One  Beginning

(The John Hewitt Summer School, 1988)

One evening in early 1988 my phone rang and when I answered it a voice said, “Jack McCann here. I am starting a Summer School in memory of John Hewitt. I want you to join the committee. Will you?”  I  said, “Yes”, without hesitation, and we arranged to meet for a preliminary discussion at the Brown Trout, a watering place halfway between Ballymena and Derry. I joined the committee and later Jack asked me to act as Associate Director., a job that entailed late nights, early mornings and great fun with  numerous new friendships established and nurtured.

In this way began one of the most rewarding and pleasurable episodes of my life.

Remarkably, the great Sean O’Casey’s daughter-in-law was the very first participant to arrive at St. MacNissi’s College, Garron Tower on the afternoon of the first School and she was followed by hundreds (thousands!) of others. Jack McCann (a man whose mind was truly alive to the possibilities inherent in ideas and in visions) is someone whose  name should not – and will not – be forgotten as the founder of this living tribute to John Hewitt.

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Another Beginning

The Verbal Arts Centre (Sam Burnside, First Director and Founder)

(Ireland Chair of Poetry lays a foundation stone)

As part of the dynamic development of this organisation a fine historic building was identified as a fitting home in 1996 and a vigorous fund-raising campaign initiated. The resulting building whose foundation stone was laid by John Montague, (first Ireland Chair of Poetry) on 5th December 1998 stands today on the city walls, symbol of a shared creativity in the city and the north west and on the island as a whole.