THE GREAT DROGHEDA POETRY SHOW

A staged celebration of poetry will be held in Drogheda on Thursday 1 November to mark the 600 ^th Anniversary of the unification in 1412 of the twin towns of Tredagh and Drogheda on opposite sides of the River Boyne to form the Drogheda we know today. 

It starts with Amergin, bard and poet of the mythical Milesians, the first known poet on Irish soil, reputed to be buried under Millmount mound in the southern half of Drogheda. Other bards performing their words to music are modern bard S.J.McArdle, with his lyrics that have all the perception of poems, and an example the wit of satirical balladeer John Shiel from the eighteenth century, again from the south side.

Other names of note from the past are Fenian rebel John Boyle O’Reilly from Dowth, deportee to Australia, escapee to America and influential editor and journalist;  Francis Ledwige, farm boy, poet, road worker and soldier, who wrote football reports for the Drogheda Independent and was killed in the First World War; and Angela Greene, housewife and poet, who died of cancer in 1997.

Living poets will include established figures John F. Deane, Anne Le Marquand Hartigan and Susan Connolly as well as well-known and upcoming local poets Leo de Freyne, Terry McHugh, Marie MacSweeney, John ‘Dixie’ Nugent, John O’Rourke, Leeanne Quinn, Barbara Smith, and Tomas De Faoite. Appearing in Drogheda-based performance poetry groups Word Jungle and Hudson ‘n Fitch will be Nuala Leonard, Brian Quinn, Roger Hudson and the magical sounds of ambiencellist Claire Fitch.

The evening’s performance will be introduced by the Mayor and archaeologist Geraldine Stout, who will fill in the historical background, and presented by Alison Comyn.  The programme has been conceived and assembled by Roger Hudson and Michael Holohan as part of the town’s 600 celebrations. Staging is by Brian Quinn with technical assistance by Penny Smith.

Venue: Droichead Arts Centre Theatre, Stockwell Street, Drogheda.

Time: Thursday at 8.00pm. Admission: Free, booking advisable.

e-mail: info@droichead.ie

Sligo: The Irish Revolution, 1912–23 by Michael Farry

 

And finally here it is. After three years of research, writing, rewriting, editing, photograph searching and choosing I have got an advance copy of the Sligo history book. It looks good, a nice size, good striking cover and Four Courts Press have done a great job of the production.

I am scared to read it in case I find typos. And statements and opinions which I might argue with! I'm delighted that Sligo is the first in this series of county histories on the Irish Revolution 1912-1923 edited by Mary Ann Lyons and Daithí Ó Corráin,

Professor David Fitzpatrick describes it well in his generous foreword : Michael Farry, already the leading historian of revolutionary Sligo, contributes a succinct yet detailed narrative of the county's political evolution between 1912 and 1923.

That succinct and detailed was the most difficult part. Only 70,000 words, including footnotes to cover twelve momentous years. The difficulty was making it short and at the same time keeping some of the glorious details, the interesting stories and the local colour. I hope I have done this well.

It comprises 115 pages of text, 28 pages of endnotes and eight pages of a select bibliography. It also has 16 pages of photographs, some being published for the first time.

It should be generally available in a week or so and a launch or launches will be held later. The paperback edition is priced at 17.50 euro, web price 15.75 euro.

Dublin Symposium on Jonathan Swift

The eleventh Dublin Symposium on Jonathan Swift is on tomorrow Saturday, 20 October 2012 in The Deanery of St Patrick's Cathedral, Upper Kevin Street, Dublin 8.

Speaking on "International Currents on Swift Studies" are:
Ashley Marshall - University of Nevada, Reno
Brian Connery - Oakland University, Michigan
Dieter Fuchs - Technical University of Koszalin, Poland
Te-hsing Shan - Academia Sinica, Taiwan
Valerie Rumbold - University of Birmingham.
Chair: Robert Mahony, Jonathan Swift Foundation.

For further details on how to register: Email: dean@stpatrickscathedral.ie

And the annual Service in Commemoration of Jonathan Swift will be held in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin on the following day, Sunday 21 Oct 2012 from 3:15pm to 4.15pm.

This service is at Evensong at which the address will be given by H.E. Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland. The service will be sung by the Cathedral Choir (Boys' & Men's voices).

James Lawless Novel Launch

The launch of James Lawless' latest novel, Finding Penelope, published by Indigo Dreams Publishing, takes place in Hodges Figgis, Dawson Street, Dublin on Tuesday, 30 Oct. at 6.30 pm. All welcome.

Dublin-born, Kildare-resident, James Lawless is a fellow Doghouse author, having had his first poetry collection Rus in Urbe published earlier this year. He has published three previous novels and a study of modern poetry.

His first novel, Peeling Oranges (2007), is a paternal quest set in the Liberties of Dublin and Franco’s Spain. His other novels are For Love of Anna (2009) and The Avenue (2010), and an acclaimed study of modern poetry Clearing The Tangled Wood.


His latest novel concerns 33 year old romance novelist Penelope Eames who moves to Spain to avoid her oppressive father and drug-addicted brother, Dermot. When she meets Ramón, a young Spanish school teacher, she is immediately attracted to him.

However, she receives a distress call from Dermot saying he is at the mercy of Charlie Eliot, a pimp and drug dealer on the Costa. Penelope must decide: is she prepared to compromise herself with Charlie Eliot and jeopardise her chance of happiness with Ramón for the sake of her drug addicted brother?


More on the publishers website.

Sligo Rovers are Champions

After thirty five years! And what a see-saw game with all the thrills you don't really want in such an important fixture. Two up at half time, it seemed all over. But Pats came out and scored two quick goals to silence the Showgrounds. Gradually Rovers came back into it and deserved to win even if the penalty award was "dubious", "harsh" and/or "controversial".

A great occasion. Over five thousand supporters in the Showgrounds, you had to be there an hour before kick-off to ensure a seat in the main stand; lots of colour, live coverage by RTE and the correct result in the end. And two goals by a local, Cretaro from Tubbercurry.

I got a text from someone who caught a glimpse on me on TV, sombre in the stand after the final whistle - "You won! Why so glum!" Not glum but a mixture of disbelief and relief after thirty five years of following results and waiting.

I was there in 1977 - a lifetime ago it seems. Some footage from that game on YouTube.

Sligo Rovers website here.

Jessica's report here on extratime.ie.

Cuisle Limerick City International Poetry Festival

A long and enjoyable Thursday in Limerick attending the various Cuisle Limerick City International Poetry Festival events. And International it certainly was!

John Pinschmidt, a retired American High School teacher, now living with his Irish-born wife in county Limerick read at 1pm in the Hunt Museum. He took us on a journey from the USA, to Berlin before the wall came down, to rural Limerick.

At 7pm The Stony Thursday Book was launched by editor Jo Slade and Limerick Arts Officer, Sheila Deegan. Three members of our LitLab group are included in the anthology, Honor Duff, Pat Devaney and myself. Honor and I read our poems to a large, appreciative audience.

The sixty nine page book is a beautiful production and the poems are wonderfully varied in themes and styles.


At 8pm we had readings by Slovenian poet, Radharani Pernarcic, who read in Slovenian and English; by English poet Lorna Thorpe, who read from her Sweet Torture of Breathing which deals with her close brush with death following a cardiac arrest; and by widely-published Irish poet Máire Áine Nic Gearailt.

These readings were following by films. The first was a series of readings by Latin American poets marking the publication of Hallucinated Horse: New Latin American Poets. This was introduced and translations read by Tom Slingsby of Pighog Press.

And finally we had a short film, Room, scripted by Limerick poet Mark Whelan.

A busy day indeed. And the festival continues until Saturday night. More details on the website, on the Facebook page and some photographs here on Flickr.

Picture above is of Honor Duff reading at the launch with Stony Thursday editor Jo Slade. 

Stony Thursday Book Launch

This evening sees the launch of the Stony Thursday Book, the annual poetry collection published in Limerick.

The editor this year is Jo Slade and the launch takes place tonight at 7pm in the Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick.

I'm delighted to be included in what is usually a very fine production.

The launch event is part of the Cuisle International Poetry Festival.
More information on Facebook here.

LIMERICK CUISLE FESTIVAL 2012

The 17th annual Cuisle Limerick City International Poetry Festival will take place from Wednesday 10 October to Saturday 13 October.

Events include evening performances at the Belltable, readings over lunch at the Hunt Museum, screenings of poetry films each night, book launches, a varied programme for schools, the annual Poetry Slam Competition, and the Young Poet of the Year Award.

There are also open mic sessions, music, and socializing, all in the warm tradition of Cuisle.
 
Full programme on the website here. I'll be down for the launch of the Stony Thursday Book on the Thursday, it includes a poem of mine with a Limerick setting. I'll probably also attend the reading that evening.

Some of the highlights:

Wednesday
7pm: Official Opening
7:30pm: Launch of "Where Sadness Begins" by John McKenna
8:15pm: Readings by Fred Johnston, Anja Golob, Jeremy Page


Thursday

1pm: Reading by John Pinschmidt
7pm: Launch of "The Stony Thursday Book" with editor Jo Slade
8pm: Readings by Lorna Thorpe, Máire Áine Nic Gearailt, Radharani Pernarcic.


Friday
1pm: Reading by Jo Slade
8pm: Readings by John F. Deane, Moya Cannon, Peter Sirr


Saturday
11am: Young Poet of the Year Award
8pm: Readings by Medbh Mc Guckian, Terry McDonagh
9:30pm: Poetry Slam Competition

More details on the Festival Facebook page.

Merriman Short Story Competition

 

The Merriman Short Story Competition is dedicated to the memory of the late Maeve Binchy, who was a life-long supporter of Cumann Merriman and a regular visitor to the Merriman Summer School in Co. Clare.

In 2005 Maeve wrote a special short story for the Brian Merriman bicentenary celebrations. The story, entitled ‘A Week in Summer’, was read by the author at that year’s Summer School in Lisdoonvarna and was recorded live. A limited edition of the story was subsequently published in CD and booklet form. Maeve generously donated the royalties from the US edition to Cumann Merriman, and she agreed that her donation be used to award a short story prize.

A prize of €1000 will be awarded to the winning short story, which must be original, unpublished and unbroadcast. Entries should be not more than 2,500 words in length and set in Ireland. Stories may be written in Irish or English. The competition is confined to writers born or living on the island of Ireland. The closing date for entries is October 31st 2012. Entry fee is €10.

The Merriman Short Story Competition is being run in association with Cumann Merriman, the Ennis Book Club Festival, Clare County Library and the Irish Times. The winning story will be read at the 2013 Ennis Book Club Festival and will be published in the Irish Times.Entries may be submitted by email or in hard copy.

Hard copies, accompanied by cheque or postal order made out to Cumann Merriman Teoranta should be addressed to Merriman Short Story Competition, Clare County Library, Mill Rd., Ennis, Co. Clare.

Email copies in pdf format should be sent to merrimanshortstory@gmail.com.  Accompanying entry fees must be posted to the address above.  Entries for which fees have not been received will not be considered.

Only one story per entrant will be accepted. The entrants’ names should not be written on the manuscripts but should be written on a separate sheet, along with the title of the story and full contact details (address, telephone numbers, email address). Writers’ names will not be revealed to the judging panel.

Under Thirty : Peer-Reviewed Fiction

Under Thirty is a non-profit project that showcases young Irish fiction at home and abroad. Through a bi-annual journal, they intend to publish high quality peer-reviewed short fiction.

In this way, they will provide aspiring writers access to an audience of experienced writers, academics, publishers, (including me), who work entirely voluntarily to help them to develop their skills, and nurture them on their formative first steps into the literary world.

The most promising submissions are published in the journal, available as an e-book, and as a printed book – an award is given to one outstanding new writer in the form of a scholarship or writing retreat.

The current focus is on young writers who are resident in Ireland, and Irish writers abroad. In 2013 it is intended to expand the project to the UK and USA, and include writers of younger children’s literature of any age.

The journal is currently inviting submissions for the first issue of the journal as follows: short fiction (1,500 to 2,500 words); flash fiction (up to 500 words); longer fiction pieces in episodic form (e.g. 5,000 words over two issues).

Each submission fulfilling the entry guidelines is reviewed independently and anonymously by two members of the review panel, and finally by the editor prior to inclusion in the journal. Anonymous feedback is provided to the writer regardless of inclusion in the journal, and later resubmissions are welcome.

For full details visit the website.

Meath - All Ireland Poetry Day

The poetry reading at the Library, Navan last evening was a most entertaining event. A fantastic selection of favourite poems from all ages and of all styles. W. B. Yeats to Thomas Grey, Gary Snyder to Jenny Joseph.

One of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales was recited by heart by a lady who had learned it in school! I often read Matilda (who told lies and was burned to death) by Belloc at the readings in Knightsbridge Nursing Home and it goes down well. Full of wonderful rhymes and the whole over the top mock didactic style is great.

Poet and librarian Tom French (right) oversaw the event and Meath Writers Circle was well represented. James Linnane (below) and myself kept the Boyne Writers Group flag flying. I read the last two parts of Under Ben Bulben - Irish poets learn your trade and Under Bare Benbulben's head. I also read Father and Son by F. R. Higgins for its Trim connection but also because it a great father-son poem.

There were readings by some members of Tommy Murray's Meath Junior Writers writers who are launching an anthology soon.

Peggy Murphy also read. She is launching a DVD of her poetry collection (Dunshaughlin My Home Town) in Fergie's of Kilmessan on Friday the 12 October at 7.30 PM.

Anyway it all went very well and we made sure Poetry Day was well marked in Navan.    Below: Tommy Murray.

All-Ireland Poetry Day

All-Ireland Poetry Day takes place on this Thursday, 4 October. This celebration is now in its 5th year. The object of the day is to celebrate poetry in every county in Ireland and in a variety of ways via imaginative programming, scheduling, venues and locations. The response has been a continued and pleasant surprise through the different ways they have sought to deliver poetry to audiences of all age groups. 

Boyne Writers Group has organised no event this year having been so taken up with the Boyne Berries launch. However members will be involved in the various events taking place in Meath and Cavan.

Meath

Meath County Council Library Service presents a reading with Tom French and open mic poetry events in their Ashbourne, Dunboyne, Navan and Oldcastle Libraries.

7.30pm - Navan library
Poetry reading with Tom French followed by open mic. Tommy Murray and the Meath Writers' Circle are taking part in this event. For more information contact 046-9021134

7pm - Ashbourne library
‘Words and Music’ A look at Irish poems that have been transposed to song with singer Teresa Carley.
For more information contact 01-8358185

Some of the Cavan events:

At the Canopy, outside Johnston Central Library, Cavan town.
From 10am -12pm school children from Cavan town schools will assemble outside Johnston Central Library.  The children will write their own or favourite poems/haiku on a balloon with a workshop facilitated by poet and Windows editor Heather Brett.

After selected readings by students each class will release their balloons and good wishes to a waiting wind. Karina Charles, songwriter and broadcaster will be on hand to lend support with some of her musical friends.

From 1pm to 2pm Heather Brett, will host an open mic session at the same venue for all who have written and want to engage with an audience.   She will also read her own work. As an editor she is delighted to hear new voices so please come along and share your poetry. 

Full list of events for the day on the Poetry Ireland website.

Boyne Berries 12 Launched

Boyne Berries 12 was launched last evening in the Castle Arch Hotel by Professor Gregory Castle, Department of English, Arizona State University, Tempe. An audience of about sixty people attended and heard Gregory talk about his involvement with poetry from early efforts, designed to impress girls, to his current work.

He complimented Boyne Writers Group on the continued publication of the magazine and commented on the variety of styles and themes of the prose and poetry in the issue. He also mentioned that an ancestor of his had fought on the Williamite side at the Battle of the Boyne.

Eighteen of those whose work is featured in the magazine attended and read. These included student Emma Clarke who travelled from Kerry to read her wonderful story, Sheep, about a youth diagnosed as bi-polar and Frank Farrelly from Waterford who read his poem, Visiting Rites, about visiting the grave of his father, who incidentally was born in Meath.

The evening ended with Greg Hastings, who designs the covers for Boyne Berries, presenting Gregory Castle (on the right in picture above) with a framed print of the cover image as a token of the Group's appreciation.

Boyne Berries 12 is available in Antonia's Bookshop and in Spar, Trim and online on the Group's website.

Boyne Berries 12 Launch

‘If you could be any animal, what would you be?’ is the intriguing first line of a wonderful story by student, Emma Clarke, written from the point of view of a young person who has been diagnosed with autism, published in Boyne Berries 12. This magazine, published by Boyne Writers Group, Trim, will be launched on Thursday 27 September at 8pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim.

The sixty or so pages of the magazine contain a wealth of prose and poetry from local and international writers on a wide variety of topics. A quick glance at the titles gives a flavour of the contents: Farewell Quaintsville, The Magi, Lenny – The Dog that Could Lick your Mind, Kings and Queens of Yard Sales, Crossing the Border, A Memory of Facial Hair, Piracy, 1980’s Style, Nothing’s as Simple as it Seems.

There are many gems in the issue including the egg-shaped poem, At the Cold Buffet by Kate Dempsey, three poignant poems which deal with the problems associated with old age; Clare McCotter’s Early Dementia; Susan Kelly’s Room 41; Her True Colours by Honor Duff; Louis Moran’s family saga Nothing’s as Simple as it Seems; and Maeve O’Sullivan’s topical White Star dealing with the Titanic disaster, the centenary of which is being marked this year.

This issue will be launched by Professor Gregory Castle of the Department of English, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Professor Castle (pictured above) teaches courses in British and Irish literature, modernism, postcolonial studies, and literary and critical theory. He is the author of a number of books including Modernism and the Celtic Revival (2001) and The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory (2007). He has had poems published in previous issues of Boyne Berries.

“It is a measure of the status the magazine has gained that we have submissions from every corner of the globe,” said Paddy Smith, Boyne Writers Group chairperson and member of the editorial board. “We are especially delighted to have a writer and academic from the USA to launch this issue.”

The Boyne Writers Group are to be congratulated on the continued appearance of this publication. The group was founded in 2006 and meets fortnightly in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim. Members have had their work published in magazines in Ireland and abroad, have had pieces read on Sunday Miscellany and have been awarded prizes for their work in literary competitions. They have contributed to the annual Trim Swift Festival, competing in the annual Battle of the Books satire competition at that festival, and have read poetry around the town. The group also hold regular poetry readings for residents in St Joseph’s and Knightsbridge Homes in Trim.

Local writers are well represented. Tommy Murray’s poem, Friendly Fire, is a caustic look at the abuse of language in modern warfare, and Orla Fay writes about Leaving Oz. Lesley Carty writes about Lagore Crannóg and Adrienne Leavy about Blackrock Golf Club Revisited.

Many of the contributors will attend and read their work at the launch. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Boyne Berries 12 costs €8 but will be on sale at a reduced price at the launch. It will also be available in Antonia’s Bookshop, and in SPAR Trim or can be purchased through the website www.boynewriters.com.

Irish Haiku Anthology Launch

Poetry Ireland, in association with Doghouse Books and the Irish Haiku Society, presents the launch of Bamboo Dreams, an anthology of haiku poetry from Ireland, edited by Anatoly Kudryavitsky.

The launch takes place on Tuesday, 25 September 2012 at 6.30pm in the Unitarian Church, 112 St Stephen’s Green West, Dublin 2.

The anthology will be launched by Mr. Jimmy Deenihan T.D., Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and will include musical accompaniment from Junshi Murakami (Celtic harp) and Philip Horan (shakuhachi bamboo flute).

Admission to this event is free, refreshments will be provided. Anatoly pictured above reading at the Doghouse Reading in Siamsa in Tralee earlier this year.

I don't write many haiku. Below is my attempt for the LitLab Cavan Fleadh Haiku Beermats 2010. No seasonal reference and there was disagreement as to the number of syllables in the final line - I maintained that west of Ireland pronunciation makes diddly a three-syllable word.

Boyne Berries 12 Launch

It sometimes happens that we collect copies of our magazine, Boyne Berries, from the printers on the morning of the launch. This time we have done everything in good time and the magazine is ready and has been collected.

Boyne Berries 12, published by Boyne Writers Group, Trim, will be launched on Thursday 27 March at 8pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim.

This issue will be launched by Professor Gregory Castle of the Department of English, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Professor Castle teaches courses in British and Irish literature, modernism, postcolonial studies, and literary and critical theory. He is the author of a number of books including Modernism and the Celtic Revival (2001) and The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory (2007). He has had poems published in previous issues of Boyne Berries.

Boyne Berries 12 costs €8 but will be on sale at a reduced price at the launch. It will also be available in Antonia’s Bookshop and in SPAR, Trim or can be purchased through the website www.boynewriters.com.

More in advance of the launch.

Poetry Workshop Series in Writers Centre

This seems like a great idea. Quite a selection of poets here. 

Poetry Taster Menu: Workshop Series. Commences Monday, 24th September, Time: 6.30pm - 9.00pm,
Duration: 10 Weeks, Cost: €350/€320.

This ten-week workshop series will be taught by a different poet each week. The theme and style of the workshop will change from writer to writer, giving participants a taste of various types of poetry and approached to writing. Through the course of the ten week students will encounter a variety of writing styles and maybe a poet they haven't encountered before. 

24th September: Paula Meehan (Right)
1st October: Paul Perry
8th October: Leanne O'Sullivan
15th October: Pat Boran
22nd October: Máighréad Medbh
5th November: Peter Sirr
12th November: Maurice Scully
19th November: Catherine Phil MacCarthy
26th November: Geraldine Mitchell
3rd December: Alan Jude Moore
 
For details and to book go to the Irish Writers Centre website here.

A limited number of spaces for single workshops may be made available at noon on Monday 24 September costing  €40 for non-members or €35 for members.  Bookings for the individual sessions will not be available to book before then and will be dependent on availability.

If you have any questions or queries, please call the Centre on (01) 8721302

The National Poetry Competition

Established in 1978, the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition (UK) is one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious poetry contests. The judges this year are Vicki Feaver, W.N. Herbert and Nick Laird. 

Winners include both established and emerging poets, and for many the prize has proved an important career milestone. The prizes are: £5,000 for the overall winner, £2,000 for the second, £1,000 for the third, with seven commendations of £100. 

The deadline is 31 October. Enter online or download an entry form here. 

You can check out the top three winning poems from 2011 on the Poetry Society's website here where they have added some discussion points to each.

Yeats - Among School Children

 

Among Leaving Certificate students actually. It's fun to act as Yeats and answer questions about his poems.

Yeats is so difficult to pin down and his poems have such variety of topic and mood that he's quite difficult to study. Also very much a public man engaged in the history of his time.

They knew the poems, and some had favourites - An Irish Airman Foresees his Death - and one they didn't like - The Lake Isle of Innisfree.

I was asked why I changed my mind about the Irish middle classes between September 1913 and Easter 1916 referring to those two poems. Difficult!!


The costume, such as it was, was fun. The beard was out of place of course but I did remember to turn off my mobile telephone apparatus.

I was able to boast about my poems being included in this new iPhone app.

It's actually interesting to see what Yeats poems are on the Leaving Certificate higher level syllabus:

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
September 1913
The Wild Swans at Coole
An Irish Airman Foresees his Death
Easter 1916
The Second Coming
The Stare’s Nest by My Window
In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz
Swift’s Epitaph
An Acre of Grass
from Under Ben Bulben: V and VI
Politics

That's a great selection and covers his life's well well apart from Maud and the love poems. An Acre of Grass, Swift' Epitaph and Politics are unexpected choices but interesting.

Mary Lavin Season: Sept - Dec 2012

It is fitting that Meath County Council should acclaim Mary Lavin as an artist of distinction in this her centenary year. The Mary Lavin Season invites us to explore and celebrate the work of one of Ireland’s major writers and one of the great artist of the short story in the English language.

Solstice Arts Centre presents Mike Bunn Photography.
Photographer Mike Bunn will present photographs of Lavin taken in the 1970s, alongside a new series of images of contemporary writers and artists in Ireland today.
Venue: Solstice Arts Centre, 7th Sept - 7th Oct.

Renowned theatre company Two Chairs will perform Mary Lavin's well loved stories; A Likely Story and The Widows Son for 5th/6th class pupils. These wonderful stories are set in Co. Meath, and feature the landscape, folklore and people, of the area around Bective, where Mary Lavin and her family lived for many years.
Fri Nov 9th, Dunshaughlin Library, 11am. Tues Nov 20th, Navan Library, 11am. Thurs Nov 22nd, Trim Library Time: 11am. Please contact local library to book places.

Meath County Council Library Service presents Eileen Battersby on Mary Lavin.
Eileen Battersby will present an evening on the Work of Mary Lavin and the Short Story, addressing Lavin the writer and the importance of her writing in the context of Irish literature
November 14th. Navan Library. 7.30pm

Meath County Council Library Service presents Michael Harding on Mary Lavin.
Michael Harding will present a talk on the life and works of Mary Lavin. Michael Harding is an Irish short-story writer, novelist, and playwright, born in County Cavan.
November 22nd. Navan Library. 7.30pm

Meath County Council Arts Office presents Tales from Bellinter.
A wonderful evening of theatre performances of Mary Lavin’s Happiness and The Widow’s Son adapted by two leading playwrights from the Northeast, Deirdre Kinehan and Padraic McIntyre
Bellinter House Hotel. December 3rd - 5th. 8pm Price: €15/ €12 conc. Booking essential, limited tickets can be booked through Solstice Arts Centre.

Poetry Now Festival, Dun Laoghaire

This festival, which was a stand-alone festival up to now, this year took place as part of the dlr Mountains to Sea Book Festival, though it was curated separately by poet Paul Perry.

I attended yesterday Sunday afternoon and got to two events. I met lots of poets and some fellow bloggers and the general agreement seemed to be that this year's poetry festival was very enjoyable but there was some regret that it had ceased as a separate festival.

The Strong Award, which is presented annually to the author of the best first collection of poems published by an Irish poet in the previous year, went ahead with the assistance of Shine, the national organisation involved with mental health issues. The readings and award announcement was well attended.

Three of the four short listed poets read. The shortlisted poets and collections were: Nerys Williams, Sound Archive, Seren; Eoghan Walls, The Salt Harvest, Seren; Noel Duffy, In the Library of Lost Objects, Ward Wood; Ailbhe Darcy, Imaginary Menagerie, Bloodaxe. Ailbe was unable to attend.

The readings were well done and varied. I'm always interested in to what extent a poet introduces/explains poem before reading it. Difficult to get right. Of course the decision was made before the reading which was for the benefit of the audience. Peter Sirr, the adjudicator for the award, announced that the winner was Sound Archive by Nerys Williams. Well deserved on the evidence of the poems read.

Then I attended the launch of Macdara Woods Collected Poems published by Dedalus Press. This event was booked out - free but booking essential. A great venue, the Dun Laoghaire Maritime Museum, and a large collection of well-know Irish poets assembled to celebrate the launch of Macdara's Collected and his 70 years.

We had music, readings of Macdara's poems by eight friends and fellow poets and reading by the author himself, all capably compered by Joseph Woods of Poetry Ireland.

Macdara shortlisted a poem of mine in 2006 in the Scríobh Poetry Competition in Sligo and the poem was published in the competition anthology, my first competition success and first poem published. So well done Macdara!

Macdara signs his Collected for fellow-poet Richard Halperin.

Asking for Directions - A Review

Well not exactly a review, a notice in the September issue of Books Ireland in their First Flush section, a survey of the books received since last issue. (A listing here does not preclude a fuller review.)

Asking for Directions. Michael Farry. Doghouse. 61 pp €12 pb 19 cm +0-9565280-9-4. Farry is a retired teacher originally from county Sligo but now living in Meath. He is also an historian who has written three books on the history of Sligo with a fourth due out this year. As a poet he helped establish the Boyne Writers' Group and edits their magazine, Boyne Berries. As well as this he is an award winning stamp collector and race walker. With the exception of two sections, ‘western trilogy’ and ‘travellers’, these are stand-alone poems. They reflect the life and travels of the poet with titles such as ‘Fuerteventura 2008’ and ‘British Museum’. Even when contemplating the most serious subjects, such as his own death, Farry manages to raise a smile and the poems are marked throughout with a dry humour.   

Hmmm I like that last remark.The other volumes issued by Doghouse Books this year get similar mentions - Slow Mysteries by Monica Corish, The Angels' Share by Barbara Smith, Outward and Return by Gréagóir Ó Dúill and Rus in Urbe by James Lawless

By coincidence my forthcoming history book is mentioned twice in the same issue. Once in the Forthcoming in Autumn section and in a half page Four Courts Press advertisement for new titles on the title page of the magazine. Should be ready mid-October.

 

Phizzfest Poetry Award Result

The prizewinners in the 2012 Phizzfest Poetry Award are as follows:

Winner:   Marie MacSweeney, Drogheda for her poem "Alchemy"
Runner-up:  Dan Reid, Dublin for his poem "Songbird"
Runner-up:  Catherine Ann Cullen, Dublin for her poem "Sonnet of a Five-String Banjo".

The award will be presented at a reading in the Brian Boru pub, Cross Guns Bridge, Glasnevin on Saturday 8 September, starting at 6.00 p.m.

The winning poem will be published on the Festival website where you can also see the full listing of festival events. Festival updates are available on their Facebook page.

Dublin Launch of Windows 20 Anthology

The Dublin launch of the Windows 20 anthology takes place on Thursday 6 September at 6.30pm in the Irish Writers Centre.

A great selection of readers on the night including some or all of the following who are included in the anthology:

Kerri O’Brien, Maurice Devitt, Hugh Mc Fadden, Patrick Chapman, Gerard Smyth, Joe Woods, Philip Casey, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Áine Durkin, Tom Conaty, Todd Swift, Mary O’Donnell, Macdara Woods, Seamus Cashman, Alan Jude Moore, Iggy Mc Govern.

It should be a great event.

Troubadour International Poetry Prize

Sixth Annual Troubadour International Poetry Prize

Prizes: 1st £2,500, 2nd £500, 3rd £250
- plus 20 prizes of £20 each
- plus a Spring 2013 Coffee-House-Poetry season-ticket
- and  a prizewinners' Coffee-House Poetry reading with Jane Draycott & Bernard O'Donoghue on Mon 26th Nov 2012 for all prize-winning poets

Submit by Mon 15th Oct 2012, prizewinners notified by Mon 19th Nov 2012; Submit by post or e-mail, no entry form required; Pay by PayPal or cheque/money-order in Sterling/Euro/US Dollars; all details below and at www.coffeehousepoetry.org/prizes

Judges:
- Bernard O'Donoghue (b. Cullen, County Cork) is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature; a former Reader at Magdalen College and Fellow and tutor at Wadham College, Oxford, he co-edits the Oxford Poets (Carcanet) series with David Constantine. 'Farmers Cross' (Faber, 2011) was shortlisted for the 2011 T S Eliot Prize following poetry collections which include 'Poaching Rights' (1987), 'The Absent Signifier' (1990), 'The Weakness' (1991), 'Gunpowder' (1995, which won the Whitbread Poetry Prize), 'Here Nor There' (1999), 'Outliving' (2003) and a 'Selected Poems' (Faber, 2008). He has written on the poetry of Seamus Heaney and translated Czech poet, Zbynek Hejda.

- Jane Draycott (b. London) teaches on postgraduate writing courses at Oxford and Lancaster Universities, and is currently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Aston University: a PBS 2004 'Next Generation' poet, she won the 2002 Keats Shelley Poetry Prize, was shortlisted for the 2009 T S Eliot Prize and has won several awards for her audio work with Elizabeth James. Her latest work, a translation of 14th century 'Pearl' (Carcanet, 2011) was a 2008 Stephen Spender Prize-winner. Earlier publications include (with Two Rivers Press) 'Tideway' (2002) with Peter Hay, and 'Christina the Astonishing' (1998) with Lesley Saunders & Peter Hay, and three full collections, 'Prince Rupert's Drop' (1999), 'The Night Tree' (2004) and 'Over' (2009), all with Carcanet/Oxford Poets.

Both judges will read all poems submitted.

Prolitzer Prize for Prose Writing

I have a soft spot of Prole Magazine having won third prize in their poetry competition this year.

The Prolitzer Prize for prose writing is now open for entries.

Prizes: Winner - £130, publication in Prole issue 9 and on the website. Two runners up, each receiving £30 and possible publication.

Length: Up to 2000 words of prose, fiction or creative nonfiction.

Closing date for entries, 1 October, 2012.
Winner announced in issue 9 of Prole and on the website by Dec 1st 2012

How to enter: By email (preferred) – include entry in body of text with contact details, paste in PayPal transaction number so we can cross reference. Send to: prosecompetition@prolebooks.co.uk
You do not need a PayPal account to use this service.

If you'd like to send a third person bio with your entry, please do.

Entry fees: £4 for a single entry, £3 for each subsequent entry.

Poetry will have its turn: the Prole Laureate poetry competition opens in October.

Prole, Issue 8 has just been launched. It’s a fantastic collection of fiction and poetry. Prole can be purchased from the website. They are open to submissions for forthcoming issues.

Guidelines on submitting, the writing competitions, and purchasing copies of Prole, are all on the website.

Writing Courses

Saturday is the first day of September. The streets are full of school-going pupils and teachers. It's time to think long dark winter nights and doing that course you always meant to do.

Boyne Writers Group return this evening after their summer break and LitLab in a few weeks. Both groups are organising writing workshops early this term. The Irish Writers Centre has a great variety of course on offer and there are similar courses elsewhere in the country.

Autumn 2012 Writing Courses at the Irish Writers Centre
Intensive Novel Writing Course with Carlo Gébler    
Beginners' Creative Writing with Nessa O'Mahony    
Finish Your Novel with Conor Kostick    
Beginning a Novel with Karen Gillece         
Writing Desire: Flesh Made Word with Sean O'Reilly & Kimberly Campanello        
Crime Writing with Declan Burke              
The Second Draft: the art of rewriting with Mia Gallagher
Feature Writing with Henry McDonald          
Writing for TV Drama and Feature Films with Ferdia MacAnna            
Writing the Short Story with Mike McCormack    
Intermediate Creative Writing with Cláir Ní Aonghusa    

That's quite a lineup with some very well-know names in there. Something for everyone!
Information on times, dates, cost on the Centre website.

For Galway check the Over The Edge blog for information on a number of similar courses.

Late August Garden

And when it's not raining you can sit, drink coffee and read.

The herb garden (just a curved bed) always looks unkempt and lush at this time. There is always a very large fennel in the centre, with coriander to the right and others including some chives to the left.

The fuchsias have done well and I finally gave up trying to grow hostas in the beds. I put one in a pot and used slug pellets to protect it.

Late August Blooms

 

This has been the best August display in our garden for a couple of years I think. It must be because of the poor weather with the plants thriving on the rain.

I don't remember the Hydrangea ever producing so many flowers. It was actually in danger of being dumped for lack of display but has certainly earned a reprieve.

The Gladioli were planted two years ago I think and were a surprise when they emerged again this year. The Japanese Anemone has done very well every year and threatens to take over. Some cutting back after flowering I think.

I did cut back the Rudbekia last year and the display is much less impressive this year. It should recover by next year. The Cosmos I bought to fill the gap when the Oriental Poppies finished has done well and is still producing flowers.

And of course in the background the Nasturtiums in the old rusty wheelbarrow are putting on a great show.

Tara Reading

 

Poetry Ireland in association with Feis Teamhra / A Turn at Tara presents Anne Enright, Susan McKeown, Paul Muldoon and Declan O'Rourke at the Hill of Tara, Co Meath on Sunday 26 August at 2pm.

New Literary Magazine

 

Skylight Poets are now accepting poetry submissions for a new literary magazine to be launched at the 10th Anniversary Over The Edge Open Reading at Galway City Library - Thursday, 24 January 2013 and submissions from designers/artists interested in designing the magazine or in submitting material for publication.

All submissions and design brief requests to skylightpoets47@gmail.com BEFORE 1st September 2012

Poems, of under 40 lines, should be unpublished and sent, with brief biography, as an attachment (.doc, .docx, .txt or .rtf) and in the body of the email. More details here.

Contributors will receive one copy of the magazine plus an invitation to read at a special Over The Edge Reading, in March 2012.

More LitLab Bookmarks

And here are the other LitLab Fleadh bookmarks. Very impressive collection. Members supplied their own images, either producing them themselves or getting talented offspring to do so!

The bookmarks appear to have been all distributed during the Fleadh, which was the intention, so there are probably none left.

LitLab Bookmarks for Cavan Fleadh

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann has been held in Cavan for three years now and our Meath-Cavan Writing Group, LitLab, have been involved to a small degree each year - not playing music or dancing but reading and producing items for free distribution to Fleadh-goers.

The first year we produced drinks coasters with members' Haiku, last year we had short poems on pictorial postcards and this year we produced bookmarks.

Six of our members wrote short, thin poems and supplied images to create six different bookmarks. They have been distributed in book shops in Cavan and at various events. There were some very complimentary comments about them at the Windows launch.

Most of the members took music as their theme but I wasn't listening when the exercise was being explained and did a kind of word association trail starting with book mark and ending with closed book.

The image I used is from a stained glass window in St Patrick's Church, Trim.

Each year we were encouraged by Cavan Arts Office and the energetic Arts Officer, Catriona O'Reilly, who financed the production of these items.

This is the last year of the Fleadh in Cavan so next year we will have no excuse to produce something. But then who needs an excuse to publish!

LitLab Reading at Cavan Fleadh

I can't sing, I can't dance, I can't play a musical instrument but I performed at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan 2012!

The Meath/Cavan LitLab group were invited to do two fifteen minute slots on the Green stage and we were delighted to be a part of it.

We had done readings for the previous two Fleadh in Cavan in a small hall to a very discerning audience. These were different. The Green Stage has different performers every fifteen minutes, there was no published programme so the audience consisted of people who had wandered into the area or were connected with some of the other acts.

So a different challenge and one we met head on. On Friday evening Paddy Halligan, Paddy Smith, Lorna Milligan and myself read poetry and prose to a reasonably sized audience which was appreciative and applauded at the right time. Some even came up afterwards and complimented some of us on our pieces.

Friday Night's LitLab Readers

Paddy Smith's story about an insurance salesman's effort to decide if a potential customer was a Catholic or Protestant was especially mentioned. I even saw a few smiling at various lines in my Celtic Tiger Recession Blues.

 

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning at 11.30, we were reduced to two readers, Paddy Smith and myself, but we acquitted ourselves well, read for fifteen minutes to what was a slightly smaller audience.

LitLab is delighted to have taken part in each of the three Cavan Fleadh Cheoil. We had a poetry/prose reading each year and, with the help of Cavan Arts Office, we produced some small items which were distributed free to attendees. 

In 2010 we produced drinks coasters with our haiku, last year colour postcards with our short poems on the theme of music and this year bookmarks. More about those later.

Windows 20 Anthology Launch

Windows 20 Anthology was launched in Cavan on Wednesday evening last. A most enjoyable and well-attended event with readings by a dozen poets and an art exhibition by some of the artists featured in the volume. Congratulation to editors Heather Brett and Noel Monahan. This anthology is a fitting tribute to their work with Windows Publications over the last twenty years.

 The top table: From left, Heather Brett, Cavan Co. Manager, Cavan Co. Council Chairperson, Mayor of Cavan, Joe Woods of Poetry Ireland and Noel Monahan.

This is an impressive anthology of single poems from many of the best-known and well-regarded poets in Ireland. I'm thrilled to be included alongside people like Pat Boran, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Michaél D. Ó hÚiginn, Macdara Woods, Nessa O'Mahony, Theo Dorgan, Peter Sirr, Michelle O'Sullivan, Moya Cannon etc etc.

Poets Honor Duff, Heather Brett and Kate Dempsey.

Among the readers in Cavan were Kate Dempsey,  Mary Melvin Geoghegan, Gerard Smyth and Joan McBreen. The volume also includes five writers in the Authors and & Artists Introduction Series 10 - Luke Morgan, Breda Wall Ryan, Eoghan O'Driscoll, David Mohan and Canadian, Carolyne Van Der Meer, as well as artist Ruth Cadden.

Poets Eamon Cooke and Kieran Furey.

The anthology will be launched in Dublin at the Irish Writers Centre on 6 September and during the Patrick Kavanagh weekend at the end of September. There will also be a Longford launch.

LitLab Reading at Cavan Fleadh

Again this year LitLab Writers Group is doing a reading at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan. 

We are reading poetry and prose on the Green Stage in Bridge Street Carpark, Cavan Town on this Friday 17 August at 7.45pm for 15 minutes and on Saturday 18 August at 12.30 also for 15. The Green Stage provides free entertainment, Ceol, Craic, Filiocht, Caint agus Damhsa, by various musical and artistic performers.

Three or four of us will take part in each session so that's no more than five minutes each. Short and snappy! So what to read? Maybe it's time to bring out the Celtic Tiger Recession Blues again. I had hoped it might be out of date by now but it looks as if it will be current for some time yet. 

The Green Stage is part of the Green Zone programme which is a joint initiative of the EPA and European Recycling Platform (ERP)to raise awareness of the importance of recycling.

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann runs in Cavan from 17th – 19th August 2012.

Windows 20 Launch in Cavan

Wednesday, 15 August, sees the launch of the Windows 20 anthology celebrating twenty years of Windows Publication run by poets Heather Brett and Noel Monahan.

The launch takes place at 7pm in the Cavan Crystal Hotel and there will be readings from many of those included in the anthology. Among the speakers will be Joe Woods of Poetry Ireland.

Each of Windows previous publication included art as well as poetry and prose and this is no exception. An art exhibition featuring artists included in the volume also takes place in the venue on the same date from 5pm to 9pm .

Free admission, refreshments served and everyone welcome!

Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition

I had a poem included in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2010 which included the selected winners in the art and writing competitions.

This year they are launching two separate prizes: the Aesthetica Art Prize and the Creative Writing Competition and publishing two separate volumes.

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition celebrates and champions creative writing, nurturing talent and bringing work to international attention. There are two categories for entry, Poetry and Short Fiction, and a selection of fantastic prizes including:

£500 prize money – Poetry winner.
£500 prize money – Short Fiction winner.
Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual.
Complimentary copy of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Anthology.
A selection of books from our competition partners, Bloodaxe and Vintage.

The Aesthetica Art Prize is a celebration of excellence in art from across the world. Artists working in all forms are welcome to submit work and there is an excellent selection of prizes including:

6 months’ studio rental courtesy of AWOL Studios.
Up to £250 in art supplies courtesy of Lawrence Art Supplies
£1000 prize money – over-all winner.
2013 group exhibition in York
Editorial coverage in Aesthetica Magazine
Publication in the Aesthetica Art Anthology
Complimentary copy of the Aesthetica Art Anthology
A selection of books from our competition partner, Prestel.

More information here.

The deadline for both competitions is 31 August.

Garden: Early August

The wet summer has meant plenty of vigorous growth in the garden. And this recent sunny spell has seen the garden at its best. The woodbine has never been better and the sweet pea have done remarkably well also. The herbs are overflowing their space, the fennel and the feverfew especially prominent.

In the background the nasturtiums look good in the old wheelbarrow and the willows provide a good framework for the old rambling roses. And the fuchsia is doing well in the hanging thingumajig.

A relation said "I love the wilderness look of the garden!" I said "It takes a lot of work to get that wild uncared-for look".

Intensive Novel Writing Course

 

Intensive Novel Writing Course at the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin with Carlo Gébler. Guest writers include : Keith Ridgway, Sean O'Reilly, Karen Gillece and Mia Gallagher.

Duration: 5 days, Monday - Friday, 3rd - 7th September, Time: 10.30am - 4.30pm.
Cost: €450/€420 (members). Spaces are limited so early booking is advised.

This is a five-day course for those who either want to start a novel, advance a novel, or finish a novel.  The course will be highly structured. Each morning will start with an informal presentation by the tutor, Carlo Gébler. This is based on a novel that the tutor admires.

After the informal presentation participants will be expected to talk about the work they wish to write or to read from work they have written. In order to facilitate this, participants must bring to the course either, if they are beginners, a description of the novel they want to write and a summary of its plot, or, if they are more advanced practitioners, as much of the manuscript as they have written.  The talks and/or readings will be followed by a discussion, led by the tutor, about what has been read aloud.  In the afternoon guest writers will give a talk on novel writing or an aspect of novel writing and, if time allows for it, will give a critique of a students work.

At the end of five days participants should have a better sense than when they started of the book they want to write and how to set about starting it, advancing it or finishing it.

More information on the Irish Writers Centre website.

Sligo The Irish Revolution, 1912–23 - The Cover

The cover has been decided for my history book. I'm very pleased with it, a nice clean design with Sligo well highlighted. The cover picture is very striking. It's a Rolls Royce armoured car, probably The Ballinalee, in Old Market Street, Sligo on Easter Sunday 1922 for the pro-Treaty election meeting.

The picture is in the Irish Independent archive in the National Library of Ireland and was almost certainly taken by Sligo photographer and author Tadhg Kilgannon. Thanks to Paul Gunning of Sligo for alerting me to the photo and identifying the street.

Full details of the book on the Four Courts Press website.The book is a "balanced, comprehensive and absorbing study of county Sligo from 1912 when the Irish Party controlled all political affairs to 1922–3 when the county saw considerable action during the civil war".

This is the first of the Irish Revolution series from Four Courts Press and this will be the standard design of the series' covers. Different picture of course. Sligo is first!!

Not sure of publication date but either just before or just after Christmas.

Details on the publisher's website.