World Book Day: Carrickfergus Library to host special event featuring local poets, Cathy Valente and Michael Wilson
Carrickfergus Library is to host a special poetry event for World Book Day (Thursday, March 5).
Running from 2-3pm, ‘Write It Out: Poetry as Emotional Support’ will be an uplifting afternoon of conversation and verse featuring local poets, Cathy Valente and Michael Wilson.
Cathy and Michael will share how writing poetry has helped them navigate their own mental health journeys, offering reflection, resilience, and moments of connection along the way.
Through readings and discussion, they’ll explore poetry as a form of emotional first aid: a way to process feelings, find language for the unsayable, and to make sense of difficult experiences.
"This adult event is welcoming, thoughtful, and accessible to anyone curious about the power of words; whether you write, read, or simply listen,” Libraries NI said of the event. “Come for the poetry, stay for the insight, and leave reminded that sometimes the first step to healing is writing it out.”
One of the event’s featured poets, Whiteabbey woman Cathy last year wrote her own collection of verse while undergoing treatment for Stage 4 breast cancer.
Her book of poems, entitled ‘My Battle, My Strength: How I turned my cancer pain into power’, details in part her diagnosis.
A number of the verses convey a positive message too, with the aim of offering comfort to readers going through a similar journey. “We all go through heartbreak and change in our lives; that’s something a lot of people can relate to,” Cathy said following the book’s publication in May 2025.
The book has since raised over £850 for local cancer charities, including Friends of the Cancer Centre and Cancer Lifeline.
Cathy has continued to be a prolific writer since, having penned even more verses following the book’s release.
“I have written roughly another 30 poems based on different themes,” she said. “I thought my book would have been complete, but since then have discovered poetry comes to me easily – [it] must have always been there and only for my diagnosis, I would never have known. A big positive.”
‘My Battle, My Strength: How I turned my cancer pain into power’ can be purchased from Cancer Lifeline; Quiz clothing in Lesley Abbeycentre, and Northcott Medicare, Newtownabbey.