ArtScape:Before last Sunday night's full-house reading in the Gate Theatre in honour of poet Thomas Kinsella, another event took place in the nearby Irish Writers' Centre to celebrate the launch of a new Claddagh Records double-CD recording of his poems.
While the Gate celebration had an array of other poets and academics choosing and reading one particular Kinsella poem each, the CD has the poet himself bringing to life 42 of his poems in his own rich, resonant and distinctive Dublin voice.
This abundant selection covers the whole range of his career as a poet, from his first volumes with Liam Miller's Dolmen Press and on through several of the Peppercanister editions.
Followers of the poet will find not only many of the more formal early works such as Baggot Street Deserta, Mirror in February, Another September, Wormwood and Dick King, but also very recent work such as Marcus Aurelius and Marginal Economy. The long, evocative and reflective poem Nightwalker is recorded here, too, in full. Hearing the poems intoned as spoken word is a reminder of the precision of the language and structure of his poems, as well as of Kinsella's fidelity to the inquiring form in his work.
Following an introduction by Claddagh founder Garech de Brun, who reminded those present of the recording company's long association with some of the major figures in Irish poetry, Kinsella read four poems. These included sections from A Selected Life, his powerful and moving elegy in memory of composer and musician Seán Ó Riada, and from its sequel, Vertical Man.
He ended by dedicating a reading of one of those early poems that established him as a master of the love poem, In The Ringwood, to his wife (and, as he said, his muse) Eleanor.
The name of Seán Ó Riada was invoked again in the music that followed. In keeping with the mood of remembrance, traditional musicians Francis McPeake and Mairead Forde played Róisín Dubh, the tune Ó Riada used as the basis for theme to the documentary film Mise Eire.
The CD recording, made last summer during the poet's annual return to Ireland from Philadelphia, where he now lives, is an ample demonstration of the accuracy of Seamus Deane's comment in the sleeve notes, when he says that Kinsella "is by now the most formidable presence in Irish poetry".
Lynch prepares for park life
No self-respecting university is without a writer-in-residence these days, but not too many of these posts also offer a home for the duration on one of the swankiest estates in the country. From July 1st until September 30th the poet, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, critic and Aosdána member Brian Lynch, this week named as this summer's writer-in-residence at Farmleigh, will have the rolling acres of the Phoenix Park as his back garden and will be welcoming the public to a number of literary events there.
The first event will be a reading at 8pm on Wednesday, July 25th, from his novel The Winner of Sorrow, preceded by a complimentary wine reception from 7pm.
The novel, published by New Island in 2005, about the poet William Cowper (1731-1800) was hailed by John Banville in The Irish Timesas being "at once moving, instructive and slyly funny - that rare thing, a recuperation of a poet by a poet''. Paul Durcan said of it, "If you want the low-down and high-down on the delicate, brutal reality of a poet's life, you must read The Winner of Sorrow".
Lynch will give a screenwriting masterclass at Farmleigh on Sunday, August 19th at 3pm, while his final event is on Sunday, September 30th at 3pm. Entitled Some Treasures from the Benjamin Iveagh Library, this will be a talk based on a selection of works from the library at Farmleigh. All events are free of charge but tickets must be applied for.
Earlier this year, Lynch's book-length poem about Northern Ireland, Pity for the Wicked, featured on the shortlist for the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize. Interestingly, in an earlier phase of his life as government spokesman on Northern Ireland, he was a member of the Irish delegation at the Sunningdale Conference in 1973.
And what will Lynch be working on during the summer months in the park? His new novel, a chapter of which is set, appropriately enough, in Farmleigh. See www.farmleigh.ie.
Dún Laoghaire arts push
With established events such as the Festival of World Cultures and the Poetry Now International Festival, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has for some time been among those local councils that have been to the fore in supporting the arts. This week it was announced that more than €1 million has been earmarked for the area's cultural activities this year.
It was also announced by Sharon Murphy, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown arts officer, that journalist, critic and frequent contributor to these pages Belinda McKeon is to take on the role of curator of the poetry festival in 2008. She succeeds poet John McAuliffe, who was responsible for the programming of the last three festivals. Murphy also welcomed a number of new members to the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown arts team, including Carolyn Brown as senior arts administrator and Máire Davey as education and community co-ordinator.
To mark the launch by the council's chairman Eugene Regan and Arts Council chairwoman Olive Braiden of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown's Arts Strategy 2007-2010, the council has also produced a photographic essay with images of the council's arts programme since 1994, photographed by Ros Kavanagh.
New programmes being introduced in the autumn include Place and Identity, a public art residency programme; a count jazz ensemble-in-residence, led by Ronan Guilfoyle and supported by Music Network; a public talks series; Concourse, a contemporary art installation programme; and Culture Club, which sounds like an innovative idea, a programme to encourage young people to go and see the arts.
Branca's guitar army
The sound of 100 guitars will echo across the Liffey next month in an unusual musical event planned for the Docklands. The occasion will also provide plenty of scope for local guitarists to show their talents - though it sounds as if accomplished rather than budding musicians are what is required.
New York composer Glenn Branca is seeking 80 guitarists and 20 bass players for his forthcoming performance of Symphony No 13 ( Hallucination City). The performance will take place in the recently-opened Grand Canal Square in the Docklands, on Sunday, July 15th, as part of Analog a weekend of free live music performances in Dublin.
Selected guitarists and bass players will be asked to attend two rehearsals on July 13th and 14th, from 11am to 9pm, as well as a soundcheck on the day of the concert. Food and drinks will be supplied at all rehearsals and at the performance.
All musicians will be required to read standard staff notation.
Branca's piece was originally commissioned by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and performed at the World Trade Center in 2001. Those wishing to participate should email glenn@glennbranca.comor visit www.analogconcerts.ie.
The return of Culture Night
Following the success of last year's inaugural Culture Night in Dublin, Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) has announced that this year's Culture Night will be held on Friday, September 14th.
The number of participating organisations will be double that of last September, with more than 80 cultural venues throughout the city offering free special events for the occasion. These will include dramatic performances, readings, exhibitions, dance performances, concerts and films in the city's museums, galleries, historic houses, cathedrals and studios, most of which will stay open for an extended period, up to 10pm.
Almost 50,000 people visited the participating cultural venues last year, and the organisers are aiming to increase that number to 80,000. Gráinne Millar, head of cultural development at TBCT, says that free buses bringing people between the venues will be provided by Dublin Bus, and street entertainment will be supported by Dublin City Council. She sees it as a realistic goal to repeat the initiative in other cities within the next couple of years.
Participating venues will include the Gaiety School of Acting, Trinity College Library, Dance Ireland, Dublin Writers Museum, the Abbey Theatre, the National Museums of Ireland, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Ark, and the GAAMuseum.