Biddy Jenkinson once described a poet as ‘a troublemaker by profession’. It’s an observation that chimes deeply with Annemarie Ní Churreáin. Since Bloodroot, her first collection, Ní Churreáin has drawn inspiration from Irish women ‘troublemakers’, rebels and truth-tellers of all kinds, from folkloric figures like the banshee or the Cailleach, to Bridget Cleary, Sinéad O’Connor and Annie Murphy, as well as her own grandmother.
Whether giving voice to the dead of the Mother and Baby Homes, or exploring the hunger for mystery in the moving statues phenomenon, her latest collection, Hymn to All the Restless Girls, uses spells, folklore, incantations and the ancient art of fiachaireacht, or raven-watching, to resurrect the stories of women that Church and State have often sought to repress, in poems at once playful and fierce.
It’s an approach that has not only garnered her numerous awards, including the Shine Strong Award for Best Debut Collection in the US, but made her the ideal co-librettist on The Curing Line, and we’re thrilled to welcome her to Kilkenny to explore her work in conversation with Olivia O'Leary.
Book Tickets
| Sun 16 Aug, 2.00p.m. | €18/€16 | Book Now |
