The Moth fans the flames of poetic collaboration

A fortuitous meeting between a literary couple and a celebrity chef has resulted in one of the world’s most lucrative poetry prizes, writes Marjorie Brennan.

Artist Will Govan and his literary editor wife Rebecca O’Connor decided to leave the urban bustle of London when they had a baby. The surroundings of O’Connor’s home county of Cavan may have provided the quieter pace of life they were seeking to raise a family but professionally, they needed a project to get their teeth into.

“When we moved back, the intention was I was going to do some painting and Becky was going to do some writing. But we are fairly ambitious people and we realised that wasn’t going to work,” says Govan, who was born near London.