Poet Eleanor Hooker moderated the evening, providing introductions for the featured poets and musicians. We enjoyed readings by Sydney-based Anne Casey and Australian native Nathanael O’Reilly and music was provided by ‘Three Women Sing’, a new musical trio from west Clare formed by Anne Rynne, Claire Watts and Shona Blake. The evening was a beautifully intimate collaboration of music and poetry that explored a myriad of personal experiences from home and abroad.

Anne Casey opened her readings with a poem by Ali Whitelock, a poet who was scheduled to attend but had fallen ill. Casey’s own poetry came mostly from her newest publication where the lost things go, published by Salmon Poetry in 2017. Reading from a section of her book called ‘In Memoriam II’, she began with ‘The Draper’, an ode to her mother. The themes of her poetry centred around the recent loss of her mother, and the dislocation she experiences living abroad being originally from Clare but living in Sydney. She examined Australia  as both a destination and a home, while investigating Irishness as geographical and personal.

The second poet, Nathanael O’Reilly, was born in Australia but has lived all over the world. His reading mostly comprised poems from his newest publication Preparations for Departure, one of the “2017 Books of the Year” in Australian Book Review. His poetry deals with the trials and tribulations of living and raising a family abroad. O’Reilly explored his Irish heritage and the links between Australian and Irish landscapes.

Three Women Sing, otherwise known as Anne Rynne, Claire Watts, and Shona Blake, are accomplished singer-songwriters who started singing together about 18 months ago in each other’s kitchens, meeting once a week. Gradually, they began to sing for audiences and have been sharing their music with the world over the past few months. They describe their creative output as “music for anyone who lives and breathes.” Each woman sang an original composition that dealt with interior themes of motherhood, love and spirituality.  

As a location, Poetry Ireland provided the perfect space, conducive to the private revelations that each poet and musician offered. Poetry Ireland also have plans to renovate their location over the coming two years to become a poetry centre with Seamus Heaney’s personal library located on the first floor.

‘Australia Night’ provided an important literary exposition of Australian and Irish identity, a growing genre as immigration continues to shape Irish society.