Kavanagh

Let's be realistic, if you're a poet you're probably impoverished no matter what age you are. Well, here's a chance to elevate yourself out of your state of ragged repose and acquire some pecuniary advancement.

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the death of Patrick Kavanagh (1904-1967), the Trustees of the Estate of Katherine Kavanagh will offer one or two Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowships of 8,000euro each to Irish poets, in their middle years, who are in need of assistance to continue their writing career.

The 2006 Fellowship was awarded to Kevin Kiely, soon to become the 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar in Residence at Boise State University, Idaho. His latest collection is Breakfast with Sylvia (Lagan Press, 2005).

Monaghan-born Patrick Kavanagh was a farmer and cobbler until he moved to Dublin in 1939. He initially endured scathing criticism from the elite of Dublin literary circles who saw him as a bit of a buffoon. However, in 2000, years after his death, the Irish Times surveyed 'the nation's favourite poems' and ten of Kavanagh's poems were in the first fifty. In the same survey Kavanagh was rated the second favourite poet behind WB Yeats.

A long poem, perhaps his best, The Great Hunger, is a tragic statement of the mental and sexual frustrations of Irish rural life.

"And he is not so sure now if his mother was right
When she praised the man who made a field his bride...
He lives that his little fields may stay fertile when his own body
is spread in the bottom of a ditch under two coulters crossed in Christ's Name."

The Fellowships will be awarded in September. The deadline for applications is 31 July. Applicants may obtain further information from The Trustees at 3 Selskar Terrace, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, or visit www.tcd.ie/English and follow the link to 'Patrick Kavanagh'.