So Say So

‘So Say So’ is an event that spotlights poetry, storytelling, and music. It is curated by the esteemed poet, Stephen James Smith. Each event will feature a distinguished national or international poet. They will be joined by musicians Basciville for a unique, collaborative performance. The 5-Word-Challenge open mic segment is open to everyone, with performers limited to 5 minutes each on a first-come, first-served basis. Summer: June 18th – So Say So presented in association with Poetry Ireland introduce Nithy Kasa NITHY KASA was born in Kimpese, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was raised in its capital, Kinshasa and in Galway, in the West of Ireland. Joining the Dublin Writers’ Forum in 2011, she went on to read for Poetry Ireland, Concern, the National University of Ireland, Galway, the Royal Irish Academy, the Cúirt International Festival of Literature and University College Dublin, among others. She took part in the Ó Bhéal series Make a Connection for the European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH) 2018. She was also a guest poet for the 2019 Carlow University’s (USA) MFA Residency at Trinity College Dublin. Her poem ‘Gathering’ was shortlisted for the Red Line Book Festival the same year. She received the Poetry Ireland Commission 2020, with the support of an Arts Council of Ireland Commissions Award, and was shortlisted for The Eavan Boland Emerging Poet Award 2021. Nithy divides her time between Ireland and The Congo. Nithy Kasa on Instagram Autumn: October 15th – Vona Groarke Vona Groarke has published fourteen books with The Gallery Press, including nine original poetry collections, and two translations from the Irish, most recently Woman of Winter (2023), a version of the much-loved Irish poem usually known in English as, 'The Lament of the Hag of Beare'. She published Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O'Hara with New York University Press (2022). A Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library 2018-19; former editor of Poetry Ireland Review and selector for the UK's Poetry Book Society, she has taught at the University of Manchester since 2007. She is the current Writer in Residence at St John's College, Cambridge, and otherwise lives in Co. Sligo in the West of Ireland. Vona Groarke