White House Poetry, 10th Mar 2010

What: Poetry reading with special guest Richard Tillinghast

When: Wednesday, March 10th, 2010, from 9.30pm

Where: The White House pub, O'Connell Street, Limerick

At the White House this week we will be treated to a reading from Tennessee native Richard Tillinghast, who had recently published his Selected Poems with Dedalus Press. He will be joined on the night by his partner, the poet Grace Wells, so it promises to a great evening of poetry.

We will of course have the usual open-mic, too, to which all may and will be encouraged to contribute - bring some poems and see if the mood strikes you!! Some extra colour and atmosphere on the night will be added by the visit of a creative writing class all the way from Norway, whom we'll look forward to welcoming to Limerick. Our resident Master of Ceremonies, Barney Sheehan, will have to be on his best behaviour, and anyone who knows him knows what that means!!

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Richard Tillinghast first came to Kinvara, County Galway, for a year in 1990 on an Amy Lowell travel grant and has long since been a distinctive presence on the Irish literary scene. He now lives in South Tipperary. Selected Poems is his tenth book of poems.

He is also the author of three non-fiction works including Damaged Grandeur, a critical memoir of Robert Lowell, with whom he studied at Harvard, and Finding Ireland: A Poet’s Explorations of Irish Literature and Culture. With his daughter, Julia Clare Tillinghast, he has recently published Dirty August, a selection of their translations from the Turkish poet Edip Cansever.

Tillinghast has also been active as a critic, travel writer and book reviewer for The Irish Times, The New York Times, and other periodicals. He has received grants from the Arts Council of Ireland and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others, and in 2008 was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the University of the South (Sewanee).