In Conversation with Caoimhe Weakliam

Caoimhe Weakliam, a spoken word poet from Dublin, has developed as a creative from writing “what I like” poems as a child to performing spoken word pieces on personal topics and essential themes, adding music alongside her words for some singles, such as her recently released single ‘Period Poem’. 

We were lucky enough to talk to Caoimhe about her writing process, sources of inspiration, and the journey she has been on with her writing. 

 Where are you from, and where are you based? 

I’m from Dublin and am currently based in Bergen, Norway.

 How would you define yourself as an artist? 

 Quite simply, I’m a poet. However, I interpret the word ‘poet’ to be a freeing and malleable term, which is what I like about it. I mainly write spoken word pieces; longer narrative poems that are written for the intention of performance, and, recently, I’ve been working on projects which blend these pieces with music to create tracks that are an audible poetry experience. But, I feel most like a poet because poetry informs, and is the foundation to, all that I create; sometimes that is fiction, music, or visual art. Even the way I interact with people and how I carry myself is always painted with an undertone of poetry; that playfulness and intrigue with words that a poet always carries on their shoulder.

 What does the creative process look like for you? How do you take an idea and turn it into a piece of spoken poetry? 

 For me, the creative process is both spontaneous and ritualistic. The ideas are spontaneous. They often come in the form of words, lines or streams of thought that can hit me at any point. They tend to arrive at the most inconvenient of times, like when falling asleep, working, or washing the dishes. I jot these ideas down on my phone to hibernate until I’m ready to sit with them and write. I love how supernatural these ideas can sometimes seem. Plenty of times, I’ve written down a word that I’m not quite sure is even a word, then I’ll find that it is, in fact, a word, and it has some insatiable meaning that fits with the exact idea I was brewing. Those instances are quite magic.

When I’m ready to write, I become very ritualistic. I require certain conditions: solitude, a quiet space, a chunk of time without distraction. For some reason, I have to begin my writing sessions with listening to music - music and lyrics have an ability to lift me into a flow state and get me thinking more critically. To write a poem, I’ll build on the morsels I left myself in my notes app, sitting more heavily with the ideas I had when noting them. I’ll usually work on a piece for weeks or even months, with lots of editing and rewriting. My pieces tend to be long, and I like to be intentional about every single word.

What has been your favourite topic to write about so far?

 I feel very drawn to writing about religion, and this seeps into a lot of my pieces. When I say religion, I mean a few different things: the institutionalisation of religion that has so impacted our society, ancient ideas of spirituality, how religion shapes who we are in subtle ways. I think this intrigues me so much because I grew up in a very religious household and community. Paired with the ingrained influence of the church on Irish society, I have always felt the lingering presence of religious norms and ideologies.

The one thing that was always present in this part of my life was a lack of words - topics that were taboo and never spoken about, things that were kept hush, forms of expression that were feared. Through poetry, I try to give voice to things I once thought I couldn’t, as well as analyse the nuances of religion in different aspects of society. This is present, for example, in my poem ‘Storm’ that I released this year. In ‘Storm’, I question who God might be and wonder if the closest thing to a God is in the nature around us, the weather and elements which we are at the mercy of. 

You recently released your single ‘Period Poem’, with Matilde Lotti on the cello and George Mercer on the piano. How did you all come together to make this piece what it is?

When I first decided to release ‘Period Poem’ as a musical collaboration, I initially felt a draw towards pairing it with a cello. That deep, raw sound felt fitting with the narrative of periods and their sacred qualities. I already knew Matilde and I was delighted when she agreed to compose some cello for the poem. We recorded together in Dublin, and she created some gorgeous music for the piece. I thought that might be all that ‘Period Poem’ needed, but as projects often go, I would listen to the track and felt it needed another element to feel complete. 

I had just worked with George on another poetry project, a track I released called ‘Storm’, which George had composed music for and produced. George is a bit of a wizard, and I was so impressed with his ability to create such a fitting soundscape to my words. I then passed ‘Period Poem’ to him as well, which he added a piano composition to, as well as production and mastering. I was so glad I did, because his work uplifted the whole project; blending the different instrumentals with the vocals to create the experience I was looking for. I’m very grateful to both him and Matilde.

 How do you choose topics that you will write about? Is it a conscious decision to discuss these things, or do they stem more from your emotions?

I tend to write about topics because a specific idea is revealed to me. It’s usually an idea that is tied to an emotional experience. I need to feel spiritually affected by something to be able to write an authentic piece of work about it. 

For example, I didn’t write ‘Period Poem’ because I chose one day that I wanted to write about periods. I wrote it because I was consumed with, well, a literal period at the time, and then some very specific imagery of periods, followed by questions about the symbolism and perception of periods in society. I try to be really honest with my poetry. I also try to stay away from writing about a topic just because it’s in the news or very talked about at the time, I fear that’s when it would be easy to create something with the wrong intention. Intention is very important to me in writing.

How did you come to the decision to release some of your poems as singles with music? 

When I began sharing my poetry, it was through performance, at open mics and gigs around Ireland. I loved this way of sharing my work because I tend to write long spoken word pieces that thrive in the performance sphere. They’re written to be spoken, rather than read on a page. After some time focused on performing, I was craving a way to share my poetry more widely, in a way that anyone could access. I’m very passionate about the accessibility of poetry and reshaping it in new forms that feel alive and connective, in contrast to the drab idea of poetry we have historically been presented with in school. 

I felt the best way to translate my work in the way I wanted was to record it as tracks to be listened to, and that this could be made even more powerful and interesting with the addition of musical accompaniment. This isn’t a very common form of poetry, although I had heard it done before and was very inspired by Stephen James Smith and his spoken word album. For my first project like this, I worked with musician Kathy Long to create my debut single, ‘Hiding’. I really love this form of poetic expression and am excited to continue on more projects in collaboration with music. 

Do you remember the first poem that you wrote? How has your writing changed since then? 

Some years ago, I actually came across a poem in my attic that looked like it had been written when I was about five or six, by the look of the handwriting. It was all about “what I like”, and it was very cute and innocent. I have no recollection of writing it, but it was really lovely to be reminded of how I’ve always resonated with poetry. I definitely neglected writing it for some years as a teenager, but it’s always been there.

When I first took poetry a bit more seriously at the age of 19 or 20, I definitely lacked confidence in my own voice and sometimes looked to others for how I felt I should be writing. I think that’s the main way in which my writing has changed in recent years; I’ve found my own unique expression\, and I’m able to channel that rather than trying to imitate others.

Do you have any upcoming pieces you’re particularly excited about? 

I’m excited about my next spoken word single that is currently in production, which I expect to release early in the new year. For this one, I’m working with a Norwegian composer/producer here in Bergen called Jørn Lavoll. I’m currently based in Bergen so it’s incredible to be collaborating with a local artist.

This single will be called ‘Television Child’ and is a sort of critical poetic analysis of how technology has evolved, from something innocent into an all-consuming grip over our humanity. This will be the third single in a spoken word EP project that I hope to finalise in 2026.

Do you express your creativity in other ways alongside your writing? 

Yes, in so many ways. The creativity of writing is such a mental task that, outside of writing, I love to be expressive through things that are more physical, using my hands. I like to draw and make different kinds of random crafts. Particularly when giving gifts to people, I try to make something by hand. I also love to be creative with cooking; I’m always looking for new things to try and have fun with. Then of course, there’s music. I’m not much of a musician, but I do play the fiddle and like to have fun with that, but even listening to music feels like such a creative act to me - finding new songs and artists, immersing myself in their worlds. I try to inject creativity and playfulness into most things I do.

Written by: Freya Dunlop @freyadunlop

Copyedited by: Shaunamay Martin Bohan @f4wnfatale