Thursday, April 22, 2010

Poetry Extravaganza @ Sheridan's Wine Bar with Chris Agee, Louis de Paor, Chris Nikkel & Kevin O'Shea


Over The Edge presents readings by poets, Chris Agee, Louis de Paor, Chris Nikkel & Kevin O’Shea at Sheridan’s Wine Bar, 14-16 Church Yard Street, Galway on Friday, May 7th, 8pm.

Chris Agee was born in 1956 in San Francisco and grew up in Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island but since 1979 has lived in Ireland. He is the author of three books of poems, In the New Hampshire Woods (Dedalus Press, 1992), First Light (The Dedalus Press, 2003) and Next to Nothing (Salt, 2009), as well as the editor of Scar on the Stone: Contemporary Poetry from Bosnia (Bloodaxe, 1998, Poetry Society Recommendation). He is currently completing a collection of essays, Journey to Bosnia. He reviews regularly for The Irish Times and is the Editor of Irish Pages, a journal of contemporary writing. Next to Nothing was shortlisted for the first Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry, funded by the Poet Laureate and organized by the Poetry Society in London.

Born in Cork in 1961, Louis de Paor has been involved with the contemporary renaissance of poetry in Irish since 1980 when he was first published in the poetry journal Innti which he subsequently edited for a time. A four times winner of the Seán Ó Ríordáin/Oireachtas Award, the premier award for a new collection of poems in Irish, he lived in Australia from 1987 to 1996. He is the recipient of the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award 2000, the first poet in Irish to achieve that distinction. His bilingual volume agus rud eile de/and another thing was published recently by Cló Iar-Chonnacht.

Chris Nikkel was born in Canada, and grew up in Winnipeg. In 2003 he moved to Ireland to be with his wife, and currently lives in Fahan, Co. Donegal. A poet and non-fiction writer, his work has been published in Canada, Ireland and the UK, for magazines such as Fortnight, Prairie Fire, Canada's History, and most recently the anthology Landing Places: Immigrant Poets in Ireland. He is currently completing his first book, a creative non-fiction story set in the boreal forest in Canada. Chris holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and a BA from the University of Winnipeg. He works for Five Door Films as documentary screenwriter and researcher.

Kevin O’Shea lives in Moycullen within earshot of the old Galway-Clifden Railway line. He recently retreated from the world of technology to consult the imagination and the garden. He is a survivor, reasonably intact, of multiple Creative Writing Classes with Susan Millar DuMars and Kevin Higgins. In 2009 he was selected to participate in the Cúirt poetry masterclass with Jane Hirshfield and greatly enjoyed the experience. He was shortlisted in the 2009 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition and for the 2010 Cúirt Festival Over The Edge Showcase reading. Kevin is currently a participant in the Advanced poetry workshop at Galway Arts Centre.

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.

Choice of three Poetry Workshops with Kevin Higgins at Galway Arts Centre starting in May

This May Galway Arts Centre is offering aspiring poets a choice of three poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins. Kevin has published three collections of poems The Boy With No Face (2005), Time Gentlemen, Please (2008) and Frightening New Furniture (2010) all published by Salmon Poetry. His work also features in Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe 2010). He is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success or win major prizes for their poetry. He is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers.

Each workshop will run for eight weeks, commencing the week of May 17th.They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm; Wednesday afternoons, 2-3.30pm and on Thursday afternoons, 2-3.30pm.

The Tuesday evening and Wednesday 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 Victoria at reception at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email victoria@galwayartscentre.ie

Daytime Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Arts Centre starting in May

This May Galway Arts Centre presents a daytime class for all those beginner and continuing creative writing students out there, both facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. Susan Millar DuMars writes both poetry and fiction. A collection of her stories, American Girls, was published by Lapwing Press in 2007; she has published two collection of poetry, Big Pink Umbrella (2008) and Dreams For Breakfast both with Salmon Poetry. She is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers.

The class is suitable for both beginning and continuing creative writing students, working in either poetry or fiction. Students will spend their week responding to writing exercises designed to inspire, rather than inhibit. In class, they will receive gentle feedback on their work from their classmates and from the teacher. The class takes place on Monday afternoons, 2-3.30pm, commencing on Monday May 24th.

The cost to participants is 90 Euro with an 80 Euro concession price. Booking is essential as places are limited. For booking please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email victoria@galwayartscentre.ie

Salmon Poetry Launches Debut Poetry Collection by Mary Madec @ The Town Hall Theatre


ON SATURDAY, MAY 8th at 1pm at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway Kevin Higgins will launch Mary Madec’s debut collection of poetry, In Other Words, published by Salmon Poetry.


ALL WELCOME

Salmon Poetry presents Galway launch of debut poetry collections by Aideen Henry & Mary Mullen & memoir by Knute Skinner


Salmon Poetry invites you to celebrate the publication of three new titles:
Hands Moving at the Speed of Falling Snow
poems by AIDEEN HENRY
launch introduction by Prof. Adrian Frazier (NUI, Galway),
Zephyr
poems by MARY MULLEN
launch introduction by Gerard Hanberry
& Help Me to a Getaway
a memoir by KNUTE SKINNER
launch introduction by Prof. Brian Arkins(NUI, Galway).

VENUE: The City Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway
DATE/TIME: Saturday 15th May, 1pm
Visit the Salmon Poetry website for further details:
North Beach Poetry Nights welcomes Michèle Coghlan as Guest Poet on Monday 10th May at 9pm. in The Crane Bar, Sea Road, Galway.

Michèle Coghlan is originally from Kerry, but lived in Germany for over twenty years before settling in Galway in 2003. She works as a translator. She has participated in various Creative Writing workshops at Galway Arts Centre and GTI in the past 4 years and says she has grown quite passionate about writing. She takes pleasure in triggering a bit of laughter in the audience. She particularly likes slam poetry and took 3rd place at the 2008 and 2009 North Beach Poetry Nights' Grand Slam.

Poets wishing to take part in the slam should bring along 2 max. 3 minute poems. The winner goes through to the North Beach Grand Slam in December. The prize for the first 3 winners of the December Grand Slam is
joint-publication in a poetry chapbook.

Door: 5/3 Euro

Info: John@091-593290

North Beach Poetry Nights gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Galway City Council.

Poems and Pints in Kiltimagh

The Pen & Ink Writers’ Group hosts an evening of Poems and Pints on Thursday 6th May 2010 at 8.30 p.m. in Kitty McGreal’s Pub, Thomas Street, Kiltimagh.

Everyone welcome - open mic session for poets, storytellers, songsters and musicians.

Featuring Terry McDonagh reading from his new poetry collection and actor Stephen Doyle performing monologues.                    

WALK AND WORKSHOP presents Maighread Medbh, Mags Treanor, Susan Millar DuMars, Elaine Feeney & Mary Mullen

Walk and Workshop

Presents,
Poets Maighread Medbh, Mags Treanor, Susan Millar DuMars, Elaine Feeney &  Mary Mullen.  June 5th, 1PM in a field on a farm above a turlough. Event not weather permitting. Email for details and directions: walkandworkshop@yahoo.ie

'Loose Lips' this Wednesday

This brings Loose Lips into its third month, and so far it has proved to be a popular event for both story tellers and listeners. The combination of stories from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, along with a receptive and encouraging audience has given the evening an intimate feel, where there is something for everyone.

Most people come along to listen, but as the evening progresses some people find themselves putting their name in the hat and getting up to tell their own tale. So if you have a story that is in any way related to meetings: how you met someone, chance meetings, work related meetings, etc… then come along on the night and you will have five minutes stage time to tell that story. The story has to be true and unscripted. And if you don’t have a story, just come along and listen.

Loose Lips is not a competition, nor is it an attempt to look for polished stories or upcoming talent; it is purely a night out where stories are shared and enjoyed. Given the popularity of this event and the fact that it is a small and intimate venue, advance booking is highly recommended.

If you wish to participate you can register on the night, when ten names will be pulled from a hat to decide who gets to tell their story.

Theme for this month’s Loose Lips event is Meetings.

Venue: Roisin Dubh

Cover charge: 5 euro

Time: 9pm start, registration from 8:30pm

For more information call Mags Treanor on 087-6500700

Monday, April 19, 2010

2010 Cúirt Over The Edge Showcase reading with Cristina Galvin, Tom Lavelle, Geraldine Mitchell, Marcella Morgan & Áine Tierney

Cúirt International Festival of Literature
THURSDAY, APRIL 22nd, 3PM @ The Town Hall Theatre, Galway 



Cristina Galvin was a Featured Reader at the May 2009 Over The Edge: Open Reading.
Cristina Galvin has an MA in Writing from NUIG and teaches yoga in Galway and surrounding areas. She loves books written from a child’s point of view and playing with this perspective in her own fiction and non-fiction. She was long-listed in the 2008 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition. Cristina also writes poetry and her work features in the anthologies Ink For Air and Three Times Daily

Read an extract from Cristina's Chutzpah.



Tom Lavelle was a Featured Reader at the August 2007 Over The Edge: Open Reading
Tom Lavelle lives in Galway and works for a manufacturing company. He is a participant in the Advance Poetry Workshop at Galway Arts Centre and as part of that group read his work at last year’s Clifden Arts Week. His poems have appeared in Revival, Boyne Berries, The Stony Thursday Book, Crannóg, West 47 online, The Cuirt Annual, ROPES & The Shop. Tom was shortlisted for the Cúirt Over The Edge showcase reading in both 2008 and 2009 and in the Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition. He is currently working on an M. Phil. in Writing at the University of Glamorgan.

Read Tom's poem CITEOG here.


The 2010 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 22nd, 3pm. The writers showcased this year are Cristina Galvin, Tom Lavelle, Geraldine Mitchell, Marcella Morgan & Áine Tierney. 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. All participating writers have previously been Featured Readers at Ireland's most successful reading series, the Over The Edge: Open Readings in Galway City Library. http://www.cuirt.ie/
 


Geraldine Mitchell was a Featured Reader at the February 2009 Over The Edge: Open Reading
Geraldine Mitchell was born in Dublin and lives near Louisburgh, Co. Mayo. In between she has lived in France, Algeria, Spain and England where she taught English and worked as a freelance journalist. Her previous publications include two novels for young people and a biography. She won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2008. In their comments the judges, Moya Cannon and Theo Dorgan, said that Geraldine’s poems display: “a clear-eyed sensibility that considers, but does not judge human fragility”.

Read Geraldine's Poem The Suitcase of Bees.



Marcella Morgan was a Featured Reader at the September 2009 Over The Edge: Open Reading
Marcella Morgan is originally from Maynooth, but has been living in Galway for the past year and a half. She spends her days fixin’ troushers in an alterations shop in town, and her nights writing poems about her angry womb. She has attended several writing workshops with Susan Millar DuMars where she learnt how to make a bomb using bread soda, an empty beer can and a thong. Susan also taught her how to spell trousers. Marcella was short-listed for 2009 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year, is a finalist in this year’s Cúirt Festival Poetry Grand Slam and has also been a featured reader at North Beach Poetry Nights.

Read Marcella's A Little Bag of Tasty Clouds here




Áine Tierney was a Featured Reader at the January 2009 Over The Edge: Open Reading
Áine Tierney is from Rosmore, Co. Tipperary. She has worked as a secondary school English teacher, but is presently researching for a PhD in Philosophy on the role of Imagination in Education at University College Cork. She has an MA in Writing from the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her writing has appeared in various magazines and newspapers. She had a short story published in the Silverfish anthology, which was funded by South Tipperary County Council’s Per Cent for Art Scheme.

Read Áine's short story Steak.


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

Cúirt Festival Launch of Poems for Patience and The Cat's Cradle - Galway Universtiy Hospitals Arts Trust



Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust and
Cúirt International Festival of Literature
Warmly invites you to the launch of

Poems for Patience VII
Selected and presented by Paula Meehan
&
Cat’s Cradle VWe are Family
Memoirs and Stories from patients in Unit 5 and Unit 6, Merlin Park University Hospital
Facilitated and edited by Kevin Higgins
On Friday April 23 at 11.00 a.m. at the Art Corridor, University Hospital, Galway.

Please contact the Arts Office for further details or see the Cúirt Programme at http://www.cuirt.ie/

Margaret Flannery
Arts Officer
Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust
Galway University Hospitals
University Hospital
Newcastle Road
Galway

Tel: +353 (0)91 544979
Email: Margaret.Flannery@hse.ie

Friday, April 16, 2010

Over The Edge on TG4's arts programme Imeall

Poet Mary Madec was on TG4's arts programme Imeall on Wednesday, April 7th, talking about the work of Over The Edge.

The programme can be viewed here http://live.tg4.ie/main.aspx?level=imeall&content=68168998913 The item about Over The Edge starts seven minutes into the programme.
Mary Madec was the winner of the Hennessy XO Award for Emerging Poetry in 2008. Her first collection of poetry, In Other Words, with be published by Salmon Poetry very soon. http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=190&a=176
Mary Madec