Tagged: “Samhain”
The Irish Origins of Halloween: Five Fun Facts about Samhain
Halloween’s oldest roots are in an ancient Irish holiday called Samhain (pronounced sah-win)! Samhain—usually translated “summer’s end”—was in part a harvest festival when Celtic tribes held assemblies, and rulers and warriors conferred and made laws.
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week to Celebrate Samhain
It’s the last week of October, which means it’s almost Halloween, the spookiest time of year. Did you know that Halloween originates from the Celtic festival called Samhain? We enjoy getting into the Samhain spirit by reading some of our poets’ eeriest pieces. Here’s a particularly creepy poem of the week from Louis MacNeice. Plant…
Continue ReadingA final song for Samhain
Halloween is finally here! While children dress in costume and parents don their houses with spooky decorations, we are paying tribute to John Montague and his eerie poem about the Celtic festival that celebrates the arrival of the “darker half” of the year. The auditory and sensory imagery Montague engages sends shivers down our spine, as we welcome…
Continue ReadingSpooky History of Samhain
Halloween is upon us, but did you know that this beloved holiday is a descendent of the pagan Celtic festival called Samhain? Samhain (pronounced sah-win or sow-in) celebrates the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter, the time of year often associated with darkness and death. The Celts believed that on this night,…
Continue ReadingPoetry for Samhain: “The Andean Flute” by Derek Mahon
He dances to that music in the wood
As if history were no more than a dream.
Who said the banished gods were gone for good?
Celebrating the music of the past with the words of the present
Sculpture of Seán Ó Riada in Cúil Aodha, Ireland As we look forward to Samhain, the Gaelic festival marking the end of the Harvest season and the beginning of the “darker” winter months, we are quick to draw connections to our Western ideas of Halloween: spooky costumes, creepy decorations, grim horror stories, and a crisp fall…
Continue Reading“Bigger isn’t always better: Confessions from Wake Forest University Press interns on working at a small university press”
Wake Forest University Press is the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America. Despite the lofty designation, it is among the smallest university presses in America. WFUP publishes an average of 4-6 titles each year, all from native Irish poets. It employs two full-time staff members, in addition to a half dozen or so…
Continue ReadingPoem of the Week: “Samhain” by John Montague
Samhain Sing a song for the mistress of the bones the player on the black keys the darker harmonies light jig of shoe buckles on a coffin lid ∞ Harsh glint of the wrecker’s lantern on a jagged cliff across the ceaseless glitter of the spume: a seagull’s creak. The damp-haired…
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