{"id":150611,"date":"2025-11-20T18:35:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/150611\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T18:35:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T18:35:08","slug":"claire-power-is-new-poetry-ireland-head-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/150611\/","title":{"rendered":"Claire Power is new Poetry Ireland head \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">In The Irish Times on Saturday, comic book artist and journalist Joe Sacco tells Tadhg Hoey about his latest work and his renewed focus on Gaza. And there is a Q&amp;A with poet Annemarie N\u00ed Churre\u00e1in about her new collection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Reviews are Daniel Geary on America\u2019s Middle East: The Ruination of a Region by Marc Lynch; Paschal Donohoe on The Great Global Transformation: National Market Liberalism in a Multipolar World by Branko Milanovic; Etain Tannam on The Irish Unity Dividend by Ben Collins; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA fiction; Adrienne Murphy on Ring of Salt: Finding Home and Hope on the Wild Coast of Ireland by Betsy Cornwall; Karlin Lillington on The Hour of the Predator: Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World by Giuliano da Empoli, translated by Sam Taylor; Diarmuid Hester on Ronan McCrea\u2019s The End of the Gay Rights Revolution; Pat Carty on The Dublin Pub by Donal Fallon; John Walshe on The Dodger: DJ Carey &amp; the Great Betrayal by Eimear Ni Bhraionain; Philippa Conlon on At Least It Looks Good from Space Carl Kinsella; Ruby Eastwood on Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu; Helena Mulkerns on Julian Brave NoiseCat\u2019s We Survived the Night; and Declan O\u2019Driscoll on Blinding by Mircea C\u0103rt\u0103rescu, tr. Sean Cotter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">This weekend\u2019s Irish Times Eason offer is All Her Fault by Andrea Mara, just \u20ac5.99, a \u20ac6 saving.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Eason offer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RLSBGWXUKJBKBOYFDQIVA4XLKE.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/>Eason offer <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann has appointed Claire Power as its new director as the organisation returns to its permanent home at Number 11 Parnell Square in early 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Power previously served as special Aadviser to President Michael D. Higgins from 2016 until the conclusion of his presidency earlier this month, and was campaign director of the successful 2018 presidential election to re-elect President Higgins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">She succeeds Liz Kelly, who will step down next month to take up a new leadership role at the Mid-Western Cancer Foundation in Limerick where she lives. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Poetry Ireland chair John O\u2019Donnell said: \u201cWe are delighted to welcome Claire Power as Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann\u2019s new director. There was enormous interest in the position, with a number of excellent candidates shortlisted and interviewed. Claire was the unanimous choice of the interview panel. She has a wealth of experience in strategic leadership and cultural programming, and is well-placed to lead Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann in its mission to connect people and poetry. Claire will be central to realising Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann\u2019s ambition to provide a permanent home for Irish poetry in the heart of the capital city as Number 11 Parnell Square re-opens early next year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Power said: \u201cI am delighted to have been given this opportunity by the board to become the new Director of Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cI believe the newly refurbished home of Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann, Number 11 Parnell Square, will be a moment of great renewal for an organisation that has done so much to nurture and sustain poetry and poets, and which continues to play such an important role in ensuring poetry flourishes on the island of Ireland, and around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cI am deeply committed to ensuring Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann\u2019s programmes, governance, and inclusive spaces reflect and serve diverse communities across the island of Ireland, with particular attention to accessibility and reaching audiences who may not traditionally engage with poetry. Poetry has the power to unite where other forms of communication divide &#8211; offering a space for shared humanity, mutual understanding, and collective imagination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cI look forward to working with everyone connected with Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann as we realise our vision for the next phase of this organisation with care and creativity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cT\u00e1 l\u00fach\u00e1ir orm bheith ceapaithe mar sti\u00faritheoir ar \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann agus t\u00e1im ag tn\u00fath go m\u00f3r leis an eachtra at\u00e1 romhainn agus m\u00faid ag bogadh isteach in \u00e1r bhfoirgneamh nua.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">O\u2019Donnell also extended his sincere thanks to Liz Kelly, for leading Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann with imagination, integrity and purpose.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">\u201cThe Board of Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann wish to pay tribute to the wonderful work of the outgoing Director, Liz Kelly, who has done so much for poetry all over Ireland since her appointment in 2022, and who led the organisation through a period of change and expansion, including the development of our new home. Liz\u2019s ability to lead with integrity, combined with a genuine passion for poetry, has made a lasting impact on the direction of the organisation and the future of the artform in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Kelly said: \u201cIt has been an honour to work for Poetry Ireland \/ \u00c9igse \u00c9ireann. I consider myself extremely lucky to have worked with artists throughout my professional life and to have led this great organisation in its mission to make poetry, the artform for which Ireland is internationally renowned, accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. I wish the organisation every success in its new home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">*<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The Nero Book Awards have announced their shortlists for 2025, recognising the best books from the last 12 months in Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction and Children\u2019s Fiction. The winner swill be announced on January 13th and the Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year, on March4th. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The fiction shortlist, co-judged by Irish author Sin\u00e9ad Gleeson, is The Two Roberts by Damian Barr; Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite; What We Can Know by Ian McEwan; and Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \"> The nonfiction shortlist is We Came by Sea by Horatio Clare; The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet; Craftland: A Journey Through Britain\u2019s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades by James Fox; and Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The debut fiction shortlist is The Expansion Project by Ben Pester; Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord; Season by George Harrison; and A Family Matter by Claire Lynch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The children\u2019s and YA fiction shortlist My Soul, A Shining Tree by Jamila Gavin; People Like Stars by Patrice Lawrence; Dragonborn by Struan Murray; and Shrapnel Boys by Jenny Pearson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">*<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The Dublin Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, has announce the full list of nominated titles for the 2026 award, the most valuable prize in the world for a single work of fiction, worth \u20ac100,000 to the winner. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives \u20ac75,000 and the translator receives \u20ac25,000. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Sixty-nine titles have been nominated by 80 libraries from 36 countries, reflecting the best in fiction from Africa, Europe, Asia, USA, Canada, South America, Australia and New Zealand. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">Five Irish authors are included on the 2026 list of nominated titles which also features 20 debut authors, 30 translated titles with translations in 17 languages including Brazilian Portuguese, Catalan, Chinese, Japanese and Polish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The Irish titles nominated are: Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey; Camarade by Theo Dorgan; The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr; Intermezzo by Sally Rooney; andOrdinary Saints by Niamh N\u00ed Mhaoileoin<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">In a new development, the judges will select a longlist of up to 20 titles, which will be announced on February 17th, 2026 while the shortlist of six titles will be revealed on April 7th. The 31St winner of the Dublin Literary Award will be announced on May 21st at the Winner\u2019s Ceremony, as part of International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The international panel of Judges for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award features Xiaolu Guo, an award-winning novelist and film director, who has published a dozen books with Random House; Daniel Mulhall, a former Irish Ambassador to Malaysia, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States who has lectured and published extensively on Irish history and literature; Clara Ministral, who studied Translation and Comparative Literature in Madrid and London and has been translating fiction and non-fiction from English to Spanish for over fifteen years; Dike Chukwumerije, a performance poet, spoken word theatre practitioner, author, public speaker, and cultural administrator and Disha Bose, an author whose novel, Dirty Laundry, was an Irish Times bestseller, a Good Morning America Book Club pick, and the inaugural An Post Book Club selection. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The non-voting chairperson is Professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin who has led the judging process since 2019. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">*<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, is seeking submissions to The 2025 John McGahern Annual Book Prize, which was set up with the approval of John McGahern\u2019s literary estate, in 2019. The prize of \u00a35,000 will be awarded to the best debut work of fiction \u2013 either novel or collection of short stories \u2013 by an Irish writer or writer resident in Ireland for more than five years, published in 2025. The deadlione to submit is December 12th. All submissions should also be accompanied by a submission form which can be downloaded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.ac.uk\/irish-studies\/about\/john-mcgahern-book-prize\/ \" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.ac.uk\/irish-studies\/about\/john-mcgahern-book-prize\/ \">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph free \">*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In The Irish Times on Saturday, comic book artist and journalist Joe Sacco tells Tadhg Hoey about his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[627,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-150611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-book-club","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}