Poetry Ireland & Kildare County Council Name The Poet Laureate For Naas.

Tuesday, 17 August 2021 12:26

The county town was named one of 20 Poetry Towns last month, as part of a new initiative.

Poet Laureate for Naas has been named by Poetry Ireland.

The county town was named one of 20 Poetry Towns last month, as part of a new initiative.

Poetry Ireland, in partnership with Kildare County Council Arts Office, has appointed Mary O’Donnell as the Poet Laureate for the town.

Mary O’Donnell is a poet, short story writer and novelist, who lives near Straffan.

She has been commissioned to write a poem honouring and reflecting Naas and its people.

As part of the week-long Poetry Town celebrations next month, each Poet Laureate will reveal and present their poem to the people of their Poetry Town at a series of flagship online events, one of which will be hosted in each town.

In partnership with @poetryireland
we're delighted to announce @maryodonnell03 as #PoetryTown Laureate for Naas 2021.#PoetryTown will see over 100 poetry events in 20 towns across Ireland from 10th - 18th Sept. See listings as they are confirmed at https://t.co/GyiNvddhwG pic.twitter.com/88pMa7agHm
— Kildare Arts Service (@ArtsInCoKildare) August 17, 2021

Director of Poetry Ireland, Niamh O’Donnell said: “We are delighted we could secure such a strong cohort of Poet Laureates for this exciting new poetry initiative, which is characterised by collaboration and communal experiences.

Mary O’Donnell says“What a huge honour to be part of Poetry Ireland's Poetry Town all-island project and Laureate for Naas. Being commissioned to write for and about this ancient yet very buzzy modern county town is a responsibility. But this is what Laureates do, I tell myself, they rise up, get a feel for a time and a place and pull together the preciousness of that experience."