Alma Brayden, David Ray, Judy Ray and Ross Hattaway reading in Deansgrange Public Library.

Alma Brayden is a well-known Dublin poet and artist. She is a member of Dalkey Writers’ Workshop and has had poetry published in many anthologies and magazines. She has read her poetry on Abraxas Writers’ CD and DVD, and broadcast on East Coast Radio and Lyric FM. Her first collection will be published by Seven Towers in 2010. Alma’s poems paint colorful and vibrant word pictures which merge into a rich tapestry of experiences and poetic forms. Wide and varied in theme, her debut collection, Prism (Seven Towers, 2010) reflects a depth and power of insight that makes for evocative and memorable collection.

Ross Hattaway is a New Zealand born Irish poet. Ross' first collection The Gentle Art of Rotting was published by Seven Towers in 2006 and he is currently working on his second to be published in 2011. Ross' work has been published all over the world and he has taken part in readings all over the world. In 2008 he was the first Irish poet to be invited as a featured guest at the International Poetry Spring Festival in Lithuania and his work has been translated into and published in Lithuanian.. He also guested at the Live Poet's Society Reading in Sydney in July 2008, and Manhattan’s East Village Saturn Sessions in June 2009. His second collection Pretending to be Dead will be published by Seven Towers in 2011.

David Ray's writings focus on a number of leadings, ranging from lyric poems of love and grief to passionate protest and memoir. His memoir, The Endless Search, is a probing search of his early years, which have been described as "Dickensian, full of abuse and tragedy." To this work he brings the insights of a man who has studied his own history as both clinical and mystical reality, a celebration of survival. David has won many awards for fiction, poetry, and essays. He is available for readings and workshops, serves as manuscript reader for publishers and as judge of literary contests. His writing has been widely published in anthologies and magazines in addition to his books. He has been a visiting professor in India, New Zealand and Australia, as well as a teacher of literature and creative writing at American universities and colleges. He now lives David Ray was one of the founders of American Writers Against the Vietnam War in 1966 and co-edited, with Robert Bly, A Poetry Reading Against the Vietnam War, a collection of relevant readings from the classics as well as contemporary sources. Many of these materials have been widely quoted in recent anti-war activities. David writes many new poems and essays on current events, some of which can be read in the on-line publication of Howling Dog Press at www.howlingdogpress.com/XRAYS

Judy Ray is a volunteer teacher of English as a Second Language to adults in the community. When one of her students was murdered, she wrote about it in an essay called "Alice" which can be found in New Letters magazine (Volume 69 Nos. 2/3, 2003). Her writings and photographs have appeared in many publications, including The Chariton Review, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Helicon Nine, Nimrod, Paterson Literary Review, Potpourri, River King, Stiletto, West Branch, and others. Judy Ray grew up on an English farm without electricity, and lived in Uganda for six years without a telephone. Her collections are to Fly without wings and Fishing In Green Waters.