Gerard Manley Hopkins Festivals opens this weekend

THE 37th Gerard Manley Hopkins International Festival will be opened by Kildare South TD and Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon on Friday next, 18 July. Based in Newbridge College, the event will run until Thursday, 24 July.

The festival celebrates the life and interests of the 19th-century poet, artist, and philosopher, GM Hopkins. A packed programme will include talks and lectures, a piano recital by Hans Pålsson, an art exhibition, a creative writing workshop, and a celebrity concert by legendary traditional Irish musicians Frankie Gavin and Noel Hill. During the evening, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Noel Hill. A nightly festival club in O'Rourke's pub will feature performances from a number of highly talented local musicians.

Among the lectures during the Festival will be Apologia by Desmond Egan (keynote), What Heart Heard Of by Katherine Coles of the University of Utah, and Oxford Made Us Catholics by Kevin Fagan of the California Polytechnic State University, USA.

A parallel Youth Programme for the Festival will be held for the duration of the Festival, and there will also be a Field Trip to Clongowes Wood College on the Sunday afternoon. A highlight of the Monday will be a Poetry Ireland evening, with readings by Diarmuid Johnson, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, and Desmond Egan.

An idea of the global reach of the GM Hopkins ethos is represented by A Taste of Japan, which will feature a Shamisen recital and its history and place in Japanese culture, a Noh Theatre song, and an Origami display.

Display by Miho Takahashi The Artistic Director of the Festival is its founder, poet Desmond Egan, and the whole event is organised by the Gerard Manley Hopkins Society with support from Kildare County Council, Newbridge College, Newbridge Silver, and Poetry Ireland.

Further information and booking for events from the Conference Office between 9 am and 6pm at 085 2732568.