Cathy Galvin Launch Events

 

Cathy Galvin is a poet and a journalist, and has been a champion of other writers and writing, co-founding The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award and founding and directing The Word Factory short story organisation. She has been nominated for a variety of awards including the Ilkley Poetry Prize and Listowel Poetry Prize and is the recipient of a Hawthornden Fellowship, Heinrich Böll (Achill Island) residency and an Arts Council England DYCP award. Her first full-length book of poetry, Ethnology: a love song for Connemara (Bloodaxe Books, 2026), follows three pamphlet sequences of poetry, Black & Blue (Melos Press, 2014), Rough Translation (Melos Press, 2016) and Walking The Coventry Ring Road with Lady Godiva (Guillemot Press, 2019).

Published in February 2026, Ethnology draws on the mystical cry for the dead of Cathy Galvin's Irish-speaking ancestors. Within an epic narrative she reclaims place, people and language, creating a bridge between our own times and a Connemara community on the margins of Europe. Drawing on classic forms within literary and oral traditions, Ethnology becomes a love song for Connemara, witness to vivid encounters: between the living and the dead and between the poets, folklorists and ethnologists who have written about the West of Ireland for their own agendas.

~~~~~

An excellent review of Cathy Galvin’s first full-length poetry book Ethnology: a love song for Connemara went online in London Grip on 21 February 2026. Read in full here.

‘Ethnology: a love song for Connemara is a tightly focused book. It pursues its themes with a laser-like precision. But Galvin’s world never feels monolithic. For all its emphasis on loss of both people and place, there lies beneath that an abundant sense of life, its meaning and its worth. This is, as the cliché often suggests, a book to return to, a book with real heft and stature.’ – Ian Pople, London Grip

 

Ethnology: a love song for Connemara was well reviewed online in the Spring 2026 issue of The High Window.  Read in full here.

‘…a collection that is rooted in the landscape and nuances of Máisean Island and its past inhabitants. Galvin also questions what home and belonging mean when family roots have left their point of origin.’ – Emma Lee, The High Window

~~~~~

 

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

 

Cathy Galvin will be launching Ethnology at series of events in the UK and Ireland over the coming months. 

 

Friday 6 March, 7pm-9pm, The Gardeners' House, Morrab Rd,  Penzance, Cornwall

Joint reading by Cathy Galvin and Penelope Shuttle, followed by a discussion between the two poets. Penelope's new collection History of the Child is also published by Bloodaxe in February 2026.

Booking details to follow.

 

Monday 9 March, 7pm, Five Leaves Bookshop, 14a Long Row, Nottingham NG1 2DH

Poetry from Cathy Galvin supported by Laurie Cusack

Cathy Galvin will be reading from Ethnology, alongside Laurie Cusack who will be reading from his short story collection The Mad Road.

Tickets £5 (book and ticket bundle available). More details and booking here.

 

Tuesday 10 March, 10am, Nottingham Central Library

Nottingham Central Library, 1 Carrington Street, Nottingham, NG1 7FH

Look Again: home and the inner landscape. A poetry workshop with Cathy Galvin

Join poet Cathy Galvin as she invites you to find a space to look again, and more deeply, at the all-too-familiar landscapes of home. Whatever your chosen literary form, whether you are an experienced writer or simply want to try something new, this relaxed 90 minute session is aimed at helping you discover the still points and the surprising in the everyday concept of home. Using texts from her own work and those of other writers, and drawing on her Irish heritage growing up in Coventry, she will help you consider what lies beneath and within the landscapes we think we know.

Tickets £10. (Student ticket £8) More details and booking here.

 

Tuesday 10 March, 8pm

Reading at The Emerald Centre, Leicester

The Emerald Centre, 450 Gipsy Lane, Leicester, LE5 0TB

Cathy Galvin will be launching her new book in Leicester with readings and discussion.

More details TBA - see The Emerald Centre Facebook page.

 

Wednesday 11 March, 5.30pm

Meet The Poet: Cathy Galvin. Reading and conversation

Coventry Irish Society, Eaton House, Eaton Road, Coventry, CV1 2FJ

Join poet Cathy Galvin as she invites you to find a space to look again, and more deeply, at the all-too-familiar landscapes of home. Using texts from her own work, focussed on Connemara and Coventry, she will help you consider what lies beneath and within the landscapes we think we know. 

Free event. More details and booking here.

 

Thursday 12 March, 5-6pm, Warwick University

A Season of Poetry: Spring Readings with Warwick Poets hosted by David Morley. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of poetry at Warwick. Cathy Galvin will be reading from her debut Ethnology: a love song for Connemara.

Booking details to follow.

 

Thursday 19 March, 7pm, Manchester Irish Language Group (online event)

Cathy Galvin will be in conversation online with Manchester Irish Language Group.  She is learning Irish with this group.

Booking details to follow.

 

Friday 20 March, Altarnun, Cornwall

Terre Verte Gallery, Altarnun, nr Launceston, Cornwall PL15 7SJ

Private view and signing at Terre Verte Gallery

The Terre Verte Gallery will be showing a exhibition of paintings and photographs of the west coast of Ireland to coincide with the publication of Cathy Galvin’s Ethnology: a love song for Connemara. Featuring Tim Robinson, Norman Ackroyd, John Drever, Richard Sharland, Nic Dunlop and more.

More details TBA - see the Gallery website here. 

(See below for Cathy's reading at the Terre Verte gallery on 27th March)

 

Tuesday 24 March, 6pm, Hodges Figgis, Dublin

Hodges Figgis Bookshop, 56-58 Dawson Sreet, Dublin 2

Ethnology Dublin launch event with with John F. Deane: readings and conversation

Join Hodges Figgis for an Evening with Poets: Cathy Galvin, with her new book Ethnology: a love song for Connemara and John F. Deane with his latest book Jonah and Me, with Cathy Galvin introduced by Enda Wyley. Both poets will be reading and giving insight into their work on the night.

More details and booking here.

 

Friday 27 March, 7pm, Terre Verte Gallery, Cornwall

Terre Verte Gallery, Altarnun, nr Launceston, Cornwall PL15 7SJ

Reading at Terre Verte Gallery

Cathy Galvin will be reading from Ethnology, alongside Penelope Shuttle, whose new collection History of the Child is also published by Bloodaxe in February 2026. 

More details TBA - see the Gallery website here. 

 

Thursday 9 April, 7pm, Bristol

East Bristol Books, 12 West Street, St Philip's, Bristol, BS2 0BH

Bristol launch reading for Ethnology

Cathy Galvin will be reading from Ethnology alongside poet Eleanor Rees.

More details and booking information to be announced here.

 

Saturday 18 April, 8.45pm, Cheltenham Poetry Festival

Friends Meeting House (Quaker Society of Friends), Cheltenham, GL52 2NP

A showcase of poetry, spoken word and lyrical, literate songwriting from Scott James, Ryan Chambers, Cathy Galvin and guests. Hosted by Chris Hemingway. 

Cathy Galvin will be reading from her first full poetry book Ethnology: a love song for Connemara.

Tickets - £8. More details and booking here.

 

Wednesday 29 April, 6.30pm, The Music Room, Bloomsbury, London

Reading with Cathy Galvin and fellow Bloodaxe poets Maura Dooley and David Constantine. 

Details to follow.

 

Saturday 2 May, 6.30pm: Launceston Poetry Festival

Launceston Town Hall, PL15 7AR

Cathy Galvin will be reading with Ella Frears.

Tickets: £10. More details and booking here.

 

Thursday 14th May, 7pm: Cork International Poetry Festival

Cork Arts Theatre, Camden Court, Knapps Square, Carroll's Quay, T23 X72D

Cathy Galvin will be reading at Cork International Poetry Festival alongside Greg Rappleye.

Tickets €5 - more details and booking here.

 

Tuesday 26 May, 6pm, Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Galway

Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, The Cornstore, Middle St, Galway, H91 AH7A

Ethnology Galway launch with introduction by Mary O’Malley.

Free event with wine, readings and signings.

Details to follow.

 

Thursday 28 May: Listowel Writers' Week

Cathy Galvin will be reading and in conversation.

[03 February 2026]

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