The Power of Words Festival is getting set for another wonderful weekend celebrating Words – written, spoken, acted and sung – in Abbeyleix.
The festival is planned for the weekend of August 19 to 21.
The fourth year of the festival, it is set to be as beautiful, relaxed and accessible, as ever.
A full programme will be released shortly, filled with writing workshops, author interviews, readings, book launches, poetry, music, theatre, a creative embodiment workshop, children and teenage events, heritage walks and talks, video presentations and plenty of Open Mic opportunities for people wishing to come along and share their words.
‘The Bookmark’ Portlaoise will also run a ‘pop-up’ bookstore over the weekend which will stock the books of all of the writers on the 2022 programme.
Visiting writers this year include, Danielle McLaughlin, Dave Lordan, Andrea Carter, John MacKenna, Martina Murphy, Arthur Broomfield, Angela Keogh, Johnny Renko, Frances Harney and many more.
‘The Living Poets Society’ is another unique feature of the festival. A chosen ‘Living Poet’ will have their work honoured and celebrated throughout the weekend, and receive ‘The Living Poets Society Award’.
The chosen poet for the inaugural year was Pat Ingoldsby and Rita Ann Higgins received the 2021 Award. The ‘Living Poet’ for this year’s festival will be unveiled shortly.
Nobody loves stories more than children and they will once again, feature strongly in the 2022 festival. The festival will also include readings by, and to, children from the town’s newest communities.
The weather has always been kind to the festival and the team is hoping to be as lucky again this year, given that the festival will continue to use outdoor as well as indoor venues for events.
Festival Founder Amanda Kelly said: “We look forward to welcoming everyone once again to Abbeyleix on the weekend of August 19th – 21st, where a guaranteed warm welcome will be offered.
“There’s something for everyone here and the promise of a truly enjoyable and engaging weekend awaits, with lots of chats and laughter along the way. What more could you want?”
For further information, please visit: www.powerofwords.ie or Facebook ‘The Power of Words Festival’. Make sure to follow the festival on Instagram too! E-mail powerofwordsfestival@gmail.com
Amanda Kelly Founder of The Power of Words Festival
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