Work of Longford poet translated into French, Italian, Russian and Romanian

A proud native of Granard, and the author of ten collections of poetry translated into French, Italian, Russian and Romanian, Noel Monahan, is one of seven people who will be honoured at the inaugural Longford Arts Recognition Awards.

The awards, organised by County Longford Arts Service, in collaboration with Longford County Council and media partner The Longford Leader, will be presented at a special ceremony in the Backstage Theatre on Friday, September 25 at 7pm, bringing together artists, their families and supporters from across the county for an evening celebrating Longford's creative community.

Noel Monahan, is a proud native of Granard, now living in Cavan and the author of ten collections of poetry translated into French, Italian, Russian and Romanian.

His honours include the Poetry Ireland Seacat National Poetry Award and the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Award for drama, and his poetry was prescribed text for the Leaving Certificate English syllabus in 2011 and 2012.

Much of his writing is inspired by his native place and "Diary Of A Town" based on Noel's growing up in Granard in the 50s had been performed by The Granard Writers Group on many occasions.

Noel has led poetry readings and workshops throughout the county, edited local anthologies including Ring Around the Moon and Chasing Shadows and served as the first artist in residence at the highly acclaimed Granard Booktown festival.

The Longford Arts Recognition Awards ceremony takes place at Backstage Theatre on Friday, September 25 at 7pm.

All of Longford’s Art community are invited to attend and join in celebrating the achievements of these seven artists.

Please book your place at Backstage Theatre Box Office on 043 33 47888 or www.backstage.ticketsolve.com