Erin Fornoff, is an American-born, new Irish citizen from the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Called a ‘story-telling poet’ and ‘as close to music as poetry gets’ she has performed her poetry at hundreds of festivals and events across Ireland, UK, and the USA, including twice at Glastonbury Festival and a national Irish and UK tour. She has featured on BBC3 The Verb, at Hozier and James Taylor concerts, and her poems have been included in Best New English and Irish Poets 2016. Her debut collection Hymn to the Reckless (Dedalus Press 2017) was shortlisted for the Shine/Strong Award for best first collection in Ireland and named by The Millions as a ‘Must Read.’
Her title poem ‘Hymn to the Reckless’ featured on posters and curriculum nationwide for Ireland’s National Poetry Day and won the Stanza Slam and Listowel Originals Competition. In 2014 she released a chapbook, ‘Folk Heroes,’ and received an Arts Council bursary for her first novel Better People, set in the nonprofit world of Washington, DC. She was co-founder and Programme director for Lingo, Ireland’s first ever spoken word festival.
