Poems from the Poetry Depot

SpiritStore Poetry Depot at Limerick Culture Night

Culture Night Limerick 2010 has come and gone, and the first SpiritStore Poetry Depot opened for business.
We were delighted with the crowds that turned up to commission a poem, and the appreciation and enthusiasm shown by all. Huge thanks to everyone who supported the event and especially to the 45 poeple who commissioned poems and came up with inspiring ideas.  Finally we are very grateful to the poets who generously gave their time and energy to each person who came to them. In the photos above are, on the right, poet Elaine Cosgrove (Galway) with one of her commissioners. On the left, Dave Rock (Founder Inkstorm, Galway), Sheila O' Donnell (Limerick), Teri Murray (Limerick), Mike mcCaughan (Galway) and John Carmody (Limerick).

Finally thanks to Viola Janvari, Tracy Fahey, Maria Kelleher and Colin Cox for their PR work on the day.

Poetry Depot at the Milk Market on Culture Night on Friday Sept 24th from 5pm to 7pm.

The inspiration for the SpiritStore Poetry Depot first came from a feature on Public Radio International (http://www.pri.org/ available on your iPhone as an App if you do that sort of thing!) on the Miami Poetry Collective who had taken to the street with their typewriters to write poems on demand. (http://miamipoetrycollective.com/)

SpiritStore and Inkstorm first came together in early summer to discuss the possibilities of running a similar event here in Ireland, with some additions to suit the context we're working in. To write a poem in this immediate way requires the talent of the poet but it also depends on the contribution made by the person who commissions the poem. We particularly want to highlight the collaborative aspect of the interaction between poet and commissioner in our Poetry Depot.

The SpiritStore Poetry Depot on Limerick's Culture Night is our first official Poetry Depot, although recently we had a number of impromptu runs in Galway were we elicited the help of willing coffee drinkers who wandered into the cafe that was our office of choice!

The Milk Market on Culture Night on Friday Sept 24th from 5pm to 7pm... come early to avoid disappointment!

At the Poetry Depot your Poet has 10mins to compose your poem using your inspiration. You may already know what you’d like, simply jot down a few seeds of information for the poet.
If you don’t know where to start, SpiritStore and Inkstorm have come up with 10 questions which may help generate those seeds. Feel free to answer all or any of them, be as quirky, open or imaginative as you want, just go for it. Bring the Poet one of SpiritStore’s flyers with your questions filled in, have a quick chat and step away. Your Poet now has 10mins to improvise your personal poem, written while you wait.
The flyers will be available at the Milk Market from Friday 17th, but here’s a preview of the questions…

Before you start, what is the subject of this poem?

• Describe characteristics or the life of this person/place/object.
• What is the most interesting or important thing about this person/place/object?
• What other things does the person/place/object remind you of?
• Tell us about import moments this person/place/object makes you remember.
• How is your mood affected by this person/place/object?
• Describe in a couple of words the history or the story of this person/place/object.
• Describe activities associated with this person/place/object.
• What are the most memorable sounds/tastes/textures/images/smells that arise for you when you think of this person/place/object?

Who are Inkstorm?
Inkstorm was born in Galway in 2008 when poet and performer Dave Rock and children’s writer Benjamin Coombs joined forces to share their love of writing and storytelling. Inkstorm workshops take the pressure and angst out of writing, instead allowing participants to play with language and have fun, while producing meaningful work. Inkstorm have enjoyed a string of successful workshops across England and Ireland.
For this collaboration with SpiritStore, Inkstorm have brought together a group of writers of different levels of experience who are excited by the challenge of working in this format.
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Thanks to the support of Culture Night Ireland 2010/Limerick City Arts Office. And again a huge thank you to Paul Dowling our Graphic Designer.