The idea of coffee for poems was that of Kerrie O’Brien and the tourist promotion scheme Lovin Dublin. To mark March’s World Poetry Day, O’Brien put out a call to the city’s cafes to accept a written or spoken poem in exchange for a cup of java.
Kerrie O’ Brien is an Irish poet. She has been published in various international journals including Cyphers, The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner, Southword, Orbis and The Penny Dreadful among others. She is seen performing in the video below:
World Poetry Day is a United Nations-backed day, and it has been held each March since 1999 (although in some countries in coincides with many national poetry days which are more often held during October to mark the birth-date of Virgil, the epic poet of the Roman Empire.) The purpose of World Poetry Day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world.
For the events in Dublin, some five cafes took part: Clement and Pekoe, Kaph, Nick’s Coffee Co, BB’s, Books Upstairs, and Two Pups Coffee. The event was deemed a success with dozens of people coming forward with self-penned tomes. The campaign was sponsored by Julius Meinl International, who are an Austrian manufacturer and distributor of coffee and other grocery products.
Details of the Irish event are presented in the video below:
