Templar Poets ( I )
Templar Poets ( I )
With Dawn Wood , Tom Weir , Oliver Comins & Maggie O ’ Dwyer
Crescent Arts Centre Saturday 11 June – 5pm Tickets : Free
Dame Fiona Kidman The Infinte Air
With Cathy Brown
Crescent Arts Centre Saturday 11 June – 6.15pm Tickets : £ 8 /£ 6
Dawn Wood ’ s first collection , Quarry was shortlisted in the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and was followed by Connoisseur . Ingathering and Declaration are her most recent collections . Declaration takes inspiration from the Hebrew of Genesis and the Psalms .
Tom Weir ’ s The Outsider , won the iOTA Shots Award and his first collection All that Falling was launched in 2015 . His years living and working abroad , along with living in remote parts of the English Countryside provide inspiration for his writing .
In 1995 , Oliver Comins ’ work was included in Anvil New Poets Two and the editor , Carol Ann Duffy , said “… poetry which has its roots emphatically in the writer ’ s life .” Recent work is published in journals like The Rialto , Yellow Nib and The Spectator .
Maggie O ’ Dwyer ’ s first poetry pamphlet , Yes , I ’ d Love to Dance was followed by her first collection , Laughter Heard from the
Road , shortlisted in 2010 for the Rupert and Eithne Strong Award for Best First Collection .
This enthralling novel , tells the story of the rise and fall of one of the world ’ s greatest aviators , the glamorous and mysterious Jean Batten .
After breaking records and becoming an icon in the 1930s , Batten suddenly slipped out of view , disappearing to the Caribbean with her mother and eventually dying in obscurity and buried in a pauper ’ s grave .
The compelling behind-the-scenes story of ‘ the Garbo of the skies ’ is a fascinating insight into the early days of flying , of mothers and daughters , fame and secrecy .
Dame Fiona Kidman is a leading contemporary novelist , short story writer and poet . She has won numerous awards , and has been the recipient of fellowships , grants and other significant honours .
She is President of Honour for the New Zealand Book Council , and has been awarded an OBE and a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to literature . belfastbookfestival . com 15