Downpatrick poet Linda to take part in London events

Downpatrick poet Linda to take part in London events

23 July 2025

AWARD winning Downpatrick poet Linda McKenna  is one of a number from Northern Ireland to secure funding from Culture Ireland to enable them to perform a series of readings at various venues in London next month.

Femina Culpa is a poetry collective bringing together four poets based in County Down and Belfast.  

Their most recent poetry collections have all been inspired by the stories of nineteenth century women who were caught up in the criminal justice system or who were victims of crime. 

The poets’ work has been based on archival research and seeks to uncover the voices of these women through poetry, with three of the poets reading in poetry centres and museums in London between August 6 and 9.

Linda’s Four Thousand Keys published by Doire Press includes poems inspired by the story of Elizabeth Dunham who, in 1819, was charged with the theft of the keys of the Bank of England. 

North Down based Emma McKervey’s Highland Boundary Fault published by Turas Press, includes poems based on a Scottish court case in her family history, while Belfast’s Milena Williamson’s Into The Night That Flies So Fast, (Dedalus Press 2024) deals with the case of Brigid Cleary murdered by her family who claimed she was a fairy changeling. 

Linda and her fellow poets have been reading at various venues in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the past few months including PRONI and the Linenhall Library.

But this is their first tour in England where they will be reading at the Southbank Centre, the Bank of England Museum, Keats House Museum and Bethlem Museum of the Mind. 

The poets are delighted to be reading at such iconic venues and are grateful to Culture Ireland for funding towards the tour.

Culture Ireland regularly assist artists with funding to enable them to showcase their work overseas. This round of funding is part of Culture Ireland’s 20 years of funding artists to travel overseas.