Poetry Ireland and Mayo County Council Arts Service announce Poet Laureate for Belmullet, Co Mayo, as part of Poetry Town initiative
Date: 17-08-2021
The Poetry Town initiative will see more than a hundred poetry-related activities take place in 20 towns across the island of Ireland between 10th and 18th September 2021. Belmullet is among the Poetry Towns, and Poetry Ireland, in conjunction with Mayo County Council Arts Service, have appointed Anne Walsh Donnelly as the Poet Laureate for the town.
A writer of poetry, prose and plays, Anne Walsh Donnelly lives in Mayo. Anne has been commissioned to write a poem honouring and reflecting Belmullet and its people.
Anne Walsh Donnelly said she is “ honoured to have been asked to be Poet Laureate for Belmullet. It’s a great privilege and I’m looking forward to writing a poem for the town and surrounding area. I love to write poetry that is accessible and that resonates with the reader. I hope the poem I write for Belmullet will be enjoyed by all who live there. Go raibh mile maith agaibh.”
As part of the week-long Poetry Town celebrations next month, Anne Walsh Donnelly will reveal and present her poem to the people of Belmullet, further details to be announced.
Áras Inis Gluaire www.arasinisgluaire.ie are the Poetry Town Co-ordinator for Belmullet and they are busy planning lots of events to mark Poetry Town. Further activities will include a series of poetry events involving poetry workshops; public poetry displays, including ‘Poetry Underfoot’; and a range of physical activities called ‘Poems that Move You’. Local businesses, including cafés and chemists, will also be participating in the activities to celebrate the town by distributing ‘pocket poems’ to customers. The full programme of activities for each town will be made available on the Poetry Town website during the last week of August https://www.poetryireland.ie/poetry-town/
Commenting, Director of Poetry Ireland, Niamh O’Donnell said: “We are delighted we could secure such a strong cohort of Poet Laureates for this exciting new poetry initiative, which is characterised by collaboration and communal experiences.
“The aim of Poetry Town is to celebrate the vitality and strength of our towns and communities, and to shine a light on the wealth of creativity and talent that can be found in them. The diversity of this talent is reflected in the selection of Laureates, which includes both well-known visionary poets and new powerful voices.”
Poetry Town is an initiative of Poetry Ireland in partnership with Local Authority Arts Offices. It is made possible with funding from the Arts Council of Ireland’s Open Call funding, and is also supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
For further information, visit the Poetry Town website: poetrytown.ie