Christodoulos Makris

The next Poetry Upfront event will take place on Monday 21 December 2009 at 13 Drogheda Street, Balbriggan, Co Dublin. A 'Poetry Shop' for one night only, the venue will be open between 6pm and 10.30pm . As a sort of antidote to the consumerism of this period we aim to provide an informal space dedicated to poetry with plenty of volumes and anthologies for perusal, recordings of poets reciting their work and an opportunity for our 'customers' to talk about poetry (or anything else they like!) There will also be an 'open-mic' session - expressions of interest in taking part on the night. In addition, we would like to ask those who attend to join us in a spot of 'Poetry Exchange' : contribute a poetry book to the kitty and you will receive someone else's contribution, at random, before the end of the night. Admission is free , and there will be nothing for sale. We hope to see all of you there. Please feel free to contribute to the event as you see

Issue 17 of Southword , published by the Munster Literature Centre, is now online. This is the second issue to appear exclusively online, and it features poetry contributions from (among others) Greg Delanty, Geraldine Mitchell, Valzhyna Mort, Gerry Murphy, Conor O'Callaghan, Billy Ramsell and Gerard Smyth. Its short fiction section includes the Sean O'Faolain competition winning entries. There are also John Minihan's photographs from the Frank O'Connor Festival and a section of reviews and criticism. The issue also features my poem 'Dubious Words' . Within the whole Plath/Hughes mythology, Assia Wevill's voice has been largely muted. A recent biography tried to rectify this. It also suggested to me the use of the voice of Wevill's daughter for this poem, which in the end can't get away from reservations about its own existence. Southword 17 will be launched at the Irish Writers' Centre in Dublin on Tuesday 15 December. There will be readings by

Wurm im Apfel's wurmfest festival takes place over the coming weekend, December 4-6, at 'The Complex' in Dublin's Smithfield Square. This is a great new initiative providing an opportunity to encounter some really exciting poetic voices from across Europe. Programme details are available on the wurmfest website.