Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a widely published poet residing in California, and this summer I was honoured to be part of the Fermoy International Poetry festival. I would like to take a moment and thank the whole town of Fermoy for their hospitality, it was a joy to see the community come together the way it did.

We had the pleasure to read in a pharmacy, bank, clothing shop, barber and various pubs throughout our stay. The highlight of the week was the poetry bus, when a large group of poets took a trip together and read at historical sites, pubs/bars, and I believe each one of us took a piece of Fermoy back with us to our respective countries.

I found it clever on the part of Fermoy’s citizens to organise this festival in this fashion, as it involved the whole town and was in itself an advertisement promoting the town, even if not deliberate or main focus of the festival.

I remain grateful for this experience, and hope to visit again.

Sincerely,

Silva Zanoyan Merjanian

(by e-mail)