{"id":5386,"date":"2016-03-27T17:14:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-27T17:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/?page_id=5386"},"modified":"2016-06-06T13:00:05","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T13:00:05","slug":"guests-54-aprilmay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/guest-poets\/guests-54-aprilmay\/","title":{"rendered":"Guests (54) Apr\/May 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<p><center><strong>April and May<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><center><em>4th April<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mary Kennelly<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Mary&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Mary Kennelly 2016.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MaryKennellySm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Mary Kennelly<\/strong> has been involved in arts events in Ireland for many years, including Listowel Writers&#8217; Week and the Brendan Kennelly Summer Festival. She was a participant in the Mindfield: Spoken Word section at Electric Picnic 2014, where she performed alongside the Limerick collective The Whitehouse Poets. She has written for publications including\u00a0<em>The Kerryman, The Sunday Independent<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>The Sunday Tribune<\/em>. Originally from County Kerry, she now lives in County Limerick.<\/p>\n<p>In 2004 she published <em>Sunny Spells, Scattered Showers<\/em> a collection of poetry and paintings with the artist Rebecca Carroll. In 2010 she produced a second collection with the artist Brenda Fitzmaurice entitled <em>From the Stones<\/em>. Her third collection <em>Catching Bats Takes Patience<\/em> was published by Liberties Press in 2015.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"11thApril\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>11th April<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><font color=\"green\">&Oacute; Bh\u00e9al&#8217;s 9th Anniversary<\/font><\/strong><br \/>\n<font size=\"1\">(450+ nights of Poetry)<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"1\">celebrates <strong>Five Words Volume IX<\/strong> and an open-mic for <strong>Only Other Poets&#8217; Poetry<\/strong><\/font><\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"198\" height=\"160\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FiveWordsVol9sm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\">&Oacute; Bh&eacute;al&#8217;s <strong>9th Anniversary<\/strong> event celebrates the launch of <em>Five Words Volume IX<\/em> &#8211; with readings by contributors, shortlistees &#8211; and the winner of our 3rd Five Words International Poetry competition, <strong><font color=\"green\">John W. Sexton<\/font><\/strong>. A number of the short-listed poets will be reading on the night, including <strong>Tamara Miles<\/strong>, <strong>Mary Anne Smith<\/strong> and last year&#8217;s winner, <strong>Derek Sellen<\/strong>, as will contributors to the last fifty Five-Word Challenges held at \u00d3 Bh\u00e9al. The open-mic is for reading poems written by <em>any poet other than yourself<\/em>, so bring a couple of your favourites!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"1\"><em>Our congratulations to <\/em><\/font> <strong>John W. Sexton<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"1\">winner of the 3rd <\/font><strong><font size=\"1\" color=\"green\">Five Words International Poetry Competition<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">You can listen to John&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - John W Sexton 2016.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/p>\n<p><\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"181\" height=\"150\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/JohnWSextonSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>John W. Sexton<\/strong> was born in 1958 and is the author of five poetry collections including, most recently, <em>Petit Mal<\/em> (Revival Press, 2009) and <em>The Offspring of the Moon<\/em> (Salmon Poetry, 2013). His sixth collection, <em>Futures Pass<\/em>, is forthcoming from Salmon. He also created and wrote <em>The Ivory Tower<\/em> for RT\u00c9 radio, which ran from 1999 to 2002 and comprised 103 half-hour episodes. Two novels based on the characters from this series were published by the O\u2019Brien Press: <em>The Johnny Coffin Diaries<\/em> and <em>Johnny Coffin School-Dazed<\/em>, which have been translated into both Italian and Serbian. Under the ironic pseudonym of Sex W. Johnston he has recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman, Hugh Cornwell, entitled <em>Sons of Shiva<\/em>, which has been released on Track Records. He is a past nominee for The Hennessy Literary Award and his poem The <em>Green Owl<\/em> won the Listowel Poetry Prize 2007. Also in 2007 he was awarded a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry. <\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"115\" height=\"94\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/5wordscompSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\">The <strong>4th<\/strong> <strong><font color=\"green\">Five Words International Poetry Competition<\/font><\/strong> is open from Tuesday April 12th 2016 (at midday GMT), and runs for 42 weeks until the last week of January 2017. Ths year&#8217;s judges will be announced shortly. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/?page_id=2371\">Watch this space &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"18thApril\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>18th April<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ron Carey<\/strong> and <strong>Tom Moloney<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Ron&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Ron Carey.mp3\">here<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"88\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RonCareySm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Ron Carey<\/strong> was born in Limerick and now lives in Dublin. He has been a prize winner and finalist in many international poetry competitions including, The Bridport Prize, Lightship International Poetry Prize, Cinnamon Press Poetry Awards, Fish International Poetry Prize, Gregory O&#8217; Donoghue International Poetry Awards, Hugh O&#8217;Flaherty Poetry Award, iYeats Poetry Prize and the Wasafiri New Writing Prize for Poetry. His poems have appeared in <em>New Irish Writing<\/em>, <em>the Irish Times<\/em> as well as anthologies and magazines. He was awarded Special Commendation in the Patrick Kavanagh Awards 2015 and received a Masters Degree in Creative Writing at the University of South Wales. His poetry collection <em>DISTANCE<\/em> has been nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2016.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"2\">You can listen to Tom&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Tom Moloney.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"89\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/TomMoloneySm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Tom Moloney<\/strong> is the author of two poetry collections <em>My Register<\/em> (Linden Press, 2009) and <em>Killing Time<\/em> (Revival Press, 2015). He is also the author of a fable novel <em>Getting the Nod from Himself<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tom&#8217;s poems have been published  in numerous  poetry magazines and Journals, traditional as well as online. He has read his work on  RTE1, on local radio and on film. On nights off from transcribing what his visiting Muse whispers to him, Tom ventures forth to poetry readings, sometimes guest-reading at venues on the Irish poetry circle as well as in England. He is a member of the Irish Haiku Society. <\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Although &#8216;after the boom came the recession&#8217;, his poems hark back nostalgically to 1963, with a passionate innocence almost as defiant as Kavanagh&#8217;s<\/em>&#8221; &#8211; Medbh McGuckian<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"25thApril\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>25th April<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Ruth O&#8217;Callaghan<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Ruth&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Ruth O'Callaghan.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"124\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RuthOCallaghanSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Ruth O&#8217;Callaghan<\/strong> has published seven collections of poetry, has been translated into six languages and is much anthologised. Invited to read throughout Asia, Europe, and the U.S.A., she was awarded a gold medal for poetry at the XXX WCP in Taiwan. The Arts Council (London) sponsored her visit to Mongolia to collaborate with  poets and this resulted in a book and a C.D.  A reviewer and interviewer her book, <em>Without Skin<\/em>, comprises interviews with 23 of the most eminent women poets throughout the world has been hailed as an <em>&#8216;important contribution to world literary history.&#8217;<\/em> &#8211; (<b>Professor Brant<\/b>, King&#8217;s College London).<\/p>\n<p>An international competition adjudicator and editor, she has also been a judge for the <em>Koestler<\/em> whose awards encourage prisoners to participate in the Arts. She hosts two poetry venues in London  &#8211; the revenue from these events support three Cold Weather Shelters. As mentor and workshop leader both in the U.K and abroad, she works with experienced poets to enable them to approach their poetry with a new perspective and with novice poets to achieve a first collection.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"2ndMay\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>2nd May<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Alvy Carragher<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Alvy&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Alvy Carragher.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"82\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/AlvyCarragherSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Alvy Carragher<\/strong> received a First Class Honours in her MA in Writing from The National University of Ireland Galway, where she focused on poetry. Her first collection will be published with Salmon in June 2016. A pushcart nominee, she has been listed for many prizes including: <em>Over the Edge New Writer of the Year<\/em>, <em>The Gregory O&#8217;Donoghue Award<\/em>, <em>The C\u00fairt New Writing Prize<\/em>, <em>Doire Press International Poetry Competition<\/em>, and the <em>Irish People&#8217;s Poetry Prize<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>She is a two-time All-Ireland Slam Poetry Finalist, a Slam Sunday Winner, Connaught Slam Champion and a C\u00fairt Grand Slam Poetry Champion. She has performed at many festivals throughout the country, and even abroad, including: C\u00fairt International Literary Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Electric Picnic, Body and Soul, Lingo Spoken Word Festival, and Imagine Waterford Arts Festival. Her poems have featured on RTE&#8217;s Arena on several occasions. Her work has appeared in various publications such as <em>The Galway Review<\/em>, <em>Skylight 47<\/em>, <em>The Irish Times<\/em>, <em>Bare Hands Poetry<\/em>, <em>The Boheymth<\/em> and plenty more. <\/p>\n<p>She was the Poetry Editor for Headstuff.org in 2015, where she designed, edited, managed and wrote the poetry section. She is also an award-winning blogger, and her blog <em>With All the Finesse of a Badger<\/em> has been archived by the National Library of Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"9thMay\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>9th May<\/em><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"1\" color=\"green\"><strong>&#211; Bh&eacute;al<\/strong><\/font><font size=\"1\"> in association with <\/font><font size=\"1\" color=\"green\"><strong>Foras na Gaeilge<\/strong><\/font><font size=\"1\"> presents<\/font><\/p>\n<p><strong>Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Nuala&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill 2016.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"104\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/NualaNiDhomhnaillSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill<\/strong> was born in 1952 and grew up in the Irish-speaking areas of West Kerry and in Tipperary. She studied English and Irish at University College, Cork\u00a0in 1969 and became part of a group of Irish language poets who were published in the literary magazine <em>Innti<\/em>.\u00a0She\u00a0now lives in Dublin.<\/p>\n<p>She has published four collections of poems in Irish,\u00a0<em>An Dealg Droighin<\/em>\u00a0(1981), <em>F\u00e9ar Suaithinseach<\/em> (1984), <em>Feis<\/em>\u00a0(1991) and\u00a0<em>Cead Aighnis<\/em>\u00a0(1998). The Gallery Press has published four collections of her poems, with translations into English:\u00a0<em>Pharoah\u2019s Daughter<\/em> (translations by thirteen writers, 1990), <em>The Astrakhan Cloak<\/em>\u00a0(translations by Paul Muldoon, 1992), <em>The Water Horse<\/em>\u00a0(translations by Medbh McGuckian and Eil\u00e9an N\u00ed Chuillean\u00e1in, 1999) and <em>The Fifty Minute Mermaid<\/em>\u00a0(translations by Paul Muldoon, 2007).<\/p>\n<p>Nuala N\u00ed Dhomhnaill held the Heimbold Chair in Irish Studies at Villanova University in 2001 and has taught at Boston College and New York University.\u00a0She has received many scholarships, prizes, and bursaries and has also won numerous international awards for works which have been translated into French, German, Polish, Italian, Norwegian, Estonian, Turkish, Japanese and English.<\/p>\n<p>She is a member of Aosd\u00e1na and was Ireland Professor of Poetry (2001-2004)\u00a0and the first Professor of Irish (language) Poetry.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"16thMay\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>16th May<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Squat Pen<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"130\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Squat PenSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong><font color=\"green\">The Squat Pen<\/font><\/strong> presents up-and-coming writers and performers, alongside those more established, bringing together poetry, music and prose.  They have been holding regular literary events in Belfast and across Northern Ireland since 2013 and have also appeared at the Belfast Book Festival, the John Hewitt International Summer School and on BBC Radio. Entrance to their events is always free. You&#8217;ll find a showcase filled with riches, a cornucopia of words and music. The Squat Pen is hosted by poets Ray Givans and Paul Jeffcutt. For more visit The Squat Pen&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/squatpen\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> page.<\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"2\">You can listen to John&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - John McAllister.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"113\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/JohnMcAllisterSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>John McAllister<\/strong> was born and grew up in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, the location for his \u201cBarlow\u201d series of books (<em>The Station Sergeant<\/em> and <em>Barlow by the Book<\/em>) about a police sergeant in Northern Ireland in the 1950s and 60s. John moved to Armagh City in 1974, intending to stay for two years, and is still there. While running his own accountancy business he took time out to read for a Masters in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. Not knowing how much of an output he needed for a Masters, he produced almost enough new writings to earn a PhD. He has been a member of the writers group in the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University, Belfast for many years. He sees himself as a writer of fiction \u2013 more specifically crime \u2013 but has published in excess of 36 poems. <\/p>\n<p>John loves meeting with people to do readings and to discuss his work. He had read in places as far apart as Boston (Mass) and Florence, Italy. He has appeared on several radio programmes to discuss his work. John has been the Writer in Residence for the ABC Writers Network, Counties Cavan and Meath, County Monaghan Libraries and Castlereagh District Council.<\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"2\">You can listen to Martha&#8217;s performance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Martha McGonigle.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"109\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/MarthaMcGonigleSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Martha McGonigle<\/strong> is a winner of the Ignite Award and author of <em>Ordinary People Extraordinary Stories<\/em> (Appletree Press 2012). This collective project involved three groups of people, The Belfast Carers, The Arches Carers, and www.dots Cregagh Community Centre. She has had numerous poems published online and in print.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"2\">You can listen to Ray&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Ray Givans.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"103\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/RayGivinsSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Ray Givans<\/strong> was reared in the village of Castlecaulfield, Co.Tyrone. He is a graduate of Queen\u2019s University, and The University of Bath where he completed a Master\u2019s degree in Education. He has been a teacher of English at secondary schools in Co.Down. He has published four pamphlet-length collections, including two from Lapwing Publications. He was also involved in a poetry\/artwork collaboration, <em>Earth Works<\/em>, with artist Tony Martin, which was published by Subway, Bristol. His first full collection, <em>Tolstoy in Love<\/em>, was published by Dedalus Press in 2009. This collection was shortlisted for the Strong award for best first collection by an Irish poet for that year. A dual English\/Italian version was produced by Kolibris, Bologna. <\/p>\n<p>Ray has been awarded prizes for his poetry in Ireland, Britain, the U.S. and Australia and was the first recipient of the Jack Clemo Memorial prize for poetry. He has been guest editor of <em>Christianity and the Arts<\/em>, the Chicago based journal. His work was included in <em>Artwords<\/em>, an anthology of newly emerged artists and poets from Ulster. He is a co-founder and organiser of The Squat Pen and The Squat Pen on Tour poetry and prose readings.<\/p>\n<p><center><font size=\"2\">You can listen to Paul&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Paul Jeffcutt 2016.mp3\">here<\/a><\/font>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"102\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/PaulJeffcotSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Paul Jeffcutt<\/strong>\u2019s debut collection of poetry, <em>Latch<\/em>, was published by Lagan Press in 2010 and was chosen by The Ulster Tatler as their Book of the Month. Paul has been widely published and has won a series of prizes for his poetry in the UK, Ireland and the USA. He also co-hosts The Squat Pen, a regular series of literary events that take place across Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"23rdMay\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>23rd May<\/em><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"1\" color=\"green\"><strong>&#211; Bh&eacute;al<\/strong><\/font><font size=\"1\"> in association with <\/font><font size=\"1\" color=\"green\"><strong>The Community Foundation for Ireland<\/strong><\/font><font size=\"1\"> presents<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"green\"><strong>2016 Commemoration Series<\/strong><\/font> (Event 3 of 8)<\/p>\n<p><em>Eastrogen Rising: <strong>a rebel cabaret<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to the entire performance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Eastrogen Rising.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"267\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/EastrogenRisingSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Eastrogen Rising: a rebel cabaret<\/strong> is a show about women of The Easter Rising 1916 &#8211; known and unknown &#8211; featuring new commissioned music &#038; poetry by <strong>Abby Oliviera<\/strong>, <strong>BeRn<\/strong>, <strong>Catherine Ann Cullen<\/strong>, <strong>Cormac Lally<\/strong>, <strong>John Cummins<\/strong> &#038; <strong>Julie Goo<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"126\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/AbbyOlivieraSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Abby Oliviera<\/strong>&#8216;s forays into performance poetry began in 2006 when poet Pamela Brown had some kind of a vision called <em>The Poetry Chicks<\/em> and set about making the vision a reality. Five mind-blowing, eye-opening and creatively inspirational years followed. These included such personal highlights as being: Belfast Poetry Slam champ 2006, finalist in the BBC4 Slam 2009, being commissioned by Irish author Pat McCabe (of <em>Breakfast on Pluto, The Butcher Boy<\/em> etc) to take a chapter (named <em>The Half Day<\/em>) from fellow Irish author Dermot Healey&#8217;s <em>The Bend for Home<\/em> and &#8220;do something with it.&#8221; &#8211; setting the entire chapter to music by pianist Connor Kelly and performed nearly the entire chapter live on stage to a packed audience. The performance was later featured in the RTE Arts Lives documentary about Healey.\u00a0She was a finalist in the Glastonbury festival poetry slam 2009, Ulster slam champ 2010, finalist in All-Ireland slam 2010, host of the &#8216;Poetry and Words&#8217; venue @ Glastonbury festival 2010, organiser\/host of the 2011 All-Ireland Poetry Slam final.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"139\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/BeRnSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\">Poet and singer\/songwriter <strong>BeRn<\/strong>, calls her stuff \u2018Frock\u2019; an eloquent mix of folk, punk angst, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, feminism, ire, laughter and irrepressible spirit. Raw and uplifting, She takes to the stage with a fiery presence offering a heady mix of emotion and rebellion. She has shared stages with Martha Wainwright, Patti Smith, Shane Mc Gowan, Indigo Girls plus many more. To date Bern has recorded 3 albums and is working on her first book of poems. Her poem <em>12 Money Haiku<\/em> was published in the Spring 2015 edition of <em>Poetry Bus Magazine<\/em> and two poems \u2013 <em>Tess<\/em> and <em>soon you won\u2019t know me at all<\/em> were recently featured as \u2018poems of the week\u2019 (July\/Aug 2015) in HEADSTUFF.org. She won The Dublin New Year\u2019s Festival\/Lingo Poetry Slam in Dec 2015. <em>\u201cA real colourful individual with her saucy, unusual, punky, spicy, joyful poems and songs\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/CatherineAnnCullenSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Catherine Ann Cullen<\/strong>&#8216;s third collection, <em>The Other Now<\/em>, (Dedalus) and her PhD thesis are both due in Autumn 2016. Fingers crossed! <em>Strange Familiar<\/em> (2013) and <em>A Bone in My Throat<\/em> (2007) were published by Doghouse, and her two children&#8217;s books by Little, Brown. She is a judge of the Reclaim the Spirit of 1916 poetry competition. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/CormacLallySm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Cormac Lally<\/strong> is a writer, poet and activist from Tullamore, Co. Offaly now living in west Cork with his film maker partner, Maura and daughter Tessa. He is the current Munster Poetry Slam champion and was the Leinster champion the year before that. In 2013 he started the Scene Of The Rhyme a spoken word night in Lees pub in Tullamore and has curated gigs for festivals\u00a0all over the country inc. Electric Picnic and Body and Soul (both standing ovations), Castlepalooza, Valentia Isle and others. Since moving to Skibbereen, he now curates and MC&#8217;s\u00a0 Under The Hammers, a night of spoken word, comedy and music in the iconic Connollys of Leap.\u00a0He has self published two books, sold over a thousand and hates writing about himself in the third person. His wedding speech writing and coaching service Be Spoke is how he earns a crust.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"137\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/JohnCumminsSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>John Cummins<\/strong> has been writing for over 20 years and has been performing since early 2010. He has been Leinster Poetry Slam Champion for the past three years and the 2013\/2014 All-Ireland Poetry Slam Champion, as well as featured poet at the prestigious Other Voices. John is a regular featured artist at showcase nights around his native Dublin, as well as Galway and Cork. Last year John blew the roof off The Workman&#8217;s Club with his opening night performance at Lingo, and as the inaugural Lingo Poet Laureate, he captured the festival in the form of verse and shared those wise words with the crowds every night.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/JulieGooSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Julie Goo<\/strong> is a Cork-born wordsmith and singer. In 2012, she was one of two Cork poets chosen to represent Cork in Coventry and Birmingham for the Annual Twin Cities Exchange. Goo has  performed at a whole range of festivals and events over the past few years including:  TedX Cork (2013), Winter Warmer Festival, Cork, Lesbian Lives Conference, Brighton (2014), Circus Factory Electric Picnic, Valentia Isle Festival, Indiependence, Live Words, Supporting Panti Bliss (2015), and most recently  Connolly\u2019s of Leap and The Quarter Block Party (2016). She was Munster Slam Champion in 2012, and has represented Munster in The All Ireland Slam twice. Her slam poetry is socially conscious, politically driven, uplifting and open hearted. Her motto in life is \u2018I\u2019d try anything twice\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"188\" height=\"70\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/TCFIBelongingsm.jpg\"\/><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a name=\"30thMay\"><\/a><br \/>\n<center><em>30th May<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Daragh Bradish<\/strong> <font size=\"1\">PLUS a short reading from<\/font> <strong>The Caf\u00e9 Review<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can listen to Daragh&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Darragh Bradish.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"121\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/DaraghBradishSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><strong>Daragh Bradish<\/strong>  was born in Dublin, and spent his formative years in Bray, Co. Wicklow. More recently he has lived part time in Liscannor, Co. Clare. He studied Fine Arts and History in Trinity College. Returning to creative writing in the last seven years, his poems have appeared in Irish, British and European Journals.  He runs and coordinates \u2018Soundings\u2019 readings which raise funds for the Dublin Simon Community. <em>Easter in March<\/em> is his first collection and is published by Liberties Press.<\/p>\n<p><center><font size=2>You can listen to Steve&#8217;s reading <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/audio\/Guest Reading - Steve Luttrell.mp3\">here<\/a>.<\/font><\/center><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"116\" height=\"150\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/CafeReviewSm.jpg\"\/><\/font><font size=\"1\"><br \/>\n<strong>The Caf\u00e9 Review<\/strong>, a premier poetry, art, and reviews journal based in Portland, Maine for over 27 years, is making a journey to Ireland in tandem with the publication of a special issue celebrating Irish voices. <strong>Steve Luttrell<\/strong>, publishing editor of <em>The Caf\u00e9 Review<\/em> since its founding in 1989, is making a number of appearances at ongoing reading series and special events in Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Dublin. Steve will present a short, ten minute reading from the latest issue at \u00d3 Bh\u00e9al.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/font><font color=\"silver\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"116\" height=\"100\" border=\"1\" align=\"right\" src=\"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/SteveLuttrellSm.jpg\"\/><\/font> <em>The Caf\u00e9 Review <\/em>published its first issue celebrating Irish poets in 1997, featuring artwork by Hugh Lorigan and poems by Pat Boran and Theo Dorgan, among many others. This Spring&#8217;s issue is entitled, &#8220;a gathering of Irish voices&#8221;, and features artwork by Liam and Nonie O&#8217;Neill, poetry by Doireann N\u00ed Ghr\u00edofa, Brian Kirk, Paula Meehan, Paul Casey, Susan Millar DuMars, and work from many other esteemed contemporary writers.<\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April and May 4th April Mary Kennelly You can listen to Mary&#8217;s reading here. Mary Kennelly has been involved in arts events in Ireland for many years, including Listowel Writers&#8217; Week and the Brendan Kennelly Summer Festival. She was a participant in the Mindfield: Spoken Word section at Electric Picnic 2014, where she performed alongside [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":19,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5386","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5386\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obheal.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}