Amergin Poetry Solstice Gathering - Éigse na Gréine

The 2nd Amergin Solstice Poetry Festival – Éigse na Gréine will run over the June Solstice weekend. The festival is based on one of the earliest known poems, The Song of Amergin, and is a celebration of contemporary Irish poetry. Legend has it that Amergin first came ashore in Ballinskelligs Bay where Waterville now stands and spoke the words of the now famous first Irish poem.

The Amergin Solstice Poetry Festival opens on the eve of the Summer Solstice and closes with a St. John’s Eve Open Mic Bonfire. In between will be three days and nights of poetry, music, talks, film, workshops, open mic and good company in the midst of possibly the finest sea-and-landscape in Ireland.

The theme of the festival will be based on the Song of Amergin or Laoi Aimhirghin, with its repeated identification of the human with the natural world. It can be read today as an ecological manifesto.

The festival will be officially opened at 7.45pm on Thursday evening by Maureen Kennelly, Director of Poetry Ireland in the Waterville Community Centre.

Readers this year will include Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Maura Dooley, Thomas McCarthy, Moya Cannon, Grace Wells, Martín Veiga, Bríd Ní Mhóráin, Bernard O’Donoghue, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Seán Hewitt, Ján Gavura, Seán Lysaght, Geraldine Mitchell, Ger Reidy, Aonghas MacNeacail, Gerda Stevenson, Gerry Loose and Lorna Waite. John Carey, Professor of Early and Medieval Irish (UCC) will be giving a talk on The Voice of Amairgen, and Ireland’s Myth of Itself. There will also be talks by Olivia O’Leary who will speak on Poetry, Politics and the Planet, Professor of Psychiatry Kay Redfield Jamison (USA), John O’Donoghue and Seán Sugrue who will explore connections between creativity and mental wellness. Musician-in-residence will be the poet/songwriter/guitarist Steve Cooney, best known for his development of an influential style of guitar accompaniment to traditional Irish music.

For all the latest festival information and details of the workshops including booking tickets, please check out the Festival website at amerginpoetry.com. You can also follow on Facebook or Twitter for the very latest information. If you have any queries then please email [email protected] or call +353 (0)87 293 1463.