It’s that time again!
The annual Coventry-Cork poetry exchange is now in its sixteenth year. Later this month, for the second leg of the 2024 exchange, two talented poets – Catherine Ronan and Cédric Bikond Nkoma – will visit Coventry (UK) as representatives of Cork (Ireland).
In 1958, Coventry became Cork’s first ever twin city. This connection was formed due to a high number of Cork residents emigrating to Coventry at that time for work and then choosing to settle here. The Coventry-Cork poetry exchange has been going since 2008, as a scheme for writers to promote international peace, friendship and cultural understanding between the two places as creative communities. In addition to performing at poetry events overseas, the selected poets take a tour of significant landmarks, network with other local writers, and pay state visits to both the Coventry and Cork Lord Mayors.
In August, two rising stars of Coventry’s local poetry/spoken word scene (Ann Atkins and Amy Rugg) travelled to Cork and headlined at legendary gigs O’Bheál and DeBarra’s. Now, across October 31st-November 2nd, Cork poets Catherine and Cédric will be welcomed to Coventry as guest poets, including Fire&Dust open mic at The Litten Tree Building in Coventry city centre and a special event at Earlsdon Community Library. We’re hoping to see a good turnout for both events, with tons of representation from Cov’s creative and Irish communities to help our Irish visitors feel welcome – so please save the dates in your calendars!
EVENT DETAILS
Thursday 31st October, 7.30-10PM
The LTB, 1 Warwick Rd, city centre, CV1 1EX
Fire&Dust: Cork-Coventry Special
A special edition of Coventry’s monthly spoken word poetry event, hosted by Ann Atkins and Raef Boylan. Featuring: headline sets from Cédric and Catherine, plus poetry open mic. Slots are approx. 3 mins, sign up on arrival.
Drinks on sale at the venue. Doors open 7.30pm, gig starts 8pm. Pay As You Can donations/Free entry. Everyone welcome!
Friday 1st November, 7.30PM
Earlsdon Carnegie Community Library, Earlsdon Ave North, CV5 6FZ
An Evening of Poetry & Spoken Word: Cork Poets Special
Hosted by John Watson. Featuring: headline sets from Catherine and Cédric, plus poetry open mic and music performances. Sign up for an open mic slot on arrival.
Doors open 7.30pm, gig starts 8pm. Drinks on sale – the library will have a bar on the night.
Free entry. Everyone welcome!
Here Comes Everyone is grateful to acknowledge the continued support of partner organisations who have funded and/or championed the exchange scheme in 2024 and previous years: Coventry Association of International Friendship (CAIF), Coventry City Council, Cork City Council, Ó Bhéal, DeBarra’s Spoken Word, Coventry Peace Festival, The Tree House Bookshop in Kenilworth, Nine Arches Press and Writing West Midlands. Special thanks for their involvement also goes to Paul Casey, Moze Jacobs, John Watson, The Long Valley pub in Cork, DeBarra’s Folk Club in Clonakilty, the Hillz FM radio team, Earlsdon Community Library and The LTB Showrooms in Coventry.
CÉDRIC BIKOND NKOMA is a tinkerer and a traveller since 2004, based in Cork since 2014. He is French and from Paris. He is a long time contributor to Cork’s regular poetry event, O’Bhéal. Some of his works have appeared in the ‘Five Words’ collections 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2022. He has been a featured poet in the Winter Warmer festival, Sling Slang, World Book Festival and Many Tongues of Cork. He since then joined the Blue Mondays poetry collective. Cédric’s writing works revolve around Slices of life, Drama and inner Dialogues, all with a grain of magic.
CATHERINE RONAN won the Winter Solstice Poetry Competition and co-curated Bandon as Poetry Town for Poetry Ireland. Publications include Woman Scream, Cork Words, Swerve, Ó Bhéal, Blue Mondays, Drawn to the Light and Long Island Sounds, New York. She has featured at the Cork International Book Festival, Winter Warmer, Words by Water, Lime Square Poets, Cultivating Voices, DeBarra’s and the Electric Picnic. Her Poetry has been chosen for Poetry in the Park and Heritage Projects. Her Poetry Collection, Elemental Skin was published by Revival Press in 2023 and nominated for the Forward, Pigott and Heaney Poetry Prize.
ANN ATKINS is a slam-winning poet who likes playing with words and finding inspiration in unusual places, often dished up with a dash of humour. She performs across the country and worldwide online. She co-hosts Coventry’s Fire&Dust open mic, and Fire&Dust Zoom for an international audience. Ann has been published in numerous anthologies and her work has featured on several radio shows. Her collection Not a Robot was published by Allographic Press (2023). Experienced in writing for commissions, she also enjoys facilitating workshops for all ages. Ann features in the Write Club Podcast, is a Nine Arches Press Dynamo mentee (2023-24) and represented Coventry in Dresden (Germany) on the Coventry Dresden Writers Exchange in 2023. She is quite sure she is not a robot.
Writer, performance poet, and cherished collector of tall tales, writing is the fresh air that keeps AMY RUGG going. A champion of Coventry’s history and culture, she was commissioned to perform at Coventry’s Positive Images and Refugee Week festivals, and is a steady regular at Fire&Dust’s open mics. Her work was published in the Spirit of Fire & Dust anthology by Allographic Press. She enjoys experimenting with the thresholds of poetry and prose and her dramatized poem commemorating the bombing of Coventry Cathedral featured in the Criterion Theatre’s ‘Springboard Festival’ this year. A dual citizen of the US/UK, she enjoys writing and performing from the perspective of a relative outsider.