Today’s news involves applications for an Irish Poetry Award, the vandalism of a Ukrainian poet’s monument and an interesting idea of what inspired Bob Dylan.
Applications Sought for Michael Hartnett Poetry Award
The culture and arts office of Limerick City and County Council has called for entries to be submitted for 2021’s Michael Hartnett Poetry Award. This is an annual prize that is part of the Éigse Michael Hartnett Literary & Arts Festival which takes place in Co Limerick at Newcastle West.
The award was established in 1999 following the death of the poet. Hartnett worked in both English and Irish and as a result of this, the award is given on alternate years to a poetry collection in each language. This year the collection of poems that will be considered for the prize should be written in Irish.
The winning poet will be someone who has written their second or subsequent book of poetry and had it published at some point during the last three years.
The award is funded jointly by the Arts Council and Limerick City and County Council and there is a sum of €4,000 available to the winner.
The judges of this year’s award are both past winners; Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh and Seosamh Ó Murchú.
The winning poet will be awarded the Michael Hartnett Annual Poetry Prize on 30th September when Éigse Michael Hartnett opens.
Monument to Ukrainian Poet Vandalised
A Danish monument to the national poet of Ukraine was vandalised before the Euro 2020 match between Denmark and Russia took place on Monday.
A photo was posted on Facebook by the Ukrainian embassy showing the statue of the poet, Taras Shevchenko which had been vandalised in the colours of the Russian flag. Shevchenko, who lived during the 19th century is often referred to as the national poet of Ukraine and was one of the founding fathers of both the Ukrainian language and literature.
In a statement posted alongside the image, the embassy condemned the act of vandalism and what it represented. They also said that it was a clear indication of the aggression that Russia had for Ukraine.
The Danish police are currently investigating the reports that they have received regarding the vandalism.
The statue has since been cleaned up by the city authorities and Denmark were successful in defeating Russia to advance to the next stages of the tournament with a win of 4-1.
Was Bob Dylan Inspired by the Welsh National Anthem?
It is well known that there has always been a link between the songwriter Bob Dylan and Wales – born Robert Zimmerman, he chose his surname as a tribute to the poet Dylan Thomas.
However, it is now believed that the Welsh National Anthem, Land of My Fathers, ‘Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’, was in part the inspiration for “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, his famed protest song.
Mike Peters, a Welsh rock star who has performed with Dylan believes that he used chords from the anthem in his song; he made this discovery when he was penning the Euro 2020 anthem for Wales, “The Red Wall of Cymru”.
The anthem itself was written by Evan James and his son James James under the original name of Glan Rhondda.
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