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Heritage of Secrets ’20th Anniversary Edition’
“Heritage of Secrets” has echoes of Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd” in more than just the name of the American sailor, Troy. With a keen eye for drama, Aoife Mannix navigates the peaks and troughs of intertwining lives in this exploration of a society in flux.
Available now here at flippedeye and here at Easons.
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Reconstruction
Aoife Mannix’s latest full collection begins with a series of poems that chronicle her recovery from cancer and surgery. In the wake of physical and personal transformation, the seemingly reliable constant of the outside world is in turn transformed by the global pandemic.
Available here at flippedeye.
Commissions
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Frenzy of Sweeney
I was commissioned to write a libretto ‘The Frenzy of Sweeney’ with composer Garth McConaghie for performances at Lyric Theatre, Belfast for Youth Music Theatre UK. The show was directed by Bronagh Lagan. The musical director was Shane McVicker and the choreographer was Sarah Golding. Find out more information here
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TV, Film and Radio
I have been poet in residence for BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live My poetry has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, London Live, Resonance FM, and the BBC World Service. I was filmed performing my poem ‘Marked’ as part of the Wellcome Collection’s Meat of the Tongue series. ‘Best’, my poetry film […]
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Librettos
I was commissioned by the City of London Sinfonia to work with composer Stephen McNeff on a libretto for a new choral piece called Walking Shadows about WWI. I was commissioned by Youth Music Theatre UK to work with choreographer Rachel Birch-Lawson on a libretto for Sweat Factory which was performed at Sadlers Wells Theatre.
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Poetry
I was commissioned to write and record a poem for National Poetry Day by the Forward Trust and Apples and Snakes in partnership with the BBC’s The Space. https://soundcloud.com/national-poetry-day/aoife-mannix-reads-coming-back I have been commissioned by the National Archives to write about the South Asian experience of World War 1 as part of their Care and Comfort […]
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Chamber Choir Ireland
I was commissioned by Chamber Choir Ireland to write a libretto with composter Stephen McNeff as part of the Easter 1916 commemorations.
About
AOIFE MANNIX is an award-winning Irish poet and writer, the author of a novel, five collections of poetry, two pamphlets, and seven libretti. She has been poet-in-residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company and BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live. She has written articles for the Irish Independent and the Gloss (the lifestyle magazine of the Irish Times) among others. She has toured internationally with the British Council as well as throughout the UK and Ireland including the Southbank Centre, Latitude and the Big Chill. She has previously worked as a librettist with composer Stephen McNeff on ‘A Star Next to the Moon’ (opera which premiered at the Barbican in 2024), ‘The Horizons of Doubt’ (recorded by the BBC Singers as part of BBC Radio 3’s Afternoon concert) ‘Beyond the Garden’ (a one act opera with mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley), ‘The Walking Shadows’ (a choral work about the First World War which premiered at St-Martin-in-the-Fields) and ‘A Half Darkness’ (commissioned by Chamber Choir Ireland as part of the 1916 centenary.)
She has been commissioned by the BBC, the National Archives, the Portsmouth Museum, Youth Music Theatre UK, Apples and Snakes, the National Gallery of Ireland, the O’Brien Collection, the Bronte Parsonage, and Cherwell Theatre Company. She has taught creative writing at Goldsmiths, University of London, the University of Westminster, Anglia Ruskin University, and Bucks New University. She has previously worked as a script editor for the BBC as well as for Channel 4 and the Royal Court Theatre. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. She lives in Oxfordshire.