I’d love to say Poets Express was an idea born from mimicking other poetry nights and festivals in West Cork. You’d think it would be; after all Ireland, especially the West Cork area, is well known for its resident artists, authors, and poets.

That’s just not the case.

As my friends and guests who’ve visited this area can tell you, it’s quite rural. It’s so rural I post notices on social networks about talking to sheep. People think I’m joking – but I’m not. Once you head west of Cork city, you’re in mountainous farmland with small, closely knit communities. Towns are far away from each other, and hard to get to if you don’t have your own car. If you live in the area and are like me, chances are you talk to sheep quite often because they’re usually your closest neighbor. And however entertaining sheep conversation can be it simply doesn’t include anything cultural, especially about poetry.

So what’s a poet to do?

The answer for me began as a simple idea on a cold February weekend in 2009. I’d organise and hold my own night of performance poetry! After all (I thought in my naivity), how much work could it be?

I didn’t know then what I was getting myself into. I only knew that I wanted to host a night of poetry,and that there were no other opportunities for poets in the area. I spent the weekend brainstorming, and by the time Monday rolled around I’d decided to invite several guests from my internet connections to perform, have open mic slots available for local poets,and hold a kid’s poetry competition (Kids Express) to get kids involved. Two days later, country cross-over band Shaky Dawg agreed to perform as a musical guest. Four days later, I decided to add a visual element to the night with video footage and contributed poetry. When I announced Kids Express (originally advertised as an Ireland only competition), I received so many requests from around the globe that I opened it up to international competition within 48 hours. Every element seemed to grow bigger and bigger until suddenly I found myself organising a full-blown festival. I was overwhelmed by the response, both from my guests and our audience. I’d hit on something that was both desperately needed and greatly appreciated in the area.

The entire night was recorded, and a special guest studio session was held the day after for guest poets to record their poetry in my home studio. My brother, Tor, bore the brunt of the audio/video work with me. He acted as sound engineer both during the live event and the guest studio sessions, then helped upload them to the intenet. Audio recordings of the night and special guest studio sessions recorded the day after are on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/poetsexpressrecordings). Videos are available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/PoetsExpress), MySpace, and Facebook.

One of the most satisfying aspects of 2009 for me was watching the networking between the guests. I’d managed to bring in poets from around Ireland and Manchester, most of whom didn’t know me personally or each other, and before we all said good-bye strong enough bonds had emerged to bring new performance and publishing opportunities to everyone.

2010 has been very busy. My friends, fellow poets, family, and the local community have all got behind me to formally organise both Poets Express and Kids Express under the umbrella parent organisation,Express Events. Our application for charitable status is currently under review by the Irish government.

Kids Express has it’s own night this year, and is scheduled for Friday, 2 July 2010 in Bantry Boys’ Club, Bantry, West Cork. All the short listed entries in our international kids poetry competition will be performed, either by the author or a local youth performer. The winners in each age category (8-12 and 13-17) will be announced and receive an engraved trophy and award certificate. Special performances for the night include Wordmusic from Manchester, UK, and two local children’s theatre groups. We’ll have a face painter on hand for some fun, refreshments and goodies available, and there’s sure to be some music included in the night as well. Start time is 7:00 p.m., and admission is free.

Poets Express is scheduled for Saturday, 3 July 2010, and has moved to an adults only venue, the Bayview B&B in Kilcrohane, West Cork. The afternoon will be started with a writing workshop hosted by AndyN of Wordmusic. This free admission writing workshop will offer ideas for new material, a chance to share your work , and an opportunity to meet and network with other writers in an informal setting. After a break for some food from our on-site BBQ we’ll have a special pre-show screening of 4 Seasons Productions DVD ‘RANT’ from their Moving Poetry series. This incredible production includes poetry from Jalal ad-Din Rumi, Pablo Neruda, Langston Hughes, Robert Bly, and Antonio Machado. The main stage kicks off at 9:00 p.m., and this year our guest list is loaded with great performers: Cah-44 (Dublin), Wordmusic (Manchester, UK), Tomas O Carthaigh (Tullamore, Co. Offaly), Andrej LeSaint (Dublin), Dale Mawhinney (Belfast), Antonionioni (Manchester, UK), Stephen J. Smith (Dublin), and Mags Treanor (Galway). In addition to the main stage we’ll have a side acoustic room hosting local poets, performers, and storytellers in a more intimate setting for our audience to enjoy, as well as a visual room featuring the work of award winning Italian visual artist Caterina Davinio; 4 Seasons Productions (US); Naomi Hamilton (UK), Readymade 777 (US), and Valéry Pasanau (France); Poetizer DaPoet (US); mrZombieBunny (Australia); Tory Bullock (US); Mujermajica (US); Nichola Ward (Canada); Ozzy Skateboard (US); and Sophia Balestri (France). A raffle will be held to help raise funds. Country cross-over band Shaky Dawg will take the stage at the end of the night and give us some great dance music to finish off. Admission for the night is free.

Both nights are scheduled for audio and video recording. I’ll also be hosting another Guest Studio Session on Sunday, 4 July. The session is only for main stage guests, and this year we’ll be setting up microphones and grabbing a live podcast with everyone in the room. We’ll be sharing poetry, discussing issues we all face, and (no doubt) having a rip-roaring old time. All audio and video recordings will be released for free on the internet.

Poets Express and Kids Express are poised to be some of the most entertaining events in the West Cork region this year. My goal is to continue to expand these events, adding more performers, stages, workshops, seminars, and days until each is a festival in its own right. I’d be very interested in talking with anyone who would want to perform or host a talk, workshop, or seminar in the coming years. Please contact me at PoetsExpress@darkworld.com. Express yourself at Poets Express!