A night of poetry

THE SOCIAL NETWORK:The first event in the Performing Poetry Project, an initiative by New Dublin Press, took place on Thursday night, in the beautiful Georgian surroundings of the James Joyce Centre.

The young emerging poets Rory McArdle (who also supplied Wicklow cider) and Jonathan Creasy read from their work, while Donal Flynn provided mushroom risotto. Kit Fryatt, a previous winner of the Stinging Fly Poetry Award, topped the bill. She is currently living in Aberdeen, which she described as “dark”.

Patrick Groenland and Clara Grimes played a trad/jazz set, while singer Georgia Cusack also performed. She will be playing with her band, Butter, at the Sugar Club, in Dublin, on St Valentine’s night, in a gig dedicated to the late hip-hop producer J Dilla, who died in February 2006.

Who we spotted:assistant professor of drama at Trinity College Nicholas Johnson; Dr Philip Coleman of the TCD school of English; and Sam Coll and Ronan Murphy of Spoonlight Theatre Company.