Barry Lennon of Poetry Ireland introduces this year's Poetry Day Ireland event - enjoy a feast of poetry via RTÉ Culture all day on Thursday April 25th.
Poetry Day Ireland is happening this Thursday April 25th, and this year marks our ten-year anniversary of this all-island celebration of poetry.
All of us at Poetry Ireland are asking you to be a "good sport" and delve into some poetry on the day by reading, writing, or sharing a poem and if you fancy it trying all three.
Each year we pick a theme for the day and this year it's "Good Sports". We picked this theme as we felt it was important to celebrate the Olympic year, the clash of the ash, the narrow miss, the kick of a ball, the roar of the crowd, the crushing defeat, the triumph, and most importantly our willingness to be good sports in all aspects of our lives.
showcased across the Iarnród Éireann network
As part of providing inspiration to those interested in participating in the day or for those just interested in discovering poetry, we did a callout to our network of poets and asked them to send us back poems in response to our theme.
We were delighted to enroll the skills of Irish poet, novelist and playwright Dermot Bolger who picked nine of these poems in English with Irish language poet and/agus roghraigh eagarthóir Aifric MacAodha tri dhán nua as Ghaeilge.
These poems are now being showcased across the Iarnród Éireann network for the month of April and May as well as in libraries across the country. The suite of the twelve selected poems seeks to provide inspiration for the curious and to entertain those passing by.
We are delighted to see our Good Sport poster poems for Poetry Day Ireland available to read across @IrishRail stations throughout the country as well as on Dart and Intercity services. pic.twitter.com/mTvSRUdxUK
— Poetry Ireland (@poetryireland) April 23, 2024
Throughout the day on April 25th there are events all over Ireland for you to attend or participate in from readings to walking tours to workshops in venues ranging from community gardens to galleries to libraries to everything in between.
We have really enjoyed seeing how people have interpreted our theme this year and the diverse range of events is testament to this. A full list of events is available on our social media channels: our Instagram, Facebook page and X/Twitter, or via our website.
Poetry Ireland is the flagship organisation for poetry across the island supporting its growth and development. We know Poetry Day Ireland is one day, but we hope the day sparks your curiosity as we produce publications, host events, tours and educational projects and programmes all year around.
On Failure and Persistence by @rafaelmendes341
— Poetry Ireland (@poetryireland) April 22, 2024
Rafael Mendes is a Brazilian migrant based in Ireland. His work has recently appeared in Skylight 47, Poet Lore, and The Trumpet.#PoetryDayIRL pic.twitter.com/5QrV9xZnt3
We are also in the process of establishing Poetry Ireland House, a new vibrant venue and resource centre dedicated to celebrating, supporting, and promoting poetry, poets and writers at No. 11 Parnell Square, in the heart of Dublin 1. This centre is set to open late 2025.
So, on Poetry Day Ireland don't forget to join us at one of our events throughout the island and share your poetry or attendance by using #PoetryDayIRL.
Find out more about Poetry Day Ireland 2024 here.
