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Paula Meehan, Irish Poet and Playwright, Will Give Poetry Reading

Irish poet, playwright and teacher Paula Meehan will give a poetry reading at Washington and Lee University on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 4:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library.

Meehan will be reading from her new book of poetry, “Painting Rain” (2009). The reading is free and open to the public.

Poet, playwright and current poet laureate of Great Britain Carol Ann Duffy said, “Paula Meehan is a vocational poet of courage and integrity. Already much-loved and admired far beyond the shores of her native Ireland, Meehan advances her claim on our hearts and minds with Painting Rain. From present-day Dublin to Ancient Greece, the myths and flawed heroes of her poems give back to us our own lives, counted out in illuminated moments of joy, pain, love and memory.”

Meehan is also the author of books of poetry including “Return and No Blame” (1984); “Pillow Talk” (1994); and “Dharmakaya” (2000) among others. She is the author of “Cell: a play” (2000) and “Music for Dogs: Work for Radio” (2008).

Meehan has conducted workshops with many inner-city communities, prisons and universities. Her work has often been translated and among the prizes for her work that she has won are The Martin Toonder Award (1995), The Butler Literary Award (1998) and the Denis Devlin Award (2002).

Born in Dublin, Meehan studied at Trinity College in Dublin and at Eastern Washington University.