Staccato: February and March sessions: writers from Northern Ireland
To everyone who wished me Happy Birthday last week – many thanks! It was lovely to receive all those good wishes. The virtual celebration of birthdays is a very good thing, I think – we can remind each other that we’re all still out there, and make plans to catch up in the coming weeks and months.
I rounded off a lovely birthday with a visit to Staccato, Tanya Farrelly and David Butler’s terrific spoken word event at Toner’s pub in Baggot Street.
On the second Wednesday of every month, it kicks off at 7.45 pm – and entry is free. A mix of invited guests and the always lively Open Mic, this is a monthly event not to be missed.
Next month, on the 8th March, Staccato will host a group of writers from Northern Ireland to celebrate International Women’s Day.
I’m very grateful to Tanya and David who greeted this idea with great enthusiasm and we’re planning to give the six writers a very warm welcome.
This will, we hope, be just one of many visits by writers and artists from the North of Ireland.
With the looming uncertainties of Brexit and the creation of artificial divisions everywhere, many of us on this small island feel the need to keep that border porous.
We want to increase the cultural traffic between North and South – going both ways.
We want to encourage cross-border, cross-community initiatives and the cross-fertilization of ideas – everything that fosters inclusivity rather than the building of walls, actual or virtual.
There are lots of celebrations all over the country for International Women’s Day.
It’s a very busy event, and I’m thrilled that our six guests have chosen to be with us.
In keeping with the now firmly-established Staccato tradition, we will have three poets and three prose writers reading on the night.
There will, of course, be the usual Open Mic and excellent musical entertainment.
Staccato: the poets and the writers
Our poets on the evening are: Maria McManus, Deirdre Cartmill and Nandi Jola.
Bernie McGill, Sheila Llewellyn and Annemarie Neary are all featured in Sinéad Gleeson’s wonderful anthology, The Glass Shore, the companion volume to the ealier The Long Gaze Back – both of them award-winners at the Irish Book Awards, and deservedly so.
Not only Staccato: Irish Writers’ Centre Readathon
And as part of the Women Aloud celebrations of the work of Northern Irish women writers, there will be a Readathon at the Irish Writers’ Centre on Saturday 11th March: click here to know more about the event.
Some 50 women writers from the North will descend on Dublin that Saturday:
and whatever else it will be, it will not be a quiet meeting!
So – put the 8th March in your diary and come along to Toner’s pub in Baggot Street for around 7.45 pm. You won’t be disappointed.
