Singer and human rights campaigner Joan Baez is to visit the home of Seamus Heaney for a poetry reading during a forthcoming visit to Ireland.
Ms Baez (83) will attend a benefit screening of a documentary about her life, I Am A Noise, in December. During her trip she will also do a reading from her recent book of poems When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy, Co Derry, on December 12th.
The visit has been announced by the organisation Art for Human Rights. The screening of the documentary, directed by Karen O’Connor, Maeve O’Boyle and Miri Navasky, will take place in Dublin on December 10th, which is also International Human Rights Day. It is to be followed by a discussion with Ms Baez, Ms O’Connor and Ms O’Boyle, hosted by broadcaster Olivia O’Leary.
“For over 60 years Joan Baez has been the voice of civil and human rights struggles around the world and a passionate and consistent proponent of non-violence,” said Art for Human Rights founder and executive director Bill Shipsey. “We are grateful and humbled and cannot wait to meet and greet her. Exactly 47 years ago today I had the privilege of being with her and her late sister Mimi outside San Quentin Prison [in the US] at a demonstration against the death penalty. I am additionally proud that she has chosen Ireland as the venue for her visit.”
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Art for Human Rights said Front Line Defenders, the Irish Refugee Council, Fighting Words and Narrative 4 will be among the guests at the screening.
When You See My Mother, Ask Her To Dance is described as an intimate, autobiographical collection from the singer who has been writing poetry for years.
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