Déise poet wins Red Line award
Waterford based poet Ger Duffy reading her winning poem Testimony of Soap at the Poetry night and awards at the Red Line Book Festival in Dublin on Wednesday 16th of October. Picture courtesy of Red Line Book Festival.
Renowned Waterford poet, Ger Duffy was announced as the overall winner at the Red Line Book Festival in Dublin last week with her poem, 'Testimony of Soap'.
Duffy beat hundreds of entries from all across the island of Ireland to win the top prize which was judged by award-winning poet Patrick Deely.
Duffy's poem, 'Testimony of Soap' was written using words taken from testimonies of the survivors of Mother and Baby homes, speaking about their own experiences and about their babies.
"Ashamed soap birth soap blood soap boarded out soap, buried soap cold soap child allowance soap churched soap," the opening of the poem poignantly reads.
Ms Duffy, who lives in Co Waterford and works as a teacher, has had poems published in a number of reputable publications such as Poetry Ireland Review, Southword, and The Bangor Literary Journal. She was awarded the Desmond O’Grady International Poetry Award in 2024 and has also won Poem of the Year 2022, by The Milk House.
The Red Line Book Festival took place in Dublin from October 14 to 20, with the announcement of Duffy's win taking place on October 16 at Castletymon Library, in the capital.
Now in its 13th year, The Red Line Book Festival is produced by South Dublin Libraries and Arts at South Dublin County Council and its aim is to try and inspire people of all ages.
