September 2022 Update
During her time as dlr Poet in Residence, Jessica Traynor completed work on her collection, Pit Lullabies, published by Bloodaxe Books in March 2023. She also completed a new commission, CARBON, to be published by The Salvage Press in 2023. She has also worked on poetry commissions for Lost Lace, a large-scale public art installation to commemorate those lost to Covid, and for IMMA.
As part of her engagement with local communities she ran a monthly Poetry Book Club, where poetry fans met to discuss new Irish and international poetry collections. This book club will continue to meet monthly after the residency ends, and interested participants in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area can email dlrpoetryclub@gmail.com if they're interested in joining.
She also facilitated The Carbon Project, a series of eco-poetry workshops which has culminated in the publication of a new pamphlet of eco-poetry, featuring ten new poems. This will launch as part of the Poetry Weekender on the 17th September.
She held regular office hours, meeting and mentoring poets and writers in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown area, and worked with curator Moran Been-Noon on a series of installations in the library. She worked with photographer Gerry Blake to write a response to his exhibition Home Place, and conduct a walk-through of the exhibition during its run with the Municipal Gallery.
With poet Rosamund Taylor and dlr Libraries, she ran a master class with poet Romalyn Ante, and read with Rosamung at the dlr LexIcon Studio in June 2022.
As a culmination of her residency, she co-curated The Poetry Weekender with the Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.
As a culmination of her residency, she co-curated The Poetry Weekender with the Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.
Biog: Jessica Traynor is a poet, essayist and librettist. Her debut collection, Liffey Swim (Dedalus Press, 2014), was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award and in 2016 was named one of the best poetry debuts of the past five years on Bustle.com. Her second collection, The Quick, was a 2019 Irish Times poetry choice. Awards include the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary, The Hennessy New Writer of the Year Award and The Listowel Poetry Prize. Paper Boat, a major new opera commissioned by Music for Galway/ Galway 2020, will premiere in 2022. She is currently working on new Arts Council commissions for the choir Cantairí Óga Átha Cliath, and a contemporary dance opera, The Wanderer, for Irish Modern Dance Theatre. She is the 2020-22 Yeats Society Sligo writer in residence and a Creative Fellow of UCD. Her next collection, Pit Lullabies, will be published by Bloodaxe Books in 2022.