SoundEye Festival

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The SoundEye Festival of the Arts of the Word is an annual festival of poetry and other related art forms. It is held annually in Cork City over several days in either late-June to mid-July, with over 20 poets reading at the 2017 event. [1] Events take place in venues such as the Guesthouse and Firkin Crane within the city. [2] [1] [3]

Contents

History

The festival was initially directed by poet Trevor Joyce, who had co-founded New Writers Press in 1967 along with Michael Smith. [4] Joyce (who lives in the Shandon area of Cork) [5] was invited to a US literary conference in the 1990s, and began planning the first 'Cork Alternative Poetry Festival' shortly afterwards. [6]

In 2005, the festival received European Capital of Culture funding and collaborated with contiguous arts events through the involvement of Fergal Gaynor, who was then co-curating the Cork Caucus. [7] In 2010, poets James Cummins and Rachel Warriner, who had programmed a section of the festival linked with their Default magazine, took over some of the festival's organisational duties. [8]

SoundEye has been associated with modernist and avant-garde poetry, [9] and now includes elements of video art, performance, sound poetry, and conceptual art. SoundEye has hosted readings by Irish poets, poets from other anglophone countries, [10] and occasionally from non-anglophone nations. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 "SoundEye 21 - From 7-9 July 2017". SoundEye website. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. "Past Events - 2007-2012". TheGuesthouse.ie. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. "SoundEye Poetry Festival". The Avant. 7 July 2014.
  4. "A History through Publications". New Writers' Press. 20 January 2004.
  5. "Joyce in 2011: Finding a language use". Jacket2.org. 3 February 2014. Trevor Joyce's house [is] off Shandon Street, Cork
  6. "A Festival of the Arts of the Word". Soundeye.org. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011.
  7. "History - A Festival of the Arts of the Word". SoundEye. 2009.
  8. "Poetry Workshops". Triskel Arts Centre. Retrieved 28 August 2017. evening workshops [are] coordinated by James Cummins and Rachel Warriner – poets and organisers of SoundEye
  9. "Writing Festivals in Ireland". WordsIreland.ie. Retrieved 28 August 2017. SoundEye Poetry Festival [..] brings an array of experimental, avant-garde and modernist poets to Cork
  10. "Sean Bonney - SoundEye Festival – Cork, Ireland – 7.6.05". Meshworks. 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  11. "Participants in the SoundEye Festival 1997-2008". Soundeye.org. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011.