What better way for Trasna to honor the conclusion of National Poetry Month in the United States–and celebrate the First Anniversary of Trasna–than with the current work of Daniel Wade, a rising star in the world of poetry! An award-winning playwright and a novelist as well, Wade appeared in Trasna in November, 2020, with his insightful tribute to his mentor, Dermot Healy. Daniel Wade is hitting his stride this year: Rapids, his debut volume of poetry will be published (by Finishing Line Press) in August, 2021, and his novel, A Land Without Wolves, (from Temple Dark Book) will arrive in October, 2021. The following four selections, evoking the classic and…

As Trasna celebrates National Poetry Month, we pause on the singular event of this past week, the guilty verdict in the killing of George Floyd, and reflect on the power of poets to be agents of change. This week, we proudly present the poetry of Dr. Martina McGowan from her debut collection, ‘i am the rage.’ We celebrate it for its beauty and truth: “I am the rage,/ roiling just beneath the surface/ I am the dream deferred/ Again.”  Numb to the News  The news has become so repetitious Almost boring Esoteric Unbelievable Unless you are of color Little girls with their molars coming in Sleeping on grandma’s sofa Dead Sleeping…

As Trasna continues to celebrate National Poetry Month, we also note that this week marked the one-hundred and ninth anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The ship was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and its last port of call was Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland. Its loss was one of the most sensational events of the twentieth century, and it remains the third most written-about subject of all time. Here, poet Sandra Yannone, and self-proclaimed Titaniac, reads four of her poems from ‘Boats for Women.’ Published by Salmon Press in 2019, the opening poems in this collection are dedicated to the Titanic. Sailing Day, Southampton, 10 April…

Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. This week we introduce four poems by Kerry Hardie, from her latest collection, Where Now Begins. Kerry generously allowed us to use lines from this collection on our January 8th post, in the week of the attack on the United States Capitol, when we paused our usual program. We are very pleased to share the following poems, together with audio recordings by the poet, that speak eloquently of things and people observed, of…

Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland.  So, we begin the month by introducing four poems by Eileen Acheson from her chapbook, I Wonder. In her lyrics, Acheson celebrates life: her personal experience embeds itself in Nature. She honors sod and rivers, branches and trees. Colors–purples, yellows, and brown–are her birthright. Her videos of the poems she reads for Trasna celebrate her world. In addition to writing, Acheson serves as Spoken Word curator for Clonmel Applefest and…

Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. This week, we are pleased to share the work of Doireann Ní Ghríofa. Included in this post is a video of  her poem: “Under a Fridge Magnet is a Photo of Grandmother as a Schoolgirl.” The poem is read in Irish by the poet, and includes the English translation.  Doireann Ní Ghríofa, an essayist as well as a poet, recently won the Irish Book of the Year 2020 for ‘A Ghost in the Throat’, her prose debut. Part essay, part memoir, ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ recounts Ní Ghríofa’s connection with the eighteenth-century poet Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, and her masterpiece, “Caoineadh…