Bill Nevins and Jeannie Allen are hosting a free poetry event at SOMOS in Taos on Wednesday, October 30. According to a press release, the event will consist of Irish poems of mystery, magic and music “in the tradition of this time of year, when the boundary between the human world and the world of the spirits is porous.”
Musical entertainment will be provided by Mangan and Yeats to Nuala Ni Dhomnaill and Shane MacGowan.
‘Samhain’ or ‘Oíche Shamhna’ is a Gaelic threshold festival (precursor to our Halloween), marking the end of harvest season and start of winter on October 31 and November 1 when portals open to the invisible spirit Other World of the Sidhe or fairies and old “pagan” gods. Souls of dead kin were thought to revisit their homes and the Sidhe also were believed to take unwary human souls away into their immortal realm.
Irish poets and bards have touched upon, respectfully or irreverently, the mystery and mischief of the Sidhe in their literary works. Attendees will hear a sampling of a few of the poems and songs. It may be a bit of a wild adult ride—not “kid stuff”!
Bill Nevins is a New Mexico poet/journalist who has enjoyed Irish poems and songs ever since he first heard his Tipperary-born great-grandmother singing “Molly Malon.” Nevins visited Ireland during the “Troubles” and in more recent, happier times. He attended Iona College and he’s met Irish bards including Terence Winch, Shane MacGowan, Larry Kirwan, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, and Paul Muldoon. He has taught at UNM, facilitated New Mexico tours by Irish poets, and published two books of his own poetry. Bill has always known that Irish poetry and music are joyously intertwined.
Jeannie Allen is a retired National Geographic Society and NASA educator, a visual artist and musician based in the mountains south of Black Lake, NM, where she explores poetry and nature with Bill Nevins. Bill and Jeannie have visited Ireland together, meeting Irish poets, musicians, and historians.
Oíche Shamhna shona duit! (Happy Halloween in Irish Gaelic)
