Poets Paddy Bushe and Fran Fernández Davila have been announced as the recipients of the Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill International Poetry Exchange 2026.
Paddy Bushe is a bilingual poet writing in both Irish and English. He has published over 14 collections of poetry, including Poems With Amergin (1989), Digging Towards The Light (1994), In Ainneoin na gCloch (2001), Hopkins on Skellig Michael (2001) and The Nitpicking of Cranes (2004). To Ring in Silence: New and Selected Poems was published in 2008. He received the 2006 Oireachtas prize for poetry, the 2006 Michael Hartnett Poetry Award and the 2017 Irish Times Poetry Now Award. He is also a member of the Irish academy of artists, Aosdána. A translator of renown, he has brought the poems of Zhang Ye, Gabriel Rosenstock, Somhairle MacGill-Eain and Cathal Ó Searcaigh among others into English or Irish. The Rolling Wave on RTÉ Radio 1 devoted an entire show to Paddy Bushe’s poems in November 2022. Uncertain Passage was published by Dedalus Press in February 2026.
Paddy Bushe’s project will continue his long-running creative and academic engagement with Galicia. His PhD and subsequent publication The Amergin Step (2024), traced ‘the mythological and cultural links between Ireland and Galicia.’ Observing these paired Atlantic regions through a ‘broad ecological’ lens, his focus closes in on a crisis that is ‘cultural, social and imaginative at least as much as physical and scientific.’ Themes of migration, minority language and identifying with the natural world follow from the steps the poet takes from his native Kerry through the culture and toponymy of Galicia. He will also continue work on translating contemporary Galician poets into Irish. Paddy will spend the month of September at the Residencia Literaria 1863 in A Coruña, Galicia.
Francisco Javier Fernández Davila is the author of 7 novels and 5 collections of poetry, covering the erotic, the experimental, the urban lyric and the intimate in their broad range. Awarded numerous prizes for his published work, he speaks Galician, Spanish, English, Italian, French and Portuguese. An engineer, he holds an MBA in Corporate Social Responsibility, and is currently studying to become a secondary school teacher. Francisco will spend the month of September at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig.
Caol áit is a collection of poems built around the concept of the ‘Thin Place’: a geographical site where the boundary between the visible and invisible worlds thins until it almost disappears. The concept exists in both Galician and Irish traditions, and the collection will work as a ‘map of thresholds, crossroads and coasts; places where something changes its nature with no law explaining it.’
The award is made possible through the support of The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Literature Ireland, Residencia Literaria 1863, Poetry Ireland and the Xunta de Galicia.
Fógraíodh na filí Paddy Bushe agus Fran Fernández Davila mar fhaighteoirí an Mhalartáin Filíochta Idirnáisiúnta Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill 2026
Is file dátheangach é Paddy Bushe a scríobhann i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla araon. Tá breis agus 14 cnuasach filíochta foilsithe aige, lena n-áirítear Poems With Amergin (1989), Digging Towards The Light (1994), In Ainneoin na gCloch (2001), Hopkins on Skellig Michael (2001) agus The Nitpicking of Cranes (2004). Foilsíodh To Ring in Silence: New and Selected Poems in 2008. Fuair sé gradam an Oireachtais 2006 don fhilíocht, Gradam Filíochta Michael Hartnett 2006 agus Irish Times Poetry Now Award 2017. Is ball é d’acadamh ealaíontóirí na hÉireann, Aosdána, chomh maith. Mar aistritheoir iomráiteach, thug sé dánta ó Zhang Ye, Gabriel Rosenstock, Somhairle MacGill-Eain agus Cathal Ó Searcaigh ina measc go Béarla nó an Ghaeilge. Chaith The Rolling Wave ar RTÉ Radio 1 clár iomlán ar dhánta Paddy Bushe i mí na Samhna 2022. Foilsíodh Uncertain Passage ag Dedalus Press i mí na Feabhra 2026.
Leanfaidh tionscadal Paddy Bushe leis an rannpháirtíocht chruthaitheach agus acadúil seanbhunaithe atá aige leis an nGailís. Rianaíodh ‘na naisc mhiotaseolaíocha agus chultúrtha atá idir Éirinn agus an Ghailís’ ina PhD agus an foilseachán ina dhiaidh sin, The Amergin Step (2024). Agus é ag breathnú ar na réigiúin Atlantacha péireáilte seo trí lionsa ‘éiceolaíochta leathan’, díríonn sé ar ghéarchéim atá ‘ar a laghad chomh cultúrtha, sóisialta agus samhlaíoch is atá sí fisiciúil agus eolaíoch.’ Leanann téamaí na himirce, mionteanga agus dáimh a bheith agat leis an domhan nádúrtha ar aghaidh ó na céimeanna a ghlacann an file óna áit dhúchais, Contae Chiarraí, trí chultúr agus dinnseanchas na Gailíse. Leanfaidh sé lena chuid oibre ag aistriú filí comhaimseartha na Gailíse go Gaeilge. Caithfidh Paddy mí an Mheáin Fómhair ag an Residencia Literaria 1863 in A Coruña, sa Ghailís.
Is údar é Francisco Javier Fernández Davila a bhfuil 7 n-úrscéal agus 5 chnuasach filíochta scríofa aige, ag clúdach ábhar earótach, turgnamhach collaí agus an liric uirbeacha ina réimse leathan. Bronnadh gradaim iomadúla air as a chuid oibre foilsithe, labhraíonn sé an Ghailísis, an Spáinnis, Béarla, an Iodáilis, an Fhraincis agus an Phortaingéilis. Innealtóir is ea é, tá MBA san Fhreagracht Shóisialta Chorparáideach aige agus tá sé ag déanamh staidéir faoi láthair chun bheith ina mhúinteoir meánscoile. Caithfidh Francisco mí an Mheáin Fómhair ag an Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Eanach Mac Dearg.
Is cnuasach dánta é Caol áit a chruthaítear thart ar an gcoincheap den ‘Áit Tanaí’: suíomh tíreolaíochta ina n-éiríonn an teorainn atá idir na domhain infheicthe agus dofheicthe níos éadroime go dtí go n-imíonn sí beagnach as radharc. Is ann don choincheap i dtraidisiúin na Gailíse agus na hÉireann araon, agus feidhmeoidh an cnuasach mar ‘léarscáil de thairseacha, crosbhóthar agus cóstaí; áiteanna ina n-athraíonn rud éigin a nádúr féin gan bheith ann d’aon dlí chun é a mhíniú.’
Cuirtear an gradam ar fáil mar gheall ar thacaíocht ó The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Eanach Mac Dearg, Litríocht Éireann, Residencia Literaria 1863, Éigse Éireann agus rialtas na Gailíse.
Image: Residencia Literaria 1863, Rego de Auga 46, 15001 A Coruña.
Posted to News on 22 Jun 2026.