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Monday, February 18, 2008

Michelle O'Sullivan to read with NUI Galway MA In Writing Poets

Michelle O' Sullivan
The next Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, February 28th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Michelle O’Sullivan, and five students from this year’s MA in Writing at NUI Galway: Patricia Byrne, Aideen Henry, Cian Macken, Paul McMahon & Moya Roddy

Michelle O’Sullivan lives in County Mayo. She has an MA in Literature. Her poetry has appeared in a glittering variety of prestigious publications such as The Shop, Poetry Ireland Review, The Sunday Tribune & Agenda. She has work forthcoming in PN Review & The Southern Indiana Review. She is currently working on a collection of poetry as well as a collection of short fiction.

Patricia Byrne lives in Limerick. Her work has been published in The Stony Thursday Book, Southword, Revival, West 47 & The Cúirt Annual. She is currently a student on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

Aideen Henry lives and works in Galway. Her poems have been published in West 47, Crannóg, The Shop & The Stony Thursday Book. She is currently a student on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

Cian Macken lives in Galway City. His poems have appeared in the collection Full Colour Sound. He is currently a student on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

Paul McMahon has had his plays workshopped by Tinderbox and Fishamble Theatre companies. His play The Blueprint was given a rehearsed reading at this year’s Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival. He is currently a student on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

Moya Roddy is a well established Irish writer. The Irish Times described her novel The Long Way Home as “simply brilliant”. Her stories have been published by Penguin, Serpents Tail & Arlen House, among others. Moya recently started writing poetry. She is currently a student on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748.

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

Performance Poetry Workshop with Mags Treanor at Galway Arts Centre

Both teenagers and adults are invited to polish up on their performance skills in the lead up to this year’s Cúirt Festival of Literature’s Grand Slam and Youth Speak. Mags Treanor will cover all aspects of performance poetry, such as intonation and expression, breathing exercises, dealing with nerves and connecting with your audience as well as writing and feedback sessions.

The workshops commence on Wednesday 27th February and run weekly until Wednesday March 26th – teenagers’ workshop from 5.30-7pm and adult class from 7.15-8.45pm. Early booking is advised.

For more info or to book a place contact Victoria at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091-565886 or email victoria@galwayartscentre.ie


Course Outline

90 minutes per workshop

Workshop One
Welcome & Introductions
What is performance poetry?
Slam Competitions – How they work
Writing Exercise one

Workshop Two
Writing exercise two
Concrete vs. Abstract language
Individual pieces and feedback

Workshop Three
Working on performance
Intonation and expression
Breathing Exercises
Preparation

Workshop Four
Stagefright
Dealing with Nerves
Connecting with the audience
Involving the audience

Workshop Five
Performance as an Art Form
Body language and mood
Start and Finish with Flair

Workshop Six
Recap
Group Slam
Open Points
Putting it all together

Poetry Book Showcase Reading on Youtube

Paul Casey, organiser of the successful Ó'Bhéal reading series in Cork City, was there with his video camera at the 2008 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase Reading at Sheridan's Wine Bar, Galway on Friday, February 8th. He has posted the resulting footage of the poets reading on YouTube. To view them go to http://www.obheal.ie/blog/?page_id=43

Galway Poet Gerry Hanberry reads at City Museum

Galway Poet Gerry Hanberry reads at Galway City Museum on coming Saturday 1st March at 3 pm. Admission 5 Euro.

Rough Night, Gerard Hanberry’s first collection of poetry was published in May 2002 by Stonebridge Publications, Ebbw Vale, Wales. A second collection Something Like Lovers was published in October 2005 also by Stonebridge. Publications.

In summer 2004 Gerard won the Brendan Kennelly/ Sunday Tribune Poetry Award. He has been shortlisted for many of Ireland’s top poetry prizes including a Sunday Tribune/Hennessy Award in 2000, Strokestown 2003 and RTE’s Rattlebag Poetry Slam 2003. He was runner-up in the Firewords City Poetry Award (Galway) 2005 and in 2000 Gerard won the Originals Short Story prize in Listowel Writers Week.

His poetry has been published widely in literary journals and newspapers in Ireland and the UK including Orbis, Envoi, Poetry Ireland Review, The Shop, Cuirt Annual, ROPES, The Stinging Fly, The Stony Thursday Book as well as The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune and The Galway Advertiser as well as http://www.laurahird.com/ and other on-line poetry sites. A sonnet has been accepted for publication in Measure 2008, a US publication for formal poetry associated with the University of Evansville Some of his work featured on ‘Poetry on the Dart’ (Dublin’s version of Poems on the Underground) during the summer of 2007. Gerard has a First Class Honours MA in Writing from NUI, Galway and is currently a teacher of English at Saint Enda’s College, Salthill, Galway, Ireland. He is a member of the advisory panel to the Cuirt Festival of Literature, Galway.

Upcoming Poetry Readings at Galway City Museum

April 5th Alan Jude Moore (Dublin)

May 3rd Michael D. Higgins (Galway)

June 7th Michael O'Loughlin (Galway City Writer-in-Residence)


Presented by North Beach Poetry
Info: John Walsh at 593290


North Beach Poetry gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Galway City Council

Friday, February 15, 2008

Quincy Lehr wins Galway’s Tig Neactains’ Valentines Day Sonnet Competition

Congratulations to Quincy Lehr who won hotly contested English language section of the Valentine's Day sonnet competition sponsored by Tig Neactains’ pub in Galway.




Quincy will be reading for Over The Edge at Sheridan's Wine Bar on Friday, May 16th 8pm alongside fellow poets Emily Cullen, Billy Mills and Catherine Walsh.

Quincy Lehr was born in Oklahoma City in 1975. He was educated in the Oklahoma public schools, as well as at the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University. A life-long reader of poetry, he began seriously writing it (aside from the inevitable dreadful verse one produces in adolescence) in 2003. Influences include W. H. Auden, Louis MacNeice, Thomas Hardy, E. A. Robinson, Ezra Pound, Gerard Manley Hopkins, T. S. Eliot, Philip Larkin, and W. B. Yeats. At present, he teaches history at NUI Galway. His first collection is forthcoming from Seven Towers.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Eva Bourke at North Beach Poetry Nights

North Beach Poetry Nights

presents

EVA BOURKE

Upstairs at Richardson's. Nr 1 on Eyre Square.

Thursday February 14th at 9.15 pm

Eva Bourke is a poet and translator. The most recent of her five collections of poetry, are Travels with Gandolpho (Dedalus Press 2000) and The Latitude of Naples (Dedalus Press 2005). Eva was editor of Writing in the West for six years and she has taught on the creative writing programs at the William Joiner Centre for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, as well as at NUI Galway for many years. Her work has been translated into most European languages and she has been invited to give readings at festivals and universities in the US, Europe and Central America as well as Argentina.At the moment she is working on the sixth collection The Snow Gatherers as well as a comprehensive volume of contemporary German poetry in English translation for the Poetry Europe Series of the Dedalus Press. She has received numerous awards and bursaries and is a member of Aosdána.

PLUS

The North Beach Poetry Nights' 2 Round Slam

The winner of this month's Slam goes forward to the 2008 North Beach Poetry Nights' Grand Slam in December. The prize for the Grand Slam winner is publication of a collection of her/his work.

Next month's guest poet: Paul Perry (Dublin)

We look forward to seeing you upstairs at Richardsons!

Admission 5 Euro.

North Beach Poetry Nights gratefully acknowledges the support
of the Arts Council and Galway City Council Arts Office.

info: John Walsh @ 091-593290

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

2008 Poetry Book Showcase reading at Sheridan's Wine Bar

Moya Cannon
The 2008 Over The Edge Poetry Book Showcase featuring Moya Cannon, Jarlath Fahy, John Walsh, Sheila Phelan, Elaine Feeney, Mags Treanor, Knute Skinner, Stephen Murray & Neil McCarthy will take place at Sheridan's Wine Bar, 14-16 Church Yard Street, Galway on Friday, February, 8th at 8pm.

In this annual retrospective of the year just past, Galway-based poets who published a new collection of poems during 2007 will each read three poems from his or her collection.

In both 2006 & 2007 the Poetry Book Showcase was a big success and has now become an annual event in the Galway poetry calendar.

All welcome. For further details phone 087-6431748

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

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Over The Edge features on Harvard University website

"When my friend Annie (Let's Go Ireland 2008) arrived in Galway for the last stretch of her research-writing route, we met up to attend a poetry reading at Sheridan's Wine Bar. The reading was presented by a local literary group, Over The Edge, and included poets from Limerick and Galway. My first-ever poetry reading! The second of the three poets especially struck a chord with me – he was an older man, new to writing from his biography, and recited all his poetry from memory." Julia Lam
http://HarvardUniversitywebsite.htm