Strokestown International Poetry Competition

Nearing the end of my novel, soon. A few more weeks, I hope! Its been a long haul. It helps that the short people are back at school, though they'll have almost seven weeks of 'off days' (between holy days, bank holidays, and religious festivals etc...) this year....so better keep my head down -  but in the meantime - Poetry... The 2017 Strokestown International Poetry Festival Competition is open for entries. I went to this festival a few years ago and had a ball, it was great crack, very fine poetry and even a guided mountain climb. There'll be a festival anthology this year - in which shortlisted entrants will feature alongside the work of the judges and other poets. Shortlisted poets for each of these competitions will also be asked to read a selection of their poems as part of the festival, and will receive a reading fee of €200. Closing date:  2^nd December, 2016. For details, rules and entry forms see Here Good luck if you enter :)

Strokestown International Poetry festival

"Are you here for here for the international poetry festival?"

"How did you know?"

"Well, with tights like those..."

Strokestown was a weekend packed with FREE readings, workshops, a launch (Cyphers) and a hilarious play by Martin Dyar - Tom Loves A Lord, with music by Anna-Louise Costello. All the shortlisted poets gave readings, the readings of the winning poems were saved for the last night/ finale/results when the judges (Peter Fallon, James Harpur) said a few words about what impressed them about each poem before the final announcement.

First prize went to Jane Routh, second to Pat Winslow and third to Mike Barlow. Peter Fallon said that Jane's poem was the only one they hadn't disagreed about, that cream rises to the top slowly...

I loved Isobel Dixon's poems and Heather Clyne's work, Heather was shortlisted for the Gaelic Poetry Prize and she only began to learn Gaelic three years ago. Listening to poems in Gaelic, (which I don't speak) made me notice tone, rhythm, repetition, voice and body language so much the more. I also found Albanian poet, Ndrek Gjini's work quite startling. Peter Goulding, massively talented and prolific fellow blogger and poet was the winner of the Percy French for humorous verse. I missed that award as we were late arriving but Peters collection, The Six Gifts Of Womanhood, is wicked, in the best possible way!

It's a friendly and accessible festival and I can't wait to go next year. Highlights were the guided walk over Slieve Ban (and the welcome baskets of sandwiches in Frank’s Pub at Ballybeg afterwards), the poems in the pub on Friday night, O Biern's Guinness, the variety and quality of the readings of the shortlisted poems in Gaelic, and the Shortlisted poems in English.