I had the busiest weekend I think I’ve had for a long time. It kicked off in the Fusion Café in Wexford Town. The fantastic monthly poetry event run by Denis Collins has been going for a few years and every month, there’s an open mic and featured poet that reads their work. This month […]
Category: Readings
Hey from Hay!
I had a great time at the Hay Festival in Kells last weekend. It has to be the most friendly festival I’ve ever been to. The organisers couldn’t do enough to make one feel like they were a superstar! There was even a green room with all the coffee, food and treats that you could […]
Belfast Book Festival
I had a great time in Belfast for the Belfast Book Festival where I read with Michael J Whelan and Stephanie Conn as part of a special Doire Press Poetry evening. We were introduced by the very talented Stephen Connolly and there were about 25 people in the audience. A special treat for me was […]
Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas
The Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas is one of the highlights of my festival year. Rozz and I have never missed one since it opened 5 years ago. Emrys missed 3 of the 5 due to not being born but he’s had a 100% record since then. This year was extra special for me […]
Jewtown – the Launch
Tonight was the launch of my first poetry collection, Jewtown. We had a small get together in the house with some friends and family. I made cholent, a Jewish-Lithuanian stew that takes 16 hours to cook, and the title of one of the poems in the collection. It seemed to go down ok and hopefully […]
Reading at Books Upstairs
I was over the moon to hold Jewtown in my hands for the first time this evening and read from it. I was one of three readers tonight in Books Upstairs. I read alongside Michael J Whelan (Peacekeeper, Doire Press) and Rita Ann Higgins (Tounglish, Bloodaxe). Everyone was there to see Rita but I think […]
Upcoming Readings
It’s been a busy few weeks in terms of the final edits of the book and I’m delighted that Jewtown is with the printers now. I’ve also been very lucky to have been approached by some festivals and booked in for readings. After the launch on May 27th, I’ll be reading at the Hay Festival in Kells, the […]
Reading in Carlow College
Today as part of Carlow College’s conference on migration, I was at the launch of an excellent art exhibition from Poland, where photographs of remains of the Holocaust are showing. Tomi Reichenthal, a Holocaust survivor, originally from Slovakia launched the exhibition and told his story to the audience. After the launch, there was a poetry […]
To Trouble the Living Stream: Reading
I was delighted to be back in Visual Carlow with the Carlow Writers’ Cooperative for this poetry reading. I read a few newer poems about Irish male identity. I have been very busy with edits to Jewtown as well as work stuff so I haven’t had much of a chance to attend the group. It was […]
Gregory O’Donoghue Reading
I’m delighted to be one of the chosen readers at the Gregory O’Donoghue Prize Giving, which was won by Leila Chatti. There are nine of us reading at this event and here’s a little bit about us all. Amanda Bell is a Dublin-based editor and writer. Publications include The Lion Tamer Dreams of Office Work: […]