7th All Ireland Poetry Slam Championship final

Monday 9th December 2013 – 7th All Ireland Poetry Slam Championship final

Venue: North Beach Poetry Nights in The Crane Bar, Sea Road, at 6.30pm

Galway, Connacht

Ireland’s eight 2013/14 slam champions – 2 each who won the 4 regional heats – go head-to-head for the prestigious title of All Ireland Live Poetry Slam Champion 2013/14.

Two weeks in advance of the slam, the information about this prime event of Irish poetry is scarce.

As a response to this vacuum, this blog collates everything that I could find today on the web about this slam.

The facebook pageof the slam describes: “Open live poetry competition. Six province heats. Eight poets, four Province Champions, compete in rotating All Ireland poet slam final. Samhain, Nov/Dec. Eight poets, two from Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster, winners of open-heats in Belfast, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Galway and Limerick, the sixth all Ireland slam championship final, the second in Munster, Samhain, Oct/Nov, Cork.”

“The All Ireland Poetry Slam Championships are in their seventh year. We began in 2007, and since then have held annual provincial heats in six cities, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Dublin, Galway and Limerick, which return eight finalists, two from each province, who then go forward into a rotating final modelled on the idea of the old ollamh (poetry professor) circuit.

The competition is run by Ireland’s most well respected grass roots poetry organisers with a wealth of experience in hosting live poetry events across the island of Ireland. By the third year we have been pretty much well established and the competition is wholly democratic, transparent, and open to all.

Regional heats are held in the above six cities at the end of the summer and this year’s turn at hosting the final is Connacht, in Galway on 16th December, hosted by North Beach Nights’ John Walsh.

Last year’s final was the biggest yet, with 250 people witnessing it in Cypress Avenue, Cork, hosted by Ó Bhéal. Last year we also published, for the first time, the 14 poems recited on the night, in a special edition run of 100 chapbooks. We managed this because we crowd sourced 1000 euro funding. Up till last year the competition had been run on the goodwill and generosity of its organisers and so this year is hoping to secure funding that will raise the profile even more and make the event more visible.

A wide range of poets have won, some going on to bigger and brighter things, 2010 Champion Colm Keegan is a regular on RTE Arena, along with previous Leinster champions Karl Parkinson and John Cummins.

Two winners, 2008 champion Donal O’ Siadhach and 2011 champion Séamuas Barra Ó Suilleabháin, won reciting as Gaeilge.

This competition is a genuine grass roots phenomenon, enabling poets to share and compete in a truly democratic forum and has played a vital part in many poets development. Most countries national Slam projects are well supported by the various arts councils but Ireland is special in that it has evolved from the ground up, with no funding whatsoever until last year; proving our commitment to grass roots poetry advocacy.

The regional organisers are:

Belfast – Colin Dardis – colonyink@yahoo.co.uk
Cork – Paul Casey – info@obheal.ie
Derry – Frank Rafferty – tlufs59@gmail.com
Dublin – Desmond Swords – irelandpoetryslam@yahoo.ie
Galway – John Walsh – johnwalsh@gmail.com
Limerick – Dominic Taylor – limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com”

Source: unnamed alcohol industry

“Congratulations to the new 2013/14 Leinster Poetry Slam Champions John Cummins and John Moynes (watch rec. below), who will join:

2013/13 Munster Slam Champions

Fergus Costello (Tipperary)

Julie Fields (Cork)

Ulster Slam Champions

Colin Hassard (winner of the Belfast heat)

Geraldine O’Kane (winner of Derry/Londonderry heat))

Connacht Slam Champions

To Be Decided

@The 2013 All Ireland Poetry Slam Final, North Beach Nights, Galway, Monday 9th December 2013.

Thanks very much to Aidan Murphy of Monday Echo for organising the event and Kit Fryatt of Wurm Press for co-hosting with Aidan.” source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ireland-Poetry-Slam/338399146209479

“I just got confirmation of the date from John Walsh for the 7th All Ireland Slam Final and it is Monday December 9th 2013.

9th December 2013 – 7th All Ireland Poetry Slam Championship final, North Beach Nights, Galway, Connacht. Ireland’s eight 2013/14 slam champions, two each who won the Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster Heats, go head to head for what’s in the pot and a prestigious title of All Ireland Live Poetry Slam Champion 2013/14.” source: https://www.facebook.com/desmond.swords