To celebrate all Ireland Poetry Day - October 4th, Mayo County Council Arts Office, Library Service and Artsquad put out a call for submissions of inspiring poetry. There was a tremendous response to the call with close on 150 poems submitted so far. The organizers would like to express their thanks to Artist Louisa Sloan from Artsquad who designed the Poetry Tree and to the Library staff and Art venues that collected the poetry submissions and to those that embraced the concept and submitted poetry.

Pictured at the launch of the Poetry tree at Castlebar Library are Aisling McLoughlin, Mary Glavey, Ann Coyne, Mary Mitchell, Louisa Sloan, Mayo Art Squad, Anne McCarthy, Mayo Arts Officer and Paula Leavy McCarthy, Mayo Co Library. Pic Joy Heverin.

Poems were submitted from Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Active Retirement Associations, Care Settings, Writers' Groups, Individuals. Junior and Senior infants from St. Johns, Logboy, Claremorris put a poem together about the important things in their life entitled, Toy Cars and Tractors. Submissions came as far a field as Provence, France and Malta. Colaiste Pobail Acla submitted 34 poems from budding Poets who show great talent. To name but a few, submissions were received from Áras Attracta Swinford, The Motley Belles Claremorris, Abbey Breaffy Castlebar, Rural Training Centre Castlebar, Claremorris ARA, Ballinrobe ARA, Ard Bhride Castlebar, St. Mary's Secondary School Ballina, Ward 9 Writers, Orchard Club Swinford, St Josephs School Charlestown, and the list goes on. Poems centre around children, life, love, dreams, poems about trees themselves, all life is included in the poems, poems that make you laugh, cry and think.

The majority of the poems submitted are original poetry. People also submitted poems by famous poets that had inspired them including such greats as Seamus Heaney, Rita Ann Higgins, William Stafford, and Sir Thomas Wyatt to name a few. Poems arrived in all shapes and forms, by e-mail or handwritten, some people included images and drawings. People submitted their Poetry and also included why they chose the poem, what the poem means to them, why they wrote the poem.

Louisa Sloan, Mayo Art Squad, hanging some of the poetry received at the launch of the Poetry Tree at Castlebar Library. Pic Joy Heverin.

The Inspiring Poetry Tree is on display in Mayo County Library Castlebar during the month of October and will then tour some of the bigger Mayo libraries. Maybe you have a poem that you would like to add to the tree. If so send your poem to Arts Office, Mayo County Council, Áras an Chontae, The Mall, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.Tel: + 353 (0) 94 90 47471/ 47558 E-mail: oheverin@mayococo.ie mayoarts@mayococo.ie or to any Mayo Library, list of Mayo Libraries: http://www.mayolibrary.ie/en/FindABranch/