I had a brilliant time in Galway as part of the Over the Edge Culture Night event in Kenny’s Bookshop and Gallery. Any excuse to come to Galway is always welcome but with Emrys staying at home with grandma, it was lovely to go away for a night with Rozz on our own. We got some great food recommendations from our food journalist friend on where to eat and she wasn’t wrong with her choices. In between eating and poetry, we managed to have a quick look around the city with a visit to another book institution, Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop.
The Over the Edge Reading was good fun and Rozz came 3rd in the prose open mic competition. We also had readings from Elizabeth Reapy and Karl Parkinson who were fantastic. I was one of the two judges for the poetry open mic and got to do a reading too, which went down well, I think. I decided to read a few different poems than usual and included some of the poems mentioned in Kevin Higgins’s review of the book. Dani Gill was the other guest poet who read from her upcoming collection, After Love.
After a great Fish and Chip meal courtesy of our friend’s recommendation, we met up with Kevin Higgins, Susan Millar DuMars and the other readers for a few drinks in Dock One. We were joined throughout the night by other Galway literati. Sometimes, nights go far too quickly and it seemed very early when the lights went up and we had to leave.
Before we left, we took a trip into Kenny’s after a walk around Salthill so I could record a video of me reading some of my work and we splurged on a load of books. Here are some photos of the events.
