President Higgins marked the appointment of Vona Groarke as the tenth Ireland Professor of Poetry at an event at Áras an Uachtaráin.
Vona Groarke’s term as Ireland Professor of Poetry runs from September 2025 to November 2028, taking over from the previous holder Professor Paul Muldoon.
During their tenure the Ireland Professor of Poetry is associated for one year with each of the three universities and resides for a period of approximately eight weeks at each. While in residence, the poet engages with students through a series of workshops and readings, performs outreach work and makes one formal presentation, usually in the form of a lecture.
The Ireland Chair of Poetry Trust was established in 1998 following the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Seamus Heaney. It was felt that this honour should be marked by choosing, every three years, a poet of honour and distinction to hold the Ireland Chair of Poetry. The Chair is supported by Queens University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, as well as by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
