Since my first visit in February I have attended Ó Bhéal three times. Each occasion was equally excellent.
The guest poet on 9th May was Nuala Ní Dhomnaill. She read from her Mermaid series, with the English translation first followed by the original in Irish. It was a privilege to hear Nuala speak openly and read her wonderful poems.
Alvy Carragher was the guest poet on 2nd May. Alvy was the editor at HeadStuff.org when she selected the first of my poem's to be published online as poem of the week. Not having met Alvy before I was delighted to meet her at Ó Bhéal. She gave a brilliant performance. Check out her videos on alvycarragher.blogspot.ie.
On 11th April Ó Bhéal: Cork's Weekly Poetry Event, celebrated it's ninth year, all of 453 events. Volume IX Five Words was also launched. It isn't possible to relive the magic of the evening but you can listen back to a recording of the event at http://www.obheal.ie/blog/. The Open Mic event involved reading a poem by someone else. I read a poem by Tim Dwyer - First Martyr, 1916- Francis Sheehy Skeffington. Richard Pierce read my poem 'Shades'. Both of these poems were published in Boyne Berries 1916.
According to Mary O'Donnell Ó Bhéal is "The best poetry event in the whole country".
