Joseph Allen was born in Ballymena, brother of Gary Allen.
He is the author of five poetry collections.
http://laganpress.co/authors/joseph-allen

Yeats2015: Joseph Allen – Her Praise

Originally from Youghal, Co. Cork, Olive Broderick  was one of the Poetry Introduction series readers and won a Henessy X.O. Literary Award, Emerging Poetry Category in 2009. Her first publication - pamphlet ‘Darkhaired’ (Templar Poetry, 2010) was shortlisted for a Michael Marks Award. She acknowledges the support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. She has a writing studio the National Trust’s Castle Ward property as part of the Castle Ward Arts & Crafts open studios initiative – www.castlewardartsandcrafts.com

Yeats2015: Olive Broderick - To a Child Dancing Upon the Shore

Christopher McLaughlin was born and grew up in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. He went to Manchester University and later lived for some time in Chepstow, South Wales. He has been back living in Belfast since 2011, 'padding out' his own identity through the medium of poetry, working and learning alongside other poets, and giving readings at various festivals and local events, all well received. Within his work you can expect to find a trinity of cultural influences: Irish, British and American. 


Yeats2015: Chris McLaughlin - September 1913

Geraldine O'Kane is a poet, creative writing facilitator, arts administrator and mental health advocate. She has recovered from mental health issues and cares for her mum, who also has poor mental health. She currently works for the John Hewitt Society. She is co-host of Purely Poetry, a monthly poetry open mic night, and co-runs Poetry NI, a multimedia platform offering news and opportunities for poets in Northern Ireland. She is working towards her first full collection of poetry, and recently received an Artist Career Enhancement Award by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Yeats2015: Geraldine O'Kane - The Song Of The Old Mother

Ross Thompson is a writer from Bangor, County Down.  Ross has been published in various anthologies and was the winner of the FSNI National Poetry Competition 2013 for his poem 'Icarus', and he now acts as a judge with this contest. His pamphlet, 'Slumberland', was published in 2014.

Yeats2015: Ross Thompson - Broken Dreams

Kathleen McCracken is the author of seven collections of poetry. A bilingual English/Portuguese edition, Double Self Portrait with Mirror: New and Selected Poems, was published in 2015.  Her poems have appeared in The Malahat Review, Poetry Canada Review, Exile Quarterly, Poetry Ireland, The Shop, Revival, Abridged, New Orleans Review and Grain, and she has given readings in Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States. Kathleen is currently Lecturer in Creative Writing and English Literature at the University of Ulster. 


Yeats2015: Kathleeen McCracken - The Second Coming

Maria McManus is a poet and playwright. She has been a full-time professional writer since May 2012 after a career of 27 years in training, managerial and clinical healthcare roles.  She is a recipient of an Artist’s Career Enhancement (ACES) Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2015/16.

Writing credits include, 'The Moon. A Plane. A Crow', (pending), which was written in homage to Georges Perec. Maria's poetry collections are ‘We are Bone’ (Lagan Press 2013), The Cello Suites (Lagan Press 2009) - recorded with an original score composed and played by the cellist Tom Hughes.  Reading the Dog (Lagan Press 2006) was runner up in the 2007 Strong Awards at the Poetry Now International Festival and was also short-listed for the 2007 Glen Dimplex New Writers Award.  In 2008  & 2012 she was awarded an Arts Council individual artist award. In 2005 she was awarded the inaugural Bedell Scholarship for Literature and World Citizenship, by the Aspen Writers’ Foundation, Colorado USA.   In 2008 she co-wrote Bruised for Tinderbox Theatre Company. In 2006/07 she was playwright on attachment to Tinderbox.  Previous theatre credits include His n Her’s and Nowhere Harder  (2006) for Replay Theatre Company, and The Black-Out Show  (2006) for Red Lead Arts. A screenplay adaptation of the poetry sequence ‘Aill na Searrach; The Leap of the Foals’, was developed in 2013 with NI Screen.


Yeats2015: Maria McManus - Leda and the Swan

Tory Campbell is a Fine Art/Art History graduate of Goldsmiths College. She only made the shift to writing in her early thirties and is a member of Queen’s Writers’ Group. Tory has been published in local anthologies, The Stinging Fly and The Irish Independent, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Hennessy Literary Award for Emerging Poetry. She was also highly commended in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2014.

Born and raised in Belfast, Tory spent her twenties in London and Nairobi. She currently lives and works in Belfast, where she is a tutor to adults with learning disability.

Yeats150: Tory Cambell - Sailing To Byzantium

We speak to Stephen Gordon, online editor for the John Hewitt Society, about their upcoming series of podcasts with people in the Northern Irish arts and creative scene.

Interview: Stephen Gordon - John Hewitt Society

Mel Bradley is a writer, performance poet, actor and queer burlesque artiste based in Derry.  She won the Eva Gore Booth Award for Best Female Performance at Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2014 and is the current Tyrone Slam Champion.  Mel writes primarily for performance in a style that speaks to the audience directly.
https://soundcloud.com/mel-bradley-1

Mel Bradley - Pieta

Emma McKervey is from Holywood and studied at Dartington College of Arts. Her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies and last year was a winner of the Poetry NI/Translink poetry competition as well as being longlisted for the Poetry School/Nine Arches Press poetry Primers mentorship competition.

Emma McKervey - Pale Blue Fragments

Elizabeth McGeown is based in Belfast and has been published in journals such as Panning for Poems and Anomalie. She regularly performs at Purely Poetry nights and recently ventured further afield, reading at Swell Festival, Co. Donegal and Stendhal Festival. She joined Belfast's Red Pill Spoken Word Showcase in performing at this year's Lingo Festival, Dublin, also chosen by a judging panel from Dublin: UNESCO City Of Literature to qualify for the video heats to take part in the Lingo Slam. She was a judge at the final of the All Ireland Poetry Slam 2015, also chosen as the 'sacrificial' guest poet for that show.

Elizabeth McGeown - Sundae Girl

Originally from Youghal, Co. Cork, Olive Broderick travelled to Northern Ireland to undertake the Creative Writing MA at Queen’s University Belfast, setting in Downpatrick in 2003. Her first publication - ‘Darkhaired’ (pamphlet, Templar Poetry, 2010) was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award for Poetry Pamphlets.

Olive Broderick - Hamadryad or The Abandoned Garden

Geraldine O’Kane, originally from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is a poet, creative writing facilitator, arts administrator, curator and mental health advocate. She is part of Poetry NI, a multimedia platform offering opportunities and resources for poets in Northern Ireland. She recently received an Artist's Career Enhancement Scheme (ACES) award from Arts Council of Northern Ireland. She is working towards her first full collection., and currently works for the John Hewitt Society. Her pamphlet "Quick Succession" is available to purchase via Pen Points Press.

Geraldine O'Kane - When Memories Awaken a Fire

Jenny has read at the Belfast Arts Festival and Culture Night for the last four years. She has twice been a finalist in both the Belfast heat of the All Ireland Poetry Slam and the Belfast Book Festival Poetry Slam. Jenny has performed in the Dublin Lingo Festival, Sunflower Fest, Stendhal Festival, the Poetry and Pints Festival 2014 in the John Hewitt Bar, the Sunday Assembly, and is a regular reader at Purely Poetry's open mic nights. She has also headlined A Little of What You Fancy in Portrush. She was shortlisted for the Grace Dieu Writer's Circle Short Story Award and has had poetry published in Juju, FourXFour and Time In.

Jenny Cleland - Potato Skins And Eggshells

Chelley McLear is a poet and storyteller based in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She has been writing, performing and touring internationally for fifteen years.  Performances include Government House in Singapore, both ends of the Mississippi River and as a finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam. Her largest piece of work is inscribed in stone on the outside of the Braid Museum in Ballymena, County Antrim. Chelley is a current recipient of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland 'Artist Career Enhancement Scheme' award.  This award has provided the opportunity for Chelley to develop a one woman spoken word show incorporating storytelling, poetry and song (to be completed October 2016).

Chelley McLear - ShellShock

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