Music and Reviews from Clare, Limerick, Waterford and sometimes further afield

Sunday, April 28, 2013

'The Parting'- Launch of Patrick Stack Poetry Collection at Glór






Poets Patrick Stack and Kate O Shea 
I was sorry to miss this event featuring local poet Patrick Stack. Thanks to my guest blogger who captures the atmosphere in this report. I look forward to reading the poems in The Parting The Clare Three Legged Stool Poetry Group meet on the third Saturday afternoon of each month in Glor, Ennis. 

Patrick Stack Book Launch  April 20th, 2013
Glór Theatre 2 in Ennis was the scene of the launch of “The Parting”, a collection of poetry by Patrick Stack, a Kerryman living in Kilmaley.  This is Stack’s, first collection and it showcases poems written over the past 30 years.  He is a member of the Clare Three-Legged Stool Poets and many comrades- in- poetry were on hand to celebrate with him, among them Brian Mooney, Paul Saalbach, Kate O’Shea, Mike Douse and Martin Vernon.
A nice buzz prevailed as people gathered in the foyer of Glór at three o’clock and Patrick was kept busy signing copies of his book. Wife Anna Marques Stack, daughter Deirdre and son Naoise greeted the crowd. Everyone then moved into Theatre 2 to music provided by piper Andrew Newland with Róisín on fiddle.
Keynote speaker for the launch was poet and novelist Fred Johnston, director of the Western Writers’ Centre in Galway. He spoke of the “violence of silence” in our time, where no one is willing to speak out, to tackle political issues, because of the “innate Irish terror of authority”. However, “there is nothing silent about Patrick Stack”, according to Johnston, “He is dangerous in our time”. Stack’s poetry speaks its mind and invites reaction. He rails against censorship and economic misery, and “a whole world that refuses to say anything”.  
Patrick then read a number of poems from his collection, giving their background stories. A talented linguist, his poetry features English, Irish, Portuguese and Krio Rap from Sierra Leone. The subject matter of his poems ranges from life in his childhood home in Kerry to the Lisbon Underground to a “non-experience” in a bar in Majorca and beyond. This collection provides the reader with a pot pourri of varied experiences, couched in rich language and vivid imagery - plenty of food for thought provoked by this newly published poet.
“The Parting” is published by AmethystDragon Archives and retails at 10 euro.
Written by guest blogger Cinnamon. 

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