Past Show in 2010 Festival
See What's On in 2011
TOM FRENCH
Tom French is one of the most interesting poets to emerge in Ireland in the last few years. He was born in Kilkenny in 1966 and raised across the border in Tipperary. He received a bursary in literature from An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council, Ireland in 1999, and his fi rst collection ‘Touching the Bones’ (Gallery Press, 2001) was awarded the Forward Prize for First Collection 2002. His second collection ‘The Fire Step’ was published in October 2009. Tom will read from both collections tonight – the general theme is ‘The Things That Leave Us Breathless and Horizontal’.
LEANNE O’SULLIVAN
Leanne O’Sullivan was born in 1983, and comes from the Beara peninsula in West Cork. She received an MA in English from University College, Cork in 2006. The winner of several of Ireland’s poetry competitions, including the Seacat, Davoren Hanna and RTE Rattlebag Poetry Slam, she has published two collections, both from Bloodaxe, ‘Waiting for My Clothes’ (2004) and ‘Cailleach: The Hag of Beara’ (2009). She is the recipient of the 2009 Ireland Chair of Poetry bursary.
“What is remarkable about Leanne O’Sullivan is not that she is so young but that she dares to write about exactly what it is to be young. A teenaged Virgil, she guides us down some of the more hellish corridors of adolescence with a voice that is strong and true. For that alone, she deserves our full attention.” American Poet, Billy Collins
