About
Colin Dardis is a poet, editor, arts coordinator and creative writing tutor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A debut full-length collection with Eyewear, the x of y, was released in May 2018. A new collection, The Dogs of Humanity, will be released in August 2019 from Fly on the Wall Poetry.
His work has been published widely throughout Ireland, the UK and USA. He co-runs Poetry NI, a multi-media, multi-project platform for poetry, alongside Geraldine O'Kane. Known for his devotion to building up and supporting Northern Irish poets, Colin started publishing Speech Therapy Poetry Zine in 2005, and launched the Make Yourself Heard open mic nights in 2006 in the renown Cathedral Quarter of Belfast, at a time when the city had no live poetry scene to speak of outside of the universities, and very few platforms for poets to engage in and showcase their work. Previously, Colin was also one of Eyewear Publishing's Best New British and Irish Poets 2016, editor for Lagan Online, and an ACES '15-16 recipient from Arts Council Northern Ireland. In October 2011, he co-founded the popular Purely Poetry monthly event in the Crescent Arts Centre, building it up to become a cornerstone in the NI literary scene through open mics and poetry slams. In July 2012, the first issue of FourXFour was released, an online quarterly poetry journal, with each issue showcasing four poems each from four poets within Northern Ireland. Having had a speech impediment when younger, attending speech therapy classes throughout primary school, Colin's initial interest in language and words grew out of these formative experiences. His personal history of depression and mental illness is also an ongoing influence on his work, which has led to a number of poetry-related charity readings and work in this field. Colin has read, ran workshops and facilitated events with an array of festivals, literary organisations and businesses: All Ireland Poetry Slam, Arts & Disability Forum, Aspects Festival, BBC Northern Ireland, Belfast Book Festival, Belly Laughs Comedy Festival, Community Arts Partnership, Creative Writers Network, Crescent Arts Centre, CS Lewis Festival, Eastside Arts, ERC Voices, European Heritage Open Days, Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry Competition, Holocaust Memorial Day, John Hewitt Society, Newcastle Arts Festival, Open Arts, Over The Edge, Poetry Ireland, Stendhal Festival of Art, Translink NI, Verbal Arts Centre and more.
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Upcoming Events
Saturday 18th May Lived Experience Arts Festival, Ivy Bar, Newtownards Creative Writing Workshop 2.30-4.30pm Reading (with Dan Eggs) 5-7pm Tuesday 11th June Belfast Book Festival, Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast 8pm Incoming (reading with Geraldine O'Kane, Linda McKenna and Ross Thompson) 9.30pm Poetry NI presents the Belfast Book Festival Poetry Slam Saturday 15th June Belfast Book Festival, Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast 12-2pm Write To Mental Health workshop Thursday 8th August Eastside Arts Centre, Eastside Vistors Centre, Belfast 8PM Book Launch: The Dogs of Humanity Awards
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