Thursday, August 11, 2022

August Over The Edge: Open Reading with Hazel Naughton, beam, & Donald Gardner PLUS open-mic


The August ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 25th, 6pm-7.30pm. The Featured Readers are Donald Gardner, beam, & Hazel Naughton
. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always especially welcome at the open-mic. People outside Galway can join the reading via Zoom. We hope that those who wish to will be able to read remotely at the open-mic via Zoom. The technology is a work in progress, so we ask that potential open-mic readers bear with us. Note the new slightly earlier 6pm start time.

For those of you attending via Zoom:  Over The Edge is inviting you to the August Over The Edge: Open Reading on Zoom. Thursday, August 25th, 6pm-7.30pm

Join The Over The Edge Zoom Meeting at

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7389013549

Meeting ID: 738 901 3549

The reading will also be broadcast live via Over The Edge’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070193895521

Hazel Naughton is a Galway native. She has taken Kevin Higgins's poetry workshop twice over the years and has read at several open mics in the past. She has had her writing published by Yasodhara Ashram and Berlin Art Parasites. She will be attending Queen's University Belfast in September to begin her post grad in creative writing. Her writing deals with themes of love, loss, home, and spirituality. 

 
beam is a poet from Galway. She has participated in workshops led by Kevin Higgins and read as a featured reader for Lime Square Poets. Her work has been published in Broadsheet.ie, ThePlatform.uk, Cabinet Of Heed, Poetry With Pride (Belfast Pride 22’), Spilling Cocoa Over Martin Amos, WordCityLit, Ink Sweat & Tears, Lothlorien Journal, impspired, Open Skies and has been included in Corks Quare festival as an interactive audio piece. Upcoming work will appear in Stoney Thursday (edited by Annemarie Ní Churreáin) and Skylight 47 (16th issue). You can find more of her poetry @personalbeam on instagram.

Donald Gardner is described as ‘one of the most entertaining and perceptive poets of his generation’. He has been giving readings of his work since the mid-60s when he lived in New York. Recently Grey Suit editions brought out his New and Selected Poems (1966-2020).One reviewer has said: ‘Every section of this book is a time capsule containing poems that are as fresh and meaningful today as the day they were written’. London-born, Gardner currently divides his time between Co. Kildare and Amsterdam.

 

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always particularly welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. Those interested in reading at the open-mic should give their names to Kevin Higgins at Galway City Library before the reading starts at 6pm. Those who wish to read remotely should text 087-6431748 in the half hour before the reading starts; if you are texting from outside the Republic of Ireland please add the international code and knock off the first zero on the number.


Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland & The Arts Council.

Monday, August 08, 2022

Autumn Beginners & Intermediate Online Creative Writing Classes via Galway Technical Institute BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW

Creative Writing for Beginners with Kevin Higgins takes place one evening per week (Monday) from 7-9.30pm (10 weeks). It commences on Monday, September 12th, 2022. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €140. Kevin Higgins will provide writing exercises for, and give gentle critical feedback to, those interested in trying their hand at writing stories, poems, or memoir

 To book a place, go to https://www.gti.ie/parttime/courses/detail/5342

Intermediate Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars takes place one evening per week (Wednesday) from 7-9.30pm (10 weeks). It commences on Wednesday, September 14th, 2022. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €140. This class is suitable for those who’ve participated in creative writing classes before or begun to have work published in magazines. Flexible exercises and work-shopping of assignments, together with the study of the works of published writers, will help each class member to find their own writing voice.

To book a place, go to https://www.gti.ie/parttime/courses/detail/5395

Both classes will be conducted via Zoom in the usual friendly supportive manner that have made Kevin and Susan’s regular in-person creative writing classes at Galway Technical Institute so popular. Participants shouldn't worry about the technology! Full details of precisely how the workshop will function online will be explained to participants during the first session.

 

For further information contact Galway Technical Institute, Father Griffin Road, Galway, 

phone 091-581342 or email gtiadulted@gretb.ie or see http://www.gti.ie


Autumn POETRY WORKSHOPS via GALWAY ARTS CENTRE with Kevin Higgins


Starting in September, Galway Arts Centre is offering aspiring poets a choice of three online poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins, whose best-selling first collection, The Boy With No Face, published by Salmon Poetry, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet. Kevin’s second collection of poems, Time Gentlemen, Please, was published in 2008 by Salmon Poetry and his poetry is discussed in The Cambridge Introduction to Modern Irish Poetry. His third collection Frightening New Furniture was published in 2010 by Salmon. His work also appears in the generation defining anthology Identity Parade –New British and Irish Poets (Ed. Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010) and The Hundred Years’ War: modern war poems (Ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe April 2014).  A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2012. Kevin’s poetry has been translated into Greek, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German, Serbian, Russian, & Portuguese. In 2014 Kevin's poetry was the subject of a paper 'The Case of Kevin Higgins, or, 'The Present State of Irish Poetic Satire' presented by David Wheatley at a Symposium on Satire at the University of Aberdeen.  He was Satirist-in-Residence at the Bogman’s Cannon (2015-16). '2016 - The Selected Satires of Kevin Higgins' was published by NuaScéalta in 2016; a pamphlet of Kevin’s political poems The Minister For Poetry Has Decreed was published, also in 2016, by the Culture Matters imprint of the UK based Manifesto Press. His poems have been praised by, among others, Tony Blair’s biographer John Rentoul, Observer columnist Nick Cohen, historian Ruth Dudley Edwards, and Sunday Independent columnist Gene Kerrigan; have been quoted in The Daily Telegraph, The Times (UK), The Independent, The Daily Mirror, Hot Press, Phoenix magazine and on Tonight With Vincent Browne; and read aloud by the film director Ken Loach at a political meeting in London. In 2016 The Stinging Fly magazine described Kevin as "likely the most read living poet in Ireland." He has published six collections of poetry with Salmon, including Song of  Songs 2.0: New & Selected Poems (2017).  Kevin has read his work at Arts Council and Culture Ireland supported poetry events in Kansas City, USA (2006), Los Angeles, USA (2007), London, UK (2007), New York, USA (2008), Athens, Greece (2008); St. Louis, USA (2008), Chicago, USA (2009), Denver, USA (2010), Washington D.C (2011), Huntington, West Virginia, USA (2011), Geelong, Australia (2011), Canberra, Australia (2011), St. Louis, USA (2013), Boston, Massachusetts, USA (2013),  Amherst, Massachusetts, USA (2013), & New Mexico, USA (2018).Kevin's fifth poetry collection Sex & Death at Merlin Park Hospital (Salmon Poetry) was published in June 2019, and one of the poems from it features in A Galway Epiphany, the final instalment of Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor serieons of novels. His poems have been broadcast on RTE Radio, Lyric FM, and BBC Radio 4. His book The Colour Yellow & The Number 19: : Negative Thoughts That Helped One Man Mostly Retain His Sanity During 2020 was published last year by Nuascealta. His essay Thrills & Difficulties: Being A Marxist Poet In 21st Century Ireland was published in pamphlet form by Beir Bua Press last year. In December 2021 Kevin was both expelled from the British Labour Party, of which he was an overseas member, for publishing his poem ‘Tribute Acts’ in Socialist Appeal magazine and, on the very same day, awarded ‘Poet of The Year’ at the Labour Heroes Awards event at Conway Hall in London. In 2022 Kevin received a dozen nominations for the position of Ireland Chair of Poetry. Kevin’s sixth full poetry collection, Ecstatic, was published by Salmon this June. 

Each week Kevin will give participants a poetry writing exercise for the following week and will offer each participant constructive suggestions as to how her or his poem can become the best possible poem it can be.

Kevin is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. One of his workshop participants at Galway Arts Centre won the prestigious Hennessy Award for New Irish Poetry, two have won the Cúirt New Writing Prize, and yet another the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam, while several have published collections of their poems; two being shortlisted for the Shine-Strong Award for Best First Collection of poems. In 2013 a group of his students set up the poetry newspaper Skylight 47, which publishes new poems, reviews of poetry books and opinion pieces about poetry related matters. Kevin teaches poetry on the NUIG BA in English with Creative Writing programme and is Creative Writing Director for the NUI Galway Summer School. Kevin is also co-organiser of the successful Over The Edge reading series which specialises in promoting new writers.

The workshops will all commence the week of Monday September 26th. They will be conducted via Zoom in the usual friendly supportive manner that made Kevin's in-person poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre so popular. Participants shouldn't worry about the technology! Full details of precisely how the workshop will function online will be explained to participants during the first session.

They will take place on Tuesday evenings, 7-8.30pm (first class Tuesday, September 27th); on Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class Thursday, September 29th) and on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class Friday, September 30th).

The Tuesday evening and Friday 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 €110. As a bonus, Kevin is offering five optional in person workshop sessions which will take place in The House Hotel, Galway every other Wednesday, during the term, all starting at 2pm and running until 4pm. These sessions are open to ALL enrolled participants in this term’s poetry workshops.

Places must be paid for in advance. To reserve a place contact reception at Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886, email info@galwayartscentre.ie, or go to https://www.galwayartscentre.ie/courses/367-poetry-with-kevin-higgins-tuesday-evening-online-remote-course

Over The Edge Offers Poets Worldwide Online Poetry Workshop with Kevin Higgins STARTING February 2023

Starting in February Over The Edge is offering aspiring poets worldwide a ten week online poetry workshop with poet Kevin Higgins. Kevin  is co-organiser of Over The Edge literary events in Galway. He has published five full collections of poems: The Boy With No Face (2005), Time Gentlemen, Please (2008), Frightening New Furniture (2010), The Ghost In The Lobby (2014), & Sex and Death at Merlin Park Hospital (2019). His poems also feature in Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Bloodaxe, 2010) and in The Hundred Years’ War: modern war poems (Ed Neil Astley, Bloodaxe May 2014). Kevin was satirist-in-residence with the alternative literature website The Bogman’s Cannon 2015-16. 2016 – The Selected Satires of Kevin Higgins was published by NuaScéalta in 2016. The Minister For Poetry Has Decreed was published by Culture Matters (UK) also in 2016. Song of Songs 2:0 – New & Selected Poems was published by Salmon in Spring 2017. Kevin is a highly experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. He has facilitated poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre and taught Creative Writing at Galway Technical Institute for the past fifteen years. Kevin is the Creative Writing Director for the NUI Galway International Summer School and also teaches on the NUIG BA Creative Writing Connect programme. He has published topical political poems in publications as various as The New European, The Morning Star, Dissent Magazine (USA), Village Magazine (Ireland), & Harry’s Place. The Stinging Fly magazine has described Kevin as “likely the most widely read living poet in Ireland”. One of Kevin’s poems features in A Galway Epiphany, the final instalment of Ken Bruen’s Jack Taylor series of novels which is just published. His work has been broadcast on RTE Radio, Lyric FM, and BBC Radio 4. His book The Colour Yellow & The Number 19: Negative Thoughts That Helped One Man Mostly Retain His Sanity During 2020 is just published by Nuascealta. Kevin’s sixth full poetry collection, Ecstatic, was published by Salmon in June. A collection of Kevin’s essays and book reviews, Mentioning The War, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2012. Kevin’s poetry has been translated into Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Italian, Japanese, Russian, French, Albanian, & Portuguese. The Ghost in The Lobby, was published in February 2014, also by Salmon. In 2014 Kevin's poetry was the subject of a paper 'The Case of Kevin Higgins, or, 'The Present State of Irish Poetic Satire' presented by David Wheatley at a Symposium on Satire at the University of Aberdeen.  '2016 - The Selected Satires of Kevin Higgins' was published by NuaScéalta in early 2016. A pamphlet of Kevin’s political poems The Minister For Poetry Has Decreed was published in December 2016 by the Culture Matters imprint of the UK based Manifesto Press; Song of Songs 2:0 - New and Selected Poems was published by Salmon in April 2017. His poems have been praised by, among others, Tony Blair’s biographer John Rentoul, Observer columnist Nick Cohen, historian Ruth Dudley Edwards, and Sunday Independent columnist Gene Kerrigan; been quoted in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Daily Mirror, Hot Press magazine, Phoenix magazine, and on Tonight with Vincent Browne; and read aloud by film director Ken Loach at a political meeting in London. The Stinging Fly magazine described Kevin as "likely the most read living poet in Ireland."

 workshop facilitator Kevin Higgins

Each of the ten weeks Kevin will email participants a poetry writing exercise for the following week and participants will submit one of their poems to Kevin for constructive criticism. Kevin will work with participants on making each of their poems the best possible poem it can be.

Kevin is a highly experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. He has facilitated poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre for the past twelve years. One of his workshop participants won the prestigious Hennessy Award for New Irish Poetry; two have been shortlisted for the Shine/Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet; two have won the Cúirt New Writing Prize; and another the Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam; several have published collections of their poems with reputable publishers.


Kevin is the Creative Writing Director of the NUI Galway International Summer School and teaches poetry on the NUIG BA Creative Writing Connect programme. Kevin is co-organiser of the successful Over The Edge: Open Reading series which specialises in promoting new writers. 
 
This workshop  works via private Facebook group & group email and is PARTICULARLY suitable for continuing and aspiring poets across ALL time zones.

The workshop will run for ten weeks, commencing Wednesday, 8th February 2023. The cost to participants is €110. There are no refunds. The workshop will be conducted in English only. THIS WORKSHOP WILL BE LIMITED TO 30 REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS, SO IF YOU WANT TO ENSURE A PLACE YOU SHOULD BOOK NOW.


For queries, email over-the-edge-openreadings@hotmail.com


YOU CAN REGISTER ONLINE NOW