It's cool to see all those photos of the Cork Festival.  Sobering too.
Boy, Randolph, that's a hell of a smile!  Good for Cork and all!
Mairead

On Tue, 14 May 2002, Matthew Geden wrote:

> The Cork International Poetry Festival took place this last weekend, 10th-11th of May. The festival featured Irish-based poets such as Trevor Joyce and Randolph Healy as well as a number of others.
> Friday's readings began with Cork poet Patrick Galvin who read some interesting early work as well as some of his better-known stuff such as "Plaisir d'Amour". Ian Davidson read next. I hadn't heard him read before, but liked what I heard including "things worth keeping" for cris cheek. Trevor Joyce read "Saws" and a new piece, "Stillsman", I think, which was an astonishing performance. Twenty minutes with barely a breath drawn by reader and audience alike. A marvellous tapestry of words.
> The second session began with a paper by Alex Davis which dealt with the festival theme of pushing the boundaries. Keith Tuma then read from a collaborative piece and other readers included myself (Matthew Geden), Michael Begnal and tasters from Tom Raworth and Randolph Healy.
> The Saturday readings took place in the Triskel Arts Centre auditorium and began with a fine reading from Geoffrey Squires. Another Cork poet, Fergal Gaynor, then read and was followed by Michael Smith. Mike read from his just published Lorca translations "The Tamarit Poems", some beautiful pieces which I hadn't seen before.
> After the obligatory liquid lunch the afternoon began with an informal talk from Keith Tuma. He compared his Oxford Anthology with Edna Longley's more conservative one. It was also interesting to hear Nate Dorward talk about his role in this vital book. Randolph Healy read poems including the long poem "Arbor Vitae". Maggie O'Sullivan gave an inspired and inspiring reading ranging from pieces connected to her Irish roots to "Red Shifts".
> A coffee break then more delights. Maurice Scully, witty and urbane as ever, read and told us that his daughter hoped he would get 10 out of 10 - he did. Performance poems from Maighread Medbh worked less well for me. Too much relied on the performance rather than the language itself. Tom Raworth rounded off the festival with his usual style: Poetry + Barbarism, a reading of "Ace" and a mock version of Andrew Motion's elegy for the Queen Mother - brilliant!
> Hungry and thirsty we all drifted off to pubs and restaurants before converging on Trevor's place. The evening was fine while I was there but disintegrated after I left! It finished with a scuffle and a broken window - the evidence can be seen on Tom Raworth's website. The culprit was reportedly worse for wear when the incident happened.
> Despite this the sixth Cork Festival was a massive success. Plenty to talk about and plans to be made for next year.
> As an added bonus Susan and Fanny Howe will read in Cork at the Granary Theatre Studio on Friday 7th June. A rare (unique?) opportunity not to be missed.
>