As we approach the close of 2020 and look towards heralding a new year, it’s important to look back and consider our activities in order to give thanks for what we’ve achieved but also, importantly, to consider what we might do differently or try to do better.
This overview of our year will give you a snapshot of some of the memorable events that took place over the past 12 months. We would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks to our main funders, the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts
Council of Northern Ireland, and to all the donors, sponsors, organisations and individuals that we’ve worked with during the year.
Thank you also to everyone who is part of our community and who has
supported the work of Poetry Ireland. Those interactions have been especially important during the last year.
The dawning reality of Covid-19 and the unsettling impacts on our daily lives has resulted in a challenging and emotional year for us all. Throughout 2020, Poetry Ireland reshaped and reformatted our activities. We codesigned, co-planned and partnered in order to support our communities and to do our upmost to maintain shared experiences, and supports for poets. Inclusion, diversity and equity are at the very heart of what we do in Poetry Ireland and a touchstone for us when we plan our activities and supports.
Samuel Beckett once said “You’re on earth. There is no cure for that’” but we feel we have an effective salve. Our salve, our antidote is our work.
Through our work, we encourage people to stop and to notice, to meet and talk and to listen. We tell stories. Human stories which help to build understanding and shatter stereotypes. The ability of art, particularly poetry, to bring joy and to move and change people might be mysterious but it’s undeniable.
Poets are noble observers and their work functions as a counsellor, offering interaction and discovery, curiosity and hope. Their work provokes thought and reactions when we truly, deeply need responses. Their work does not change the world, but it does change the people who change the world.
We look forward to seeing you all in 2021.
Best wishes, Niamh O’Donnell Director, Poetry Ireland
Like every art organisation and all other sectors, Poetry Ireland’s activities during 2020 were deeply impacted by Covid-19. Through the year, we reshaped, reformatted and renewed our programmes, prioritising artists and communities, and tried to view the year as an opportunity to adapt and embrace change. We moved to more digital, safe and accessible ways to enjoy poetry, which while missing the shared collective experience, did help us reach more people nationwide and worldwide.
In the early part of the year, live events at 11 Parnell Square included the book launches of Black Mountain Poems, a debut collection by Arnie Yasinski, and new Dedalus Press titles by poets Enda Coyle-Greene, Paddy Bushe, Gerry Murphy, and Gerry Smyth.
Poetry Ireland was also home to the Living Room Folk Sessions, a night of trad and poetry, and our last in-person event was an International Women’s Day reading, with funds raised for Women’s Aid.
Online events during 2020 included a transatlantic celebration of the life and work of Eavan Boland, in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland USA and the Irish Arts Center, a celebration of Ciaran Carson close to the one year anniversary of his death, and the return of Lemme Talk, in a virtual format on Instagram.
Poetry Ireland partnered with Instituto Cervantes Dublin on an online multilingual reading of poems
in English, Spanish, and Irish, and partnered with MoLI and The Gallery Press for the online launch of Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin’s Collected Poems. We also hosted a video tribute event as part of the Frank Harte Festival (curated by our Poet in Residence Catherine Ann Cullen), and a streamed event as part of Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival.
In partnership with Dublin Book Festival, we celebrated the publication of Issue 9 of Trumpet with a podcast featuring guest editor Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan and several contributors. We hosted three online launches of Poetry Ireland Review during the year, featuring videos of contributors reading their work.
Culture Night featured a number of quotes from poems popping up on multimedia screens across Dublin and Belfast. We also celebrated the winners of the Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition with a special video event.
We supported IMRAM’s presentation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Irish, through five multi-media films. We also supported Unlaunched Books, a podcast series presented by John McAuliffe, Victoria Kennefick and Seán Hewitt in which they talked to poets, critics, curators and readers about the books they would have been launching and talking about during this year if Covid-19 had not intervened. And we also supported weekly podcast, Words Lightly Spoken.
We supported events with the John Hewitt Society during 2020 and continued to support regular poetry series like Ó Bhéal in Cork and Over the Edge in Galway, and events at festivals around the country such as Bealtaine, Red Line Book Festival, ILFDublin and many more.
In partnership with the Brinkerhoff Foundation, we produced poetry films featuring emerging poets Nithy Kasa, Samuel Yakura, Sasha Terfous, Kayssie K, and Dagogo Hart.
We were delighted to announce in November two new commissions with poets Nithy Kasa and Dagogo Hart, supported by the Arts Council of Ireland. This will enable them to complete significant new bodies of work during 2021 - stay tuned for more details.
“Watching on our TV in London. Ain’t technology wonderful.” Feedback from one of the attendees at an event during the year
A Transatlantic Tribute to Eavan Boland, which took place in May
Dagogo Hart and Nithy Kasa
One of the poetry films, in partnership with the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation, featured Kayssie K
The Poetry Line, which offered support and connection to cocooners during lockdown, took place in partnership with ALONE and members of Aosdána.
Individuals signed up to receive a phone call from a writer/artist who read them two reassuring and uplifting poems and chatted with them. The Poetry Line took place first as part of Poetry Day Ireland, with really positive responses from those taking part, and then again during June. It featured in media including RTÉ News, The Guardian, The Irish Times and more. We are aiming to run another iteration of The Poetry Line, pending funding.
“This was lovely, this was a treat. How gorgeous to have somebody read. I love poetry but I particularly like to hear it. It was so calming and peaceful.” - MJ O’Brien, one of the Poetry Line call recipients
MJ O’Brien, who received a call from the Poetry Line in June and featured on RTÉ News, along with poet Enda Wyley
Poetry Ireland hosted free workshops for those new to poetry, led by facilitators Julie Morrissy and Nessa O’Mahony.
A Reviewing Workshop with John McAuliffe in September invited 12 emerging critics to explore questions of style, tone, and value as a reviewer.
We were delighted to sponsor places to the Dingle Lit Poetry Workshop for two poets who otherwise could not afford to attend.
This year’s Introductions series received a record number of applications, and the promising new voices selected were Lani O’Hanlon, Nidhi Zak / Aria Eipe, Mark Ward, Lianne O’Hara, Jake Hawkey, Tory Campbell, Mícheál McCann, Charis McRoberts, Eoin Hegarty, Eva Griffin, Nancy Graham, Kate Quigley, and Sinéad Nolan.
The series was delivered through a hybrid of in-person and Zoom
workshops with facilitators Vona Groarke, Jessica Traynor, and Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Introductions culminated in a digital showcase as part of International Literature Festival Dublin, which was accompanied by a free anthology of the poets’ work.
Introductions Instagram Story (thanks to Young Writers Delegates programme from Irish Writers Centre)
“Attended this event this evening. Wonderful, thought provoking, inspiring, accessible. Thank you Poetry Ireland and most especially Julie Morrissy.”
Poetry Day Ireland, with the theme ‘There will be time’, took place on 30 April 2020. Social distancing due to Covid-19 meant a rapid recalibration of this year’s plans, with many events due to take place physically around the country being reconfigured into online events.
Several new and imaginative ideas came to the fore in those weeks before the festival, including Poetry Ireland events The Poetry Line and a children’s Poemathon with President Michael D Higgins, and many more events around the country and abroad.
We received extremely positive feedback about the festival’s expanded reach and increased access due to its digital nature. We are now busy planning for next year’s Poetry Day Ireland, taking place on Thursday 29 April 2021.
“Thank you Poetry Ireland - #PoetryDayIRL – you lifted us all up ”
In 2020, we were delighted to publish two e-book anthologies featuring the very best of Ireland’s emerging poets. First up was Incredible Things Do Happen, the work of our 2019 Introductions poets, followed by Public Displays of Affection, an anthology of our 2020 Introductions poets. Both anthologies are available for purchase online, from Amazon and the Poetry Ireland website.
Three issues of Poetry Ireland Review were published during 2020 under the strong vision of Colette BryceIssues 130, 131 and 132. It was at the Christmas launch of the Review in 2019 that Eavan Boland, who had been editor for three years, announced that Colette
would be taking over the mantle and welcomed her to the Review.
Poetry Day Ireland this year was dedicated to Eavan, who died on 27 April. We very much miss Eavan as a former colleague and a dear friend, and she has left a huge legacy globally with her written work, her teaching, and her example.
Trumpet
Trumpet, our bite-sized pamphlet packed with reviews, opinions and essays on poetry and the writing life, was published in December 2020.
Trumpet 9, with the theme ‘Fear and Release’, was beautifully guest-edited by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, and is available to purchase in selected stockists and from our website.
Before the Covid-19 crisis hit, the Writers in Schools programme was going full throttle, reaching approximately 6,000 children and young people in 21 counties across the island.
These included visits at St Brigid’s National School in Limerick (Young Adult writer Helena Close), Moyne College in Mayo (poet Terry McDonagh) and Forge Integrated Primary School in Belfast (children’s and Young Adult writer Myra Zepf).
St Oliver’s Primary School in Derry and St James’ National School in Cavan had visits from storytellers (Liz Weir in Derry and Fiona Dowling in Cavan) while Belvedere College Dublin enjoyed a visit from novelist Ré Ó’Laighléis.
Belgrove Senior Girls National School in Clontarf, Dublin, had a visit from children’s and Young Adult writer Siobhán Parkinson whilst Wandesford National School in Kilkenny welcomed poet John W. Sexton for a visit. And Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn visited students in Confey College, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
We had a busy summer exploring how best to adapt the Writers in Schools programme to a virtual platform. This
“Approximately 75 writers and storytellers on the Scheme attended these webinars, which is evidence of the eagerness and commitment of our Writers in Schools team of writers to upskill and adapt to new ways of working.”
Students from Timahoe National School, Laois, enjoying a virtual visit with writer and illustrator Oisín McGann
was done through a series of focus groups with writers on the Scheme, online meetings with teachers and a survey that went to all schools in the country.
Based on the feedback, suggestions, and recommendations from this process, Writers in Schools is now offering one-hour virtual single visits to schools across the island for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis, as well as virtual residency workshops. Our new virtual programme kicked off with children’s writer Alan Nolan visiting school children through Limerick City Library.
As part of our professional development opportunities and support for writers during these challenging times, Peter Salisbury delivered a series of webinars as part of this year’s first-ever virtual Writers in Schools Writers Forum, which focused on using Zoom to deliver Writers in Schools visits and workshops.
Approximately 75 writers and storytellers on the Scheme attended these webinars, which is evidence of the eagerness and commitment of our Writers in Schools team of writers to upskill and adapt to new ways of working.
It was also really helpful in keeping everyone in touch and getting a clear idea of the challenges facing writers and how they approached handling particular issues that they came up against in trying to engage with schools using online platforms.
We were very happy that two of our Foras na Gaeilge supported Irish language residencies went ahead before the summer, on a virtual platform. These saw Darach Mac an Iomaire working with students from Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh in Dublin, and Richie Conroy Meanscoil Gharman in Enniscorthy.
WorldWise Global Schools (WWGS) residencies took place in post-primary schools in Carlow, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick and Offaly, with writers Kevin McDermott, Oisin McGann, Tina Pisco, Debbie Thomas, John W. Sexton and Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn. Students in St. Kieran’s Kilkenny experienced their first Zoom writing workshop with Kevin MacDermott which was a great success.
Amongst student feedback to the residencies were the comments, “It was cool to have a poet read his own poetry. It helped me to come up with ideas of my own. It kind of made me braver” and “I realise now that I can make a difference. I am going to try and get involved in action for climate change.”
Teacher feedback included the comments, “The residency encouraged students to think more from the perspective of another individual and consequently develop more understanding and empathy for other people” and “It was great to see how much the students learned about the process of writing, rewriting and editing as well as giving them a deepening awareness of global issues.”
In February, Moira from our Education team attended a WorldWise Global Schools training day which was a great opportunity to meet, once again, other organisations funded by Irish Aid and to share ideas and experience.
The relationship with Irish Aid around development education provision continues to be strong. Poetry Ireland delivered high quality Professional Development Training for primary teachers with the writer John W Sexton and in collaboration with Clare Education Centre. We plan to
deliver more Continuous Professional Development (CPD) in 2021.
The annual Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition was launched in January 2020. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, we extended the submission period to June 2020 and were delighted with the number of entries, given that it was a difficult year with Covid and because the schools were closed from March to June.
The competition uses the arts to raise awareness about the leading global issues of our time and this year’s theme was ‘Standing Her Ground’. The winners and runners up of this year’s competition – across six categories – were announced in August and
“We are particularly aware of the effort it took all our schools category entries to participate this year and we would like to thank everyone for their continued interest and support of the Trócaire Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition.”
we hosted a streamed celebration of the competition on Culture Night in September (you can catch up with it on Poetry Ireland’s YouTube channel). The competition will run again in Spring 2021 and we look forward to lots of entries from schools once again.
just before Covid-19 closed everything down, with an amazing showcase of work by participants from all over Galway, hosted by Galway Community College in Wellpark.
WRaPParound 2020 was unfortunately a victim of Covid-19, when schools were closed. Some visits did manage to take place before lockdown but as it is a spoken word initiative, it was not possible to complete it. However, we now have plans to run a version of it next Spring. This will possibly be a hybrid version and we are currently in contact with poets and schools so watch this space. We are delighted to have received support from Dublin City Arts Office and Creative Ireland for a WRaPParound initiative in five Dublin schools.
The second series of writers’ residencies, which were unable to take place as planned, due to Covid restrictions, have just now begun to be rolled out, and will continue into 2021. We are once again delighted to be working in partnership with Louise Ryan of Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) and to have the support of Galway City and County Arts Offices, Galway 2020 and Foras na Gaeilge.
Poetry Ireland was delighted to be part of WeAreThePoets, a two-year project initiated under Sarah Crossan, the former Laureate na nÓg, and inspiring young people to take ownership of, and express themselves through, poetry. The first phase of the project began in January 2020 and luckily concluded
Fifth and sixth classes in primary schools were invited to take part in an online Poetry Ireland poemathon which was unveiled on Poetry Day Ireland in April. The first and last lines of the poem were written by the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins. More than 300 children contributed lines with the final poem being arranged by poet Seamus Cashman. It’s planned that the poem will take pride of place in a time capsule being buried at Poetry Ireland during its future building development.
An online poetry writing workshop for teenagers, led by Seamus Cashman, also took place during Poetry Day Ireland.
Poetry Aloud, the annual poetry speaking competition for post-primary schools, was organised differently this year due to Covid-19 public health guidelines, with virtual entries in place for the first time in its history.
Schools were invited in October to select students to represent their school from any of the three categories (Junior, Intermediate, Senior) and teachers could submit a phone video recording of the students speaking the prescribed poem.
In December 2020, the entries were being considered by Poetry Ireland and its partner in the competition, the National Library of Ireland, with the
competition due to move forward in early 2021. Thanks again this year to University College Cork for its support of the competition.
We were delighted to launch the Behind the Lines video series, giving students new insights into poems on the Leaving Certificate, featuring a range of poets and writers in the videos. We also presented the Storytime for Smallies video series, featuring some writers from our Writers in Schools scheme.
The Poet in Residence’s project Alphabet Blitz for the City of Dublin, which launched in July, received submissions from schools. The Poet in
Feedback from a teacher about the WorldWise Global Schools programme
Residence, Catherine Ann Cullen, had a chance to talk to schoolchildren about the project when she appeared on RTÉ’s News2Day programme in September.
During 2020, we collaborated with Quotidian around the PoetryJukeBox and particularly most recently ‘No Word for Stay’ which took the Troubles as its theme and featured Paul Muldoon. We are planning a number of collaborations for 2021 including LabelLit for Poetry Day Ireland and Project 5 for primary schools.
Poetry Ireland and Childrens Books Ireland are working on a series of workshops for writers who work with children and young people to enhance online skills and the delivery of digital content – these will be rolled out in
2021. This has been made possible through funding from the Arts Council’s Capacity Building fund stream.
Based on the success and quality of the initiatives in 2019 and 2020, Poetry Ireland will continue to collaborate with IBBY Ireland to deliver a series of residencies to families and children living in Direct Provision. These workshops will be a mixture of inperson and digital events.
Poetry Ireland has collaborated with the picture book artist Mary Murphy to develop a series of Covid theme posters for very young children based on wellknown rhymes and tales. These were rolled out digitally to schools with the support of Gill Education.
“It was great to see how much the students learned about the process of writing, rewriting and editing as well as giving them a deepening awareness of global issues.”
Our Poet in Residence, Catherine Ann Cullen, had a busy year, engaging, inspiring and supporting many communities in their interactions with poetry. Here are a few highlights:
Until July, Catherine Ann was leading weekly writing workshops with a group from the Pathways Centre, which facilitates the re-integration of former prisoners. Covid-19 restrictions saw the workshops move online from mid-March and Catherine Ann is proactively working with the Centre which, along with its clients, has been disproportionately affected by pandemic-related closures.
On 13 March, the first day of the closure of Poetry Ireland, schools and colleges and businesses, Catherine Ann began posting a daily #PoetryPrompt duo on Twitter and Facebook, one for adults and one for children. From August, after 200 prompts had been posted, these changed to two weekly prompts. They’ve engaged poets of all ages, many writing for the first time, and we’ve received enthusiastic
feedback from responders who have formed a supportive online community.
Alphabet Blitz for the City of Dublin
The ABCD project, launched in July, is a crowd-sourced rhyming alphabet for Dublin. The project runs for 26 weeks until December and individuals, schools and groups can use social media, email or post to submit a response for one letter or a whole alphabet. In the first three months, the project had 307 submissions and a huge reach on social media. Catherine Ann talked to schoolchildren about the project on RTÉ’s News2Day programme in September.
Other projects included live and recorded readings for Irish and international audiences, developing the Behind the Lines video series with Poetry Ireland’s Education Department, composing lyrics for Ode to Joy (a nationwide tribute to frontline staff by the Royal Irish Academy of Music), holding online poetry clinics for Poetry Day Ireland, school visits and residencies, and writing workshops including with the Fatima Poetry Group, formed in October. Catherine Ann also curated the streamed video event Living Ghosts: A Tribute to Frank Harte, in partnership with An Góilín, as part of the Frank Harte Festival 2020.
Read more about Catherine Ann’s work during 2020 in this Q&A news article.
Thanks to the funders of the Poet in Residence project: Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Fund of the Sidney E Frank Foundation, and Rethink Ireland.
“Catherine Ann, a sincere thank you for your initiative and imagination. You got me back to the writing table!”
Earlier this year, we launched Poetry Ireland’s first ever Text to Donate campaign, which encourages supporters to donate €4 by text message. Thank you to everyone who donated and continues to donate by texting POETRY to 50300.
At the end of February, we launched the final phase in our capital campaign for the development of the Centre. The remaining fundraising income being raised by Poetry Ireland will allow us to move forward with this exciting project.
We were delighted to meet with the Heaney family in Spring 2020 to talk further about the Seamus Heaney Poetry Library, which has been
generously donated by the family and will form the centrepiece of the Poetry Ireland Centre.
Thanks to our Friend and Patron members, new and recurring, whose support during 2020 has been invaluable and much appreciated. For more on the Poetry Ireland Centre and our fundraising work, visit www.poetryireland.ie/fundraising
During 2020, we said a sad goodbye and a big thanks to our Director, Maureen Kennelly, who had been with Poetry Ireland since 2013. Maureen left to take up her new position as Director of the Arts Council of Ireland in the springtime.
We were delighted to welcome Niamh O’Donnell as the new Director in August. Niamh, who most recently was the Artistic Director of Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre, brings huge experience and leadership to us in Poetry Ireland.
2020 has been a difficult time for anyone starting or leaving a role and for everyone who has been required to
work differently because of the changes brought by Covid-19. Zoom and phone calls help us to stay in touch remotely but we very much look forward to being able to be back together as a team in Parnell Square, when safe to do so. And being able to welcome everyone back to the building too – we miss seeing you all.
>> Meet the full team
We sadly lost valued members of the Irish poetry community in 2020. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of Eavan Boland, Derek Mahon, Richard Weber, and Larry Stapleton.
We also remember Tommy Smith, a former board member of our organisation and a renowned supporter of poets, writers, and artists.
We also remember pioneering educator, historian and campaigner Margaret Mac Curtain. We were delighted to host a book launch and birthday celebration for Margaret at Poetry Ireland in summer 2019, one of the best attended events in our history.
