduate of the NUI, Galway MA in Writing. Sheila read at the inaugural Over The Edge/Cúirt Festival showcase reading in April 2006.

Lapwing is an independent publisher based in Belfast. In Irish folklore the lapwing is a bird that symbolises hope. Excerpts from 'Washington, D.C.' can be viewed on Google Booksearch