Ross Hattaway led off this Dublin Library Week reading at the Kevin Street Dublin Institute of Technology with some poems from his published collection ‘The Gentle Art of Rotting’ and then from his forthcoming book ‘Pretending to be Dead’. Brendan Devlin, the DIT Head of Library Services, read some recent poems, one an Irish/English composition and a very fine one on Anna Akmatova. Oran Ryan, whose work formed part of the library’s visual display, read poems (including ‘For the Want of Something Better to Do in Buffalo’) and some prose. Then three really outstanding ‘performers’ (hate that word!): Raven, with his stunning delivery and then Ashling Fox, who provided a terrific poem about the magic of Tory Island and its inhabitants, among others. (I didn’t know that the people had to fight the beaurocrats to remain on their island– but I’m not surprised). Unfortunately I have no picture of Aisling to put up here but she has promised to come on my radio show soon and I’ll be sure to get one then, She is  a really entertaining reader, as is Karl Parkinson who was up next. I never tire of hearing his ‘Ode to Me’. Philip Cohen followed with some short observant poems and I finished the evening with some from my book (‘And Suddenly the Sun Again’) plus some new ones.

Thanks to Brendan Devlin for arranging this reading,and to the Erasmus, and other, students who attended, and to Sarah of Seven Towers for organising and MC-ing.