Poetry Aloud on the Streets of Galway City

NUI Galway's John Caulfield
Mar 04 2015 Posted: 11:36 GMT

NUI Galway students perform ‘A Poem for Ireland’ shortlist in Galway city centre

Students of Irish and of Drama and Theatre Studies at NUI Galway recently brought poetry out of the lecture halls and onto the main shopping street in Galway city for the pleasure of unsuspecting shoppers. Students recited a selection of verses from poems shortlisted in RTÉ’s ‘A Poem for Ireland’ campaign. These included poems by W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Paula Meehan and Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh.

This flashmob style event, which also included a number of musicians, aimed to encourage the general public to engage with the ten shortlisted poems and to cast their vote in the national ‘A Poem for Ireland’ campaign. To view the flashmob event on Shop Street visit http://youtu.be/Cv9jNnUrnTo.

Event organisers Dr Rióna Ní Fhrighil, Gaeilge lecturer at NUI Galway, and Marianne Ní Chinnéide, Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at NUI Galway, believe that there are many ways to engage with poetry. Beyond the act of reading, poetry can be made accessible through performance. Their students performed poetry on a busy city street to remind people that poetry is for everybody.

One of the poems shortlisted for RTÉ’s ‘A Poem for Ireland’ is ‘Filleadh ar an gCathair’ by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh. Ailbhe is a graduate of NUI Galway, and currently lectures in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures in the University. For a full list of the 10 shortlisted poems and to vote for your favourite poem, see www.rte.ie/apoemforireland.

-Ends-

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