Grace beneath the Cranes

Poetry, music and personal experience in a conversation about Belfast.

The 2020 Four Corners Festival programme brought Tommy together with Belfast poet Linda Molloy and Robert “Beano” Niblock, a former loyalist prisoner who became a playwright and poet. Their event, Grace beneath the Cranes, was listed for 1 February.

Different experiences, a shared evening

The organisers proposed an exploration of difficult subjects through music and poetry, including loss, imprisonment, injury and recruitment into paramilitary organisations. Each contributor brought a different relationship to those experiences and a different creative voice.

Building a city of grace

The event sat within the festival’s Building a City of Grace theme. Its published programme placed song and poetry alongside wider opportunities for conversation across Belfast. This account follows the organisers’ advance listing, which sets out the intended programme rather than a review of the evening.