Performance: Slam Poetry 

Saturday 23 March 2024 at 5pm – Castle Hall, Dublin Castle, Dublin 2

Join poet Stephen James Smith and musician Gareth Quinn Redmond as they weave together poetry and music, casting a spell on the audience. Expect laughter, tears and the unexpected, during their unique collaboration. A special performance for the Franco-Irish Literary Festival and as part of Le Printemps des poètes.

Stephen James Smith is an Irish poet born in Dublin. They are also a dyslexic writer, performer, playwright, and educator. Their short poetry films have been seen by millions, leading them to perform alongside; Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Patti Smith, Bono (U2), Imelda May, and Glen Hansard, to name a few. As a touring artist, they are a veteran of the stage, having performed close to 1,000 gigs worldwide over the past 20 years from Ballydehob to Bangkok, Perhaps most notably at Glastonbury, the Nuyorican Poetry Café (New York), the Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris), and the Palladium (London). As a recording artist, Stephen’s work has been critically acclaimed nationally and internationally, and led them to be called “Dublin’s unofficial poet laureate”. Their work has been published extensively, translated into eight languages and received numerous awards and nominations. Stephen contributes regularly on Irish TV and radio cultural programmes. While they have done all this and more, Stephen recognises a lot of it is down to luck (with some hard work), and so much is subjective. So please feel free to make up your own mind about them…

Since releasing his first album Laistigh den Ghleo alongside the first reissue of Satoshi Ashikawa’s seminal record Still Way, Gareth Quinn Redmond’s work has continued to be inspired by the concept of Environmental Music. This concept runs throughout Quinn Redmond’s approach to writing, which focuses on building and sustaining a connection between listener and environment. Last year saw the release of The Exquisite Corpse, a collaborative work with Canadian based artist C.R Gillespie released on Hidden Harmony Recordings. This was followed in late 2022 with the release of two new albums; Umcheol - Cú Chulainn agus Ferdiad and Ar Ais Arís on WRWTFWW Records.

Admission free / No booking required