The poet Dennis O’Driscoll, who died on Christmas Eve 2012, is still a much-missed force on the Irish and international poetry scene. In this talk, poet Enda Wyley, who knew Dennis and admired his poetry, will discuss the compassionate, knowing, quietly charismatic and often funny attributes of O’Driscoll’s work, most poignantly present in his final collection of poetry, Dear Life, which includes the poem Memoir, from which the title of this talk is taken:

Now my

whole life

lies ahead

of you.

No thanks

at all are

called for,

I assure you.

The pleasure

is all mine.

We will also present the prestigious Dennis O’Driscoll Literary Bursary Awards to this year’s awardees Ed O’Loughlin (Established Writer) and Eva Griffin (Emerging Writer) who will discuss what this award will mean to their practice and read their work.

This year’s awards were adjudicated by Maynooth University/Kildare Library and Arts Services Writer in Residence 2022/2023, Catherine Talbot.

The poet Dennis O’Driscoll, who died on Christmas Eve 2012, is still a much-missed force on the Irish and international poetry scene. In this talk, poet Enda Wyley, who knew Dennis and admired his poetry, will discuss the compassionate, knowing, quietly charismatic and often funny attributes of O’Driscoll’s work, most poignantly present in his final collection of poetry, Dear Life, which includes the poem Memoir, from which the title of this talk is taken:

Now my

whole life

lies ahead

of you.

No thanks

at all are

called for,

I assure you.

The pleasure

is all mine.

We will also present the prestigious Dennis O'Driscoll Literary Bursary Awards to this year’s awardees Ed O’Loughlin (Established Writer) and Eva Griffin (Emerging Writer) who will discuss what this award will mean to their practice and read their work.

This year’s awards were adjudicated by Maynooth University/Kildare Library and Arts Services Writer in Residence 2022/2023, Catherine Talbot.