In summer 2024, as part of the Bealtaine Festival of creativity as we age, Galway poet and writing facilitator Gerry Hanberry guided and encouraged a group of enthusiastic writers – some complete beginners, others already published – as they responded to Museum objects, including the Claddagh Ring and the statue of Pádraic Ó Conaire.
Each week the group learned about a different object or collection of objects and their stories, which acted as a trigger to inspire creative writing. The resulting work, both prose and poetry, covered themes such as love, loss, family, memories, history, and mythology, in various styles from vividly descriptive to humorous and satirical.
So impressed were we with the fruits of their labour that we decided to compile a new poetry booklet aptly entitled, ‘Readings: Inspired by Objects’ for each participant to take away.
Míle buíochas to Gerry Hanberry for facilitating these workshops and to all the wonderful writers who shared their work! We look forward to doing it all again next year!
Look out for news on a repeat ‘Inspired by Objects’ workshop in our upcoming Program of Events 2025.
