Thursday 8th March at 1.00pm - Admission: Free

Donations to RUHAMA will be greatly appreciated

To mark INTERNATIONAL WOMENS' DAY Catch the Moon will make their first Dublin Performance This is a FREE event with donations to RUHAMA very much appreciated. RUHAMA provide a service to women who are currently involved in on-street and off-street prostitution, women who are exiting prostitution, women who are victims of sex trafficking and women who have a history of prostitution.

Four contemporary poets – Jane Clarke, Kathy D’Arcy, Shirley McClure and Tina Pisco – and one talented traditional harper, Anja Bakker – present a performance which flows between their unique voices, each addressing a range of themes. Each Catch the Moon performance is unique, with the four poets and the musician choosing themes and pieces to suit the venue, the time of year and the audience, as well as weaving connections within and between their own perspectives.

The Women: 
Originally from a farm in Roscommon, Jane Clarke now lives in Wicklow. She has published widely and awards include Listowel Writers Week (2007) and the iYeats (2010). In 2009 she was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. She is currently completing an MPhil in Writing with the University of Glamorgan, Wales. Her contemplative, lyrical poems with evocative rural imagery have an eye for the moments in life that might otherwise pass unnoticed. 

Kathy D'Arcy is writer in residence with Cork literary organisation Tigh Fili (Poets' House). Her first collection, Encounter, was published by Lapwing Publications in 2010, and a second is due to be published by Bradshaw Books this year. She currently studies and teaches Irish women's literature, and works with homeless teenagers, but she originally qualified and worked as a doctor. She writes musical accompaniments to some of her poems, and has been involved in theatre, dance and performance for many years; her plays 'Retreat' and 'This is my Constitution' were staged in 2008 and 2011 respectively. 
'Encounter is the best first collection of poetry I've read for a long time', Ian Parks.

Winner of Cork Literary Review's Manuscript Competition 2009 and runner-up in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2009, Shirley McClure's début collection of poetry, Who's Counting? (Bradshaw Books) was launched by Poetry Ireland in September 2010. Shirley teaches Creative Writing, and is particularly interested in the area of Arts and Health.
Bloodaxe poet Katie Donovan says of Shirley McClure's work, “Quirky and wise, studded with razor-sharp double entendres and droll fantasies, these poems introduce a refreshing new voice in Irish poetry”.

Tina Pisco's publications include two best-selling novels, translated into five different languages: “Only a Paper Moon” (Poolbeg 1998), and “Catch the Magpie” (Poolbeg 1999); a collection of newspaper columns: “A West Cork Life", and a cookbook, “West Cork Fusion” (both RandomAnimals Press). Included in the first Fish Short Story Prize Anthology, she was shortlisted for both RTE’s Storyland project, and Best Documentary and Best of Cork in the 2010 Fastnet Short Film Festival. 
During her time as Writer-in-Residence at Tigh Filí, Cork, Tina Pisco's first collection of poetry, “She Be” (Bradshaw Books) – about love life and laundry – was launched at the Irish Writers' Centre in 2010. 

Anja Bakker (BMus) is a recorder player, harper, singer and conductor living in West Cork. She has won numerous competitions in the Feis Matthew, the Feis Ceol as well as winning the chamber music competition in CIT. She has been a soloist with the East Cork Choral Society.
She conducted the 'Famine Commemoration Concert' in Skibbereen (2009) and played in the National Concert Hall in September of the same year. 
In 2010 she carried a 26 string harp from Clonakilty West-Cork to Santiago de Compostela in North-Western Spain, a 2400 km journey about which she is currently writing a show.