ARTSCAPE:AN AFTERNOON Without . . . , one of the key events at the DLR Poetry Now Festival next month in Dún Laoghaire, is a gesture towards poets whose voices have been silenced or oppressed in the recent past, writes Deirdre Falvey.
The work of such poets will be read by fellow writers at the festival - with Faiz Ahmed Faiz from Pakistan read by Thomas McCarthy, Mahmoud Darwish from Palestine read by Mimi Khalvati, and Amelia Rosselli from Italy read by Antonella Anedda.
The event is one of the innovations introduced by this year's curator, Belinda McKeon, and is presented in association with International Pen, which works to further freedom of speech, facilitate translation and support the role of literature in inter-cultural dialogue and in bringing about societal change. The free event on Sunday, April 6th, introduced by International Pen's Caroline McCormick, ties in with Free the Word! - a new annual Pen literary festival in London (April 11th-13th) - part of a new international literary programme.
At the launch this week of the DLR Poetry Now festival, poet Gerald Dawe evoked memories of a long-ago, one-off festival of literature organised by Lar Cassidy in Dún Laoghaire, recalling a host of writers converging on what he called one of Ireland's historical bridgeheads.
McKeon's line-up for the 13th poetry festival, he said, has a wonderful range of contributors and events. There will be a keynote address by Ruth Padel called Hooked Atoms and the Rustle in the Undergrowth: The Movement and Physicality of Words.
Other events include contributions by Bernard O'Donoghue and Jamie McKendrick; Seamus Heaney and American poet CD Wright; Alan Gillis, Meghan O'Rourke and Daljit Nagra; and George Szirtes, Henri Cole and Mimi Khalvati.
There's also the announcement of the Irish Times Poetry Now Award, and a commemoration of poet Theodore Roethke (this year is the centenary of his birth) with Richard Murphy and some of the poets who knew him on Inishbofin in the 1960s.
Another new element is a panel discussion on the state of poetry criticism. DLR Poetry Now runs from April 3rd to 6th, www.poetrynow.ie, 01-2312929.
The capital dances
Launching the Dublin Dance Festival this week, incoming artistic director Laurie Uprichard urged audiences to "have fun, take a chance and be curious", a rallying cry to punters to dip their toes into the huge range of dance events, writes Michael Seaver. Formerly known as International Dance Festival Ireland, the new festival (to take place between April 17th and May 3rd) hasn't strayed too far from the existing template and still includes a headline act at the Abbey - this year the Forsythe Company in Three Atmospheric Studies - a healthy mix of mid-scale international and Irish companies, public events, dance for children, and workshops for professional dancers.
The Forsythe Company is another coup for the festival (which is handicapped in enticing groups by the capital city's small stages), and apart from Merce Cunningham, who appeared in the inaugural festival, there isn't another choreographer who commands the same admiration and respect throughout the global dance community.
Another intellectual heavyweight is Tere O'Connor, whose Rammed Earth (the technique of compacting clay to construct buildings) will reveal the rich sediments of his intricate choreography. Elsewhere Ballet Preljocaj will bring a serene quartet, Empty Moves (Parts I & II), to music by John Cage. And American Risa Jaroslow will collaborate with the Crash Ensemble.
There are also groups from Slovenia, Romania, Iceland, plus local performers such as Colin Dunne and Jean Butler and a programme of small Irish works at Dancehouse called Re-Presenting Ireland.
Audiences can even join in the action with Bumper to Bumper, a silent disco, where, with headphones and an FM radio, people can dance to tracks spun by Irish Times columnist Jim Carroll and Sinéad Ní Mhórdha at Grand Canal Square.
With almost 30 different events throughout the 17 days, the diversity of the programme might seem overwhelming, but the ticket packages include Dance Dunks, where you can see two or three shows in one night - perfect if want to have fun, take a chance or are just curious. See www.dublindancefestival.ie
Bernadette Strachan does novels (The Reluctant Landlady and the just-published Little White Lies). Now she does plays as well - Next Door's Baby is currently filling the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London, writes Bernard Adams. Strachan was born in London of Irish parents and in the 1950s kept going back to Dublin to see her relatives. "Even as a child I could sense the dark undercurrents of the things that were only half spoken about, the family secrets bobbing just below the surface," she says.
Cue a dark drama of repression and religiosity? No way. Instead Bernie Gaughan (her real name), with her husband Matthew Strachan, has made a musical play out of the rivalries, jealousies, and comical bloody-mindedness of two families who live side by side in what might be Tolka Row.
The wise-cracking ghost of Maureen Potter hangs benignly over the dialogue as the Hennesseys and the O'Briens slug it out in the local paper's Beautiful Baby competition. The characters sing - mostly rather well - quite subtle songs, which comment on the action or reveal deep inner feelings. Sometimes, despite the quality of Matthew Strachan's music and lyrics, they hold up the action of what is really a sharp comedy about a repressive society where female free spirits struggle. Only one manages to stay free - Orla, the O'Brien daughter (beautifully sung and played by Riona O'Connor).
For the London Times critic Sam Marlowe, Next Door's Baby was "a little bundle of theatrical joy". I wouldn't go as far as that, but there's quality in the music and wit in the words - it peddles an attractive bitter-sweet nostalgia that could tickle fancies in the city of its setting.
•St Patrick's, the season that proves we don't need to have politicians running the shop, is almost upon us. But as well as politicos departing for more fun shores, there's also an exodus of artists to perform throughout the globe. Irish art on show in China around Paddy's day, including at the Wangfujing festival, features work by Fearghus Ó Conchúir and Corp Feasa dance company, concerts by cellist William Butt and pianist Archie Chen (Royal Irish Academy), Untouched, a photography exhibition by Varvara Shavrova, poetry readings by Desmond Egan, Rex Levitates dance piece Bread & Circus, the Dublin Youth Orchestras, and theatre by Pan Pan.
In New York, Snakes and Ladders is a free festival of new Irish music in the Winter Garden Performance Space of the World Financial Centre, with new works by contemporary Irish composers, curated by Daniel Figgis. Also in New York, Semper Fi Theatre Company perform Ladies and Gents in the toilets in Central Park, the Chieftains play Carnegie Hall, and the Saw Doctors continue their US tour.
Down in New Zealand, Green Fire Islands project, under musical director Dónal Lunny, brings together Irish traditional musicians and singers with Maori counterparts for a series of concerts ending in Auckland on March 17th. In Barcelona there's the Irish cultural festival El Feile, in Riga, Latvia there's the Irish Music and Dance Festival, and in London the Irish Chamber Orchestra, plus storytelling and an Irish pageant will feature.
Many of these events worldwide are supported by Culture Ireland, as well as the Cultural Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Arts Council.