Dr Anne Casey is an internationally acclaimed poet from west Clare in Ireland and a longtime resident of Australia. Recently, one of Anne’s poems was sent to The Moon as part of a project of preserving poetry from every continent on Earth for future lunar visitors. Throughout this conversation, Anne kindly reads and introduces several of her poems and shares insights from her academic research on the Great Irish Famine.
Listen to the conversation using the audio player above or access the podcast via iTunes or Spotify (or search for “Wide Open Air Exchange” on your preferred podcast platform).
Anne Casey’s doctoral research was on ‘The second-wave impact in Australia of the Great Irish Famine: reviving lost histories through poetics of resistance’. We hear about some of Anne’s archival research and her own family history that evidence British colonial atrocities in Ireland.
Anne’s poetry vividly takes us to her seaside hometown on the Atlantic coastline of west Clare, showing her strong connections to place and culture. Ancestral Irish cultural traditions and colonial histories are discussed in resonation with the experiences of the First Peoples of Australia.
This is a list of poems read by Anne during the program:
‘Love in a time of chaos’
‘Come and find me’
‘Warrung gathering’
‘Mise Aisling’
‘Idir Oispidéal Galair agus Teach na mBocht’
‘I will arise and go’
The image of Anne Casey on this page is from her artist profile on The Pranqueans website
The other feature image when this web post is shared is “Powder Flower’ by Cezary Korsieko (October 9 Arts, Poland) which is the cover image to the poetry collection, Out of Emptied Cups by Anne Casey.