White House Poetry, 7th July 2010

What: Poetry reading with special guests Anthony Owen and Barry Patterson

When: Wednesday, 7th July 2010, from 9pm

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

At the White House reading in the coming week (July 7th) are visiting poets from Coventry, Anthony Owen and Barry Patterson. Each will read a selection of his work and there will be an open-mic reading sessions to which all comers may and will be encouraged to contribute something.

Antony Owen is from Coventry, England, his first collection of poetry My Father’s Eyes Were Blue was published in May 2009 by Heaventree Press to rave reviews from award winning poets.

In November 2009 Owen arranged a remembrance themed poetry event backed by Falklands Hero Simon Weston OBE which raised over £2,000 and inspired several other creative projects expected to raise up to £10,000 for JJ’s Memorial Fund and Help for Heroes.

Owen is currently working on his second collection of poetry titled The Dreaded Boy and has also been published in Avocado Magazine, Sherb: An Anthology Of River Poems (Heaventree Press), Ava Gardner: Touches of Venus by Gilbert Gigliotti (Entasis Press).

Barry Patterson is a writer and performer living in Coventry. The philosophy of the poems in his debut collection, Nature Mystic (Heaventree, 2009), is in their shared ethos of Dharma and Druidry.

Patterson, both a trained scientist and a spiritual practitioner, uses poetry, passionate and contemporary in its style and, further, with its own formal regulations and restrictions, as a medium – perhaps the best medium – to attempt an expression of the unutterable mystical experiences he has encountered in both religions, and in the natural world.

The poems are his journey, written during several years of exploring this hidden dimension, but Patterson also brings his poetry to life in vivid, musical performances encapsulating flute, bodhran and song.

White House Poetry, 30th June 2010

What: Poetry reading with special guest Susan Millar DuMars

When: Wednesday, 30th June 2010, from 9pm

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

At the White House this week (30th June, starting at 9pm) reading from her brand new second collection, Dreams for Breakfast (Salmon Publishing) is Susan Millar DuMars. As well as this special presentation, there will be an open-mic reading session, to which all our comers on the night will be invited and encouraged to contribute a poem or two. As always, there is no admission fee and complimentary finger food will be provided.

Susan Millar DuMars was born in Philadelphia in 1966 and holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco. Her poems and short stories have been published widely in the US, UK and Ireland, and she had poetry included in the 2004 Anthology I, published by Ainnir.

In 2005, Lapwing in Belfast published a pamphlet of her poems, entitled Everyone Loves Me, to rave reviews, and the same year she was awarded an Irish Arts council Bursary for her fiction. In 2007 then, a volume of short stories was published by Lapwing under the title American Girls.

Living in Galway, since 2003 Susan and her husband, poet Kevin Higgins, have been organising the successful Over The Edge literary evenings. Her first full collection of poems is Big Pink Umbrella, published in 2008 by Salmon, to which Dreams for Breakfast is the follow-up. The new book will of course be available as well for purchase on the night, and the poet will sign these with personalised messages for anyone interested.

Of Susan's work, renowned poet Rita Ann Higgins says: "DuMars will not rush sadness, but instead makes language do its poignant job of revealing and evoking strong feelings... Her style of retelling is unique; she doesn't mince her words, she spares them and makes them work."

White House Poetry, 23rd June 2010

What: Poetry reading with special guest John W. Sexton

When: Wednesday, 23rd June 2010, fom 9pm

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

This week at the White House (June 23rd) sees the return of one of our great supporters, John W. Sexton, for a reading from his recently published fourth collection of poems, Petit Mal (Revival Press), which contains the winning poem from the 2007 Listowel Writer's Week single poem competition, called 'The Green Owl'.

Sexton will give his presentation in conjunction with an open-mic reading session and as ever all comers on the night will be invited and encouraged to contribute an old piece or something they are working on at the moment, anything at all goes! There will of course be complimentary finger food provided by Glenn McLoughlin, the proprietor, and admission is free.

Sexton's previous collections are The Prince’s Brief Career (Cairn Mountain Publishing, 1995), Shadows Bloom/Scáthanna Faoi Bhláth (Doghouse Books, 2004, a book of haiku published with translations into Irish by Aosdana's Gabriel Rosenstock), and Vortex (Doghouse Books, 2005).

He has published two childrens’ novels, The Johnny Coffin Diaries & Johnny Coffin School-Dazed (both from The O’Brien Press). He has also recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman, Hugh Cornwell, entitled Sons Of Shiva, which has been released on Track Records.

As if all this weren't enough, Sexton is also the creator and scriptwriter of the RTÉ children’s series The Ivory Tower. Currently the fiction editor for The Cork Literary Review, he sometimes writes under the pseudonym Sex W. Johnston.

Copies of Petit Mal will be available for purchase on the night at a reduced price, whic the poet will sign for buyers with personalised messages. Please arrive early to be sure of getting good seats. See you then!!

White House Poetry, 9th June 2010

What: Poetry reading with special guest Siobhán Campbell

When: Wednesday, 9th June 2010, from 9pm

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

This Wednesday (June 9th, from 9pm) at the hugely popular Limerick reading series is acclaimed poet Siobhán Campbell to read a eslection of work from her recently published third full collection, Cross-Talk (Seren Press) and other work. Her reading will be in conjunction with the usual open-mic session to which all comers are very welcome and will be encouraged to contribute. As ever there is no admission fee and finger food will be provided compliments of the proprietors.

Siobhán Campbell was born in Dublin. She spent a number of years in New York and San Francisco and worked as Director of Wolfhound Press before joining Faculty at Kingston University in London.

Widely published in the USA and UK, credits include Crab Orchard Review, Poetry, The Southern Review, Agenda, Magma and Wasafiri. Her work is anthologised in Women’s Work: Modern Women Poets Writing in English (Seren), The Field Day Anthology of Irish Literature (NYU Press) and Identity Parade: New British and Irish Poets (Bloodaxe, 2010). Publications also include reviews and criticism in Agenda, The Independent, Poetry Ireland Review and The Stinging Fly.

She has won awards in the National, Troubadour and Wigtown International competitions, and was first runner-up for the Gregory O'Donaghue Award 2010. She has also recently (2009) been shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award. Her collections previous to Cross-Talk are The Permanent Wave and The Cold that Burns, (Blackstaff Press), as well as the chapbooks That Water Speaks in Tongues (Templar Poetry) and Darwin Among the Machines (Rack Press).