with Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal
Tuesday September 3rd
7pm – 9:15pm  €10
To Book:  create@greywoodarts.org  or  083 845 1750

This workshop is perfect for those at the beginning of their literary journey. Both published poets and poets who haven’t published a single poem before are equally welcome. 

The workshop cultivates a safe space to share your writing, and is an interactive environment for poets to share their thoughts.  Participants are invited to submit a poem prior to the workshop, which will be circulated in advance to the other participants.  

In the first hour, ten to fifteen minutes will be spent with each poem, with the opportunity to share thoughts and suggestions. 

The second half of the workshop is directed towards working with the traditional forms of poetry like sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, pantoums, and ghazals.  Participants will be invited to interact with prompts provided and write poems in their chosen form. 

Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal is a poet and writer from the Himalayan town of Palampur, currently based out of Belfast. She moved to Dublin over two years ago to pursue her MPhil in Irish Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. She has lived in Antwerp, Belgium where she contributed to the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project. She was the Poetry Editor of Trinity College, Dublin’s postgraduate journal College Green and has worked in publishing sector and a photobook library in Ireland. Currently, she is an editor for The Open Ear journal at Queen’s University, Belfast. Supriya is the author of two poetry collections, The Myriad and Musings of Miss Yellow. 

She has been actively involved in the literary scene in India, contributing to numerous literary carnivals across the country, including Kumaon Literary Festival, where she was the chairperson of Students’ Committee for the year 2015. She helped conducting creative writing workshops on behalf of the poetry group Poets Corner with the children below ten years of age at Village Arohi as a part of this literary carnival. She was also a participant of the Te Aroha Writers’ Retreat (November, 2014) in Dhanachuli, Uttrakhand, a prequel to Kumaon Literary Festival. She is also associated with the Delhi Poetry Festival. She is the core team member of Poets Corner, a one of a kind poetry collective based out of New Delhi.

Supriya was longlisted for the 2018 Coffeehouse Troubadour Poetry Contest which was judged by Jo Shapcott and Daljit Nagra. She was shortlisted for the Poems for Home Contest for charity organised by an eminent organisation called Shelter which aims at eradicating homelessness. Recently, during October, 2018 Supriya read at the Tanta International Festival of Poetry in Egypt. Supriya’s poems have been translated into Hindi, German, Arabic and Italian. She is currently pursuing her second Masters in Poetry at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queens University, Belfast.

For Immediate Release:

An Arts Centre for Killeagh!
Greywood Arts to renovate derelict coach House into Creative Hub

Greywood Arts is delighted to announce their plans for a rural arts centre in Killeagh, East Cork. The not-for-profit group has identified the need for artist studios, arts educations space, and a flexible event and exhibition space to support the growth of their community programmes.

Greywood Arts opened as an artist’s residency in 2017 and has since brought nearly fifty writers, visual artists, musicians and performers from all over the world to the rural village of Killeagh. In addition to supporting artist development, their mission is to increase creative participation in their local community. Greywood Arts aims to make the arts part of daily life in Killeagh and East Cork by offering a range of cultural activities and opportunities for self-expression.

Artistic Director Jessica Bonenfant says: “The environment we cultivate starts with making people feel welcome and included. It’s a joy to see the participants in our cultural and educational programming making meaningful personal and group experiences. We want to help shape the cultural landscape of East Cork, and to do this to the best of our ability, we need more space! It’s exciting to be at the beginning of this new phase of our journey, and we wouldn’t be here without the tremendous support of the community.”

Greywood Arts plans to renovate a derelict village centre outbuilding into an arts centre and community creativity hub with two affordable, shareable artist studios for short or long term lease. The context offers rural artists a place to work where they can teach classes, exhibit their art and connect with other creatives. Establishing a dedicated arts education space will allow Greywood Arts to programme ongoing classes for all ages, workshops with visiting artists, as well as camps during school breaks. A flexible event space will be able to accommodate activities from rehearsals and performances to exhibitions, workshops, meetings and other events. The centre will be able to increase the number of literary readings, artist talks screenings and music events on offer, creating a hub for creative activities in the area.

The project has received planning permission and Cork County Council’s Arts officer, Ian McDonough, has expressed support for the endeavour. The organisers are hopeful regarding funding proposals made earlier this year with the assistance of SECAD and Cork County Council. However, the group will still need to raise approximately €75,000 to complete the renovations and open the coach house creative hub by 2021.

The adjacent Georgian house, where the artist’s residency is based, holds a significant presence in the streetscape. It is entered in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and located within the Architectural Conservation Area for Killeagh. The property’s rich history begins as family home, becoming an RIC barracks which was burned by the IRA in 1920. The now derelict coach house became a sawmill until the 1950s.

Increasing access to arts education is essential to developing the thinkers of tomorrow and is in line with the government’s Creative Ireland strategy. As well as developing creativity, arts education builds confidence and teaches transferable skills like problem solving, perseverance, collaboration, and communication. Creativity and the arts have an important role in an individual’s well-being through self-expression, and in larger society by providing ways to process the complexities of the world around us. Creating an inclusive and intergenerational place to gather, engage and exchange strengthens our sense of community.

Culture enthusiasts in East Cork are delighted to have access to the creative hub nearby, and Killeagh Village is strategically located in the centre of the district. It is easily accessible by public transport and nearby the future Midleton-Youghal Greenway. The project is a positive addition to the village centre.

Drawings Courtesy Kenneally Rochford & Associates

Photo by Liam O’Leary

Contact: Jessica Bonenfant
create@greywoodarts.org
083.845.1750

Project Unveiling
There will be a project unveiling and champagne reception at Greywood Arts on Saturday 24^th August at 8pm. Discover Greywood Arts’ plans for the future, see the coach house renovation plans, learn about the property’s history and enjoy live music. RSVP to create@greywoodarts.org essential.

Is it starting to feel like summer?

• 5th: Art Share: a conversation with Orla McAlinden & Mary Coss
• 20th: Work-in-Progress Sharing with composer Yehonatan Chekhanovich
• 30th: Unexpected Spaces Public Art Residency Submissions Due

Coming Soon:

• Summer Workshops & Events!
• Issue No. 2 of Crossing the Dissour: an online journal about creative process goes live in July.

Art Share 
Wednesday 5 June

We had an incredible, engaging evening in conversation with past writer-in-residence Orla McAlinden and visiting visual artist Mary Coss.

We spoke about the intersections in their work, the importance of telling women’s stories, and how they each approach current social issues through stories from the past. And, Orla read from her brilliant new book of short stories, Full of Grace!

We convinced composer-in-residence Yon to play from his orchestral suite on the piano, and writer-in-residence Angela Coraccio read a really moving and funny piece from her memoir, which tackled the parts of being a caregiver that we simply don’t talk about – but so many of us can relate to.

Angela, Mary, Jessica, Orla, Yoni

Work-in-Progress Sharing 
Friday June 21st 8pm

Composer-in-residence Yehonatan Chekhanovich will share the orchestral suite he has been working on all month.

Yon is a composer from Jerusalem currently studying at McGill in Montreal. He writes different types of pieces, from modern classic to smooth experimental music. He gets his inspiration from his many travels around the world which gives a unique and diverse experience. 

Hear the third movement of L’Orphelin here:

Visual Artist Kristen Phipps was born and raised in Wichita, KS and lives in Columbus, OH as an MFA painting candidate at The Ohio State University. She received a BFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an AA from Cowley County Community College. Visit her website to get a sense of her vibrant paintings or follow her on Instagram.

Lori Kent is a New York City based visual artist and writer. Since 1995, she has worked primarily in beeswax, wood and other organic materials to create pastoral images, often reduced to elements such as grass, trees, sky, and field. Her works document cultivated, idealized or nonexistent nature. Each image is a singular proposition on paradise lost or reconfigured in her native South (New Orleans). The green expanses are depictions of human desire and culture building. Dr. Kent is a graduate of Columbia University and has worked as an artist, education researcher, and director of the arts education program at Hunter College, CUNY. Numerous solo and group exhibitions during her tenure in New York continue her conversation about reimagined nature.

Unexpected Spaces: Public Art Residency
Applications Due:
June 30th 2019

Greywood Arts is delighted to introduce a new residency opportunity for artists with a public art practice.

This one-month residency in Sept/Oct 2019 offers accommodation, workspace and materials to a visual or performing artist interested in exploring a project that engages and impacts viewers in the rural East Cork Village of Killeagh.
For more info & to apply:
https://greywoodarts.org/unexpected-spaces/

May Sunday 
The Creative Killeagh May Sunday Festival was a smashing success, with approximately 1,000 visitors taking part in art workshops, walks, talks, guided meditation, storytelling, a torchlight processions, and of course – lots of music & dancing! A big thank you to the community for your tremendous support.

Summer 2019
We’re in the process of organising events, workshops and perhaps another pop-up restaurant for July & August – stay tuned, and let us know if there’s something you’d like to see!

We’re aiming to publish our next edition of Crossing the Dissour, an online journal about creative process, sometime in July.

Workshops: 
Wednesday May 15 @ 7:30pm
Friday May 17 @ 11am
€10

Performance:
Friday May 17 @ 7:30pm
€5

About The Anatomy of Improvisation:

ALL WELCOME – NO DANCE EXPERIENCE NECESSARY, JUST CURIOSITY & DESIRE TO MOVE!

After leading a Laban/Bartenieff based warm-up, I give everyone an image to play, grapple with, and explore. I then step back and am quiet for awhile, as each participant finds their way into a dance that is already in the room, simply waiting to be found.

I intersperse prompts and/or images here and there as I see/feel how the ensemble is forming and taking shape. I might say something like: “Imagine your breath making contact with the inside edges of your body,” or “How and what are you seeing with your eyes, even if your eyes are closed” or “There is a trio, solo, and quartet taking shape. Notice if and when those groupings change” or “How do the borders of your body meet and engage with the borders of the other bodies in the room.”

I’ll be quiet again until another prompt/image arises. There will be long stretches of time when there is no music, and long stretches of time when there is. Some people will vocalize and some will not, depending on what surfaces for each student.

Sometimes the work that emerges is quiet and delicate, with a lot of stillness and slowness in the dancing, and sometimes it gets wild, with a huge amount of movement filling the space. It simply depends on what sort of dance we are all stepping into on that particular day.

However it goes, I spend a lot of time giving people the space and time to sequence through their own internal experience before the dancing moves into a more external realm. Because everyone is following their own timing and curiosity, some people move out of their internal experience much more quickly than others, while some stay in their own internal world for the entirety of the class session.

Stillness is valued as much as movement in my classes, and I emphasize letting the body lead the experience of each dancer, with the mind placed slightly behind and following, if not beside the body as we move into a more “advanced” way of working.

I invite each dancer to enter into the dance space with curiosity and kindness. Loads and loads, so that we — as a collective — may expand our capacity to encounter, and then experience that moment when boundaries dissolve, and one’s internal experience becomes indistinguishable from one’s external experience.

About The Sky Inside: 

The Sky Inside follows 21 local residents as they find their way into their dancing bodies. Throughout the course of this film, stereotypes and expectations of who gets to take up space and be seen, break open as people of all different ages and histories — dance.

“This is a film about the improvisational dance class I’ve been teaching since 2003. Sometimes I dance with the class, and sometimes I watch. What I see when I watch is so beautiful to me – the honesty that these bodies bring to the dance floor each week – it astounds me, makes me weep, and leaves me breathless, over and over again. I wanted to share this with you, the beauty these dancers bring, so I made a film. It’s called The Sky Inside because that’s how it feels to me: That the sky is inside, all of us.” – Joanna

About Joanna: 

Joanna Rotkin is an independent dance artist living in the small mountain town (pop. 267) of Jamestown, Colorado, USA. She’s been creating original dance performances in and around this locale, as well as in Arizona, California, Mexico, Michigan, and New York City, since 2003.

She’s made dances at a number of site-specific locations, including: a swimming pool, a racquet ball court, a creek bed, an office space, an outdoor café, and on top of and around a Subaru Outback. She’s filled stages with moss, dirt, astro turf, and hanging umbrellas, as well as duct taping food to a dining room table. In her group work, she consistently works with, and seeks out, adults who do not have a background in technical dance, and who range in age from 24-85.

This past year, she was invited to re-make her improvised dance solo, Dog Dance, for 12 dancers, ages 41-85, and present it at The Americans for the Arts Annual Convention and The Denver Art Museum.

Most recently, she was accepted as an artist-in-residence at Kunstnarhuset Messen, in Ålvik, Norway for the month of June, 2019.

Joanna has taught at The University of Colorado, Naropa University, Bennington College, Prescott College, and numerous public schools and community centers.

She has an MFA in Dance from Bennington College in Vermont.

Crossing the Dissour: a journal about creative process is now live!

www.crossingthedissour.ie

A project many months in the making, we are delighted to share the work of some brilliant past Greywood residents, accompanied by their thoughts on how and why their work came into being.

Assembled by Greywood’s Artistic Director Jessica Bonenfant and writer / musician Ryan Mihaly, Crossing the Dissour presents contributions from:

Aisling Flynn
Patrick Beurard-Valdoyle & Isabelle Vorle
Gráinne Daly
Orla McAlinden
Emily S. Cooper
Carol Elkovich
Ryan Mihaly & Karolina Zapal
Laura Scheringa
and interviews with Naomi Litvack, Paula Bomer, Margareth Stewart, Mark W. Sasse & E.R. Murray

While the inaugural issue was by invitation, we’ll accept open submissions for our next edition slated for July.

Head on over to www.crossingthedissour.ie and let us know what you think!

We are looking forward to the arrival of our first Winter Writing Residency awardee, Emily Cooper, later this month. As I’m sitting in a cafe being bombarded by Christmas music, I suppose we’ll have to admit it is, indeed, winter!

Emily will share her work with us on Thursday, 29th of November at 7pm. She’ll be joined by poet Kerri Sonnenberg, who was in residence with us this summer – thanks to an Arts Council bursary.

If you’ve been to a reading at Greywood before, you’ll know what a nice way it is to spend the evening. It’s cosy in the library, the audience is friendly, and the atmosphere is warm and relaxed. Besides – it’s free, with wine, beer, coffee & tea available for a small donation. No need to book, just join us on the night. How bad!

Emily S Cooper

Kerri Sonnenberg

Emily S Cooper is a poet from the North West of Ireland who studied at Goldsmiths, London and the Seamus Heaney Centre in Belfast. She was shortlisted for the Mairtin Crawford Award in 2017 and has been published in The Irish Times, Banshee, Belleville Park Pages and a number of anthologies.

Kerri Sonnenberg is a Cork-based poet originally from Chicago. She is author of the poetry collection The Mudra (Litmus Press, 2004). Earlier this year she was in residence at Greywood working on a second collection with support from the Irish Arts Council. New work is forthcoming in the anthology A Journey Called Home.

As an American living abroad, Thanksgiving is a tradition I really miss. But that Thanksgiving feeling came early this year. I am in awe of the generosity in the Irish writing community.

Author Rose Servitova, who has stayed with us for a day or two at a time over the last year, approached us about sponsoring a bursary to provide a mini-retreat to two writers who can’t get away for longer due to their duties as carers. And since she put that idea out into the universe, the support has been incredible. Author Kit de Waal is now on board as a co-sponsor, and the support keeps pouring in – namely editing & other author resources.

We’ll be announcing application details shortly, but meanwhile if you or anyone you know who might benefit from a fully-funded 3-day writing retreat, keep your eyes on the residencies tab on our website www.greywoodarts.org or on our twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages for the call for applications in the coming weeks.   

— Jessica Bonenfant
Artistic Director

First, let me say what a fabulous batch of submissions we received this year – especially from poets. We were planning to award only two week-long residencies this year, but in the end we decided to go with three because the work was just that good! The decision-making process was challenging to say the least.

We would like to say a hearty congratulations to the Winter Writing Residency Award Winners: 

Aisling Flynn for her short story The House Guest 

Aisling is a writer from Bray in Wicklow. She received her MA in Creative Writing from UCD in 2017. This year she was a finalist in the RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition and Lilliput Press Short Fiction Competition. Her work has appeared on RTÉ Radio 1, the HCE Review and the anthology, Bridges Between. She is currently working on a collection of stories. You can listen to The House Guest on RTE here. 

Geraldine Clarkson for her poems Crenella’s Truth Tower and O Respectability. 

Emily S. Cooper for her poems Chateau Marianne and Aunty Winnie’s.

Emily S Cooper is a poet from the North West of Ireland who studied at Goldsmiths, London and the Seamus Heaney Centre in Belfast. She was shortlisted for the Mairtin Crawford Award in 2017 and has been published in The Irish Times, Banshee, Belleville Park Pages and a number of anthologies.

Award decisions were made by the 2017 Winter Writing Residency winners Orla McAlinden, Gráinne Daly, & Mark W. Sasse in conjunction with Greywood Arts, and submissions were read blind.  They all have exciting things like new publications out and a Ph.D. underway, so we would like to thank them for being so generous with their time.

We would also like to acknowledge the great work by the following finalists:

Prose/Plays:

• Carolyn Ferrucci – Far Rocks
• Ruby D. Jones – Your Average Wednesday 
• Janet Steen – excerpt from the novel You Are Not a Hopeless Case 
• Helene Montagna – Three Sides of the Knife (play)

Poetry:

• Lauren Pope – Hinterland, Hijo de Puta, & Chorus
• Rebecca Timson – Wishbone, Stick Figure, & Swimming 
• Josh Lefkowitz – A Tiny One, A Modest Revision for Wedding Vows, & Going Electric. 
• Monika Zobel – Imagine a Place in my Head Bearing Your Name, You Are One of Many Places, &Water, The Worry
• Lori Kent – Ten Haiku, Cocktail Lessons, & Ice 

Stay tuned to find out when these three wonderful writers will be in residence at Greywood Arts & be sure to come to their readings in our cosy library. What better way to spend a winter’s eve than listening to wonderful words while sipping a cup of tea or glass of wine?

For anyone curious about the gender breakdown, 86% of submitters were assumed to be female and 14% are thought to be male based on names and email profile photos. Of course, this is not a 100% accurate way of gathering data as we have not asked applicants directly how they prefer to be identified, but we want to contribute to an ethos of transparency and dialogue around gender balance in the arts. 

Artists in support of the women and families affected by the cervical cancer scandal.  An Invitation to Participate
On Saturday August 18^th, Standing 4 Women* East Cork and Greywood Arts present a response to the cervical cancer scandal in words, images, music and performance to help raise awareness of the issue, and build support for the movement.

Standing 4 Women* is a grassroots movement formed in response to the delivery of incorrect smear results to 209 – now 221 – women in Ireland and the misdiagnoses leading to the death of 18 women. S4W* works across party lines, and is calling for immediate mandatory open disclosure and the provision of person-centered supports from a multi-disciplinary team for the women and families affected.

Greywood Arts is an artist’s residency and community hub for creativity in Killeagh, East Cork. Inspired by artists’ participation in the Repeal movement, we know art has real power to create change in Ireland.

The Concept
You are invited to respond to the situation as a creative maker. Greywood Arts will provide the space to exhibit, read aloud, sing, speak, perform, present, etc. The structure of the event will be shaped by the participants, but will be supportive and social. You are encouraged to feel deeply, push boundaries, and make your voice heard. Artists of all disciplines and of any gender identity are welcome to contribute.

Some places to start, if you find that helpful:

• It can be an emotional response.
• It is also an opportunity for empowerment.
• Where in your body does this resonate? How does it make you feel?
• What is the meaning of:
  • Care
  • Respect
  • Fear
  • Bodily Autonomy
  • Transparency
  • Non-knowing
  • Responsibility
  • Loss
  • Honour
  • Scandal
  • Secrecy
  • Presence
  • Justice
  • Protest
• Women’s health concerns
• Gender (in)equality
• The Institution vs the Individual
• These women are more than a number

To participate, send an expression of interest to Jessica at create@greywoodarts.org
Tell us your name, phone number, medium, and any ideas you have by July 22^nd.