Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco Is In Town!

Barrack Obama's Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco begins his residency in Limerick today as part of Limerick city of Culture. Poet Richard Blanco commented: 

“I am thrilled to be Limerick City of Culture’s Writer in Residence and visit Ireland for the very first time. I’m very much looking forward to discovering its ancient landscape and meet and work with the people of Limerick and beyond, and share in the universal language of poetry.

Blanco was chosen by Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in 2012 following in the footsteps of luminary American writers Maya Angelou and Robert Frost. Blanco is the youngest, first Latino, and openly gay writer to hold this honour and was chosen as Obama believed the poet’s “deeply personal poems are rooted in the idea of what it means to be an American.”

Blanco will meet community groups in (Watch House Cross Library), Work with Limerick Writers and secondary school students and give a number of readings and talks as part of his residency (details below) 

Thursday 28th August 8pm

Public POETRY READING:  at the Granary Library, Michael Street, Limerick. - Admission Free

Wednesday September 3rd at 5pm 

TALK : POET ENGINEER AND THE POETICS OF PLACE: at the Studio Space, School of Architecture, University of Limerick (Room CG-042) Admission Free- All Welcome.

Thursday September 4th at 8pm

LAUNCH -Reading as part of launch of programme for Cuisle Limerick City International Poetry Festival.  at the Hunt Museum .Tribute reading to American poets, especially those who have taken part in Cuisle Limerick City International Poetry Festival. Admission Free

Friday September 5th at 8pm   

READING - Desmond Hall Newcastle West, Co. Limerick

Appearing along with Richard Blanco will be Limerick poet, Vivienne McKechnie,’ Local violinist, Siobhan McMahon and flautist, Clare Murphy, will complete the line-up for what promises to be a magical night in this historic and beautiful venue. The event is open to all and admission is free.

Upcoming Readings and Talks

                

                                  Upcoming Readings 

We are delighted to announce a series of public readings by renowned poets, short story writers and novelists who are visiting Limerick during 2014 as part of the City of Culture Literature and Writing Legacy Project.
As the readings are sponsored by City of Culture, there is no entrance fee unless otherwise indicated below.
For further information, including a list of upcoming creative writing workshops, please email the following:

visitingwriterslimerick2014@gmail.com

AUGUST			Writers-in-Residence: Mike McCormack (11-24 August) and Richard Blanco (25 August – 8 September)
22	Sun Wei and Mike McCormack	Fiction	Public Reading	Library, Dooradoyle	19.00-21.00
28	Richard Blanco	Poetry	Public Reading	The Granary Library, Michael Street.	20.00

SEPTEMBER			Writer-in-Residence: Richard Blanco (25 August – 8 September)
3	Richard Blanco		Lecture- ‘Poet Engineer and the Poetics of Place ‘	The Studio, Room CG042, School of Architecture, University of Limerick	17.00
4	Richard Blanco	Poetry	Reading as part of launch of programme for Cuisle Poetry Festival	Hunt Museum	20.15
5	Richard Blanco	Poetry Reading		Desmond Hall, NCW	20.00
19	Claire Keegan	Reading		Adare Library	20.00
19	Helena Close	Fiction	Reading	Friars’ Gate, Kilmallock	T.B.A.
October
3	Andrew Miller	Fiction	Public Reading	The Granary Library, Michael Street.	20.00
10	Louis de Bernières	Fiction	Public Reading	The Granary Library, Michael Street.	20.00
23	Clairr O’Connor Vivienne McKechnie Jo Slade	Poetry	Public Reading	Library, Dooradoyle	19.00

NOVEMBER			Writer-in-Residence: Colin Barrett (03-16 November); Paul Lynch (17-30 November)
7th	Colin Barrett and Kevin Barry	Fiction	Public Reading	The Granary Library, Michael Street.	19.00-21.00
7 and 8	Katrin Schmidt and Katje Lange- Müller	Fiction	Reading at 15th Conference in Irish-German Studies	UL	T.B.A.
13h	Christine Dwyer Hickey and Joseph O’Connor	Fiction	Public Reading	UL	17.00
21	Paul Lynch and Donal Ryan	Fiction	Public Reading	The Granary Library, Michael Street.	19.00-21.00
26	Joseph O’Connor	Fiction	Talk as part of Soulscapes Check with Friars’ Gate re. admission fee	Friars’ Gate, Kilmallock	Evening
28	Paul Lynch	Fiction	Public Reading	Inchirourke, Askeaton	19.00
Please note that this programme may be subject to change. All information is correct at time of publication.

                                                   

Great news for creative writers in Limerick!

We are delighted to announce a series of workshops, seminars and master classes for creative writers. The sessions will be delivered by renowned poets, short story writers and novelists who are visiting Limerick during 2014 as part of the City of Culture Literature and Writing Legacy Project.  

Many of the sessions are aimed at people already engaged in creative writing. For those new to creative writing, Joseph O’Connor is offering An Introduction to Creative Writing session on 9 October and again on 23 October.

There is no charge for participation as these workshops are sponsored by the City of Culture Literature and Writing Legacy Project. To book a place on a workshop, please email visitingwriterslimerick2014@gmail.com  It is possible to book places on up to three of these events. 

 Click here to download a full list of workshops offered by Mike McCormack, Richard Blanco, Claire Keegan ,Andrew Miller,  Joseph O’Connor, Kevin Barry , Christine Dwyer Hickey, Colin Barrett and Paul Lynch.