Roger Hudson's Dublin Launch

Poems that tell stories is a major feature of Roger Hudson’s new collection Plaything of the Great God Kafka (Lapwing Publications, Belfast) which will be receive its Dublin launch at Monday Echo, basement of International Bar, Wicklow Street, Dublin 1 at 7.00pm on 10 June. 

Roger has chosen Monday Echo to express his thanks to Dublin’s fringe venues and performance poets like Karl Parkinson, who launches the book, Stephen James Smith, Raven and others who showed him exciting ways to communicate his own poems. 

Since then he has gotten into performing with improvised music and in a group with multiple voices as well as performing solo, which should be reflected in the evening’s presentation. Lending support will be Anne Tannam, Steve Downes and other poets.

Roger promises that the poems will give a colourful view of the development over a lifetime of his often quirky worldview, assembling narratives of life incidents and social and political observations that range through Vietnam War atrocities, the Cuban missile crisis, puberty, propaganda, prejudice, prostate biopsy, the banking crisis and much more.

Roger has lived in Dublin and Drogheda for some twenty years now. As leader of Drogheda Creative Writers, he has organised and hosted its awards, open mics, anthologies and slams, as well as working on his previous collections Lifescapes (in Side-Angles with Steve Downes) and Greybell Wood and Beyond, also with Lapwing, and his historical crime novel Death Comes by Amphora.  

He grew up in Surrey, England, and lived and worked in London and Dublin in various forms of writing, editing and film-making.

All welcome. Supported by Create Louth. Signed copies available on the night at €10. Seating limited, so don’t be late.

Launch of 4 Salmon Poetry Collections

Salmon Poetry are launching four new poetry collections at the Irish Writers' Centre on next Thursday 6 June at 6.30pm.

The God Thing by Susan Millar DuMars
Shy White Tiger by Richard W. Halperin
The Stern Wave by Noel King
Offspring of the Moon by John W. Sexton

Quite a collection there! It should be a great evening of poetry. Each poet will read a selection.

Visit the Salmon website to read more about each collection and/or purchase copies.

On the other hand attend the launch and get a signed copy.

Boyne Berries Magazine - Guest Editor

Boyne Berries magazine is open for submissions until 13 July. We are delighted to have Kate Dempsey as our guest editor for this issue. Kate's poetry and fiction is widely published in Ireland and the UK including in Poetry Ireland Review, The Moth, Orbis and Magma. She won the 2011 Plough Poetry prize for a short poem and her first book of poetry, Some Poems, was published by Moth Editions, also in 2011.

Picture: Kate with member Orla Fay at one of our Open Mics in 2010.

We look forward to working with her and expect that the magazine will profit from her expertise and experience. Kate blogs here.

We accept poetry and prose. Please check the submission guidelines carefully and follow them meticulously. The guidelines are here.

I am always astonished at how heedless some people can be. We can all make mistakes but if a magazine asks for three poems why send four? If the line limit is 60 lines why send a 70-line poem? And if you are asked to send a brief biography why send a page listing your every publication credit?

And please proof read your work very carefully before you send. The editor does not have time to check with you if the strange spelling in stanza three is a clever literary pun or a mistake.

We get many more submissions than will fit in our little magazine so if you get a rejection don't take it personal. Send it off again to another magazine and send us something else next time.

This will be Boyne Berries 14 and the provisional launch date is Thursday 26 September 2013 in Trim.

Bloom in the Park Gardens

I went to visit Bloom, the gardening show, in the Phoenix Park for the first time on Thursday morning last and spent two hours there before the large crowds arrived. I enjoyed the show gardens especially, not as much artificiality as I had expected.

These gardens caught my eye:
The Kerry Group / Concern Worldwide 1000 DAYS Garden. It won a Gold Medal and Best in Concept Garden Category. On Thursday the President was especially interested in this. The "water features" in this had a practical irrigation purpose.

'Past Times' - A 70s Retro Garden which won a Silver Medal. Remember those days!

A Love Letter to The West. Ah yes! This Medium Garden was a Silver-Gilt Medal Winner. The designer lives and works in County Leitrim. The planting was wonderful here.

Destination Bloom. A Concept Garden which was a Silver-Gilt Medal Winner. A crash-land garden with some of Irelands worst invasive culprits.

Bealtaine Poetry Reading

The Bealtaine reading by the members of the Bealtaine Writers Group in the Hugh Lane Gallery yesterday was a most enjoyable event in a splendid setting. The group members read their poems, responses to artworks in the gallery, especially concentrating on works by modern Irish artist Sean Scully.

The Gallery is featuring an exhibition of his works at the moment. These are generally large and abstract, based on simple geometric shapes and at first glance not easy subjects for poems. One painting from the Doric series above. But the group responded with great creativity and skill and the poems made you want to go back to the paintings and look again.

Tom Dredge, above, the only male reader on the day, is also a member of our Boyne Writers Group.

The group's poems on this topic were developed from a series of writing and editing workshops with the poet Macdara Woods in the Irish Writers Centre, supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.


Well done to all!

Poetry on Thursday

The long established Bealtaine Writers Group will visit The Hugh Lane Gallery, Parnell Square, Dublin and read poems they have written inspired by artworks in the gallery. This event is free and open to the public on Thursday 30 May at 1.15pm as part of the Bealtaine Festival.


A member of Boyne Writers Group, Tom Dredge, who is also a member of the Bealtaine group will be reading at the event.

Their poems have developed from a series of writing and editing workshops with the poet Macdara Woods in the Irish Writers Centre, supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office and Poetry Ireland.

And the first series in the Poetry Ireland Introductions Readings 2013 featuring Madeleine Barnes, Stephenie Conn, Brian Kirk and Annemarie Ní Churreáin takes place at the Irish Writers' Centre, Parnell Square on the same day, Thursday at 6.30pm, admission free.

A History of Coolaney in 15 Objects

The talk in Coolaney on Saturday evening went very well. I was delighted to see such a great crowd and to meet some old school friends. The renovated Centre looks very well. Congratulations to the committee and the people of Coolaney.

This is the list of the objects I used to frame the talk. Most were illustrations but some, 9-13, were actual objects which I had there on display.

1. Rathbarran food vessel and axe c. 1,500BC (National Museum)

2. Miniature portrait of Cormac O'Hara, Coolaney c.1590. (O'Hara Family, Annaghmore)

3. Map of Coolaney 1716. (O’Hara Papers, National Library)

4. Engraving of Meemlough Castle. (The Antiquities of Ireland, Francis Grose, London, 1791)

5. Ordnance Survey map of Coolaney village 1837

6. Drawing of Coolaney old bridge by Raymond Piper. (Hayward, This is Ireland, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, London, 1953)

7. Wanted Notices 1838-40. (National Archives, Dublin)

8. Relief Application Form, 28 April 1847 Kate P. Thompson, Knockadoo House. (National Archives, Dublin)

9. Envelope of letter from Coolaney about election, 1852. (O’Hara Papers, National Library)

10. National Schools Amalgamation Brochure 1972

11. Railway warning sign c.1895

12. A Coolaney brick c.1907 (Photo above)

13. Account book of Coleman’s Coolaney 1902-1924 (Photo in post below)

14. Census Form 1911 Charles Mackenzie, Coolaney court clerk

15. Cartoons of Peter Cawley, Coolaney politician (Roscommon Herald 1912, 1914)

Coolaney Community Centre

Coolaney is a small village on the southern slopes of the Ox Mountains in County Sligo. I was born in the the parish and wrote a short history of the parish and published it in 1985.

The population of the area increased enormously during the tiger years and the village regularly comes out on top in Sligo in the Tidy Towns competition.

The local committee have just finished a major renovation of the Community Centre in the village and it is being re-opened this Friday, 24 May. I was asked to do a talk on the history of the village on Saturday evening 25th. I was delighted and decided to call it A History of Coolaney in 15 Objects, reflecting a current trend in such things.

Most of the 15 objects are in museums or libraries but I will have six or seven actual objects with me on the evening including the one pictured above. More on the night. I'm looking forward to the event and hope I do the occasion justice.

The well-known Book of O'Hara which contains 37 bardic poems of the late sixteenth century was compiled in honour of Cormac O'Hara, head of the family who lived in Coolaney and died in 1612. Some of these poems were written by the poet, Tadhg Dall O'Higgins, born close by near Achonry.

And of course five of my poems about the area, including one called Coolaney, were published in an anthology, Imagination and Place: Cartography,  in Kansas, USA earlier this year.

Scripts, Ireland’s Playwriting Festival

Birr Theatre and Arts Centre presents Scripts, Ireland’s  Playwriting Festival, 8-14 September 2013.

Scripts, Ireland’s newest playwriting festival is dedicated to new Irish plays - the writing of them, the development and nurturing of them. Playwrights can submit original 10 to 15 Minute plays on the theme Home for selection.

Those selected will benefit from a professional development process where they will be mentored by professional playwright Eugene O' Brien in an exciting work shopping process. Closing date 1 July.

For 7 days in September the picturesque heritage town of Birr, Co. Offaly, a haven of Georgian elegance, will play host to an ensemble of playwrights, producers, actors and directors, all working towards one goal -  to produce 7 outstanding new Irish plays in 7 fun-filled days!

You can also register to be part of a “Pop Up” Play in a Day Challenge. Playwrights will have 24 hours to write the 5 minute plays which will be performed as Pop Up Plays in cafes in Birr throughout the festival and again at the "It's A Wrap" event on Sunday September 15th.

Visit the website for more info on this exciting new festival.

The Swift Festival in Trim had a five-minute play competition last year which was a great success. Not sure if something similar will take place this year.

Strong / Shine Poetry Award Shortlist

The shortlist has just been announced for the 2013 Strong / Shine Award for debut volumes of poetry, to be presented at the Poetry Now at Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival in September.

The four are: Eleanor Hooker's The Shadow Owner's Companion, Mary Noonan's The Fado House (both Dedalus), Rebecca O'Connor's We'll Sing Blackbird (Moth Editions) and Michelle O'Sullivan's The Blue End of Stars (Gallery Press).

The dlr Strong Award in partnership with Shine is presented annually to the author of the best first collection of poems published by an Irish poet in the previous year.Last year's winner was Sound Archive by Nerys Williams published by Seren.

Congratulations to the four authors and best of luck. Eleanor was another of the Poetry Ireland Introductions Class of 2011.

Get Digital - Converting Books to eBooks

Eoin Purcell, Commissioning Editor at  New Island Books, will be hosting a workshop on converting books into ebooks in the Irish Writers Centre on Saturday 8 June from 10am until 2pm.

This course is specifically tailored towards published writers who now own the rights to previously published material which they would like to make available as ebooks. 

Over the course of the morning ebooks will be examined with a section on how to create them, where to upload them, covers, pricing, marketing and a brief guide to rights.

*Please note this course is only open to published writers. To book please visit the Centre's website.

Eoin Purcell is the publisher of Irish Publishing News the source of news and information about Irish publishing and The Irish Story, a digital magazine and ebook publisher that focuses on Irish History. They published a review of my Sligo book recently.

Eoin writes occasional blog posts and columns on the Irish book trade for The Bookseller magazine and several other publications. He has kept a blogs on publishing and digital change since 2006.

The Caterpillar Magazine for Children

Announcing The Caterpillar, a new arts and literature magazine for children, featuring stories, poems and artwork. ‘As far as I can tell,’ says its editor Rebecca O’Connor, ‘there is nothing else quite like this out there for children.’

It features:
Poems and stories for children aged 7–11.
Well known children’s writers.
Full colour original artwork throughout.
Interactive pages for children to encourage creativity.

The first issue, to be launched on 2 June 2013 at the Moth Studios, Cavan, will feature the likes of Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse; Mark Lowery, shortlisted for a Roald Dahl Funny Prize this year; and Janet Wong, who has read her poems on the Oprah Winfrey Show and at The White House, as well as such well known Irish writers as Matthew Sweeney and Julie O’Callaghan.

There will be four issues a year – in March, June, September and December. Available online, at Easons and at select bookshops, price €4/£4.

A school or library annual subscription costs €40 (including postage) and can be purchased at www.thecaterpillarmagazine.com or you can email enquiries@thecaterpillarmagazine.com or call 00 353 49 4362677 to set up payment.

New Poetry Collections

Another poet from the class of 2011, the Poetry Ireland Introductions of that year, is publishing a first collection.

Consent, the debut poetry collection by Kimberly Campanello, published by Connemara-based Doire Press, is being launched on Thursday 16 May at 7pm in the  Irish Writers’ Centre, Dublin.

Evelyn Conlon will do the honours on the night. Well done Kimberly!

More information here on Facebook.and here on Kimberly's website.

And it has also just been announced that another of the class of 2011, Donna Sandahl Sørensen, has just  signed a book deal and her debut poetry collection, Dream Country, will be published by New Island Books later this year.

Poetry Reading and Writing Workshop - National Library

As part of the Bealtaine Festival the National Library, Kildare Street, Dublin will host two Australian poets, Diane Fahey and Ali Cobby Eckermann for a poetry reading, 1.10pm - 2pm, followed by a  poetry writing workshop, 2.30pm  – 3.45pm, on next Wednesday, 15 May.

No need to book, just drop-in on the day.

Diane Fahey grew up in Melbourne and now lives in Clifton Springs  in south-eastern Victoria. She has written individual poetry collections on Greek myths, fairy tales, and insects. The poetry of place and nature writing, with a special emphasis on birds are abiding creative concerns.

Ali Cobby Eckermann, a celebrated poet and writer, lives in Koolunga, South Australia, where she has established an Aboriginal writer’s retreat. Ali has won several awards and has published poetry collections and verse novels. Her poetic memoir, Too Afraid To Cry, is being released in 2013.


These poets have been chosen for the Australian Poetry International Tour to Ireland in 2013, funded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council.

Themed Thursdays - Animals

I'm delighted to be taking part in the Seven Towers Thursday Themed Reading (6.30-8.00 pm every second Thursday 2013) in the Workman's Club, Wellington Quay, Dublin. on this Thursday

In these readings four writers/poets read on a specific theme for five to seven minutes each followed by a short open mic.

The temptation is to bend the rules and intepret "animals" very widely as one could. I've searched around, found enough poems on real or imaginary animals and am ready.

These are the other readers:

David Murphy is an award winning Science Fiction Writer. He is co-founder of Irish fiction magazine Albedo One, and has published two novels, Akron Chronicles and Longevity City and a collection of short stories Lost Notes.

Alma Brayden is a well-known Dublin poet and accomplished visual artist, a member of Dalkey Writers’ Workshop and has had poetry published in many anthologies and magazines.Her first collection Prism was published by Seven Towers in 2010

Seamus Cashman's poetry collections are Carnival (1987); Clowns & Acrobats (1997); and New & Selected Poems (Salmon, 2007). He has edited, with Bridie Quinn, The Wolfhound Book of Irish Poems for Young People, (Wolfhound Press, 1975) and Something Beginning with P (O’Brien Press, 2004) He established Wolfhound Press in 1974 and was its publisher for 27 years.

I'm delighted to be reading in such good and varied company. The Seven Towers events are always friendly and welcoming so I'm looking forward to the event.

Headspace: A New Magazine Promoting Positive Mental Health

HeadSpace is a writing and art magazine based around the theme of mental health which began with a group of young people who felt that a greater understanding of mental health in all its forms  is needed.

In particular, people who spent time in psychiatric wards found that there was a lack of reading material there, and felt they would have gained a sense of solidarity and support to read and see the work of writers and artists who understood their own experiences.

The name HeadSpace was motivated by the idea that in culture and society, we are not given the time or capacity to express, create and think as time is money, but all of us feel the need to buy some 'headspace' in order to maintain positive mental health.

HeadSpace features inspiring, deeply moving personal accounts involving dealing with depression. There are articles on how to make yourself more confident, the importance of mental health and how to cope when your mental health is not as strong as it sometimes is.

It also features a range of spectacular creative writing, with poems and short stories dealing with the panic, depression, and confusion that comes with mental health difficulties and diseases as well as stories of hope and recovery coming from unlikely places  Its pages are also packed full of evocative, thought-provoking art.

Issue One is to be launched on May 11 in  in the Twisted Pepper, Abbey St., Dublin at 6 pm (Coiniciding with Mental Helath awareness month) and will be distributed for free to a psychiatric ward and a school catering to pupils with mental health difficulties.

The magazine is entirely not-for-profit and was created by a group of volunteers. Costs have been met via crowdsourcing and fundraising events. Issue One is now available for advance orders online here for €5 including delivery. For more information please visit the facebook page.

Drogheda Poetry Readings and Workshop

Drogheda Arts Festival 2013 and Droichead Arts Centre in association with Gallery Press present

Gallery Goes……

an afternoon of poetry, discussion and book signings with three of Ireland’s finest poets, Tom French, Medbh McGuckian, Conor O'Callaghan on Saturday 4 May, 1.30pm in Droichead Arts Centre. Tickets €5 Teas/Coffees/Scones.

This will be the first outing for Conor O’Callaghan’s new collection, The Sun King. The readings will be followed by a creative writing workshop with Conor O’Callaghan entitled “Describing Sex”  Fee €15 (includes reading).

The workshop is a practical embarrassment-free workshop about the crucial skill of describing acts of love in writing. We will look at successful poems and famous scenes from fiction, identifying a few aspects common to these pieces and how those aspects make them work. We will also look at a few less successful examples. Limited number of places on the workshops.

Box office: 041 9833946. Free online booking.

Panama Cafe Poetry Reading, Dundalk

This was actually a great idea which worked very well as part of the Dundalk Book Festival - readings in two cafés in the town centre from 2pm to 7pm. The two were the Panama Café, where the coffee certainly is good, and The 23 Seats, where the coffee is probably as good.

An eclectic collection of writers and performers kept the diners amused and entertained all day. It was difficult to tell who had come for the food and who had been enticed by the writers. Some came for food and stayed for poetry and vice versa.

Lots of Dundalk writers, poets but also writers of novels, science fiction, memoir, journals etc. A wonderful variety. Many of the local writers seem to be involved with one or other of the groups facilitated by the multi-talented Ferdia MacAnna, writer in residence in DkIT. Many featured in the recent publication, No Bother.

I read twice in the Panama, early and late and really enjoyed it. Start with something that gets a laugh and the audience is on your side, so I started with The Truth (still here halfway down on the Prole Competition page) which did the job. I also read my Manchester United poem in honour of another great season - there didn't seem to be many supporters there though.


Poet Richard Halperin read in both cafés and was one of the stars of the day. He read from his Anniversary collection (Salmon) and also from his second collection which is being launched in the Irish Writers Centre on 6 June.

Barbara Smith, fellow Doghouse poet, did a fine job as MC and with her Poetry Divas contributed greatly to the colour and fun of the event. They had copies of their new chapbook Poetry Divas 4 for sale. It contains many of their Greatest Hits including their Pair Bond (now performed with visual aids) and Flaming for Vincent, each stanza of which starts Oh give me a red-headed man. The chapbook should be available on Kate Dempsey's blog page.

Reading at Dundalk Festival Today

Off to Dundalk this afternoon to do a spot at the Cafe reading there at the Dundalk Book Festival. I'm one of the various authors, poets and performers who will be "entertaining, inspiring and spellbinding [some hope!] audiences" at two local cafes The Panana Café in Market Square and The 23 Seats in Crowe Street. I'm on in the Panama sometime between 2 and 3 and probably will do a spot in the other cafe later.

What to read? Something funny or even amusing (I must have something like that) something topical (No! No! not the recession - but it's funny!)something easy to read and easy to "get" at one listed. Well, I'll try me best. I do have a cafe poem, just published in the Galway Review actually and online here. Wonder what the chocolate cake is like in the Panama Cafe. I've heard the coffee is good.

The Panama MC is local writer and Doghouse poet, Barbara Smith, and she and her Poetry Divas will perform their own brand of performance poetry to open and close the reading. Others who are expected to perform include writers from the Dundalk No Bother group and Ardgillen/Skerries writers as well as John King children’s writer, Christine Larkin fiction, May Toal poetry/fiction, Nessa Toale fiction, John Gilmore humourist and Richard Halperin poetry. Noel McGee will perform an extract from his one man show I Kavanagh.

Other events include Irish Crime Writers Niamh O’Connor, Declan Hughes and Declan Burke being interviewed and reading from their work at 1pm. Successful local author Jaki McCarrick will launch her new latest book at Carroll’s bookshop 5-6pm.

In the evening evening, Irish Women Writers Christine Dwyer-Hickey, Claudia Carroll and Catherine Dunne take the stage (7-9pm) to read from their books.

Full programme on the website.

Poetry Readings - Mullingar and Sligo

Two poetry readings one after another, Mullingar Scribblers on Monday evening and the Poets' Parlour, Yeats Memorial Building on Tuesday evening. I really enjoyed both and was impressed by the numbers at each and the enthusiasm shown by the participants.

Mullingar Scribbers is a writing group facilitated by Grace Brennan. I talked about my writingand the experience of having a collection published, interspersed with readings of some of my poems. We had a lot of discussion about form and themes, language and grammar, and we ended with an exercise.

I gave them as a prompt half a line from one of my poems "I remember my cat". They produced a great variety of pieces, prose and poetry,taking the prompt to unexpected places. The Scribblers meet every week and publish anthologies of their work regularly, volume 5 was published last year.

Then the Poets' Parlour in the Visitors Centre of the Yeats Memorial Building in Sligo. A very friendly setting with a fire on and fellow Doghouse poet Monica Corish present. The first half consisted of the open mic which had the usual impressive variety of theme and treatment. Almost everyone present was a writer and read on the night so it was a very knowledgeable and sympathetic audience.

Eily Kilgannon was a great host and MC and contributed to the evening by reading some of the love poetry of Shakespeare it being the week of the Bard's birthday. We also had poems by W.B.Yeats, Hilaire Belloc and Brian Patten.

I was the second half of the night and read about twelve poems mostly from the Doghouse collection. I really enjoyed reading in Sligo. I think was the first time I had read poetry in the county so it was special.This Poets' Parlour takes place once a month and will take a break during the summer. Check the website for details.

There is also a Yeats Poetry Circle which meets every Wednesday morning in the Visitors centre from 10.30am to 12.30pm which gives an opportunity for poetry lovers to socially gather, to share their favourite poetry,  poetic inspiration and recite from heart. All Welcome!

Now a rest before Dundalk on Saturday.

Dundalk Book Festival

A major new book Festival will be held in Dundalk on the week-end April 26-27, 2013.

The festival will be launched by author and playwright Peter Sheridan (whose mother hails from Dundalk) at DKIT at 1pm on Friday April 26. Peter will read from and perform his own works, including his latest book.

On Saturday April 27th, Dundalk town centre will host a series of book festival events featuring readings and Q and As by famous Irish crime novelists, graphic novelists, poets, short story writers, memoirists and other performers.

The line-up includes Irish women writers Christine Dwyer-Hickey, Claudia Carroll, Catherine Dunne and Jaki McCarrick, celebrated crime writers Declan Burke, Niamh O’Connor and Declan Hughes, best-selling author, founder of Writing.ie and self-publishing guru Vanessa O’Loughlin, acclaimed children’s writing workshop Fighting Words, successful children’s writer Sarah Webb, Irish graphic novelists Tommie Kelly, Alan Nolan, Patrick Brown and Rob Curley, and magnificent, unpredictable and captivating foursome The Poetry Divas, along with local writers and performers.

Various local (and some not so local) authors, poets and performers will be entertaining audiences at two local cafes The Panana Café in Market Square and The 23 Seats in Crowe Street from 2 until 7 or later. The line up is not finalized but I'll be there as will John King, Christine Larkin, May Toal, Ciara O’Connor, Nessa Toale, John Gillmore and Richard Halperin.

And of course that mega-talented foursome The Poetry Divas will be there to enthrall the public and terrify the other performers!

Full details of the programme on the website. More on their Facebook page.

Reading at the Poet's Parlour, Sligo

The Poet’s Parlour, organised by the Yeats Society, Sligo is a monthly social gathering for poetry lovers as well as aspiring, emerging and experienced poets who may wish to share their own poetry with others.


It takes place in the Visitors Centre of the Yeats Memorial Building at Hyde Bridge in the centre of Sligo.

I'm delighted to be the guest poet at the next Poet’s Parlour which will take place on Tuesday 23 April at 8.00pm.

All welcome. The evening will include an open mic. Entry 5.00 euros (2.00 euros for members) including refreshments.

Spring at Last. I Think!

The change in the weather recently is very welcome. Everything in the garden seems a month behind this time last year. Our primroses and cowslips are in full bloom. The equivalent picture from last year is here.

A nice display from the few Snake's Head Fritillaries also. A poem about these flowers by Anne Ridler (1912-2001) here on the Poetry Archive site.

Roger Hudson's Poetry Launch in Drogheda

 

A well-attended, enjoyable launch of Roger Hudson's latest poetry collection Plaything of the Great God Kafka in Drogheda on Friday evening. The book is published by Lapwing in Belfast and is available on their website here.

The launch took place at the Highlanes Gallery, a former church, in Drogheda, and the Mayor of Drogheda, Paul Bell welcomed everyone and complimented Roger on his work in Drogheda. Joe Woods, poet and Director of Poetry Ireland, himself a Drogheda native, launched the collection remarking on the wide range of styles and experience which were evident in the work.


Roger then read some of the poems, some he performed with musical improvisation by Breifne Holohan and others in multiple voices with Brian Quinn and Nuala Leonard.

Good to see other Louth poets there including Susan Connolly, published by Shearsman and Marie MacSweeney also published by Lapwing.

Photos Top: Joe Woods launches the collection. Below: Roger reads from the work.

International Poetry Chapbook Competition

Doire Press, Galway, has just announced its 2013 Second Annual International Poetry Chapbook Competition.

The winner will each receive 75 copies of their own professionally edited and printed chapbook published by Doire Press. Chapbook will be perfect-bound, contain up to 40 pages, feature colour front and back cover, as well as their own isbn and barcode.

Ten shortlisted entries will be included in a print anthology.

Entries: 3 poems per entry (6 pages max). Deadline: 29 May 2013.

Entry fees: €10 for first entry, €8 for each additional entry.

Judge: Kevin O’Shea, author of  The Art of Non-Fishing (2012). Kevin won the 2012 Cuirt New Writing Prize for poetry and was twice shortlisted for the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year competition. He is a member of the Skylight Poets.

The judging for the contest is completely anonymous. Entries must include cover page with full contact information and titles of the three poems. Entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Entries will not be returned unless accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope.

Entries must not have won any other competition but can have been published in literary journals or magazines.

Enter by post or by email. Full details on the competition page here.

Roger Hudson Drogheda Poetry Launch

“More than a Booklaunch” is how Drogheda poet Roger Hudson sees the launch of his latest book of poetry Plaything of the Great God Kafka (Lapwing Publications, Belfast) to be held at the Highlanes Gallery, Laurence Street, Drogheda on Friday 12 April at 7.30pm. It will be launched by Joe Woods, poet and Director of Poetry Ireland, himself a Drogheda native.

The event will also feature display of a selected number of Roger’s complex photomontages that present multi-faceted views of modern life comparable to the poems – “visual poems” he calls them or even “motionless movies”. Some poems will be performed with musical improvisation by Breifne Holohan and others in multiple voices with Brian Quinn and Nuala Leonard.

Roger promises that the poems coupled with the pictures will give a colourful view of the development over a lifetime of his often quirky worldview, assembling narratives of life incidents and social and political observations that range through Vietnam War atrocities, the Cuban missile crisis, puberty, propaganda, prejudice, prostate biopsy, the banking crisis and much more in what amounts to a kaleidoscopic autobiography.

Roger has lived in Drogheda for over ten years now, playing an active role in its artistic life including Drogheda Creative Writers and its awards, open mics, anthologies and grand slams, and exhibiting his photomontages at Droichead as well as working on his previous collections Lifescapes (in Side-Angles with Steve Downes) and Greybell Wood and Beyond, also with Lapwing.

Drogheda Mayor, Councillor Paul Bell will officiate. Refreshments will be served. All welcome. Event supported by Create Louth. Signed copies available on the night at €10.

Boyle Arts Festival Poetry Competition 2013

I'm delighted that the Boyle Arts Festival is recommencing its Poetry Competition for 2013. I've been shortlisted for this a couple of times and one of the Boyne Writers, Brendan Carey Kinane, won it in 2007.

Prizes:  €500 first prize plus 4 x €50 highly commended. Closing Date 15 June.
Shortlisted poems will be notified ahead of the awards which will be held on Sunday 28 July 2013  in King House, Boyle at 7pm.

Rules:
Entry €5 per poem
Entry form must accompany poems.
Entrants may submit as many poems as they wish
The name of the entrant must not appear on the poem itself
Poems, in English must be the unpublished, original work of the author
Poems must be printed on one side of A4 paper maximum length 40 lines
Poems will not be returned.

Poems will be judged by Geraldine Mills who has published two collections of short stories and four collections of poetry. She has been awarded many prizes and bursaries including the Hennessy/Tribune New Irish Writer Award, an Arts Council Bursary and a Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. Her next short story collection is forthcoming from Arlen House in 2013.

Geraldine will also be hosting a poetry workshop on Sunday 28th July between 11.30 and 1pm, €20.
This workshop is aimed at writers who wish to explore the elements that are necessary to produce a good poem. Using a series of short writing exercises, participants will engage with weaving words together to create a poem that is a primary experience for writer and reader.

More information and entry forms from the website or email info@boylearts.com

My Tara Project

Artist Michael Fortune wants to know about your Tara. My Tara is a project which considers the various relationships people have with the Hill of Tara in County Meath. Between now and July 2013 the artist is inviting people to become involved in the project by contributing their stories and photographs to compile a broad range of personal experiences of Tara

These accounts will be published on a website, a Facebook page and a selection will be included in a limited edition photographic-based publication which will be launched in September 2013.

Stories and photos can be about something which happened 5 minutes, 5 years or 50 years ago; a family pic taken when a relation was home from abroad; an account of a walk you regularly take there; an early morning sunrise you witnessed from the site etc. Contributions are welcome from anyone; local residents, visitors, international tourists; natives and strangers alike.

To be part of this project please send Michael your photos and stories by email (mytaraproject@gmail.com) or the Facebook page (My Tara Project). If these methods don't suit feel free to contact him by phone and you can arrange to meet Michael on phone at 087 6470247.

The project has been supported by the Arts and Heritage Office's of Meath County Council and is part of their ongoing creative exploration of the Hill of Tara.

Call for Submissions - Family Matters

A multinational and multicultural team of editors, who pledge to make their choices based only on artistic merit, invites all writers to submit their works of poetry and prose to a new anthology on the topic of “Family Matters.”

Why? Family matters individually, socially and politically. Our most important relationships begin, run their harmonious or inharmonious race and end in the family. They may explain our deepest feelings, wildest dreams, or most unsettling nightmares. In the final analysis, family relations often make or break our personalities, partnerships or careers.

More details here.

Guidelines:
Poems: Send 1-3 poems in the body of an email.
Short Stories: maximum word count 800 – 2,000 sent in the body of an email or as an attachment (.doc; .rtf). All Submissions must be written in the English language.
Send submissions and queries to: submit@nivasini.com with the subject line "Family Matters"Please include a short bio of 50 words [include age, interests and your email id/blog/facebook page/twitter handle] in your submission.

Deadline for Submissions:1 July, 2013.

The Editors:
Frank Joussen is a German school teacher who writes poems, short stories and essays in English. At the school where he teaches, Frank works in a One-World group with volunteers from India and Brazil.

Christina Cowling is the author of two poetry books titled “Flexing my Muse” and “Soulground for Women.” She has co-edited and edited anthologies for the Canadian Authors Association and the Canadian Federation of Poetry.

Nivedita Narsapuram, born in Hyderabad, India, works with Thomson Reuters full time and freelances with Young World—The Hindu, an Indian Newspaper and Hyderabad-based Wow Magazine. Her poems have been featured in a couple of anthologies and have been included in the recently released, Inklinks.

Easter Poems from Asking for Directions

Slovenj Gradec is a town in northern Slovenia. The parish church in the town is dedicated to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Next to it is a Gothic chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit with frescos dating to the mid-15th century. I visited the town as part of a European education conference in Austria some years ago before retirement. A fascinating place, there are two poems in Asking for Directions which resulted from the visit.

Abroad

ii
In the churches of Slovenj Gradec
while others admired and snapped
Baroque altar and metalwork,
fifteenth century fresco and
the shrine of Holy Elizabeth,
I knelt in the groove of thousands,
prayed for all from there to Belmullet.

At home in their foot paths,
only the language is foreign.

This is a much different Easter poem. Easter holidays was the time I usually cleaned out my shed.

Sheds

Especially when cleaning out my shed
and dumping my sad, stockpiled, stores
I remember

your neat abandoned hoards – timbers,
nails, tools, assortments of essentials –
decomposing.

It has taken me a lifetime to discard
accumulations cached for indefinite
usefulness.

This Easter week I took a load of timber –
rough uprights and drilled cross pieces –
for recycling.

Each plank I flung detached a little
of you. My shed is spick and span now;
like an empty tomb.

from Asking for Directions, Michael Farry (Doghouse Books, 2012)

Anna Akhmatova in Mullingar

The Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, County Westmeath with its twin towers and dome is an impressive building, a landmark to us who have travelled the main road from Sligo so often. I included the Cathedral's mosaic of St Patrick  here for the recent feast day.


The most famous mosaic in the Cathedral is the other one, in the chapel of Saint Anne, by the same artist, Boris Anrep (1883-1969).

He was a Russian born mosaic artist active in Britain, whose work may also be found in the National Gallery, London, Westminster Cathedral and the Bank of England.

In this Saint Anne mosaic, the name is spelled "Anna". The saint's image is also said to resemble the poet Anna Akhmatova (1889 – 1966) with whom Anrep had an affair during World War I. Many of the poems in Akhmatova's third collection, White Flock (1917) are dedicated to Boris.

He left Russia before the revolution while she remained on and survived great difficulties, official opposition and disfavour.

In “Ana Achmatova and Mullingar Connection”, broadcast on Sunday Miscellany, RTÉ 4th May 2008, the poet Joseph Woods told the story of the mosaics.

Top: The mosaic in Mullingar Cathedral.
Below: Portrait of Anna Akhmatova by Olga Della-Vos-Kardovskaya, 1914 (from Wikipedia)

The most recent collection of work, their fifth, by the very active Mullingar Scribblers writers group, led by Grace Brennan, has a poem by Phil Tierney on the subject of the mosaic, including the following stanzas:

Separated by space and time
The poet wrote of love 
Of the soldier, of life and God.
No love letters, just memories.

Silenced by the hammer of Russia
Poured all into her Requiem.
The soldier surrendered his sword
To work in pictures made in stone.

Invited to adorn our cathedral
A picture in stone and glass.
Anna standing proudly presents 
Her child to the Priests.

Imagination and Place: Cartography - I'm Included

I'm delighted to have a series of five poems included in an anthology just published in the USA by Imagination and Place Inc.entitled Imagination and Place: Cartography 

The mission of Imagination and Place, Inc. is to consider ideas related to human imagination and concepts of place. The mission is realized through public exhibitions, lectures, conferences, seminars, special events, online offerings, and producing publications as Imagination and Place Press.

They publish a series of anthologies, edited by writer Kelly Barth, the first of which, Imagination and Place: An Anthology, appeared in 2009. Since then the series has continued with Ownership (Feb. 2010); Seasonings (Dec. 2010) and Weather (Mar. 2012). The key in all these publications is the linking of place and imagination.

A poet friend passed on their call for submissions of poetry and prose dealing with maps and mapping for a volume, Imagination and Place: Cartography and I was lucky enough to have my poems accepted and included. The anthology has just been published.

My poems deal with the Coolaney area along the southern slopes of the Ox Mountains. Another friend gave me a present of a turn of the sheet of the one inch Ordnance Survey map covering that area so the series of poems is entitled Ordnance Survey Sheet 54.

Five poems of the series have been included each named after a townland. There are poems about my father, about Kate Thompson, a landlord's wife who tried to help the starving of the area during the famine, about Tullaghan holy well, the house where I was born and the village of Coolaney.

This is my first American publication and I'm thrilled to be included.

Boyne Berries 13 Launched

Boyne Berries launches are special. What makes them so is the mixture of local and national writers who attend, read and chat afterwards. Last night's launch of issue 13 was no exception. Writers came from Cork, Galway, Dublin, Westmeath, Kildare and Meath.

Caroline Carey Finn welcomed everyone and Frank Murphy of the Meath Writers Circle officially launched the issue. He complimented the Boyne Writers Group on their work on the magazine and said he was delighted that this issue contained a poetic tribute to the late Tommy Murray, poet and leader of the Writers Circle.

The contributors' readings of prose and poetry, which were all very well received, were a good mixture of the happy and the sad, the serious and the light hearted.

The evening ended with Caroline Carey Finn presenting Frank Murphy  with a framed copy of the cover image by Greg Hastings. (Picture above)

Some of those who came a distance were staying in the Castle Arch Hotel where the launch took place so there was a late discussion in the lounge on poetry, prose, prose poems, flash fiction and similar vital topics.

Frank Murphy's blog has an account of the evening.

Copies can be purchased on the Boyne Writers website or email editor@boynewriters.com

Launch of Boyne Berries 13

To Tommy Murray in Heaven is the title of the first poem in the latest issue of Boyne Berries. This poem is by well-known poet, Tom French, who knew the late Tommy Murray well through his work with young writers in Navan Library.

Tommy’s work was featured in many issues of the magazine and he wrote a foreword to the first issue so it is fitting that he be remembered thus. 

The magazine, which is published by Boyne Writers Group, Trim, will be launched on this Thursday 21 March at 8pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim.

Well-known local writer and member of the Meath Writers Circle, Frank Murphy, will officially launch the magazine. Frank has been a good friend of the Boyne Writers Group over the years as well as being a worthy opponent in the annual Battle of the Books at the Trim Swift Festival.

The sixty or so pages of this issue contain a wealth of prose and poetry on a wide variety of topics. A quick glance at the titles gives a flavour of the contents: The Dark Upstream, Maybe Paris, The Big Freeze, The Trouble with Knitting, The Personal Perils of Appreciating Bob Dylan’s Art, The Inextinguishable Symphony, The Talking Bench, Shy and his Harley-D.   

Local writers are well represented. A feature of this issue is the number of poems which have local Meath references. Kenneth Keating’s poem Navan is a very clever palindromic poem reflecting the town’s name. Anne Crinion, a painter and photographer as well as a writer, has two short illustrated poems on Newgrange and Knowth. Pearse Murray, in his Village Square at Slane, talks about Francis Ledwidge and Elaine Martin writes of a journey from Maynooth to Killyon. John Ennis’ poem on Joe Dolan starts “You filled each dance hall with the South Seas”.   

The stories included deal with lost dreams of foreign place, Paris and America, sailing up the Amazon, tragic deaths, WWF wrestling and the delights of train travel. Quite a variety there.    

The cover illustration of a window in a derelict house is provided by Greg Hastings whose distinctive cover images have been a feature of the magazine since the beginning.

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

Boyne Berries 13 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.

Labour and the Irish Revolution: Sligo Talk

I'm giving a talk entitled The Irish Revolution and the Labour movement in Sligo 1912-1923 in the Hyde Room in the Glasshouse Hotel, Hyde Bridge, Sligo at 8pm on this Wednesday 20 March.


The lecture is being held under the auspices of United Left – People First and Cllr Declan Bree of People First will preside at the event. All welcome.

I'm nervous about this one, not easy to fit a coherent account of this difficult topic into 45-60 mins. I'm not a "labour historian" and my talk will be a general account of how the labour movement, Trades Council and trade unions, in Sligo operated during 1912 - 1923. It is a fascinating period and Sligo is particularly interesting because of the relative strength of labour there. The large minority of non-Catholics there also made a difference.

At the launch of my recent book in Sligo I said that the volume should be seen as the beginning of more intensive study of Sligo in that period. There is so much more to be researched and written on. This especially applies to the labour movement in Sligo and I hope that my talk will encourage some of the younger Sligo historians to undertake such research.

Mention of the talk here and here.

Over the Edge - Skylight 47

 

The Over the Edge showcase event for Skylight 47 magazine/newspaper (it's sort of both) was a great success. Lots of the contributors attended and read their poems. I read my Conversation again. It's a suitable poem for reading aloud, simple and direct with a gentle punch in the end. 

I enjoyed the variety and the chat. I also met two contributors to the latest Boyne Berries and gave them their copies. The venue, the Kitchen in Galway Museum, was full. Nice to be able to have a coffee before the reading.

The format was Skylight readers, featured reader Galway poet Kevin Higgins, a short break, more Skylight readers, then Dublin poet Tony Curtis. Kevin Higgins was introduced as the "Sultan of Satire" and he lived up to the billing. He read new poems on the current austerity, on the table on which everything must be on, some modest money-saving proposals and a poem containing his directions for his own funeral which included a "get the coffin sponsored" request.

Tony Curtis was great. His introductions were long, interesting and amusing. He ranged from the USA, Dundrum Shopping Centre and the nearby Central Mental Hospital to Heptonstall and Sylvia Plath's grave. He read one of his poems for children, P is for Poetry, from his recent An Elephant called Rex collection. His The Skagit Valley Beekeeper went down very well. 

Skylight 47 is still open for submissions for its second issue.

Photo: Kevin Higgins reading at the event. More pics, including one of me, on their Facebook page.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

From the Poetry Foundation website:  

Some poems to help you mark St. Patrick’s Day. Transport yourself to the homeland with a classic by Yeats, such as “Down By the Sally Gardens” or a Celtic revival poem by Eva Gore-Booth. Follow up with contemporary Irish verse, “Game Night,” by Conor O’Callaghan. If you’re celebrating with spirits, you might down another one by Yeats, “Drinking Song,” or try a shot of Hayden Carruth’s “Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey.” But don’t forget to come back in the morning for your penance: “Sober Song,” by Barton Sutter might help dry you out.

I'm delighted to see Eva Gore-Booth in there. The Little Waves of Breffni was in many of the school books of the fifties.

The picture from Wikipedia is a mosaic of St. Patrick in The Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, Westmeath. It is the work of the Russian born mosaic artist, Boris Anrep, and represents the saint lighting the Paschal fire on the mount of Slane. 

Skylight 47 at Over The Edge, Galway

The March Over The Edge Writers’ Gathering is a showcase reading for Skylight 47, probably Ireland’s most interesting poetry publication, with special guests Tony Curtis and Kevin Higgins.

All contributors to the first issue of Skylight 47 are invited to come along and read their poem from the magazine. The event will take place at The Kitchen @ The Museum, Spanish Arch, Galway on tomorrow Friday, 15 March, 8pm. All are welcome. There is no cover charge. Skylight 47 is generously sponsored by Food 4 Thought & Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop.

I hope to attend and read my poem. I'm looking forward to hearing the two special guests. We have published Kevin Higgins a couple of times in Boyne Berries and he launched our special 10th issue in Galway.

I met Tony Curtis in Dromineer a few years ago, heard him read and attended a great workshop he facilitated.  A real gentleman.

Art and Poetry in Longford

This sounds great. An Art Exhibition by Elena Duff and James Brady with poetry readings by Honor Duff, Heather Brett and Valerie Masters in Longford tomorrow Wednesday 13 March at 7pm.

The art is very impressive, we saw the work of both artists in the most recent Windows anthology and we included a great image by Elena in our Boyne Berries 10. And three great poets as well including LitLab member Honor Duff.

Siarscéal Festival - Saturday

A most enjoyable day at the Siarscéal Festival in Roscommon town on yesterday Saturday. A busy programmes which started at 10 in the morning.

The official opening was leisurely and relaxed with great speeches from Dinny McGinley, Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. He wandered from his script to talk of heritage, poetry, rural Ireland, the Gathering, the Irish language in a friendly, inclusive way which was more a chat with friends than a speech.

He was followed by Loyola Hearn, the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, who proved to be one of the stars of the event. Though a relatively recent appointment he showed a wide knowledge of and interest in Ireland and things Irish. He is from Newfoundland and so has a strong Irish background. He finished his talk by reading a poem he had written about Patrick Kavanagh. Impressive!

The Mayor of Roscommon had a difficult task following these two to officially launch the festival and he did a fine job wisely keeping to his script.

Pupils from the Abbey NS, Roscommon entertained the large attendance by reading their poems on the topic of the Gathering, playing music and dancing.

The adjudicators, Eleanor McGrath for the senior categories and Ann Joyce for the juniors, talked about the process of selecting the prizewinners from the many entries. The winners were announced and the judges commented on the winning prose and poetry. The trophies and certificates were presented and those of the winners who were present read their pieces.

I was a bit anxious about reading my poem. It was, as the rules required, on the general theme of the Gathering, homecoming, but is quite dark. The adjudicator said it was "a difficult poem" which she read and put aside a number of times before finally awarding it the prize. When I read it at the Boyne Writers meeting most thought I should have left out the word "vomit"!

Anyway I read it as best I could and the audience listened very attentively. I was delighted.

In the afternoon I attended the workshop and open mic event conducted by Ann Joyce with some input from Eleanor McGrath.

Poet Ann Joyce is a native of Mayo but lives in Sligo. Her poetry collection Watching for Signs was published by Dedalus Press 2005. Eleanor McGrath is a Canadian writer and film maker. Her book  A Story to be Told: The Irish Immigrant Experience in Canada was published by Liffey Press. She has made two films, Kanata: An Irish Story and Alive from the Divis Flats.

A very interesting couple of hours with a nice mixture of published poets and beginners. Some great advice from Eleanor, don't be shy about your work, don't start a reading by apologising, enter competitions, send out your work, work hard.

Ann gave us three words as a writing start.and afterwards we read our first drafts. The three small words took us on all kinds of different journeys to all kinds of different places. Those who began their reading by apologising were shouted down!

Like most of these festivals this was a most enjoyable event, friendly, well-organised and relaxed. I met some old friends and made some new

Top Picture: The dignatories and organisers. Bottom row left to right. Eleanor McGrath, Minister Dinny McGinley, the Mayor of Roscommon Cllr Tom Crosby, Canadian Ambassador Loyola Hearn and his wife Maureen.

Bottom Picture: Adjudicator Eleanor McGrath and myself with my precious trophy.

Doghouse Haiku Anthology on Shortlist

Well done to Doghouse Books and to Anatoly Kudryavitsky on being shortlisted for this haiku book award. Bamboo Dreams is the first Irish anthology of haiku.

This is the shortlist for the Touchstone Distinguished Book Awards 2012

 Addiss, Stephen, The Art of Haiku, Shambhala
 Boldman, Robert, Everything I Touch, Red Moon Press
 Virgilio, Nick (ed. de Gruttola), Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku, Turtle Light Press
 Gurga, Lee and Metz, Scott, Haiku 21, Modern Haiku Press
 Hall, Carolyn, The Doors All Unlocked, Red Moon Press
 Hotham, Gary, Nothing More Happens in the 20th Century, Pecan Grove Press
 Jones, Ken, Bog Cotton, Alba Publishing
 Kudryavitsky, Anatoly, Bamboo Dreams, Doghouse Books
 Lanoue, David, Frog Poet, Red Moon Press
 Machmiller, Patricia J., Bending Reeds [Yuki Teikei Members’ Anthology], Patsons Press
 Martone, John, A Life in Fall, Samuddo/Ocean
 Martone, John, Microscope Field, Samuddo/Ocean
 Martone, John, Skeleton Key, Samuddo/Ocean
 Metz, Scott, Lakes & Now Wolves, Modern Haiku Press
 Tohta, Kaneko, Selected Haiku: Parts 1 & 2, Red Moon Press

Sligo: The Irish Revolution 1912-1923: Reviews

Some mentions of Sligo: The Irish Revolution 1912-1923 in well respected journals.

The March issue of Books Ireland has a review by Barry McLoughlin, just over half a page: Michael Farry's study is admirably sourced, a balanced and sober assessment of revolutionary politics and violence in his native county. That's nice! And true!

History Ireland's March/April issue features the book in its Bookworm section which gives short notices of recently published books. Mine is first in the list, one paragraph with a picture of the cover. It mentions this being the first in a series on the Irish counties and says: if this is anything to go by, this will be an elegant, comprehensive and well-produced series. History Ireland on Facebook.

This issue also attacks aspects of Michael McDowell's A Lost Son RTE programme, in which I made a brief appearance, demonstrating that the events of those years can still cause division and controversy. The criticism has been picked up by a Sligo news website.

Poetry is much safer! Off to Roscommon tomorrow, Saturday, to the Siarscéal Festival to read my poem and collect the prize. News report on this from the Roscommon Herald.

Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize Winners

The winners of the Ballymaloe International Poetry Prize have been announced. I am not among them. The names are on the website and their poems appear in the current issue of The Moth, alongside an interview with Paul Muldoon and poems by Rachael Boast and Matthew Welton, among other things.

The competition was judged by Leontia Flynn, winner of the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and a Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.

The three winning poets will be attending a special event at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Saturday 30 March to celebrate.

Details of the next competition will be launched in June 2013.       

The closing date for the Moth Short Story Prize is 31 March 2013. The 1st prize is €1,000 and the 2nd prize is a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France. Entry is €8 per story, and there's no word limit. You can download an entry form or enter online.

Winner - Hanna Greally Literary Award!

"Congratulations Michael, you are the Overall National Poetry prize winner in the Hanna Greally Literary Award. Your winning poem is: The Trip West."

It's nice to get an email like that. I was delighted. The poem was written about six months ago, was originally twice as long but I cut it down to 59 lines to meet the length specifications for the competition.

The poem is, as the title says, about a trip west with reflections on leaving the west, returning for events such as baptisms and funerals and includes a swipe at Celtic Tiger excess.

I like it and I'm thrilled that adjudicator, Canadian Author/Film Director Eleanor McGrath, chose it as the winner.

This competition is part of the annual  Siarscéal Festival in Roscommon town. This takes place next weekend and the full programme is on the website.

The prize will be presented at the Siarsceal Formal Launch at Roscommon County Library at 10am on Saturday next, 9 March.

There is a Canadian theme to the festival with the keynote address being given by the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency, Loyola Hearn. There is also a Canadian/Irish Collaborative Concert and a screening of  a film, Kanata An Irish Story with Canadian film producer/author Eleanor McGrath, the competition adjudicator.

Spring in the Garden

 

The crocuses are putting on a show, including the ones naturalised in the lawn, even though there still are gaps. 

Under the tree where I cleared away the wild patch of briar and nettles daffodils, snowdrops, hellebores and even wallflowers are in bloom.