Tuesday 18 August 2015

EastSide Arts Festival - Belfast

Some interesting events if you're near Belfast Wednesday 19th to 31st August

Thursday 20th August
Home Thoughts Poetry, Memoir & Song with Gerald Dawe & Eleanor Shanley
7:00pm, Belmont Tower
To celebrate the publication of Gerald Dawe’s Early Poems, his memoir, The Stoic Man and his most recent poetry collection, Mickey Finn’s Air. Traditional folk singer, and musician Eleanor Shanley joins Gerald for an entertaining session of readings and songs based upon some of the local places the poet has written about in both poetry and prose. Renowned for her unique interpretation of Irish and Roots songs, Eleanor Shanley from Co Leitrim is one of Ireland’s foremost singers. She has been at the top of her profession since her first appearance with De Danann in 1990. Her first solo album ‘Eleanor Shanley’ was produced by Donal Lunny and was followed in 1997 by ‘Desert Heart’. As a solo artist Eleanor is much in demand at top music festivals in Ireland and abroad (Denmark, Holland, Austria, Spain, Italy, Australia, the USA, Japan, China and the UK to name but a few). Tickets: £8 Available from www.eastsidearts.net

Friday 21st, Sunday 23rd and Saturday 29th August
Alice Fresco Outdoor Poetry Recital From Alice McCullough
3:00pm, ‘The Hollow’
Alice McCullough is an artist and writer living in Belfast. Her art takes many forms, including among other things costume design, standup comedy and performance poetry – ahead of her show 'Earth To Alice' at the Strand Arts Centre on Sunday the 30th, Alice will share a series of more intimate free performances outdoors, in 'The Hollow' - a picturesque little hideaway by the Beechie River off the Beersbridge Road. Come meet this unique talent and experience her award-winning poems, stories and songs in this beautiful setting.
Admission: Free

Saturday 22nd August
EastSide Out Loud: Readings by Jan Carson & Andrew Eaton
6:30pm, Belmont Tower
Two east Belfast-based writers offer readings from new works: Jan Carson is a writer and community arts development officer. Andrew Deloss Eaton is an American poet who moved to Northern Ireland, where his wife is from, to pursue a PhD in the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s. His poetry meditates on themes of family, landscape and violence as he writes in response to audio recordings of his grandfather, recollecting his experience of internment in a Prisoner of War camp during World War II.
Tickets: £7

Sunday 23rd August
On a Summer Evening A Poetry & Harp Recital
8:00pm to 9.30pm, Maitri Studio
Tanya Houghton presents an eclectic mix of words and music on the theme of summer. She combines poetry with music for harp and voice, weaving a journey through varying emotional responses to the season, offering listeners a chance to meditate and relax whilst engaging with inspiring sounds and thoughts. The performance lasts approximately 45 minutes, with drinks and snacks available before and after.
Admission: £10 at the door

Tuesday 25th August
Glenn Patterson Reads from Here’s Me Here Hosted by Marie-Louise Muir
8:00pm, Strand Arts Centre (Screen 4)
Belfast author Glenn Patterson reads from his new book, a collection of his writing for print and broadcast, published by New Island Books. As part of this year’s EastSide Arts Festival, we’re offering a festival Book Club deal – buy a ticket for tonight’s reading and get a copy of ‘Here’s Me Here’ in the ticket price. And if you purchase well ahead of time, you get a chance to read the book and share your insights and questions with the author. Introducing Glenn on the night, and hosting the discussion, will be BBC Northern Ireland’s own MarieLouise Muir. In addition, all patrons will receive a bowl of Dal, prepared by Mr. Patterson himself. As he says himself: ‘I have a sentimental attachment to the stuff, a long story that I have boiled down to a more digestible three minutes, which I will serve up in their entirety with a selection of other morsels lifted from Here’s Me Here’.
Tickets: £10

Thursday 27th August
Creative Writing Workshop With Sheena Wilkinson
7:00pm-9:30pm, Maitri Studio
Always wanted to write? Got an idea and not sure how to take it further? Wherever you are with your writing, you should be further on and more confident after this interactive, handson workshop with award-winning novelist Sheena Wilkinson. The focus will be on using everyday tools to create characters and develop ideas.
Admission: £15

Friday 28th August
Multitudes Read by Lucy Caldwell
11:00am, Ballyhackamore Library
In this exclusive event, Belfast-born author Lucy Caldwell will give an advance reading from her debut collection of short stories, Multitudes, to be published by Faber in 2016. The stories are set in and around east Belfast, and explore the many facets of growing up - the pain and the heartache, the tenderness and the joy, the fleeting and the formative - ‘the drunkenness of things being various’. In keeping with the celebrations of Van Morrison’s 70th birthday and Cyprus Avenue concert, she will discuss how his music and lyrics have influenced her work, and read a story written, in part, in homage to ‘Cyprus Avenue’ and Astral Weeks. Lucy is the author of three novels and several stage plays and radio dramas and has received numerous awards. Her most recent novel, All the Beggars Riding, was chosen for Belfast’s One City One Book campaign in 2013 and shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year.
Admission: £5

All details and more here

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