Free event about spoken word in Ireland with poetry performances, a roundtable discussion and open mic
Dublin, IRE – The Poetry Off the Page project, in collaboration with UCD and Boundless and Bare, is thrilled to announce the upcoming Poetry Off the Page: Past, Present, Future event, set to take place on April 24th 2025 from 3:30-5:30 pm in the FitzGerald Debating Chamber at UCD. This event consists of poetry performances by Emmet O’Brien and Stephen James Smith and a roundtable discussion with organisers and scholars of poetry performance, including Paul Casey (Ó Bhéal), Lucy Collins (UCD), Claire Palzer (University of Vienna) and Melissa Ridge (Boundless and Bare). It will be followed by an open mic opportunity for audience members.
The event seeks to highlight and celebrate poetry performance in Ireland, to discuss its developments and to look forward into the future of spoken word on the island. It is an opportunity for practitioners to discuss their craft, for students and scholars to experience poetry off the page as subject of academic inquiry, and for a wider public to learn about contemporary poetry practices in Ireland.
Organiser Claire Palzer shared, “My hope is that this event will contribute to the ongoing conversation about poetry performance in Ireland and highlight how vibrant the space is here. And to demonstrate that, we have two invited poets – Emmet O’Brien and Stephen James Smith – as well as an open invitation for the open mic!”
This event is free and open to the public. Event registration is open and can be found here. Open mic participation is welcome.
This event is a collaboration between University College Dublin’s School of English, Drama and Film, the spoken word agency Boundless and Bare and the University of Vienna’s Poetry Off the Page project.
