01-05-2025
11th annual Poetry Day taking place nationwide today
The 11th annual Poetry Day Ireland is taking place nationwide today, with over 50 events organised across every province, both in person and online.
This year's celebration, run by Poetry Ireland, has the theme "May Day" which is rooted in Ancient Traditions; including the fire festival of Bealtaine, and asks poets and participants to celebrate renewal, hope and abundance.
Liz Kelly, Director of Poetry Ireland, explains that "May Day" was chosen for this year's event as it marks the start of a month in which "nature seems to be bursting out of her skin, filling hedgerows and fields with wildflowers, the month of fire and light."
She goes on to say that she believes "poetry is an important way to understand and empathise with the world around us, which, at this moment in history, is deeply meaningful."
The day's first event got underway bright and early in Greystones Co. Wicklow with a Sunrise Swim & Poetry morning at 5.50am. Swimmers and poets gathered together to watch the sun rise, have a dip, and listen to poems read in all languages, both original and not.
Representatives from Poetry Ireland, Scríobh Arís, the local poetry group in Greystones, and Dave and Steve Flynn from the Happy Pear, led the charge this morning.
Francis Browner, a local poet in Greystones, a member of Scríobh Arís, and key in the organisation of the event, says it's been going for 4 years now. She says, "initially it was just let's give them all a stone with some poetry on it when they go into the sea, and then people started spontaneously reading poetry when they came out". It has now become a staple in the Poetry Day Calendar.
Deirdre McKernan Crosby is also a member of Scríobh Aris, which she joined through the Greystones Cancer Support group, and she says, " I was writing [poetry] before I knew it and was successfully published early on in my journey."
She says poetry has been "very cathartic" for her.
Also in attendance this morning was Poetry Ireland's Poet in Residence, Anne Tannam. This is the last official event of her tenure.
She told Morning Ireland about the importance of today and celebrating poetry:
"It is one day that we can all, for a moment stop, and really appreciate the incredible diversity of voices across the whole island of Ireland. So, its a really really special day where everybody can stop and share or read or write a bit of poetry and really celebrate our love of language."
There are a wide range of other events happening across the day, all over the country including creative writing and poetry workshops, spoken word events, pop-up poetry performances, as well as online events and a podcast dedicated to poetry.
As part of this year's celebration Poetry Ireland has also selected twelve poems to be showcased. They'll be displayed across the Iarnród Eireann rail network, as well as in libraries nationally. Some of the poets chosen include: Lorna Shaughnessy, Rosamund Taylor, Othuke Umukoro, and Alan Titley.
Another feature of this year's festival is a series of special poetry readings by well-known Irish voices such as Manchán Magan, writer and broadcaster, Joe Duffy, RTÉ radio host, and Michael Darragh MacAuley, All-Ireland Gaelic Football Champion.
