The headliner for the 47th annual Evening of Irish Music and Poetry will be award-winning Irish poet, memoirist, and novelist Seán Hewitt. Hosted by the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo), this event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the Smith Theatre of the Horowitz Center at Howard Community College.Hewitt was chosen in 2020 by “The Sunday Times” as one of their “30 under 30” artists in Ireland. He will read from his work, including his memoir, “All Down Darkness Wide.” There will be a conversation following with moderator Cóilín Parsons, Georgetown University Associate Professor and Director of Global Irish Studies. After intermission, a musical performance by Poor Man’s Gambit will conclude the program. Ireland’s Deputy Ambassador to the United States, Fionnuala Quinlan, has been invited to provide opening remarks. “All Down Darkeness Wide” was shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the at the An Post Irish Book Awards, for the Foyles Book of the Year in non-fiction, for the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Polari Prize, the Michel Déon Prize, and for a LAMBDA award. Hewitt won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022.Hewitt’s debut poetry collection, “Tongues of Fire,” won The Laurel Prize in 2021, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, and a Dalkey Literary Award.In 2024 he published a second poetry collection, “Rapture’s Road,” and Hewitt’s debut novel, “Open, Heaven,” is set to arrive in Spring 2025.Seating for the Evening of Irish Music and Poetry begins at 7 p.m. Irish beverages will be available for sale to people aged 21 and up at a cash-only bar in the lobby prior to the program and during intermission. Non-alcoholic refreshments and scones will be provided for free. A book signing follows the reading and discussion, and books will be available for purchase. General admission in-person is $50, and for educators and students it is $30 up to the day of the event. You can purchase tickets online by clicking this link, or by calling the Horowitz Center Box Office at 443-518-1500, Wednesday through Friday, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.The Horowitz Center is also home to Chamber Music Maryland, numerous dance performances, master classes, film presentations, and musicals. The Horowitz Center is located at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, MD.