<p class=”” data-start=”335″ data-end=”659″>Strokestown native Noelle Lynskey has launched her debut poetry collection, Featherweight, published by Arlen House, at the town’s International Poetry Festival last weekend. The collection draws on decades of writing and explores deeply personal themes such as love, loss, family, parenting, grief, music, and nature.
Lynskey, a community pharmacist in Portumna, County Galway, sets many of her poems in locations across Ireland—from Clare and Mayo to Sligo and Cork. Portumna itself, including its workhouse, forest, and lake, features prominently, as do its residents.
Featherweight is dedicated to her late parents and includes poems that reflect on her childhood in Strokestown. Other works explore the dynamics of friendship, marriage, and motherhood.
The book’s title draws inspiration from a personal symbol that recurs in her life.
“The delightful jolt in finding a feather is similar to that landing of a line or a phrase for a poem,” Lynskey said. “And that line or phrase is what gives weight to the pen on the page.”
Following the Strokestown launch, additional events are planned in Portumna and Galway City. Lynskey is also scheduled to read at the Clifden Arts Festival and the Dromineer-Nenagh Literary Festival later this year.
Lynskey has been a prominent cultural figure in her community. She served as Poetry Towns Laureate for Strokestown in 2021 and is a founding member of Portumna’s Shorelines Arts Festival and the Pen Pushers writing group.
She had her first poem published at age 16 in Kairos magazine and completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick in 2022. In 2021, she was commissioned by Galway City Library to collaborate with musician Ger Fahy on 1921: Dialogue Through Poetry and Music. She has also co-led writing workshops with poet Gerard Hanberry through support from Creative Ireland, and last year was commissioned to facilitate literary workshops celebrating Portumna Library.
Lynskey has judged several poetry competitions, and her work has appeared in anthologies and on national radio.
Her upcoming project is a multidisciplinary residency at Interface Inagh, where she will collaborate with textile and ceramic artist Bernie Hennessy. The residency is supported by the Arts Council.
Critics have praised Featherweight, with novelist Donal Ryan calling it “an extraordinarily beautiful collection,” and author Nuala O’Connor commending its “gentle, poignant, intricate explorations of life’s bruised and beautiful moments.”
Featherweight is available from Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop and other independent retailers.
