THE CÚIRT International Festival of Literature began life 30 years ago as a festival dedicated exclusively to poetry. Its remit is wider today, but poetry remains a key factor.
The festival, which runs from Tuesday April 21 to Monday 27, officially opens on Wednesday 22 with a reading by one of Ireland’s leading poets, Paul Durcan, in the Town Hall Theatre at 8.30pm. On the night he will read from his new collection, The Days Of Surprise.
Cúirt 2015 plays host to a wide variety of poets, local, national, and international, with one of the highlights set to be the reading of Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye at the Town Hall on Thursday 23 at 8.30pm. In the Galway Advertiser last month, Galway poet Kevin Higgins said it is “certain to be a revelation, one which will be spoken of in years to come, like Allen Ginsberg’s appearance in 1995...an essential event for anyone with a serious interest in either poetry or Palestine”.
Also worth noting is Jane Hirshfield, an award winning poet, essayist, and translator. She will discuss her work on Saturday 25 at 11am in Town Hall Studio. Hirshfield has written several collections, and published anthologies of poetry by women. She describes poetry as, “an instrument of investigation and a mode of perception, a way of knowing and feeling both self and world.”
Also taking part in the festival are Galway poets Sarah Clancy and Elaine Feeney and Galway based Corkonian Louis de Paor.
Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 or www.tht.ie See also www.cuirt.ie
