Tom French read at the 2016 John Hewitt International Summer School as part of a Gallery Goes event, alongside Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and the late Ciaran Carson. Tom was awarded the inaugural Ted McNulty Prize. His first collection Touching the Bones (Gallery Press, 2001) was awarded the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, 2002. The Gallery Press has … Read more
Paula Cunningham (Ireland) read in Armagh for the 2013 National Poetry Day celebrations (hosted in conjunction with The John Hewitt Society and The City Chapter), and for the 2014 John Hewitt Spring Festival in Carnlough. Paula was born in Omagh and lives in Belfast where she works as a dentist. Her pamphlet, A Dog called Chance, … Read more
Niall Campbell (Scotland) read for the 2015 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Colette Bryce. Niall received an Eric Gregory Award and a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, both in 2011. His debut collection, Moontide (Bloodaxe, 2014), is indebted to the geography and culture of South Uist in the Western Isles, where he was born and raised. … Read more
Enda Coyle-Greene (Ireland) read for the 2017 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Jessica Traynor and Pat Boran. Enda was born in Dublin and lives in Skerries, Co. Dublin. She has three collections with Dedalus Press: her debut, Snow Negatives (2007), won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 2006; Map of the Last was published 2013; and Indigo, … Read more
Tess Gallagher (USA/Ireland) read at the 2015 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Anne-Marie Fyfe. Tess Gallagher was born in Port Angeles, Washington. A poet, essayist, fiction writer and playwright, her many honours include a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, a National Endowment for the Arts award, and a Maxine Cushing Gray Foundation Award. She has published numerous poetry … Read more
Grace Wells (England/Ireland) read for the 2016 John Hewitt International Summer School, alongside Rita Ann Higgins Grace grew up in central London and worked in the film and television industry. Her first book, Gyrfalcon (2002), a novel for children, won the Eilis Dillon Best Newcomer Bisto Award and was an International White Ravens’ Choice. Other publications for children … Read more
Stephen Sexton (Ireland) read for the 2015 Hewitt’s Carnlough Spring Festival, alongside Ciaran Carson, and at the 2017 John Hewitt Birthday Reading (Belfast Festival) alongside Sasha Dugdale and Vona Groarke. He had been scheduled to read at the 2020 Hewitt International Summer School. Stephen first attended the Summer School as a bursary student while studying … Read more
Conor O’Callaghan (Ireland) read for the 2013 John Hewitt International Summer, alongside Julia Copus. Conor has five collections with Gallery Press. His debut, The History of Rain (1993, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and won the Patrick Kavanagh Award. His other collections are Seatown (1999), Fiction (a Poetry Book Society recommendation), The Sun King(2013,) and Live Streaming (2017)—the last two … Read more
Sinead Morrissey (Ireland) has read for the Hewitt Society on many occasions, including the International Summer School in 2016, alongside Sarah Howe and in 2007 with Ciaran Carson. She has also read for the Hewitt’s 2015 Carnlough Spring School, with Frank Ormsby. Sinéad has published six collections of poetry, all with Carcanet: There Was Fire in Vancouver (1996); Between … Read more
Padraig Regan (Ireland) first attended the John Hewitt International Summer School as a bursary recipient and, in 2014, read at the School for The Lifeboat Press event, alongside Caitlin Newby. They also read in Belfast for the Hewitt Society’s contribution to Culture Night 2016, again alongside Caitlin Newby. Padraig won an Eric Gregory Award in 2015 … Read more
Jessica Traynor (Ireland) read for the John Hewitt International Summer School in 2017, alongside Pat Boran and Enda Coyle-Greene. Jessica’s 2014 debut collection, Liffey Swim (Dedalus), was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award. Her second collection, The Quick (Deadlus) was an Irish Times poetry choice of 2019. Writing in Poetry Ireland Review, Siobhan Campbell said of the book: “this poet [is] capable of creating canonical work … Read more
Jean Bleakney (Ireland) has conducted workshops and literary garden tours for the Society and she read for the John Hewitt International Summer School in 2017, alongside Lorna Shaughnessy. Jean is paired with the late Eavan Boland on the CEA’s A-level syllabus in Northern Ireland. Born in Newry, Co Down, Jean studied biochemistry at Queen’s University … Read more
Billy Collins (USA) read with Seamus Heaney for the opening night of the 2008 John Hewitt International Summer School. Such was the demand for tickets that both poets generously agreed to an additional reading the following night. Collins also conducted a Masterclass for the Summer School in 2019 and read with Kathryn Maris. Described by … Read more
Luke Kennard’s Poetry Clip for The John Hewitt Society. Luke first read for the JHS in 2017. His first poetry collection, The Solex Brothers, won him an Eric Gregory Award. He was the youngest poet to be shortlisted for the Forward Prize.