Adare named as one of 20 ‘Poetry Towns’ across Ireland

Adare has been named as one of 20 Poetry Towns in Ireland, with activities for the town being organised by Poetry Ireland in partnership with Limerick City and County Council Arts Office. The initiative by Poetry Ireland will see more than 100 free poetry-related activities take place in 20 towns across the country between 10th and 18th September. As part of the initiative, Poetry Ireland, together with its local authority partners, will appoint a Poet Laureate for Adare, who will be commissioned to write a poem honouring his or her Poetry Town and its people. The names of the Poet Laureates will be announced later this month, and each poem will be revealed and presented to the people of the participating towns at a series of flagship online events, one of which will be hosted in each town, which will feature contributions from local poets, artists and musicians. There will also be a wide variety of additional activities in the Poetry Towns. These will include poetry workshops, public poetry displays, including ‘Poetry Underfoot’; and a range of physical activities called ‘Poems that Move You’, which will vary from town to town. Local businesses, including cafés and chemists, will also be participating in the activities to celebrate their towns by distributing ‘pocket poems’ to customers. The full programme for each town will be made available on the Poetry Town website during the last week of August.
Director of Poetry Ireland, Niamh O’Donnell said: “The idea behind Poetry Town is to celebrate the many vibrant towns and communities across the island of Ireland, through poetry, collaboration and communal experiences. We are excited to invite individuals, families and communities to join their Poetry Towns, or the Poetry Towns in their vicinity, in a vibrant celebration of the pride in their locality, the value and importance of our heritage, and the strength and diversity in our towns and rural areas.” For further information, visit the Poetry Town website: poetrytown.ie