Poetry Ireland: Poet in Residence

Poetry Ireland connects poetry and people. In October 2019 Poetry Ireland launched their inaugural Poet in Residence with poet Catherine Ann Cullen, the residency was completed in October 2021. As part of her residency, Catherine Ann ran numerous projects, both online and offline, to engage people and communities in poetry. Piquant worked with Poetry Ireland and Catherine Ann to produce a video that captured the legacy of the Poet in Residence. Letting Poetry In was the section winner in the Human Spirit category at the 2022 International Docs Without Boarders Film Festival. The film was also selected for screening at the 2023 Berlin Short Film Festival.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT — Letting Poetry In is a video that celebrates the legacy of Poetry Ireland’s Poet in Residence Catherine Ann Cullen. The video combines interviews, poetry and documentary footage to showcase the work and impact of the residence period. It was clear that this story needed time and space to breath; as such we produced a 5 minute lyrical documentary that creates space for the poetry, and showcases the transformational impact of the residency on the people who engaged in the projects. A carefully crafted soundscape including the diegetic sounds of the city brings a deeper connection to the poetry, the people and their stories.

SCRIPT WRITING — Creating the script of this video, we knew that it was a demanding story to tell. Catherine Ann Cullen touched the lives of so many different groups and individuals and they needed a place in the video. Scripting thought provoking questions gave the video participants the opportunity to share their experiences and ideas. The structure of this video intertwines poems read to-camera throughout the narrative to encourage the viewer to relax and enjoy the craftsmanship of poetry.

VIDEO PRODUCTION — The Piquant Team travelled to Poetry Ireland HQ in Dublin’s north inner city to conduct interviews with Catherine Ann Cullen and others to give a full perspective of the impact she left. These interviews act as the foundations of the video with documentary footage captured at the Poetry Ireland heritage building and Dublin street scenes to bring a deeper impact to the story we are telling. The amazing talent of the poets was captured by our team as we recorded an A cappella reading of their poems. This brings poignancy to the video footage captured and allows the viewer to feel the power to the words in motion.

MOTION GRAPHICS — Due to the Covid 19 pandemic which erupted in the middle of the residency Catherine Ann moved a lot of her projects online. We wanted to capture how people engaged with the projects on social media platforms and so used motion graphics to visually showcase the poetry created in reaction to Catherine Ann’s prompts. Piquant’s video production and motion design teams worked collaboratively to produce the on-brand motion graphics that work to build the narrative, and communicate the impact of the poetry projects using social media during Covid lockdowns.