Poets Eibhlis Carcione, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Deborah Oniah, Victoria Kennefick, & Thomas McCarthy with Lord Mayor of Cork City, Deirdre Forde at the launch of the Poetry as Commemoration Jukebox.
Picture: Alison Miles /OSM PHOTO

Poetry Jukebox

From June 2022 to April 2024, two Poetry as Commemoration jukeboxes toured several locations across Ireland and Northern Ireland. Each jukebox contained 20 recordings of poems inspired by the War of Independence and the Civil War, or related themes.

Current locations

Dublin – Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Listen to Curation 4 on Soundcloud.

Past locations

Dublin – St. Stephen’s Green – Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Belfast – Crescent Arts Centre –  Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Cork – outside Cork City Library, Grand Parade –  Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Waterford – Hanover St., The Cultural Quarter –  Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Dungarvan – The Old Market House Arts Centre, Dungarvan – Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Cobh – JFK Memorial Park – Listen to Curation 1 on Soundcloud.

Limerick – The People’s Park – Listen to Curation 2 on Soundcloud.

Derry – The Verbal Arts Centre Listen to Curation 2 on Soundcloud.

Galway – Galway City Museum Listen to Curation 3 on Soundcloud.

Open Call for submissions CLOSED

The 2023 Poetry as Commemoration Jukebox curation will include recordings of 10 commissioned poems by Aifric Mac Aodha, Bebe Ashley, Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, Martina Evans, Séan Hewitt, Nithy Kasa, Paul Muldoon, Padraig Regan and Stephen Sexton.

We are looking for 10 more poems to be included alongside the commissioned recording in the 2023 Poetry as Commemoration curation. The poems will be played in public spaces in Derry, Galway, Limerick and Dublin from Spring – Winter 2023.

We are inviting YOU to submit a recording of your poem for consideration. Poems relating to the Decade of Centenaries, including but not strictly limited to the Irish War of Independence and Civil War, will be accepted.

Poems must be submitted in audio format by midnight 28 February 2023. Please send the following to poetryascommemoration@ucd.ie

  • Please include YOUR NAME in the subject line.
  • Your recording of the poem
  • A Word Doc file containing the text of your poem
  • Brief biographical note and a photograph of you

–       Where possible please submit good quality sound files in MP3, MP4 format. (Smart phone voice files are ideal recording devices.) WAV files are also acceptable,  but should be sent using WeTransfer. See GUIDELINES FOR RECORDING  for information on how to make a good enough recording.

      Where a poem is in a language other than English, please record your poem in your preferred language first, preferably back to back in one sound file, with its translation in English. Here is an example.

      Please be aware the jukebox is in a public space and children may be listening, so profanity will automatically rule out a poem’s use.

Poets will be paid a stipend of 40 euro if their work is selected for the Poetry Jukebox.

GUIDELINES FOR RECORDING 

Poetry Jukebox is a sound installation that animates public spaces through the medium of poetry. Conceived and developed by Prague based cultural activists, Ondřej Kobza and Michaela Hečková, there are now poetry jukeboxes in nearly 20 cities around the world, including Berlin, Brussels, Belfast, Dublin, Paris, New York and Prague. Read more about Poetry Jukebox here.

Installations are managed by poet Maria McManus, Artistic Director of Quotidian — Word on the Street.