February 2015 Poetry Aloud on the Streets of Galway City

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

Today students of Irish and of Drama and Theatre Studies in NUI Galway will bring poetry out of the lecture halls and onto the main shopping street in Galway city for the pleasure of unsuspecting shoppers. Students will recite a selection of verses from poems shortlisted in RTÉ’s ‘A Poem for Ireland’ campaign.

Current lecturer in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at NUI Galway Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh is among those shortlisted for ‘A Poem for Ireland’.

This flashmob style event, which will also include a number of musicians, aims 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. Event organisers Dr Rióna Ní Fhrighil (Gaeilge, NUI Galway) and Marianne Ní Chinnéide (Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, 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 will perform poetry on a busy city street to remind people that poetry is for everybody.

The event takes place on Shop Street, Galway, today (Thursday, 26 February) from 4pm.

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