Kilbixy Poetry Evening 2023 is next Friday

The eighth annual Kilbixy Poetry Evening will be held at St Bigseach’s Church, Ballynacargy, on Friday evening next, August 25, at 7.30pm.

Now a firm favourite on the cultural calendar of Westmeath, the event always attracts a large crowd of poets and poetry lovers.

The initiative was mooted in 2014 by the late Watson Mills, a great poetry enthusiast who participated each year, reciting works by his favourite poet, John Betjeman with passion and an uncanny recall.

Sadly, Watson passed away in December 2021, but his legacy has been preserved by his co-organisers Eleanor Murtagh and Betty Murtagh.

Members of the public are invited to recite poems of their own or works they admire or to just come along and hear the vast expanse of varied verse and style on offer.

There is no admission fee, but donations are accepted in aid of the North Westmeath Hospice.