County Librarian Josephine Coyne was presented with a special limited edition book of commemorative poetry by Dr. Catherine Wilsdon on behalf of UCD Library. Grief’s Broken Brow is a letterpress book containing poetry and art inspired by archival material from the War of Independence and the Civil War.
Kilkenny poets got involved in the project over the past year in various ways. In March, Kilkenny County Council City branch played host to Poetry as Commemoration workshops for both adults and school children. Poems composed in workshops led by Mary O’Donnell and Caroline Busher have been archived in UCD Special Collections. Local poet Róisín Sheehy led school workshops in Offaly and Nuala Roche’s poem ‘The Things You Carried, I Carry Them Too’ featured on the Poetry Jukebox in Galway City over the summer.
As the Decade of Centenaries comes to a close, the project team are presenting public libraries and selected major repositories across the island of Ireland with a copy of the limited-edition book so that it can be made available to the public. The book will be available to view in the City’s new Mayfair Library when it opens.
“I am delighted to accept this book of commemorative poetry” comments County Librarian, Josephine Coyne. It will certainly add value to our collection as well as continuing to connect people to the importance of the Decade of Centenaries and the legacy of same.
The book was designed and produced by Jamie Murphy at The Salvage Press and features original poems by Bebe Ashley, Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, Martina Evans, Seán Hewitt, Nithy Kasa, Victoria Kennefick, Aifric Mac Aodha, Paul Muldoon, Padraig Regan, and Stephen Sexton. All ten poems are also available through the project website www.poetryascommemoration.ie and through a Poetry Jukebox installed at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin.
The project was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Decade of Centenaries programme 2012-2023 and each copy of the book is accompanied by a letter of introduction by Minister Catherine Martin.
For further queries contact Josephine Coyne, Kilkenny Library Service at
T: 056 7794160 E: Josephine.coyne@kilkennylibrary.ie
