A window into illness, recovery, and the end of life—readings from Vital Signs, Poems of Illness and Healing
This February Martin Dyar, Victoria Kennefick, Karen J McDonnell and Eoin Devereux read from the anthology Vital Signs, Poems of Illness and Healing.
A collaboration between Poetry Ireland and the University of Limerick, the event takes place on Thursday the 2nd of February at 2pm in the Atrium Area of the University Concert Hall Building.
The event is moderated by Professor Eoin Devereux, and there will also be guest readings from authors Donal Ryan and Sarah Moore Fitzgerald as well from the President of the University of Limerick, Professor Kerstin Mey.
Vital Signs is a collection of powerful and courageous responses to the human experience of illness and healing.
Edited by the award-winning poet Martin Dyar, the inspiring selection includes poems by Leland Bardwell, Eavan Boland, Christy Brown, Raymond Carver, Imtiaz Dharker, Rita Dove, Vona Groarke, Seamus Heaney, Miroslav Holub , Nithy Kasa, Patrick Kavanagh, Paula Meehan, Paul Muldoon, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Bernard O’Donoghue, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Diane Seuss, Colm Tóibín, and many more.
Offering a fresh gloss on the meaning of healing, the anthology includes poems by Seamus Heaney, Seán Ó Ríordáin and Eavan Boland, alongside contemporary writers. Vital Signs is a window into the experiences of illness, recovery, and the end of life, and examines subjects such as public health, eating disorders and the coronavirus pandemic.
Eoin Devereux said that Vital Signs is a reminder of the powerful role played by creativity in articulating the unspoken.
“Creativity in all its forms, and poetry in particular allows us to capture the essence of a feeling or an experience. It offers us the chance to make sense of the complexities of being alive, of experiencing illness, healing and mortality.”
