THE Rooney Prize special award has been presented to the poets Vona Groarke and Conor O'Callaghan at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan.
Ms Groarke, who was born in Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, in 1964, has had her poetry published in newspapers, literary journals and magazines.
She is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and University College, Cork, and she has worked in the heritage sector in Ireland, Britain, the US and Norway. Her first collection, Sliale (1994), was awarded the 1995 Brendan Behan Memorial Prize.
Mr O'Callaghan, who was born in Newry in 1968, has won a number of prizes for his poetry. He was awarded Art Council bursaries in 1990 and 1994 and has given readings and broadcasts of his work.
He lives in Carlingford, Co Louth, with his wife and son.
The special award marks the 20th year of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and is presented as an additional prize. It will enable the two winners to spend a period in residency at the Tyrone Guthrie writers centre.
