Poetry CD Launch in Ireland

Yesterday evening's Galway launch of the Oxfam Life Lines poetry CD, organised by Over The Edge in association with the Project 06 Festival, was a big success. The Oxfam Shop in Galway was packed as Life Lines was launched by Galway City's first Green Party Mayor, Cllr. Niall Ó'Broilcháin. Niall read a poem from the CD himself: ‘The Walkway' by Sebastian Barker. Also in the audience was Michael D. Higgins, the former Irish Minister for Arts & Culture and a poet himself.

Six emerging poets who have taken part in poetry workshops facilitated by Kevin Higgins at Galway Arts Centre each read a poem from the CD as well as one of their own poems. Deirdre Kearney read ‘From The Irish’ by Ian Duhig; Rita O’Donoghue read ‘The Stethoscope’ by Dannie Abse; Hugh Doyle read 'Human Beings' by Adrian Mitchell; Connie Masterson read 'Bone China' by Esther Morgan; Anna McLoughlin read 'New Romantic' by Tim Turnbull; and Katarzyna Brzorska read ‘Corrections’ by Giles Goodland.

Kevin Higgins closed the evening by reading his poem from the CD: ‘A Brief History Of Those Who Made Their Point Politely And Then Went Home’ and Andrew Motion's ‘Ann Frank Huis’.

Many CD's were sold. And a most enjoyable evening was had by all.

Special thanks to Sheila of Oxfam Ireland and all at the Galway Oxfam Shop for facilitating the launch.

Comments

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart? A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional. Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were. For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ? Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets. But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ? How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular. John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se. What do I mean by smart?

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In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and Silence of the Lambs . I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".

THE SWIFT REPORT 2023

I am writing this post without much enthusiasm, but with a sense of duty. This blog will be 20 years old soon, and though I rarely post here anymore, I owe it some attention. Of course in 2023, "Swift" now means one thing only, Taylor Swift, the billionaire musician. Gone are the days when I was asked if I was related to Jonathan Swift. The pre-eminent cultural Swift is now alive and TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR. There is no point in belabouring the obvious with delay: 2023 was a low-point in the low annals of human history - war, invasion, murder, in too many nations. Hate, division, the collapse of what truth is, exacerbated by advances in AI that may or may not prove apocalyptic, while global warming still seems to threaten the near-future safety of humanity. It's been deeply depressing. The world lost some wonderful poets, actors, musicians, and writers this year, as it often does. Two people I knew and admired greatly, Ian Ferrier and Kevin Higgins, poets and organise

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