Celebrating two unique poetic traditions with a glimpse of where they meet and diverge The Willow’s Whisper brings together the voices of 35 poets in one volume.  The Willow's Whisper showcases poetry in Irish, Quechuan, Abenaki, Cree, Navajo and many more with English translations on all poems.

Native American poet Allison Adelle Hedge Coke draws on her background as a tobacco sharecropper, factory worker, and fisherwoman. Her collection, Dog Road Woman won the American Book Award in 1998, and is an autobiographical sketch of a contemporary mixed-blood native life in which she weaves a magnificent tapestry of prayer, story and song.

She will be joined by Travis Hedgecoke and Odi Gonzales along with editor Jill O’Mahony and visiting Irish poets, Proinsias Mac a' Bhaird, Colm Breathnachand Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh.

This event is presented, in part, with funding from Culture Ireland and Foras na Gaeilge. All are welcome to attend.

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About the Participants:

Colm Breathnach was born Cork City in 1961 and is four times winner of the Oireachtas premier prize for poetry in Irish.

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke is an American Book Award-winning poet of mixed ancestry, including Wendat, Huron, Metis, Tsalagi, Creek, French Canadian, Portuguese, Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry.

Travis Hedge Coke teaches writing at the University of Nebraska, Kearney. Descent includes Huron, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Creek.

Odi Gonzales currently teaches Quechua at NYU, the University of New York. He writes in Quechua and Spanish, the author of numerous books of poetry.

Proinsias Mac a'Bhaird writes poetry, fiction and children's books. He has won prizes at the Oireachtas for his plays and novels for children.

Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh's poems have appeared in An Guth, Feasta, Crannóg and Poetry Ireland Review. As well as poetry, Ailbhe writes articles for 'Beocheist' in The Irish Times.

Jill M. O'Mahony, Editor of The Willow's Whisper, is a lecturer in Sociology in the Waterford Institute of Technology.