Donegal writer and poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin has been announced as one of the first recipients of the new Markievicz Award.

The award is a new bursary scheme for artists launched to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the appointment of the first female cabinet minister, Constance de Markievicz.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin, who is originally from Doire Chonaire outside Falcarragh, is part of a collective of poets who received one of the €20,000 awards.

Presentation of Markievicz Awards 2019

Annemarie will be working alongside fellow poets Kimberley Campanello and Dimitra Xidous to create a project titled (S)worn State(S): Poems After Constance Markievicz.

Taking the theme of ‘witness’ in the context of women’s lives and the Irish State 2012-23 and beyond, this project will result in a suite of new poems and culminate in a live performance & a letter-press publication by The Salvage Press.

Annemarie is the author of two books – the highly acclaimed Bloodroot and Town and the 2019 Culture Ambassador for Donegal.

The 2019 Markievicz Awards were presented by Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan TD. The Minister congratulated each of the award recipients and wished them well in applying the award to underpinning their practice and further developing their craft.