Our first event of the year features poetry written by three Northern Ireland-based writers, Kelly Creighton, Linda McKenna and Emma McKervey. It is inspired by the stories of women and crime in 19th Century and the court cases of three working-class women.
When? Thursday 6th February (7- 8.30pm)
Cost? £5
How? Book on Eventbrite using:
http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/femina-culpa-poetry-event-tickets-1126301119969?aff=oddtdtcreator
The event will consist of:
15 min readings from each poet followed by a panel-style discussion of the work, the research and the collation of the collections.
Kelly Creighton Unbecoming is about the Staten Island witch, Polly Bodine in the 1840s.
Linda McKenna Four Thousand Keys is inspired by the case of Elizabeth Dunham’s trial in the Old Bailey for the theft of thousands of keys to a range of public buildings around London. Elizabeth was imprisoned first in Newgate before being sent to Bedlam.
Emma McKervey Highland Boundary Fault explores the love letters of Emma’s great-grandparents. The love letters had been intercepted by a jealous village girl and resulted in a Sheriff’s Court Case in the 1890s.
About the poets:
Kelly Creighton is an award-winning writer who has published 6 novels and a short story collection. Unbecoming is her second poetry pamphlet. She received her MA in Poetry Studies from the Seamus Heaney Centre, QUB.
Linda McKenna worked as a Heritage Officer in Downpatrick for many years. She won the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing in 2018. The title poem of her first collection, In the Museum of Misremembered Things, won the An Post/Irish Book Awards Poem Year in 2020.
Emma McKervey has worked for over 20 yrs as an Arts Facilitator. Her award-winning work is widely published, initially by Doire Press. She is currently working towards an MRes in the Seamus Heaney Centre at QUB, with Stephen Sexton as her supervisor.