KGB Bar

Rita Ann Higgins was born in Galway, Ireland. One of 13 children, she left school at 14 and was in her late 20¹s when she starting writing.  She has published eight collections of poetry. Five with Salmon publishing and three with Bloodaxe including Throw in the Vowels New and Selected Poems 2005, reissued in 2010 with audio CD. She has written several plays.Later this year sees the publication of a book of her essays and poems with Salmon called Hurting God. Forthcoming from Bloodaxe in 2011 is a new collection of poetry called Ireland is Changing Mother. She is presently working on a play about Hanna Greally¹s incarceration for twenty years in a mental institution. Her many awards include The Peadar O¹Donnell award.  Rita Ann is a member of Aosdana.

Philip Fried is a New York-based poet and editor of The Manhattan Review. His poems have been widely published in journals and have appeared in many anthologies, including Salmon: A Journey in Poetry Poetry, Poems 1981–2007 and Poetry After 9-11: An Anthology of New York Poets. In addition to being a poet, Fried is the founding editor of The Manhattan Review, an international poetry journal that critics have called “excellent” and “lively.” He collaborated with his wife, the fine-art photographer Lynn Saville, on a volume combining her nocturnal photographs with poetry from around the world: Acquainted with the Night (Rizzoli, 1997).