Compiled by GILES NEWINGTON
Crimes against our poet-President’s work?
Will they not let our poet-President be? After Michael D Higgins's election, in October, Irish poets had to rally round after Carol Rumens, on the Guardianwebsite, scathingly deconstructed one of his poems, claiming that it was "sacrilege" to compare him to writers "who actually do make decent poems". Now, in a rare instance of poetry making national news, the Books Irelandreviewer Kevin Kiely has been doing the media rounds to defend his verdict that Higgins's New and Selected Poems, published by Liberties Press, "can be accused of crimes against literature".
For the record, the (somewhat less tardy) Irish Timesreview of the collection, last July, was a little more positive. While acknowledging the difficulty of combining political engagement with a poetic vocation, his fellow poet Paul Perry commended Higgins's warmth, humour, social awareness and "sense of authenticity . . . amplified with rich detailing strokes".
No sex please, it’s St Valentine’s Day
The Little Museum of Dublin, which opened in October last year, has announced a strong line-up of speakers for its inaugural year of Dublin Lectures. The series begins on Tuesday, St Valentine's Day, when the historian Diarmaid Ferriter pours a measure of cold water over romantic notions in his lecture No Sex Please, We're Irish, described as "an eye-opening examination of Ireland's complex attitude towards the birds and the bees".
Future lectures include Lisa Godson on the 1932 Eucharistic Congress (March 15th), Catriona Crowe on Dublin 100 years ago (March 29th) and Roy Foster on Bram Stoker’s Dublin (July 6th). Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, Iggy McGovern and Mannix Flynn are among the speakers scheduled for later in the year.
Tickets to the lectures cost €9 and include a wine reception at the museum, which is on the north side of St Stephen’s Green. An invitation to all 12 lectures is one of the perks of becoming a friend of the museum, which costs €95.
Tickets to the Ferriter lecture, which starts at 7pm, after the wine reception at 6.30pm, are said to be selling fast. For details of the rest of the programme and other events at the museum, see littlemuseum.ie.
Make a date with the Gutter
The sociable and hardworking Gutter Bookshop, on Cows Lane in Dublin, is also seeking your attention on St Valentine's Day with a book speed-dating evening at which experts promise to get you together with your ideal read before the night is out. All are welcome to the free event, from 6.30pm to 8pm, which is part of the Date with Dublin festival, run by Temple Bar Cultural Trust. See thegutterbookshop.comand templebar.ie.
Gutter is staying busy later in the week, too, with its poetry night on Thursday, from 6pm to 7.15pm. All are welcome to read their own or other people’s poems, or just to sit and listen. And on Friday there is a book launch for a posthumous collection of poems by the late Michael Murphy, whose work has been described by the poet Michael Longley as “momentous”.
More details of Gutter events from 01-6799206 or info@gutterbookshop.com.
Shall I compare thee in a competition?
Tuesday is the deadline for the Facebook Poetry Competition for St Valentine's Day, launched last week at Dublin Writers' Museum. Entrants' love poems, which should be no more than 40 lines, will be judged by Irish poet Leanne O'Sullivan. The prize is a weekend for two at the five-star Cliff House Hotel in Co Waterford, with dinner at its Michelin-starred restaurant. To enter, see giftsdirect.com.
