The Story

Poetry Day 2021, on Thursday, 29th April, will be marked at Theatre Royal with a celebration of the work of the late Waterford poet Sean Dunne.

This FREE livestream event, curated by playwright Martina Collender, will involve six local writers and performers reading selected works by Dunne. Martina Collender said it’s fitting that he is remembered in his home town on Poetry Day:

“Sean was a brilliant Waterford poet. He died sadly too young but his words live on and it’s important to remember him and his work on Poetry Day”.

The writers and performers who will read Dunne’s poetry and prose at Theatre Royal are Jenni Ledwell, Joe Meaghar, Isobel Tiernan, Lani O Hanlon, Darren Skelton and Jim Nolan.

Having both grown up in St. John’s Park, Nolan has fond memories of the late poet:

“I count the friendship of Seán Dunne as one of the great privileges of my life. He was a couple of years older than me but we both came from John’s Park and as poets and playwrights weren’t growing on the trees out there it was inevitable our paths would cross. As a novice and nervous young writer, Seán’s encouragement made my path a little less daunting to navigate and I will always be grateful for that. At 39, Séan died far too young. The extraordinary body of work he left us offers a bittersweet taste of what was yet to come but it is also his towering monument. Not least for this reason, I am honoured to contribute to this Poetry Day celebration of a great writer and a great man.”

Poetry Day 2021 at Theatre Royal Waterford takes place at 3pm on Thursday, 29th April and can be viewed at this link https://www.facebook.com/PoetryDayPlus1/