The theme of the festival is Inclusion and the objective is to give a voicce to all poets; the beginners, the newly published and the internationally recognised. Additionally we strive to bring the magic that is poetry to everyone by holding readings in the street and in boutiques, barber shops, banks, pharmacies, cafes, hairdressing salons, shops, restaurants, pubs, and at the Grand Hotel. At the inaugural festival in 2011 the youngest reader at the festival was nine years old and the eldest 92.
With this theme we have included students from the town's three secondary schools and Youthreach Fermoy and in 2013 we added John F Kennedy Highschool in Sacramento California to this list. Students attended weekly poetry workshops in their schools held by Gene and this year the festival committee will include students from numeorus Irish and foreign schools in the anthology.
In the first two years of the festival poets from Argentina, Holland, France, America, Scotland, Belgium, England and India and from all over Ireland read and this year we will add to this fine list poets from South Africa, Canada and Australia. To date world renouned poets Matthew Sweeney, Pauline Fayne, Bradley Strahan, Pat Crotty, Jan Glas, Gabriel Fitzmaurice, Noel King, Kit Fryatt, Knute Skinner, John W Sexton, Tsead Bruinja and Donall Dempsey have read in fermoy.
One of the highlights of the festival is the Festival Poetry Bus which takes the poets on board on a mystery tour. In 2013 all poets aboard we shared their poetry at the 3,000 years old Leaba-na-Callighe Wedge Tomb (the Witche's Bed) near Fermoy which is the oldest wedge tomb in Europe. They then travelled to nearby Glanworth astle and Glanworth Mill where under the beautiful sunshine they once again shared their poems.
The first edition of the Blue Max Review included poems from Matthew Sweeney, Michéle Vassal, John W Sexton, Fahredin Shehu, Keith Armstrong, Noel King, Harry Owen, Tsead Bruinja, Helene Cardona, Jan Glass, Mary Noonan and many other world renowned poets.
