Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet 2018

Kilkenny County Council Arts Office is delighted to celebrate the publication of the eighteenth issue of the very popular KILKENNY POETRY BROADSHEET. The aim of the publication is to give local writers a platform for their work. Ninety five poems by fifty one poets were submitted for consideration this year and twelve poems by ten poets were selected for publication.
This eighteenth issue of Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet was edited by Peter Sirr.

Peter Sirr's most recent collection of poems is Sway, versions of poems from the troubadour tradition, was published by Gallery Press in 2016. The Rooms was published by Gallery in 2014 and shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award and the Pigott Poetry Prize. The Thing Is, published by Gallery Press in 2009, was awarded the Michael Hartnett Prize in 2011. The Gallery Press has also published Marginal Zones; Talk, Talk; Ways of Falling; The Ledger of Fruitful Exchange; Bring Everything; Selected Poems and Nonetheless. A novel for children, Black Wreath, was published in 2014 and RTE had broadcast three of his radio plays. A play for stage, Krakow, won the 2017 Eamon Keane Award at Listowel Writers' Week. He is a member of Aosdána and lives in Dublin.

Editor Peter Sirr's Statement

'When I read poetry, I want to feel myself suddenly larger ... in touch with - or at least close to - what I deem magical, astonishing. I want to experience a kind of wonderment.' So says the American poet Mark Strand and it's a good summary of what I look for in poetry. When asked to edit this year's Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet and teach the workshop, this is what I had in mind. Imaginative freshness, attention to detail, to the possibilities of language and form, but also preparedness to take risks: these are the elements that draw us to poetry. The poems I received from Kilkenny poets covered a wide spectrum in terms of subject matter and approach, from the natural world to personal loss and the wider social political issues of the day. It was a hard choice in the end, and there were many poems that could have been published here, but the poems I ended up choosing were those that, whatever the subject, showed a spark of the magic necessary for the weird alchemy of poetry. I hope you enjoy them in all their variety. Thanks to Kilkenny Arts Office for their support and Alé Mercado for his design.

Published Poets

Janis Woodgate Sink
Carmel Cummins Scéal amháin an chéid
Noel Howley Brief Encounters with Kingfishers (for Mark Roper)
Gerry Moran Close Encounters
Willie-Joe Meally Out of the Depths
Nora Brennan Scattering the Dark
Sharon Verrall 1. So you can say you had two mothers 2. Necessary Prayers
Nuala Roche Tightrope Walker
Rose Kelly Know who you are
Mary Malin 1. Deletion 2. The Day Before Christmas

Shortlisted Poets

Edward Donovan The Trial
Frances Cotter Spring Dig
Karina Tynan Green and Blue
Kevin Dowling Spa Hill
Maeve Moran Nil Desperandum
Mike Watts Skiff

The Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet is available in Kilkenny Libraries, selected bookshops and from the Kilkenny Arts Office, 5 Dean Street.

Kilkenny Poetry Broadsheet 2018.pdf (size 2.6 MB)