Event: Poetry Day Ireland
Poetry Day Ireland 2025 celebrates the theme May Day —a nod to both the ancient Celtic festival of Bealtaine and International Workers' Day. Bealtaine, a fire festival marking the beginning of summer, embodies renewal and hope, while May 1st also honors solidarity and collective strength worldwide. Poetry Ireland will mark the day by releasing twelve specially selected poems, celebrating themes of community, rebirth, and resilience. Expect events island-wide, with readings, workshops, and spontaneous verses springing up in bookshops, cafés, and community centres, uniting poetry lovers in an all-day national celebration of the written word (Various venues nationwide, Thursday, May 1st)
📣 Poetry Day Ireland returns 1st May 2025 with the theme May Day!🎉#MayDay symbolises renewal, hope, & abundance, while also paying homage to International Workers' Day, a time for reflection on solidarity, unity, & collective strength.
— Poetry Ireland (@poetryireland) March 11, 2025
ℹ️ Learn more: https://t.co/tGCImkBtlZ pic.twitter.com/3gGYTPf2Tg
Book: Open To Heaven
Award-winning poet and writer Sean Hewitt makes his eagerly anticipated fiction debut with a tender coming-of-age novel concerning James, a reserved teenager in the English countryside grappling with his emerging desires and the pressures of family expectations. When he meets Luke, a magnetic outsider sent to stay with relatives, he is swept into a relationship that is equal parts tenderness and turmoil. 'The softness and generosity with which Hewitt describes the story, with which he allows James to go through this inescapably important love affair, are what make the book particularly special', writes Conor Hanratty in his RTÉ Culture review - read more here (In bookshops now, Penguin)
Film: Fréwaka
A gripping psychological horror film rooted in ancient Irish folklore, director Aislinn Clarke's (The Devil’s Doorway) chiller follows Shoo (Clare Monnelly), who moves to a remote village to care for an elderly woman (Bríd Ní Neachtain) - drawn into the old woman’s rituals and paranoia, her own grip on reality begins to unravel. It's a golden age for both Irish language cinema and Irish horror movies - here the two collide, with memorable results - Clarke and Monnelly talk to RTÉ Arena below (Cinemas nationwide)
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Event: Cork International Choral Festival
The CICF celebrates its 70th anniversary, transforming Cork city and county into a stage for glorious harmonies. With over 90 venues hosting performances, the festival brings together choirs from around the globe for five joyful days of music and cultural exchange. Audiences can expect everything from intimate performances in historic churches to large-scale concerts in iconic city spaces (Various venues, Cork city and county, April 30th to May 4th)
(Pic: Clare Keogh)
Theatre: From a Low and Quiet Sea
Donal Ryan’s Booker Prize-nominated novel is adapted for the stage by the author himself and director Andrew Flynn, weaving together the lives of four characters—a Syrian refugee, a troubled young man, a remorseful manipulator, and a grieving mother—each searching for solace and belonging. Ryan's moving tale explores themes of displacement, regret, and redemption. Flynn and actor Denis Conway talk to RTÉ Arena below (Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, April 29th - May 3rd)
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