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BAFFLE

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About Me

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The Bowes Academic Fellowship and Fraternity of Literary Esoterics had it’s conception in 1984 in a small but select, and sadly now extinct, drinking establishment in Loughrea Co. Galway named Bowes-Kennedy. It was there through the stimuli of alcohol, nicotine and general camaraderie that a suitably inebriated gathering found itself talking along the lines of Anthony Hope’s: “I wish you would read a little poetry sometimes, your ignorance cramps my conversation”.

Thus BAFFLE was created with the intention of forming a catalyst of poets where there would be no censorship of language, revelation, humour, or innovation. Indeed these attributes would only serve to emphasise and enhance MacCauley’s adage “Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry without a certain unsoundness of mind.”.

My Interests

A unique view on poetry and life

Since it’s inception, the group has met regularly for the performance of their works, the venue being one of the local pubs.

The basic concept being that participants compose and perform a poem on a given theme, which is announced a few weeks in advance to give aspiring poets time to hone their craft. Of course, some poets are notorious for scribbling their final lines soon after reaching the pub, and we really should not mention the people who only begin writing when they get there!

All are welcome to perform, especially new poets. The group consists of a melange of locals, and “blow-ins” from every corner of Ireland, not to mention our members from Germany and Britain. We are also strongly affiliated with the Portumna group, organised by Noelle Lynskey.

Awards:
The BAFFLE group has been the recipient of two Galway Regional Arts awards. One award was for the achievement of the group itself and the other was for the Festival.

Festival:
The BAFFLE Festival was established in 1997 and has been an annual event ever since. It takes place over the October bank holiday weekend and has become the place to be for poetry and craic that weekend”! The festival is built around a themed, poetry competition, with readings and workshops by writers and poets happening at different venues throughout the town. This years festival is running from the 26th - 28th of October

Movies:

Film:
The group was the subject of a documentary film made in conjunction with The Galway Film Centre’s ID Productions. It was filmed at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2001.

Books:

Publications:
Five volumes of poetry have been published. The most recent volume married poems with the work of local artists, creating a visually stunning book.

My Blog

BAFFLE COMPETITION - Nov. 23rd

    A Huge thank you to everyone who attended this years BAFFLE Festival. It couldn't have gone better. The poetry was of an amazing quality, and the craic as always was mighty! Now for...
Posted by BAFFLE on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:24:00 PST

BAFFLE Festival October 26th - 28th, 2007

The Festival's Theme this year is 'Changing Faces' The festival is built around a themed, poetry competition, with readings and workshops by writers and poets happening at different venues throughout ...
Posted by BAFFLE on Sat, 20 Oct 2007 07:28:00 PST