Building on the awards of previous years, the Carlow College, St. Patrick’s Literary Awards 2020 will bring together the entire College community – first year to fourth year, humanities to social care students – to recognise and celebrate the very best of Carlow College, St. Patrick’s literary talent. The Awards will gather the College literary community in a spirit of camaraderie and friendly competition to celebrate the best poetry and prose of the past year.

We are delighted to welcome former Ireland Professor of Poetry, Paula Meehan to present our literary awards.

Join us on Monday, March 9th at 8pm in VISUAL.

About Paula Meehan

Born in Dublin in 1955, with a degree in English, History, and Classical Civilization from Trinity College Dublin, Meehan has had her poems sung by Christy Moore amongst others, as well as being set by composers. She has written extensively for radio. She has lived in Greece, Germany, Scotland and England. She was offered a teaching fellowship at Eastern Washington University where she studied (1981–83) with James J. McAuley in a two-year programme which led to a Master in Fine Arts degree in Poetry. Gary Snyder and Carolyn Kizer were among the distinguished visiting writers to have a profound influence on her work and on her thought. She has received many awards, including the Marten Toonder Award for Literature, The Butler Literary Award for Poetry, the Denis Devlin Memorial Award, and the PPI Award for Radio Drama. She has collaborated throughout her working life with dancers, visual artists and film makers. Paula Meehan is a member of Aosdána, the Irish affiliation of writers and artists. Upon her appointment as the Ireland Professor of Poetry, Meehan was praised as a poet of solidarity, whose work upheld the dignity of the human spirit and skilfully blended a shared and personal history. She served as Ireland Professor of Poetry from 2013 to 2016.