Poet in Residence with Poetry Ireland Anne Tannam welcomes us to this year's Poetry Day Ireland celebrations...
Why do we turn to poetry? Ask a hundred people and you'll get a hundred answers. Still, the underlying thread of truth is that we most often turn to poetry at difficult times in our lives, to reconnect with and make sense of the world. Poetry employs language carefully and intentionally, even when speaking uncomfortable, painful truths.
It’s been heartening to witness an upsurge of interest in poetry, especially amongst younger people. Just head over to Instagram and TikTok and experience the positive energy that’s been generated. Poetry, spreading like wild flower, moving beyond its niche into the wider world. I’m deeply moved by the poetry I’m reading and hearing across all mediums, offering a compassionate and encompassing counterpoint to the divisive and numbing language regularly deployed in politics and media.
Poetry Day Ireland is an all-island poetry hooley, an open invitation to everyone to immerse themselves in the poetry of language.
I recently heard a quote from the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Ilya Prigogine, who said, When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order. I like to think of poems as small islands of coherence that not only articulate the world as it is, but have the power to transform it. Hope. It’s something we are in desperate need of. And if, in the words of the poet Emily Dickinson, hope is a thing with feathers, then poetry, at its best, is a thing with hope.
This year Poetry Day Ireland is happening on May Day, mid-point between the spring and autumn equinox, rooted in the ancient traditions, including the festival fire of Bealtaine, which celebrates renewal, abundance and hope. All hardship, hunger, treachery of winter forgotten. / This unfounded conviction: forgiveness, hope (Kerry Hardie). May, on the cusp a new season, gifts us two paradoxical pleasures; it offers a delicious taste of summer now, and the heady anticipation of long summer months to come. It’s both preview and performance.
Watch: Anne Tannam reads her poem The Medicine Bag
May Day, rich in symbolism and significance, is also recognised globally as International Workers Day, honouring the contribution of workers in all walks of life, paid or unpaid, and to give thanks for their labour. It’s a Fanfare to the Makers ...as workers work and can take pride / In spending sweat before they draw their pay. (Louis MacNiece). This year, May 1st, is an invitation to reflect, through poetry, on worker’s solidarity, unity and collective strength.
Now in its eleventh year, Poetry Day Ireland is an all-island poetry hooley, an open invitation to everyone to immerse themselves in the poetry of language. As nature sprouts, we spout! Head over to poetryday.ie where you’ll find a myriad of ways to get involved. And in libraries, schools, and on the Dart, you can read our twelve selected poems celebrating the theme of May Day in a very special way.
Poetry lovers of the world, unite! Go on, spread a little poetry, spread a little hope.
About The Author: Anne Tannam is the author of four poetry collections, the latest being dismantle (Salmon Poetry, 2024), and is the current Poet in Residence with Poetry Ireland.
Poetry Day Ireland 2025 takes place on May 1st - find out more here.
