It’s that time again!
The annual Coventry-Cork poetry exchange is now in its seventeenth year. Later this month, for the second leg of the 2025 exchange, two talented poets – Bernadatte Gallagher and Philip Spillane– 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 in the city. 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 scene (Olga Dermott-Bond and Navkiran Kaur Mann) travelled to Cork and headlined at legendary gigs O’Bheál Go Bheál and DeBarra’s Spoken Word. Now, across November 5th-8th, Cork poets Phil and Bernadette will be welcomed to Coventry as guest poets, including at Fire&Dust poetry open mic (Priory Visitor Centre) in Coventry city centre and a special event at Earlsdon Carnegie 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 Cork visitors feel welcome – so please save the dates in your calendars!
EVENT DETAILS
Thursday 6th November, 7.30-10PM
Priory Visitor Centre, 6 Priory Row, city centre, CV1 5EX
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 Bernadette and Phil, plus poetry open mic. Slots are approx. 3 mins, sign up on arrival.
Booze and soft drinks on sale at the venue. Doors open 7.15pm, gig starts 8pm. Pay As You Can donations/Free entry if you can’t. Everyone welcome!
Friday 7th November, 7.30PM
Earlsdon Carnegie Community Library, Earlsdon Ave North, CV5 6FZ
An Evening of Poetry: The Cork Poets
Hosted by John Watson. Featuring: headline sets from Phil and Bernadette, plus poetry open mic and music performances. Sign up for an open mic slot on arrival.
Doors open 7.30pm, gig starts 8pm. Soft drinks on sale, or BYOB for alcohol.
Tickets: £5. Book yours here.
Here Comes Everyone is grateful to acknowledge the continued support of partner organisations who have funded and/or championed the exchange scheme in 2025 and previous years: Coventry Association of International Friendship (CAIF), Coventry City Council, Cork City Council, Ó Bhéal Go Béal, DeBarra’s Spoken Word, Fire&Dust, Coventry Peace Festival, The Tree House Bookshop in Kenilworth, Nine Arches Press and Writing West Midlands. Special thanks for their involvement also goes to Benjamin Burns, Moze Jacobs, Paul Casey, The Long Valley pub in Cork, DeBarra’s Folk Club in Clonakilty, the Hillz FM Radio team, Earlsdon Community Library and LTB Showrooms team at Priory Visitor Centre in Coventry.
BERNADETTE GALLAGHER is a poet from Ireland. Her debut poetry collection, The Risen Tree, was published by Revival Press in 2024. She has received awards from the Arts Council of Ireland and Cork County Council. Her work has been published in Crannóg, Agenda, The Stinging Fly, The North, The Tablet, Stony Thursday, The Frogmore Papers and Southword. She is a recipient of awards for poetry including the Bread and Roses Poetry Award 2024 by Culture Matters, Cruthaitheacht Chois Fharraige 2025 by Turas Úr / Earagail Arts, County Donegal, highly commended at the 2025 Desmond O’Grady Poetry Competition and she has been invited to read her work in Ireland, the UK, the U.S., and at the Sahitya Akademi in New Delhi, India.
PHIL SPILLANE is a writer, poet, and musician from Cork. He has an MA in Creative Writing and is currently a board member of the poetry organisation Ó Bhéal go Béal. In 2024 he performed spoken word at the Brigid Reawakened Festival in Kildare and at Elizabeth’s Fort for the Cork World Book Festival in Cork city. His poetry films have been featured at STanzas Festival in St Andrews, Scotland, Cork Picture House in Cork, and his latest one, ‘The Green Man’, was at the Drumshando Poetry Film Competition in Leitrim. His poems have been published in Good Day Cork, What Now, Cork Words 3, and The Ogham Stone. He currently runs an arts podcast called the Morebegs Den.
NAVKIRAN KAUR MANN is of Punjabi-Indian heritage and the first poet-in-residence at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. Her role involves visiting patients on various wards, speaking with them, and crafting poems based on their experiences. Her work, often met with emotion and gratitude, bridges poetry and care in a deeply human way.
OLGA DERMOTT-BOND, originally from Northern Ireland and now living in Warwickshire, is widely recognised in the literary world, having won the BBC Proms Poetry Competition, the Welshpool Poetry Prize, and the Strokestown International Poetry Prize. Her debut full collection, Frieze, was featured in The Guardian. Dermott-Bond is also a managing editor with the Irish poetry journal Dodging the Rain.