SiarScéal Festival 2018 featuring Beneath Western Skies exhibition

SiarScéal Festival 2018

The annual SiarScéal Festival takes place this weekend (Friday and Saturday, 19-20 October) and, this year, showcases a special photographic and poetry exhibition entitled Beneath Western Skies, celebrating seascapes, lakes and landscapes of the breathtaking County Sligo. The exhibition is already on view at Roscommon County Library HQ in Roscommon Town and will be until Tuesday, 24 October.

Also headlining at this year's festival will be Faye Boland, whose debut collection of poems, Peripheral, takes its title from her overall winning entry at last year's Hanna Greally International Literary Awards, which run, most years, as part of the festival. The Awards are on hiatus this year however, a selection of entries from last year accompanies the photographs featured in Beneath Western Skies exhibition.

A writing workshop with author and poet, Mary Branley on the Friday is another reason to go along while, musical performances and the always popular open mike session to close the festival on the Saturday. The full details for this year's festival have been posted online and also available to download.

The festival is open to the public and anyone interested in performing their work is asked to contact the organisers by text or SMS to Int+353+(0)86 1649756.

SiarScéal is an annual community festival based in Roscommon and Roscommon County Council Library Services have sponsored this event, along with The Manuscript Publisher and AIB. Photographers and poets from surrounding areas have generously allowed their work to be displayed and performed, including Ann Joyce, who has been a friend of SiarScéal since its inception.