Annemarie Ní Churreáin
Irish poet Irish poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin treated Reinhardt students with a poetry reading on Jan 25. Ní Churreáin read selections from two of her books, “Bloodroot” and “The Poison Glen,” to an eager crowd of students, faculty, and staff in the Hill Freeman Library Community Room.
Ní Churreáin, from Donegal Gaeltacht, Ireland, published three books of poetry since 2017. Her first book was “Bloodroot” followed by “Town” and, most recently, “The Poison Glen.” Four of Ní Churreáin’s poems were published in Reinhardt’s “James Dickey Review,” two of which were nominated for a “Pushcart Prize: The Best of the Small Presses.” She is the recipient of The Next Generation Artist Award and a co-recipient of the Markievicz Award, both from the Irish Arts Council. She is a former literary fellow of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Germany and the Jack Kerouac House of Orlando. Ní Churreáin was the 2019-20 writer-in-residence at Maytooth University of Ireland and a 2020 artist in residence at The Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.
Reflecting on her visit, Ní Churreáin was full of compliments for the Reinhardt students. “What bright, thoughtful and engaging students they were,” she said. “I’m still carrying their questions and voices in my head. It was by far the most stimulating visit I’ve had abroad. They’re students to be proud of. I’ve been singing their praises since arriving back in Ireland.”
“Having a world-renown poet like Annemarie Ní Churreáin visit Reinhardt and meet our students and influence them in so many positive ways is simply remarkable,” said Bill Walsh, director of Reinhardt’s Master of Fine Arts program. “She was so generous with her time. Events like this happen only a few times in a student’s life, and I know they will never forget this event. Her poetry and perspective on life and the world was a great source of encouragement to our students to go out into the world and make a change.”
