Archives: Poetry Clips

This week’s poetry clip is from Maurice Riordan.

Maurice was born in Co. Cork. He is published by Faber and in 2004 he was selected as one of the Poetry Society’s ‘Next Generation’ poets. His first collection, “A Word from the Loki” (1995), was nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize, as was “The Water Stealer” (2013). “Floods” (2000) was a Book of the Year in the Sunday Times and Irish Times. “The Holy Land” (2007) won the Michael Hartnett Award and his new collection, “The Shoulder Tap”, is forthcoming in 2021.

Maurice read at the 2008 John Hewitt International Summer School,

Kathleen McCracken was born in Ontario and has lived in Northern Ireland since 1992. She is the author of seven collections of poetry and winner of the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing.

In 2103 Emma Must read with Michael Longley at a joint John Hewitt Society/Ulster Museum event. Born in England, Emma now lives in Belfast and holds a MA (Poetry) from the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University, where is she about to complete her PhD – the subject of which reflects her history of environmental activism.

Michael McKimm was born in Belfast and grew up near the Giant’s Causeway. A graduate of the Warwick Writing Programme, he won an Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and was an International Writing Fellow at the University of Iowa in 2010. He now lives in London where he works for the Geological Society Library.

Paul Maddern was born in Bermuda of Irish and Cornish stock. He received a BA(Hons) in Film from Queen’s University, Ontario, and then briefly joined the Colorado Ballet as an apprentice dancer. He worked in catering in San Francisco and London, moving to Northern Ireland in 2000. He returned to university in 2004, obtaining a Creative Writing MA (Poetry) from the Seamus Heaney Centre, QUB, and a PhD from the School of English.

Noel Monahan (Ireland) read alongside Gail McConnell for an event organised by the John Hewitt Society and City Chapters (Armagh) to celebrate 2019 National Poetry Day. Noel was born in Granard, Co. Longford. He has won The SeaCat National Poetry Award, The RTE P.J. O’Connor Award for drama, The ASTI Achievements Award, The Hiberno-English Poetry Award … Read more

Nuala Reilly (Ireland) read at the 2008 John Hewitt International Summer School in Armagh, in a showcase for the Irish language publisher, Coiscéim.   Nuala, who writes in Irish, is a native of Armagh and now lives in Derry City. She launched her first collection, “Magus Ballyrath” (Coiscéim) at the 2008 John Hewitt International Summer School in … Read more

Joan Newmann (Ireland) read at the 2008 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Imtiaz Dharker. Joan is from County Armagh and was a member of the famed Philip Hobsbaum Belfast Group that included James Simmons and Seamus Heaney.  “First Letter Home”, like Heaney’s “Eleven Poems”, was published in pamphlet form by Michael Emerson of Queen’s … Read more

Ruth Padel (England) read at the 2014 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Tom Paulin. Ruth was born in London and studied Classics at Lady Margaret Hall Oxford where she wrote her PhD on Greek poetry. At Wadham, she was among the first women to become a Fellow of formerly all-male Oxford colleges. She taught … Read more

David Wheatley (Ireland / Scotland) read at the 2018 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Ailbhe Darcy.  David was born in Dublin where he studied at Trinity College and edited the student poetry journal “Icarus.” With Justin Quinn he also edited the highly influential poetry journey, “Metre”.  Previously at the University of Hull, he is currently Reader … Read more

Susannah Dickey (Ireland) first attended the John Hewitt International Summer School as a bursary recipient in 2017, when she was also part at the Lifeboat Press Reading, alongside Seán Hewitt and Andy Eaton. She read at the Hewitt’s 2019 Hillsborough Festival of Literature and Ideas, alongside Joe Lines and Anna Loughran, again as part of a … Read more

Matt Kirkham (England/Ireland) read for the Hewitt at the National Poetry Day Reading in Armagh (2013), alongside Paula Cunningham   Born in Luton, Matt moved to Ireland some time ago and is currently the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at a school on the Ards Peninsula (Co. Down). He read Mathematics at Cambridge and that field of study … Read more

Ian Duhig (Ireland/England) is a former Committee Member of the John Hewitt Society and last took part in the 2018 John Hewitt International Summer School, along with Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh, discussing “Writing & Refugees”.  Ian is closely associated with the city of Leeds, where for 15 years he worked with the homeless. Known primarily as a … Read more

Andrew McMillan (England) read for the 2016 John Hewitt International Summer School alongside Caitriona O’Reilly. Andrew McMillan’s debut collection “physical” (Jonathan Cape, 2015) was the first poetry collection to win The Guardian First Book Award. And it also won the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, a Somerset Maugham Award (2016), and an Eric Gregory Award (2016). It … Read more

Mary Jean Chan (Hong Kong / England) read for the 2019 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Fiona Benson. Mary Jean is the author of Flèche, published by Faber & Faber. Flèche won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Poetry Prize. … Read more

Professor Ciaran Carson (Ireland)9 October 1948 – 6 October 2019 On April 18th, 2007, at a Lannan Foundation event to celebrate Northern Irish poetry, Ciaran Carson read alongside Paul Muldoon and Michael Longley in the impressive surrounds of the National Geographic Centre in Washington DC. Seamus Heaney had sent a recorded contribution because his recent … Read more

Damian Smyth (Ireland) was previously a Committee Member of the John Hewitt Society and last read for the Society at the 2019 John Hewitt Birthday Reading, alongside Moyra Donaldson and Maureen Boyle.  Damian is currently Head of Literature and Drama for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and is respected across Ireland for his sustained … Read more

Gail McConnell (Ireland) read alongside Noel Monaghan for an event organised by the John Hewitt Society and City Chapters (Armagh) to celebrate 2019 National Poetry Day. Gail lives in Belfast and is a Senior Lecturer in English at Queen’s University Belfast where she is also the convenor of the MA in Poetry: Creativity and Criticism … Read more

Kerry Hardie (Ireland) read the 2019 John Hewitt Society International Summer School in Armagh, alongside Sarah Clancy. Previously, she read with Dennis O’Driscoll and Frank Ormsby for the 2011 John Hewitt Birthday Reading, and with Glenn Patterson for a John Hewitt Society event at the 2011 Banbridge Arts Festival.  Kerry is a poet and novelist. … Read more

Sarah Clancy (Ireland), read the 2019 John Hewitt Society International Summer School in Armagh, alongside Kerry Hardie.  Sarah Clancy lives in Galway with her partner Anne. She has been placed or shortlisted in several of Ireland’s most prestigious written poetry competitions including The Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize, The Patrick Kavanagh Award and The Listowel Collection of … Read more