Manx Poetry Films

Manx Poetry Films

Thu, 24 Aug 2017

A series of 17 films have been released online, offering an overview of some of the best Manx poetry and music from the past 200 years.

The position of Manx Bard has been awarded since 2014, when it was awarded posthumously to the Manx National Poet, T. E. Brown. In the event organised to reveal the Manx Bard for 2017, a walk through the history of Manx poetry was presented.

The readings stretched through hundreds of years of Manx poetry, from the oral tradition represented in songs such as Fin as Oshin, through "that woman of genius" Esther Nelson and T. E. Brown, into the 20th Century with Cushag, Mona Douglas and Paul Lebiedzinski, and on to the living Manx Bards of Stacey Astill and John 'Dog' Callister.

This was then followed by a number of musical performances, by Caarjyn Cooidjagh, Paul Costain and Mera Royle, before the revealing of the new Manx Bard for 2017/18.

The Manx Bard organisation filmed the event and they will release their film of the revealing of the Bard soon. However, Culture Vannin also filmed a selection of the readings and performances. These are available online now:

Manx Poetry & Music from the Manx Bard Inauguration 2017