The third annual 'Circling the Square' festival returns to The Source this October

The festival honours Thurles-born poet Dennis O'Driscoll and welcomes many of the foremost poets from this country and beyond.

Dennis O'Driscoll was an Irish poet, essayist, critic, and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Eileen Battersby considered him "the lyric equivalent of William Trevor" and a better poet "by far" than Raymond Carver.

Gerard Smyth regarded him as "one of poetry's true champions and certainly its most prodigious archivist. His book on Seamus Heaney is regarded as the definitive biography of the Nobel laureate

Three main performances on Fri evening, Sat afternoon and Sat evening will intersperse powerful and inspiring poetry with magical music and song.

The star-studded line up of poets includes Thomas McCarthy, Rita Ann Higgins, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Louis De Paor, Mark Roper, Anne Tannam, Thomas Lynch, Molly Twomey, Victoria Kennefick, Jackie Lynam, Aidan Mathews, Victoria Melkovska, Eithne Lannon, Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Iggy McGovern.

All complemented by musicians and singers across several genres, including Gina Oberoi-Engela, Hugh Buckley, Lorcan Lyons, Ed Dwan Quartet, Ceola, Pat O'Callaghan, Daniel Byrne, Tim V Smyth, Ashraf Taghiyev (percussion) and Anna Stepanova (saxophone, vocals) and more.

The program will also feature a school seminar; and two poetry workshops for beginners and emerging poets. A chaired panel discussion: Finding the Words - What is Poetry Now? will interest many.

Sunday will see a guided walk around Dennis O'Driscoll’s Thurles, and the festival will be wrapped up with a fun afternoon of poetry and music, including open mic poetry from emerging poets.

Advance tickets for all shows are available online at www.thesourceartscentre.ie Friday 18th , Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th October | Tickets available at the door for each performance