Poetry NI and Funeral Services Northern Ireland present a Belfast poetry reading for the FSNI National Poetry Competition.

Poets confirmed to read will be:
Previous winners Mark Cooper and Ross Thompson,
Anthony Ferguson, 
Jason Ashford, 
David Smylie, 
Geraldine O'Kane,
Elizabeth McGeown,
Willetta Fleming, 
David Braziel
and Megan Reeves.

The event is hosted by Colin Dardis.
Entry is FREE, and the event takes place in:
James Brown & Sons, 300 Newtownards Road (roughly halfway between Skainos and The Engine Room Gallery) Belfast, BT4 1HF

ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
In the fourth year of the Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry Competition, FSNI is searching for the best poetry from across Northern Ireland. The theme for the competition is 'Light;, tying in with National Poetry Day on Thursday 8 October 2015.

To find out more and details on how to enter, please visit:
http://www.fsni-nationalpoetrycomp.co.uk/

We loved our first experience of Stendhal Festival of Art​, brining nearly three hours(!) of poetry to the Garden Shed Stage at Ballymully Cottage Farm on Saturday afternoon.

Our readers on the day, gathered from across the North, each bought brilliant work, all fitting in perfectly to the open air surroundings.

We thank:
Sarah Lough​, Elizabeth McGeown​, Sinead Coxhill, Annemarie Mullan​,  Paul Butterfield Jnr​, Kate Brown, Megan Reeves​, Bobby Forrest, Brian McNicholl, Tina Burke, Willie Joe (a late addition so sorry we don't have a surname!) and Sarah R'dek​.

Many thanks also to Ross Parkhill​ for allowing us to programme the event, and special thanks to Annemarie Mullan for her local expertise and stage management skills on the day! The local readers were particularly well received from an attentive, appreciative and supportive audience. 

With no names to pull out of the hat as usual, Geraldine O'Kane​ shared hosting duties with Colin Dardis​ (who both read also). Lots of things can go wrong at festival readings when managing so many people, but amazingly everyone showed up on time, we stuck to our running order, and were blessed with just a great event all round. More of the same next year hopefully!

Even though our regular Purely Poetry open mic night in Crescent Arts Centre took a break this month, this Friday sees the return of our Strabane edition at The Alley Theatre. hosted by Chris McLaughlin. 

Chris will be the Radio Foyle Arts Show on Friday evening at 6.30 to talk about the night and the All Ireland Poetry Slam qualifier that we have scheduled for The Alley Theatre in September.

Come along and bring a friend.We're waiting to hear your poems, so join us!

UPDATED: Listen back to Chris on the Arts Show at this link (starting from 17:12 into the programme).

Well, we've just about recovered from the week that was The John Hewitt Society International Summer School. We had a blast on Thursday night, downstairs in The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre, with our late night Purely Poetry open mic session, our first time bringing it to Armagh.

We had to battle with a late start (it's tough to hurry the legendary Horslips off stage) and a packed bar, but our readers did a wonderful job in sharing their words and grabbing the chance to be a part of the week. 

We extend our gratitude and accolades to:
Kate Ennals, Pepe Dorton Hamill, Vincent Hurson, Allie Vigrincic, James Gallagher, Laura Cameron, Sarah R'dek, Chris Warman, Maura Johnston, Rosie Johnston, Jeffrey Bizmyer, Lara Sunday, Bryonna Edwards, Pete Brown, Jenny Cleland, Tom French, Jessica Smith, David Braziel and Kate Brown.

Thanks for making our late night session a success, we hope to be back in Armagh next year for more of the same! (Thanks to Stephen Gordon from JHS for the photos.)