Cultúr 2026 brings Irish poetry, storytelling and performance into Ireland’s EU Presidency
Poetry, storytelling and translation are among the art forms being celebrated this autumn as part of Cultúr 2026: Sharing Ireland’s Culture, a six-month cultural programme accompanying Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Running from 1st July to 31st December, Cultúr 2026 brings Irish arts and culture to audiences at home and across Europe, with exhibitions, concerts, talks, performances, screenings and workshops taking place across all 26 counties and throughout the EU. Led by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport through Culture Ireland, the programme is providing €5 million in support to Irish artists and arts organisations. A further €1.5 million cultural relations programme is being delivered through Ireland's embassy and consulate network, bringing the combined cultural investment surrounding the Presidency to €6.5 million.
Among the programme's upcoming events are three that place poetry, spoken performance and storytelling at the centre of Ireland's cultural exchange with Europe.
Poetry Aloud | Sept - Dec 2026
Young voices will take centre stage from September to December with Poetry Aloud 2026, the National Library of Ireland's annual poetry speaking competition for post-primary students from across the island of Ireland. Presented in partnership with Poetry Ireland and supported by University College Cork, the competition has encouraged thousands of young people to engage with poetry through recitation and performance since it was established in 2006. This year's competition forms part of Cultúr 2026, placing its emphasis on spoken poetry within the wider context of Ireland's relationship with Europe. Its inclusion celebrates shared European literary traditions and poetry's capacity to connect people across generations and borders. For young people interested in poetry and performance, Poetry Aloud also provides an opportunity to encounter poems beyond the classroom page, discovering how voice, rhythm, pace and delivery can shape a listener's experience of a text.
Seanchoíche | 19th Sept 2026
Irish storytelling collective Seanchoíche will bring its live storytelling format to Pianofabriek in Belgium 19th September as part of Cultúr 2026. Built around the simple act of people gathering to tell and listen to stories, Seanchoíche represents a contemporary approach to Ireland's longstanding oral storytelling tradition. Its appearance in Belgium brings that format directly to a European audience and places oral performance alongside the other forms of literature and art being presented internationally during Ireland's Presidency. For followers of spoken word, the event also sits within familiar territory. Storytelling and spoken word frequently overlap in their emphasis on voice, live performance and the relationship established between a performer and an audience.
The Language Hub | 3rd Oct 2026
Poetry meets translation, performance and multilingual writing at The Language Hub: Poetry and Translation, a day of four linked sessions curated by poet Christodoulos Makris at Swords Castle on 3rd October. Bringing together poets, writers and translators from Ireland and across Europe, the programme will move between English, Irish, Italian, Dutch, Latvian and Latgalian, exploring language as a means of connection and cultural exchange.
The first session will feature poet Kimberly Campanello and academic and translator Nicoletta Asciuto and their exploration into the independent and collaborative literary movement between Italian and English, past and present. In the second session, poet and translator Sophie Collins will turn to expanded approaches to translation, its political implications and her experience translating poetry and prose from Dutch. Latvian poet and journalist, Ligija Purinaša will explore poetry in Latgalian, minority languages and feminist priorities in the third session. Irish poet, performer and filmmaker Ciara Ní É will close the programme with a session on hybrid poetry in Irish and English, self-translation and moving between written and performed poetry. Together, the four sessions offer audiences an opportunity to hear how contemporary poets and translators work between languages, cultures and modes of performance.
Poetry as cultural exchange
While very different in format, the three events share an emphasis on poetry and storytelling as live, communicative forms. Poetry Aloud gives young people the opportunity to bring poems into performance; Seanchoíche takes contemporary Irish storytelling to a European audience; and The Language Hub brings writers together to examine what happens when poetry crosses linguistic and cultural borders.
As Cultúr 2026 continues through December, they offer three different ways to engage with the literary strand of Ireland's EU Presidency programme, from the performance of poetry by a new generation to storytelling abroad and conversations between poets working across European languages.
