Arts Council welcomes Best First Book Award for Irish Language Writer |
01/12/2006
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland congratulated Philip Cummings on winning the inaugural 2006 Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Best First Book in the Irish language for his collection of poetry, titled Néalta.
 Philip Cummings pictured with Celia de Fréine, one of the judges of the 2006 Glen Dimplex Award |
Damian Smyth, Literature and Language Arts Officer of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland , said: “This prestigious award to Néalta marks Philip Cummings’ emergence as a poet of considerable stature. As well as being an act of faith in Philip’s own creative future, the Glen Dimplex Prize for Best First Book in Irish should be understood as a welcome recognition of the quality of the arts in Irish in the north.”
Among other things, Néalta means ‘clouds’ in English, and the poems in the collection are grouped under three types of cloud formation which mirror their structure, from delicately sketched images in Cirrus to densely layered, longer poems in Cumulonimbus. Themes covered in the book include love and its loss, a search for spirituality in the landscape and the Troubles.
The Arts Council has supported the Irish language sector for many years and has recently deepened its commitment to an area which has gained a new importance in matters of identity, belonging and creativity. The Arts Council supports Philip Cummings’ work developing the creative skills of others through its funding of the twice-weekly arts and literature supplement which he produces for the national Irish language newspaper, Lá.
Upon receiving the award, Philip Cummings said, “Naturally, I’m delighted to win this award and the indication it gives that I’m on the right path with my work. On a more general level, I’m delighted that an Irish language category was included in the awards, and Glen Dimplex and the Irish Writers’ Centre are to be congratulated for their recognition that a lot of important work is being written in the language.”
Announcing the €5,000 award, Celia de Fréine said that in Néalta Philip Cummings, “delights in word-play, his language beguiling in its simplicity, yet meticulous in its attention to detail. This collection introduces a new voice in Irish language poetry which is fresh and individual, while giving a nod to past masters.”
