Party to mark the launch of new poetry collections

Poets Gerard Hanberry, Celeste Auge and Knute Skinner will launch their latest collections of poetry on Saturday, July 5, at a reception upstairs in Richardson’s Bar in the City’s Eyre Square, starting at 2.30pm. There will be poetry, music, and refreshments, and everybody is invited along to enjoy the afternoon.

These new books are being published by Salmon Poetry.

What Our Shoes Say About Us is Gerry Hanberry’s fourth poetry collection and follows his very successful biography of the Wilde family, More Lives Than One which tells the story of Oscar Wilde’s family over seven generations and traces their roots back into the west of Ireland. Gerry is an award-winning poet, teacher, lecturer and musician. His third poetry collection, At Grattan Road, was well received and in What Our Shoes Say About Us he continues to explore the same themes of love, loss and the fragility of existence in a world where greed, violence and the inevitability of death is counterbalanced by the tenderness found in a loving relationship.

Knute Skinner is a poet, academic and writer from St Louis, Missouri, and his latest collection is Concerned Attentions. His first book, Stranger with a Watch, appeared in 1965 and since then Knute  has published eight poetry collections and numerous chapbooks and a memoir, Help Me to Get Away. Since retiring from academic life  Knute spends most of his time in his cottage in County Clare.

Celeste Auge’s new poetry collection, Skip Diving, follows her short story collection, Fireproof, and her first poetry collection from Salmon Poetry, The Essential Guide to Flight, published in 2009.

Celeste was born in Canada and now lives in Galway where she teaches creative writing in NUIG and also works in adult education. Celeste holds an MA in Writing from NUIG.

The launch, billed as “an afternoon of poems, music and ‘craic’” is open to all.