The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2019!

The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2019!

The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award has a closing date of the 5th of November with a first prize of the Ledwidge Plaque inscribed with the winner's name plus a cash prize. There are cash prizes and books for second and third places with merit prizes for finalists. In addition the winner will be invited to read at the annual Francis Ledwidge Commemoration at the National War Memorial Gardens in July 2020. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into following the results. The poems must be the competitor's own work and not previously published or broadcast. Not to exceed 40 lines of type. The entry fee is €5 per poem or 4 for €15. The max number of poems you can enter is 6. Fees payable to The Inchicore Ledwidge Society. Please put your name and telephone number on a separate sheet. S.A.E. or email address for winners' list. Poems will not be returned. Send your entries to: 

The Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Award 2019,

C/o 20, Emmet Cresent.

Inchicore, Dublin 8. 

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/September 2019!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/ September 2019!

The Autumn season of poetry readings commenced last Tuesday night in Ardbraccan with a theme on "Birds" and brought some interesting contributions that strayed a little perhaps but some great pieces were read. John Quinn's The Blessing of the Bog was the lead off and not one I'd heard before, followed by Eugene Kane reading his own poem My Little Pigs. Blackbird by John Drinkwater was next and Jim Owens read his own piece The Divine Gardener. Staying close to that thread Seamus Heaney's St. Kevin and the Blackbird was followed by Summer and Fall, credited to Anonymous. Many good poems to his name. Creed by Norman Gale was another piece I hadn't come across before and definitely worth a look-see. The Song of the Bee by Nancy Nelson Pendleton was followed by my own Fledgling Accounts and John Sheahan's Autumn and the night finished off with Thomas Hardy's The Darkling Thrush. The next meeting is on Tuesday the 15th of October with a theme on the Equinox or endings or just the time of year. All are welcome.    

Boyne Berries 26/Launch!

Boyne Berries 26/Launch!

The poet Maurice Devitt will launch the above magazine in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim Co. Meath on Thursday the 3rd of October at 8 pm and all are welcome. A special feature of this issue will be the inclusion of the poems shortlisted for the Trim Poetry Competition in 2018 and information as to the names included is available on the Boyne Berries Blogsite: Link to the right. Maurice Devitt holds an MA in Poetry Studies from the Mater Dei and was a winner of the Trocaire/Poetry Ireland and placed and shortlisted in many others. He was selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions in 2016 and was a featured poet at the Transylvania festival in 2015 and a guest speaker at the John Berryman Centenary Conference in both Dublin and Minneapolis. Also nominated for the Pushcart, Forward and Best of the Net Prizes. He is the curator of the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies site and has recently published his debut collection: Growing Up in Colour - Doire Press. A number of his videos available on youtube and worth a visit. The above information from the Boyne Berries site. So if you happen to find yourself in the south Meath area on the night why not drop in for a visit.

* The Launch of Boyne Berries 26 has been cancelled due to weather conditions forecast for tomorrow night, Thursday the 3rd of October !  It will be launched on a date yet to be decided. 

The Meath Writers' Circle/September 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle/ September Meeting 2019!

Paul Martin, Willie G. Hodgins and Eugene Kane

With some away on holidays or pilgrimage and the meeting being brought forward to Wednesday last only a small number of five in total turned out for our September meeting. Not like the times when we averaged about fourteen or fifteen, but such is life. (Won't attribute that!) The magazine proof arrived and reading through at the moment before passing it on. Hopefully all turns out good. The magazine launch will be sometime in November and yet to be decided. One for the next meeting! Some interesting poems were read and stories told.

Theo Dorgan reads his poem "Croke Park"

On a day when Dublin attempt to make sporting history I went looking for a poem that relates in some way to the importance of what sport and indeed the GAA is to Irish social or community life and whose games are now becoming very popular in many other parts of the world and not just among the Irish diaspora. Theo says it better. From the UCD Library Collection and with thanks to youtube.