Admission is free. Patrons are advised to be in their seats five minutes before readings begin. Each reading will be preceded by a piece of classical music by students from the Limerick School of Music.
The poets taking part:
John Liddy was born in Cork in 1954. Grew up in Limerick. Graduated from the University of Wales and works as a teacher/librarian in Madrid. Publications: 'Boundaries' (1974); 'The Angling Cot' (1991); 'Song of the Empty Cage' (1997); 'Wine and Hope' (1999); 'Cast-A-Net' (2003); 'The Well: New and Selected Poems' (2007). Forthcoming: 'La Barca de la Arena' (a translation by Francisco Rivera in Spanish of The Angling Cot), 'Ivy Down' (a tanslation of 'Tosigo Ardento' by José Maria Álvarez) and The Very Very Very Clever Little Fox (a collection of stories for children). Gleanings from the Margins (2010) and the Secret Heart of Things (2014). He is the founding editor along with Jim Bourke of The Stony Thursday Book, one of Ireland's longest running literary reviews (1975- ) and organizes The Well/El Manantial, a weekend festival of poetry in Madrid with The Embassy of Ireland. He is Limerick City of Culture writer in residence for July.
Brian Blaney (Brian Slattery) was born in Thomondgate, Limerick in 1948. The lays, legends and lore of 'soda cakes', Thomond Bridge, King John's Castle, The Bard of Thomond's (Michael Hogan), Drunken Thady (and the Bishop's Lady), were all fed into his consciousness by his father from early age. A lifelong interest in the power of words and visual art he worked for many yaers as a commercial artist before joining the Limerick School of Art as a full time student. During art school holidays, he worked with Limerick Fire Brigade (LFB), eventually joining them full-time in 1974, retiring in 2003. During this time I edited a national fire brigade magazine, and wrote a short history of the LFB. Keeping up my studies, he graduated from the University of Limerick (Techical Communications) and NCI (Industrial Relations) during this time. He now divide any spare time between writing poetry, researching history and e-Help authoring. His first collection of poetry Poems in Profile was published by Revival Press in 2011.
Patricia Ann Moore was born in Belfast, she moved to Killaloe,Co Clare in 1992 which is where she began writing poetry and where she still lives. Her poems have been published in Stony Thursday, Force Ten, The Creel , and online in the Electronic Acorn. She is working towards publication of her first collection.
Richard W. Halperin: Since 2005 over 200 of his poems have been published in Irish and U.K. literary magazines, including several Revival Literary Journals and four Stony Thursday Books. His second collection Shy White Tiger (Salmon, 2013), has been described by Macdara Woods as a collection of 'marvellously new-mint poems.' One poems in it is on permanent display in the foyer of the Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo. His first Salmon collection, Anniversary, 2010, has been subsequently published in Japanese. Mr Halperin, who lives in Paris, reads frequently in Limerick: with On the Nail, White House Poets and Glenstal.
Tim Cunningham was born in Limerick in 1942. Tim has three collections published: Don Marcelino's Daughter (Peterloo Poets, 2001), Unequal Thirds (Peterloo Poets, 2006) and Kyrie (Revival Press, 2008). A new collection Siege (Revival Press) was published in 2012. Recently The British Council have included one of his poems in its Literature and Poetry DVD. Last year he was awarded the Patrick and Catherine Kavanagh Fellowship. His fifth collection Almost Memories from Revival Press is due out in October.
Bridget Wallace holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and Literature, and an MA and PhD in English Literature from Mary Immaculate College. She has been a literature tutor on the degree foundation module (among others) offered by Oscail , the open distance learning programme based at DCU. She has tutored a range of literary periods and genres which includes, but not limited to: poetry, the novel and the short story. To date Bridget has facilitated a range of writing workshops for individuals, groups and organisations throughout the Munster region, and has been asked to judge many poetry and other literary competitions. Her work was included in Sextet, an anthology of six poets published by Revival Press in 2010.
Thomas Collins, 25, is a teacher, musician, sportsman, writer, Gaeilgeoir and Internet addict from Caherdavin, Limerick. His poetry in Irish and English has appeared in the Revival Literary Journal, The Stony Thursday Book, The Ogham Stone and Mary Immaculate College's Scothsmaointe Gan Smál.
Michael Reeves was born in Limerick in 1950. From there he went to Leeds and studied Art and Design. Since his early days he has always had an interest in poetry and the work of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. In 2000 he returned from Yorkshire to live out on the Loophead peninsula. Since then he has been a member of the Clare Three Legged Stool Poetry Group. His poems have appeared in New Irish Writings (The Irish Press), The Independent (London), The Clare Chanmpion, Revival Literary Journal and in publications of work from The Three Legged Stool Poets. One of his poems is included in an anthology for Junior Cert. He has taken part in many public readings and has written and presented numerous pieces for RTEs Sunday Miscellany. He has had several exhibitions of paintings, one of which was in Limerick at the Hunt Museum in 2008.