Bloomsday Soapbox Poetry for Ulysses 2.2 | Episode 12: What Is My Nation

In celebration of Bloomsday on Thursday 16 June, six leading contemporary poets will be performing on the streets of Smithfield in response to Episode 12: Cyclops of Ulysses. John Cummins, Sophie Meehan, Emmet Kirwan, Trudie Gorman, Meg Mulcahy, and Grace Wilentz will be performing work that speaks to the episode's themes of citizenship, identity, cultural and national belonging, myth, and hyperbole, and Dublin itself.

These free pop-up public poetry performances hosted by Poetry Ireland as part of Ulysses 2.2 will be taking place on the streets of Smithfield in three locations near the site of the episode, Barney Kiernan's pub on Little Britain Street, from 5pm - 7pm.

Commissioned by ANU, Landmark Productions and MoLI in partnership with Poetry Ireland for Ulysses 2.2.

John Cummins has been writing for over 20 years and performing since early 2010. He is a three-time Leinster Poetry Slam Champion, and the 2013/2014 All-Ireland Poetry Slam Champion. John is often a featured artists at showcase nights around his native Dublin as well as Galway and Cork. He has also performed at festivals across the country, including Electric Picnic, Indiependence, and Knockanstockan. He contributes regularly to the arts show Arena on RTE Radio 1.

Sophie Meehan is a poet and interdisciplinary artist from Dublin 8. Her poems have appeared with Crannóg, The Honest Ulsterman, District Magazine, Turf & Grain, RTÉ Culture and on Dublin Bus in association with Poetry Ireland. She was a selected poet in Poetry Ireland's Introductions Series in 2016. Sophie is a co-founder of the Working-Class Writing Archive with Dr. Emma Penney. She has just completed her unpublished debut poetry collection. Emmet Kirwan is an award-winning actor, playwright, and poet from Tallaght. For over 15 years Emmet has worked in theatre here and abroad, performing at The Abbey, The Gate, and The National Theatre, as well as working with leading theatre companies such as Rough Magic, Fishamble, and This Is Pop Baby. His spoken word poetry play ‘Dublin Oldschool’ has played seven sell-out runs in Project Arts Centre and was adapted for film. He is currently working on a new collection of poetry which will form part of new theatre show ‘Accents’ and will be accompanied by live music. Trudie Gorman is a working-class writer from Dublin whose work explores the personal and political interplay between class, gender, and the body. Trudie has performed her poetry across Ireland and the UK and has published pieces in Poetry NI, Two Metre Review and The 32: An Anthology of Irish Working-Class Voices. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio London. Trudie was selected for Poetry Ireland Versify Series 2019. She was also shortlisted for the Creative Future Writer’s Award 2019 and for the Norman Houston Multi-disciplinary Commissioning Award 2022. She was awarded a residency with the Centre Culturel Irlandais to take place in 2022. Trudie has just completed her unpublished debut poetry pamphlet. Meg Mulcahy received a place in Poetry Ireland’s Introductions series 2022, and her work has appeared in An Capall Dorcha, Janus Literary and the Pendemic project for the Irish Poetry Reading Archive at University College Dublin, as well as several publications in the U.S. Her work includes prize-winning flash fiction and The Neon Number zine. She reads fiction for Okay Donkey and is working towards her debut poetry collection. Grace Wilentz is the author of The Limit of Light (The Gallery Press, 2020) which was named one of the best poetry books of the year in The Irish Times and The Irish Independent. She is currently a recipient of the Next Generation Artist Award from the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.