Stephen James Smith is a Dublin poet and playwright central to the rise of the vibrant spoken word scene in Ireland today. His poetry videos have amassed over 2.5 million views.
in 2017 he was commissioned by St. Patrick’s festival to write a new poem as a “Celebratory Narrative” of Ireland. The resultant piece ‘My Ireland’ is accompanied by a short film which has been viewed over 300,000 times and was screened at the London film festival.
In 2018 he was commissioned by Dublin stadium sponsor Aviva to write a poem to highlight the recent rugby final between England & Ireland on Paddy’s day. The poem entitled “Bring it Home” chalked up over 750,000 views across the weekend – and Ireland won!
Stephen has performed at high profile events & venues such as Electric Picnic, other voices, The National Concert Hall in Dublin, The Barbican in London, Vicar Street & the London Palladium (alongside Oscar winner Glen Hansard); The Oscar Wilde Awards in Los Angeles, Glastonbury Festival and many more.
Stephen facilitates poetry workshops in schools around Ireland and is artist in residence with Dunamaise arts centre & Laois arts office. His poetry is included on the syllabus at Western Connecticut State University and his work has been translated into multiple languages. His debut collection, “Fear Not”, is published by Arlen House and will be launched on 14 June 2018 in Dublin at Poetry Ireland on Parnell Square.
Dublin singer-songwriter Enda Reilly writes in both English and Irish, and his Irish songs can be heard regularly on RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta.
2010 saw Enda facilitating workshops with The Monaghan Song and Poetry Writers Group, culminating in production of their album "Hands Together".
Enda also reaches out to younger generations through his Climate Change Songs Workshops initiative, introducing the art of song writing and environmental issues into schools and other groups. Enda performs "Spoken Word Sung Verse" with hard-working Glór poet Stephen James Smith, which is a unique mix of song and poetry performance featuring the poetry of the likes of Yeats and Kavanagh, as well as original works. Enda can often be found at gigs, open mikes and sessions around Dublin. He also plays regularly with the fun-loving collective known as The Lazy Band.
His debut album "Oxygen 21" is available on iTunes and can be heard and live tracks downloaded for free from www.endareilly.com.
“Passionate, witty, just plain great; this man’s voice hops right off the page.”
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