Comedian, Emer Maguire & Writer, Dawn Watson, to be showcased by the NI Office in Brussels

On Friday 23rd September, comedian, Emer Maguire will bring the spirit of Culture Night to Brussels with a performance hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive Office. Culture Night will attract an invited audience of officials from the EU Institutions, across the diplomatic community and beyond.

Later in the month, writer and poet, Dawn Watson, will represent Northern Ireland at the 12th TRANSPOESIE festival in Brussels on Tuesday 27th September. Dawn’s poem, Taking the Auspices, has been translated into Dutch and French and is currently on display in public spaces and parks around the Belgian capital. Dawn was selected to be a part of the international project by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels and will present her work at a special event at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura on 27th September.

Launched in 2011, TRANSPOESIE is an annual poetry festival that celebrates multilingualism by bringing poetry in as many languages as possible to Brussels. It is organised by EUNIC Brussels (the local network of European Union National Institutes for Culture) and its partners. TRANSPOESIE was inspired by the successful and long-standing Poems on the Underground in London and Wiersze w Metrze in Warsaw, as well as similar projects run in various capital cities all over the world such as Paris, New York and Montreal.

Speaking about the Brussels Platform, Noirin McKinney, Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said:

“The Brussels Platform is a terrific opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the immense talent we have in Northern Ireland. Both Emer Maguire and Dawn Watson are wonderful ambassadors for the Arts here and the Arts Council is proud to support these artists in showcasing their talents as part of Culture Night Brussels and the TRANSPOESIE poetry festival. We very much look forward to seeing Emer and Dawn present their work to an international audience, helping to put Northern Ireland on the map for all the right reasons.”

Aodhán Connolly, Director of the Northern Ireland Executive Office in Brussels, added,

“The Brussels Platform continues to provide the ideal opportunity to showcase the very best of talent on a European stage and to highlight Northern Ireland’s ever growing reputation as a centre of excellence in the arts. I look forward to welcoming Emer to this year’s Culture Night and Dawn to the Transpoesie festival for events that will not only appeal to the diplomatic community but culture lovers from Brussels and beyond”

For more information on Culture Night Brussels visit www.brusselsni.com and for more information on the TRANSPOESIE Festival visit www.transpoesie.eu or Facebook event.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is involved in a range of international platforms including Brussels with the Northern Ireland Executive Office, Paris with Centre Culturel Irlandais, and India in a range of artist residencies.