Limerick poet returns to ‘ideal’ venue to launch new pamphlet
LIMERICK poet William Keohane will launch a new pamphlet about "care and parenthood" during the Riverfest weekend.
In ‘Son’, William brings us from childhood into early adulthood as he touches on transgender experience and naming.
Speaking of his new work, William explained: “’Son’ is a short essay about me and my mom and dad. I wanted to return to the language of childhood in this essay, so 'Son' is an attempt to do this, to write from childhood into adulthood, and explore how language, learning, and thinking change over and through time.”
Originally from Castletroy, William is the writer-in-residence in Ormston House, a cultural resource centre in Limerick. He also founded Trans Limerick Community, a peer support group in the region.
“I'm so looking forward to the launch in Limerick; as much as I've been travelling, Limerick is always the place I want to return to. And Ormston House - where I've been writer in residence since 2022 - is the ideal venue to launch an essay like this one, about care and parenthood, because the OH team are like family at this stage,” he added.
Through his previous work, a 52-poem sequence titled ‘Boxing Day’, William offered a fragmentary glimpse into the experience of gender transition. Published by Lifeboat Press, his new essay, ‘Son’, is about “waiting, hiding and a little bit about a lake”, but mostly, about his parents.
William will launch his pamphlet ‘Son’ this Sunday during Riverfest, and will be joined by guest speakers Matt Kennedy from BelongTo in Dublin, and Raevynna El Messaoudi, Lauren McNamara, and El Reid-Buckley from Trans Limerick Community.