Carrick-on-Suir has exciting range of activities for Poetry Town event
Carrick-on-Suir is delighted to be the 2021 Poetry Town of Co. Tipperary.
This is an initiative from Poetry Ireland in partnership with Local Authority Arts Offices. An exciting range of activities are planned to take place around the town and online over 9 days from 10-18 September. The event is being jointly coordinated in Carrick-on-Suir by Linda Fahy, Tudor Artisan Hub and Margaret O’Brien, Writing Changes Lives. It is a great honour and opportunity for the town to be the County Tipperary town of poetry for this week in September and Linda and Margaret have made every effort to have this as inclusive and representative as they possibly could. They are grateful to all those groups and individuals in Carrickon-Suir who responded with a ‘yes’ and ‘how can we help?’ when approached.
20 towns across the island of Ireland are participating in Poetry Town, a celebration of the pride, strength and diversity of our towns, with more than 100 free activities lined up across all the towns.
Details of all the events can be found on the Poetry Town section of the Poetry Ireland website: https://www. poetryireland.ie/poetrytown/carrick-on-suir Here are some details of the week’s events in Carrick-onSuir to give a flavour: Friday, 10th September – launch of Poetry Town nationwide. Our Poet Laureate event has been filmed by Pete Smith and will be made available on The Tudor Artisan Hub YouTube channel from 8pm on Friday. You will hear our Poet Laureate Billy Fenton read his specially written town poem, and he will be joined by special guest Michael Coady, composer and performer Marian Ingoldsby and some Carrick-on-Suir writers. It will be special. During the day there will be some popup poetry events happening around the town, generating some buzz.
Saturday, 11th September – a VisPo (visual poetry) experimental workshop, ‘Poetry in Motion, with the cycling community of the town, facilitated by Michelle Moloney King of Beir Bua Press. This is, after all, the hometown of Sam Bennett, Sean Kelly, Bobby Power and many others. A community, invitation-only workshop. Sunday, 12th September, 5pm – ‘Poems that Move You, a walk, open to everyone, starting from the Ormond Castle, that will take in various landmarks in the town, including the medieval lanes, and will finish on the Blueway, with stops for reading of poems at various points along the route. This is in partnership with Carrickon-Suir Lions Club. Monday, 13th September – at llam, a special poetry reading for those who use the Day Care Centre here in Carrickon-Suir. With special thanks to Mawie Barrett and Walter Dunphy.
Monday, 13th September – 7pm, an online poetry workshop with Mark Roper, ‘In The Chair, on Zoom. This will be limited to 12 participants and booking opens on Eventbrite on Friday, 3rd at 12 noon. See Eventbrite link on https://www.poetryireland.ie/ poetry-town/carrick-on-suir Friday, 17th September – 8pm, the return of Poetry Plus open mic to the tearoom at Brewery Lane Theatre. This is a special comeback event, the first ‘live’ gathering since February 2020! Because of ongoing Covid protocols this will be limited to 15 participants and needs to be booked via Eventbrite – booking opens on Friday, 3rd Sept at 12 noon. See Eventbrite link on https:// www.poetryireland.ie/poetrytown/carrick-on-suir All week – there will be a special public exhibition of the work of poet Michael Coady in the Sean Healy Memorial Library, a writer who has been synonymous with Carrickon-Suir for many decades. There will be ‘found poetry in unexpected places, fun pop-up events, quirky activities and thought provoking exhibitions throughout the Town.
Dates various – workshops with current and former residents of Bridgewater House Direct Provision centre, facilitated by Rehan Ali and Heather Wall-Comerford. These are experimental workshops using the award winning script of Rehan’s film, ‘Water Under the Bridge, to be shot here in Carrick in mid September and which treats of the experience of a young person in Direct Provision.
All through the week there will be various popup activities around town, including Poetry Underfoot with artist Sheila Wood, and we will be joining with local community groups, organisations and businesses to generate a sense of poetry as a celebration, as a resource for everyone.
Full details of activities and events are on the microsite for Poetry Town on the Poetry Ireland website www. poetryireland.ie/ and also on social media.