Madam, – Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council bravely supported a fledgling poetry festival in 1995. Following on from its forward-looking decision, Poetry Now has become an established fixture on the literary calendar: feted by audiences, publishers and poets as one of the world’s great poetry festivals; supported annually by an impressively large, regular and eclectic audience; and reported by Irish as well as by American and British media.
As outgoing curator Belinda McKeon said at this year’s festival, “It has taken 16 years and the goodwill, generosity, energy and talent of many people to build.” (Loose Leaves, Weekend Review, April 2nd). It seems lax, irresponsible and especially shortsighted to abandon its investment in this festival, rather than continuing with a necessarily scaled-back version. We urge Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to reconsider its decision to cancel Poetry Now as an independent festival. – Yours, etc,