Dennis O'Driscoll Awards with John MacKenna & Shane Sullivan

In a novel approach to Dennis O'Driscoll's poetic work, writer John MacKenna will present five poems by Dennis and speak very briefly about why he has chosen these works. Each poem will be followed by a song chosen as a response or parallel to Dennis's work. These songs will be performed by singer/songwriter Shane Sullivan. 'We want to honour Dennis and his work and also to reflect the themes of his poems in similar themes in music world,' says MacKenna. 'The accessibility of the poems - their themes, language, emotional appeal and humanity will be reflected in the songs we've chosen as responses.'

Shane Sullivan and John MacKenna have worked together extensively: on the Leonard Cohen/MacKenna Mass for theatre, Between Your Love and Mine; on the Cohen/Angela Keogh/MacKenna collaboration At War With Mercy and they are currently working on a stage presentation based around Shane's songs called Little Steps.