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UpStart: The Video (with Stephen Rea)

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re:verb 2026: a festival of contemporary poetry & the verbal arts (5-6 June 2026)

I'm excited to announce that this summer I'm piloting a small festival of contemporary poetry and the verbal arts in Dublin: re:verb  is a platform showcasing poetry and verbal art that predominantly strays from the mainstream, and aims to expand the potential of live literature. Its purpose is to offer an outlet and an encouragement for new forms and approaches to the making and presentation of contemporary poetry and literature that privilege liveness and vibrancy. And as a small poetry/verbal arts festival, re:verb  aims to operate on a model that relies on a communal, artist- and audience-centred stake in its workings. The dates of this year's edition are 5-6 June 2026 . At-a-glance programme information above, with links to tickets, as well as artist details, below. The idea is that, if all goes well and there's demonstrable appetite for it from every direction, re:verb will potentially become an annual fixture. re:verb is, in its current form at least, a zero-bu...
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Dubious Lists

Though I sometimes indulge in them - see below - I’m not a huge fan of end-of-year lists. Some things take longer to sink in and their significance understood than others. I don't just mean the appreciation of volumes of poetry or films or music, but also events in one’s life, writing or otherwise. It’s not always possible to readily ascribe value or meaning to what has been experienced. More to the point, turns of years can operate as welcome breathers and a chance to step back and see the wood instead of constantly just individual trees. Flitting from task to task and from project to project can have the effect of relegating to the backs of our minds what we really are doing it all for. What this writing business is all about. One or two potent disappointments notwithstanding, 2012 was good to me. It's seen a rise in appreciation of what I do; there was a new book, reception of which has been positive; I did many readings and performances, and took part in discussions, pr...
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The Mediated Self at The University of Stuttgart + a broadcast on HORADS 88.6

Last summer I travelled to Stuttgart on an invitation from Dr Jessica Bundschuh of the Department of English Literatures and Cultures at The University of Stuttgart, where over Friday 27 and Saturday 28 June 2025 I led a series of generative poetry workshop sessions in partnership with Cork-based poet Molly Twomey for around 60 participants composed of University students and 5th grade students from Dillmann Gymnasium. The title of our collaborative workshop project was 'The Mediated Self' and it consisted of three individually-led sessions each: mine focusing on sampling, collaborative writing, ekphrasis, collaging, and related poetics. My session 'Find a Pop Icon' in particular, spread over two days, was the source of much discussion, amusement, tumult and creative engagement from the students. My reading of the 132-line long collaborative, communal 'exquisite corpse' poem in its entirety, which I set for the class at the outset and which was contributed to b...
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