DONEGAL poet Annmarie Ní Churreáin has been announced as the Read Mór Ambassador for Culture Night 2024.
Read Mór is a book gifting initiative and this year, the Arts Council will be partnering with the Irish Prison Service to gift users across 13 prisons a lit of 30 book titles, including Ms Ní Churreáin’s poetry collection, The Poison Glen.
The full list of books was developed in consultation with teaching staff from the Prison Service, and will offer a diverse selection of novels, short stories and poetry, reflecting the vibrant literary landscape of Ireland.
Ms Ní Churreáin is originally from Cloich Cheann Fhaola in northwest Donegal.
Her work has been shortlisted for the Shine Strong Award for Best Debut Collection (IRE) and for the Ledbury Hellens Best Second Collection (UK).
She is the recipient of an Irish Arts Council’s Next Generation Artist Award and a co-recipient of The Markievicz Award.
Speaking following this week’s announcement, she said: “Over the years, working in prisons has brought me into community with extraordinary teachers, change-makers and inspiring visionaries who carry out vital, life-affirming, behind-the-scenes work every day.
“It has also put me, personally, into deep conversation with the parts of myself that are tender and resilient.
“It makes my heart sing to be with writers in prisons as they discover—sometimes for the first time—how poetry helps us to express, acknowledge and transform human experience.
“This initiative celebrates the powerful connects between books, writing and survival.
“I’m looking forward to meeting new readers at the Dóchas Centre, Mountjoy’s Female Prison, on Culture Night,” she said.
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