Francis Ledwidge Awards

Sorry Sir, We don't actually serve many coffees here, the barman told me in McDowell's bar, Inchicore, last evening when I asked him if they had any biscuits or bars to go with my coffee. I was there for the annual Francis Ledwidge Poetry Awards and he probably served more coffee last night than he did the whole rest of the year.

A most enjoyable event, a very friendly atmosphere with great poetry some serious and some not at all serious. Inchicore Ledwidge Society chairman Liam O'Meara and secretary Michael O'Flanagan made everyone feel at home, remarking on the mix of old friends of the competition and new names present.

Liam has done extensive work on Ledwidge and has published a biography of the poet. He explained why there is an Inchicore Ledwidge society - the poet spent some time in the nearby Richmond Barracks. Liam is working on a history of the barracks.

Most of those mentioned in the awards were present to read their offerings and receive their awards. Third prize winner, our group member Evan Costigan was represented by his parents and his poem was read by a friend. Second prize winner, Mary Turley McGrath, travelled from Donegal to read her poem Transitions.

This year's winner Ray Mullen (pictured above with Liam O'Meara) had only to come from Tallaght. His poem Lucia was short, abrupt even with a wonderful ending. A worthy winner! He paid tribute to the Virginia House Writers Group in Tallaght of which he is a member.

Ledwidge would have been proud of the poetic representation from his native Meath. As well as myself- a blow-in of forty years standing - Orla Fay and Sinead McDevitt read their commended poems. Orla's got special mention being on the theme of Ledwidge himself. Sean Ross, also from Meath, was unable to be present.

I was asked to read the highly commended poet by Adrienne Leavy a Dundalk native now living and studying in Arizona. A daunting pleasure to read someone else's work in public, not full aware of all the nuances of its language but determined to do it as well as possible.

After the awards there were readings from society members, former winners and Liam and Michael read from their work to great acclaim. Kilkenny poet, Willie Joe Meally, who was also at the Kavanagh weekend, was present and recited one of his poems about Kilkenny coalminers by heart and also gave us a song.

All in all a great night. Tonight Ballyjamesduff for poetry, prose, songs and Christmas Cheer!

Cavan Christmas Reading

A night of poetry, story and song in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan tomorrow evening Wednesday 9 December, 8pm. The LitLab crowd will be there. All welcome.

All readings don't have to be Christmas-themed but it would be nice if most were. Now what rhymes with holly? (apart from jolly that is.)

Tonight off to Inchicore, Dublin for the Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Awards to collect my Commended certificate and read my poem.

Castle Art Group, Trim Exhibition

Do you paint yourself? was the question I was asked most often last night at the launch of the annual exhibition by the Castle Art Group, Trim . No I don't paint myself though I would probably look better if I did. Two of the group members are also members of our Writing Group. Where do they get the time?

The large attendance at the launch included the local government minister, Noel Dempsey, our new Parish Priest and Yvette Bloomfield, President of Trim Chamber of Commerce, who launched the exhibition.

There are, as you might expect of such a historic town, many paintings of Trim Castle, the Yellow Steeple, the Wellington Monument and various other streets and scenes in the town. But it's not just Trim. There are paintings of Moore Street and Grafton Street, Dublin, Ross Castle and Killarney Cathedral, Kerry, Kilkenny, Venice, and even Havana and Australia.

The most striking painting is the large one pictured above of Trim Castle as it was for the film Braveheart. (More on the film here.) This painting is a co-operative effort by six members of the group - Teresa McCole, June Smith, Jenny Andersson, Anne Crinion, Sheila Keating and Angela Kelliher. An impressive record of a historic event in Trim, it would look well in a public building in the town, a hotel, tourist office or the like.

Eight artists are represented in the exhibition and ten per cent of sales go to Meath Palliative Care. The artists in addition to those mentioned above are June Hesnan and Christy O'Reilly. The exhibition, in Trim Castle Hotel, will continue for five days.

A Small World Story

At the Patrick Kavanagh Awards presentation last week-end one of Martin Dyar's relations, his father I think, told me that I had mentioned Martin's great grand father in my book on sligo in the War of Independence. He was Patrick Dyar (pictured above), a shopboy in Cooke's shop in Tubbercurry, who was an early advocate of Sinn Fein and the Volunteers in Sligo.

He organised an anti-recruiting campaign in the area in late 1915 and for this he was arrested and put on trial and sentenced to one month hard labour. On December 27, 1915 Dyar returned to Tubbercurry after being released from Mountjoy jail and there was a great welcome for him in spite of inclement weather. The brass band met him at the train and a bonfire blazed at the square. Local dignitaries welcomed him and presented him with an address of welcome. Patrick Dyar left Tubbercurry early in 1916 and set up a business in Castlerea, County Roscommon where he spent the rest of his life.


I presume that Martin, his grandson, (above)was not welcomed by a brass band when he returned home to Swinford with the Patrick Kavanagh Award last week-end.

From the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual

This is one of the most striking images in the Annual. It's by Irish artist Emma Gamble. The bio says "She has continued to create work designed to question accepted notions, such as the belief in the existence of a childlike innocence." This work seems to be in that vein. That chilling knowing look on the child's face and that row of dog (jackal? Anubis?) headed creatues waiting patiently for . . .? And the box? A confession box? I haven't heard of this artist and found nothing on the internet but the image is striking.

The Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2010 can be purchased on the website.

Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2010

Just got my copy of the 2010 Aesthetica Creative Works Annual published by Aesthetica magazine the bi-monthly arts and culture publication. One of my entries, a poem called Flying to Krakow, was a finalist and so is included in the annual which also contains artwork and stories.

They had over 12,000 images submitted, 3000 poems and 3000 short stories. There were 40 finalists per category. As far as I can see the only other Irish poet included is Paul Jeffcott who lives beside the Mountains of Mourne. The graphic art in the annual seems to me to be terrific, very varied and very impressive. Graphic artists from or working in Ireland whose work is included are Debbie Chapman, Emma Gamble, Emmet Mullins and Katarzyna Gajewska.

I was surprised and delighted to be so lucky. The poem selected is much more traditional in form and theme than the one successful in the Kavanagh competition. When a poem you've written some time ago is noticed you look at it with fresh eyes almost as if it was written by someone else. This poem is a fourteen line sonnet-like poem with the first eight lines setting a scene and the last six making a personal reflection on the scene.

First four lines:
Cloud crust cracks and a country
appears. House clusters at river road
confluences – towers, white gables,
spires – tarnish hectares of conifers.

This is the blurb for the annual: The second Aesthetica Creative Works Annual explores the imagination. This book showcases artwork and creative writing from over 30 countries. The anthology contextualises the larger cultural framework by asking probing questions about the current state of affairs: the economy, globalisation, technology and the environment. Moreover it offers a platform from which to analyse the art we producing today. Its cutting-edge nature offers you autonomy. As the reader, this book provides an insight into our deepest thoughts, anxieties and aspirations. Art becomes the tonic for the modern world.

The cover image above is by mixed-media artist Shadric Toop.

December Poetry

Just got the December issue of the American Poetry magazine. Thankfully no Christmas poems though it has a very good one called Advent by Nate Klug.

In a previous issue a letter to the editor by Christopher Conlon criticised this statement by Katha Pollitt’s in her memoir of Elizabeth Bishop: whatever way a poet reads his or her own work is fine, is, in fact, perfect, because the way they read is part of their sensibility, their own personal expression of their poem.

Conlon said: As someone who has run a poetry reading series for the past ten years, I can state most assuredly that Pollitt is wrong. I have watched countless poets — deeply talented, even brilliant poets — utterly wreck their readings and bore the audience nearly to tears.

This December issue has a further letter to the editor on the issue by Belle Randall, Seattle, who says: Judging poets as performers can only lead to poets who cultivate the skills of news anchors, Broadway actors, or other performers. This may be right for some poets, but certainly it is not right for all. Indeed, many of us value poetry precisely because it does not speak with the glibness of the polished public speaker.

It's a large and most interesting issue and you could argue for delightful hours on the topic. I think I actually agree with all three viewpoints above which don't actually contradict each other:
1. It is very interesting to hear the individual way a poet perform his/hers own work.
2. Some readers of their own work do it very badly.
3. Poets reading their own work should not think of themselves as performers and should value their individual style.

You can read most if not all of the magazine online and there is also a podcast.

There is an Open Mic event in Kells, Co Meath tonight at 9pm in the Railway Bar near the GAA grounds.

Patrick Kavanagh and John McEnaney

I love this! On the side of the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen, the former parish Church, is this plaque commemorating another local poet John McEnaney. It's as if to remind us that poets like Kavanagh don't arrive from nowhere and that there are many levels of poetry.

I don't know much about McEnaney but on the Carrickmacross tour on last Saturday morning Larry McDermott the excellent guide mentioned that if you had a dispute with a neighbour instead of going to a solicitor you went to McEnaney the Bard and he would write a scurrilous attack on the neighbour for you. He also wrote ballads commemorating important local events and one of his most famous poems celebrated the victory of the Inniskeen Grattan Irish footballers in 1888.

There is a mention of the Bard here in the book Patrick Kavanagh by Darcy O'Brien and Kavanagh mentions McEnaney in his article A Poet's Country in The Word. There is also an article The Bard of Callenberg’ in the Irish Farmers’ Journal, February 4,1961.

More Kavanagh

One of the talks at the Kavanagh weekend on the Saturday was My days with Patrick Kavanagh by Godfrey Graham. Godfrey was a cameraman with RTE for many years and also played cricket for Ireland. He talked about filming the 1966 documentary with Patrick Kavanagh in Dublin and Inniskeen. Frank McNally had said the previous night that Kavanagh had been a constant critic of RTE but was delighted to accept their offer to make a documentary with him.

Godfrey told us how when they were having a picnic lunch in Monaghan during the filming a cameraman from Ringsend spotted a kingfisher at the river and caught it. It had an injured wing. Kavanagh held it in his large hands and said I can feel its heart beating. Godfrey, like any good cameraman, grabbed his camera and filmed the hands with the injured bird and Kavanagh's face. His eyes were full of tears, Godfrey said. The clip was used in the film and is available on the RTE archives on this page.

Kavanagh took the injured bird back to his sisters' house where it was cared for.

Godfrey Graham joined RTÉ Television shortly after it was launched as one of its first lighting cameramen. For the next 40 years, he worked on some of the station's most significant programmes, including Discovery and the visit to Ireland of US President John F. Kennedy. In 1981, Graham won a Jacob's Award for his role as lighting cameraman on the RTÉ television production of Eugene McCabe's play Winter Music. He has written a book about his experiences Forty Years behind the Lens at RTE (2005)

More on the Patrick Kavanagh Weekend

The Patrick Kavanagh Centre (above) is the renovated disused Catholic Church in Inniskeen in the graveyard of which the poet himself is buried. It is a pleasant venue with artwork and mementoes of the poet here and there.

On Friday evening it was packed for a lively variety of entertainments. When I arrived after a being treated to a meal by the committee local Uilleann piper Patrick Martin was finished his set.

Then the results of the poetry competition were announced and prizes and certs presented. No sponsor this year. The judge spoke saying that there were in the region of 150 entries this year which is close to the normal. Of these he regared thirty as being serious contenders. These he narrowed down to 10 then to 5. These became the winner, Martin Dyer, the joint seconds, Shirley McLure and Teresa Lally and joint thirds, Justin McCarthy and myself.

Martin then read some of his prize-winning entry. His reading style was very confident and slow and he entranced the audience by his pauses and emphases. His material was based on everyday events, real and imagined.

I missed the start of Frank McNally's talk because photographs had to be taken but I enjoyed what I did hear. He talked of Kavanagh, the contrary man who went out of his way to make enemies especially among the writers and would-be writers of Dublin. A man who was neither at home in Monaghan or in Dublin. He especially talked of Kavanagh the newpaperman, the columnist for a number of papers and the publisher of the famous Kavanagh's Weekly. Nothing very new here but a well reasoned picture of a difficult man.

Then poet Ciaran Carson played the tin whistle and read some of his own poems including the well-known Belfast Confetti finishing with an emotional rendition of Kavanagh's poem Innocence.

Pádraigin Ní Uallacháin works with Carson at the Seamus Heaney Centre in Belfast and with harpist Helen Davies she sang songs in Irish and English from the whole history of Irish song. An entrancing set. She finished with Kavanagh's Raglan Road. This was terrific. I have heard this song murdered so many times by singers who seem to want it to last forever and drag it out that it is great to hear it done well - at a proper pace. Padraigin is the author of The Hidden Ulster - People, Songs and Traditions of Oriel.

Results of Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Competition

Just back from a very enjoyable evening and day at the Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan. The results of the Poetry Competition were announced last evening. First place went to Martin Dyer, a native of Swinford, Co Mayo. Joint second were Shirley McLure, Dublin and Teresa Lally, Mayo. Joint third were Justin McCarthy, Sligo and Michael Farry, Trim (me!). Above the winner with Kavanagh Committee chairman Peter Murphy.

I was delighted to be mentioned, having entered for the past four or five years without any success. Judge, poet Brian Lynch said that my entry, as well as being full of strange and interesting information, was extremely well written and, in the Kavanagh sense, comic. This year instead of putting a collection of twenty poems together I entered two longer sequences of poems which together amounted to twenty.

The main one describes a walk from Ballsbridge to Dublin centre and back while waiting for someone who was having dental treatment in Ballsbridge. It's a wandering freeflowing meander through the city with thought, comments and memories triggered by the sights and sounds and has quotations from songs, novels etc. It's punctuated by factual information on the history of dentistry and especially false teeth. This makes it a bit odd or quirky and I presume this was what caught the judge's attention.

More tomorrow on Kavanagh weekend.

Patrick Kavanagh Weekend

I hope to attend at least some of this weekend's annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend in Inniskeen, Monaghan, a celebration of the life and work of one of Ireland’s best loved poets. It takes place from Friday to Sunday. Friday evening will see the announcement of the results of the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award which is now in its 39th year. This is a competition for a poetry collection and past winners include many who have become well known names in the Irish poetry world including Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Paul Durcan, Conor O'Callaghan, Pat Boran and Peter Sirr. Last year's winner was Geraldine Mitchell from Co. Mayo.

Poet, playwright, novelist Brian Lynch is the Judge for this year’s competition.

Also on Friday evening the Keynote Address entitled A Stake in the Country will be delivered by Irish Times columnist, Frank McNally. He was born close by in Carrickmacross. Later at 9pm award winning poet and flute player Ciaran Carson, one of Ireland's most celebrated and prolific poets, will read from his own works and will be joined by local singer Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, accompanied by internationally acclaimed harpist Helen Davies in a concert of words and music: From Amergin to Kavanagh.

The full programme, including poet John F. Deane reading from his recent collection A Little Book of Hours, is available at the link above.

Kavanagh painting above by William Mulhall from the Apollo Gallery website. Check out his portrait of Dylan!

Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Awards

Just got the results of this competition. Winner this year is Ray Mullen, Dublin 24; second place goes to Mary Turley McGrath, Letterkenny and third to Boyne Writers Group member Evan Costigan. Well done!

Six are Highly Commended including David Mohan, a member of Lucan Creative Writers Group and Louth native Adrienne Leavy, at present studying in Phoenix, Arizona. She was a visitor at one of our meeting during the summer and has been published in Boyne Berries.

There were ten Commended entries including Orla Fay of the Boyne Writers Group and myself. Also in this group is Sinead MacDevitt from Navan who has been published in Boyne Berries a number of times. I was also commended in this competition two years ago.

The awards ceremony will take place in McDowells, Emmet Road, Inchicore, Dublin on Tuesday 8 December at 7.30pm. all welcome.

Poet, John F Deane, will read in Blanchardstown Library tomorrow night (Thursday 26 November) at 7pm. His latest collection is A Little Book of Hours.

My New Matisse

Went to Blanchardstown branch library last week, brought back my Rothko print and borrowed a Matisse - The Blue Window 1913 . The original is in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Quite a contrast to the Rothko though still very much based on the eccentric (is that the correct word?) use and appreciation of colour.

When I was in Nice, France recently I visited The Matisse Museum on the hill of Cimiez further up from the Chagall Museum. Matisse lived in Nice from 1918 until 1954 and the Museum has a collection of works left by the artist (and his heirs) to the city.

Well worth a visit especially for the models and preliminary sketches for the chapel at Vence which he designed. Vence is a city close to Nice and the chapel designed by Matisse is famous.

Markree Castle

Just back after a busy few days. A family get together in Markree Castle Hotel, Collooney, Co Sligo at the week-end. We drove through rain and wind and some flooding to get there on Friday and returned Sunday morning. One of the historic landlord's houses of County Sligo, still owned by the same family who got the estate in Cromwell's time. The house has been renovated and is a most interesting place. Certainly not destroyed by renovation it retains much of it character. Lots of information and pictures on the website. Short history of the Coopers and Markree Castle here. A most enjoyable stay there though surely the Full Irish Breakfast does not include beans. That's the full English Breakfast!

Picture above: the impressive wooden stairs with animal head and some artwork from an exhibition Shifting Fields by the North West Artists Group which is on at the Hotel at the moment. The North West Artists Group was founded in May 2009 and includes artists from all over the North West of Ireland.

Picture below: More mounted animal heads at the front entrance hall, presumably brought back from African safaris.

One of the most famous of the Cooper family was Bryan Cooper, politician. He was one of the few Unionist MPs who became TDs in the new Dáil after the War of Independence. He sat as an independent and later as a Cumann na nGael TD for the constituency of South Dublin until he died in 1930.

Then there was the Cup Final on Sunday afternoon. More rain, wind, cold, elation followed by disappointment. Supporters of Sligo sports teams are used to disappointment.

Come On The Bit O' Red!

Sport, you can't beat it for the unexpected. Who would have forecast the happenings in Paris on Wednesday night? Certainly not Eamon Dunphy and company.

One of the reasons following sport and watching live sport is so enjoyable is that it is impossible to predict the outcome and that at any moment during the event the unexpected may happen. It happened towards the end of the Ireland Australia rugby match last Saturday and again on Wednesday night.

I have given up watching or listening to pundits before, at half time or after matches. Listening to the commentator and his "helper" is unavoidable if you want the atmosphere of the event.

Now all eyes (well quite a few) turn to Tallaght for next Sunday's Cup Final between Sligo Rovers and Sporting Fingal. After a difficult season Rovers have avaoided relegation and reached the cup final. Normally they would be underdogs in such a match but their opponents were a first division club so Sligo will be uncomfortable favourites. We all know what can happen to favourites.

Sligo Rovers first won the cup in 1983 and won it again in 1994

Boyne Readings

Bad weather and the resultant small attendance did not spoil what turned out to be a very enjoyable Reading and Open Mic session last night in Trim. The two featured readers gave very good performances. Tom French read some poems from his first book but most of his material came from his recent publication Touching the Bones. Tom recently read with Michael Longley at the Manchester Literature Festival. Among the poems he read was Srahnamanragh which has appeared in the Manchester Review online.

The other featured reader James Lawless, read from his two novels, Peeling Oranges (2007) and For Love of Anna (2009). He has had a book of criticism Clearing the Tangled Wood: Poetry As a Way of Seeing the World published in America and his latest novel had been accepted by Words on the Street, Galway. It's not easy to read extracts from a novel and give a real flavour of the book but James succeeded by judicious mixing of explanations and extracts.

Boyne Readings and Open Mic Tonight

Chagall Museum

Back to Nice, France again. I took the opportunity to visit the Musee Marc Chagall. This celebrated Russian-born artist (1887-1985) spent the last years of his life near Nice and the museum contains a large collection of his work particularly the series based on Bible stories.

I must admit I was not very familiar with his work and the paintings made a great impression. The fantastic (in its real meaning) use of colour and composition to create images which are both dreamlike and realistic. You can see the influence of cubism, surrealism and fauvism but his paintings never seem to fit into any of those categories.

Above is his painting of the Creation of Adam and below his painting of Abraham and the Angels

More about Marc Chagall here and here.

Carlingford - Thomas D'Arcy McGee

Carlingford, Co Louth, was the birthplace of Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825-1868) who was a well known politician, poet and journalist. He lived in Wexford and America before returning to Ireland where he became involved in the Young Ireland movement and the rebellion of 1848. When that collapsed he went to Canada. In his later life he became a vehement opponent of the Fenians and he was assassinated in 1868. It was widely believed that the Fenians were responsible. More on McGee here and here.

Above: former ICT Advisors pay their homage including one McGee!

The monument, a small head of McGee, is very well presented at a prominent position near the shore in Carlingford. There doesn't seem to be any mention of the sculptor's name on the monument which is a pity.

McGee was a poet and his collected poems can be seen online at many sites including here.
His Salutations to the Kelts was often included in older Irish text books and school poetry books. This is the first stanza.

SALUTATION TO THE KELTS

Hail to our Keltic brethren! Wherever they may be,
In the far woods of Oregon or o’er the Atlantic sea;
Whether they guard the banner of St George in Indian Vales,
Or spread beneath the nightless North experimental sails –
One in name and in fame
Are the sea-divided Gaels.

Reunion in Carlingford

Great to attend a reunion of colleagues who were train blazers as regards ICT in Education - the ICT Advisors who were attached to Education Centres in Ireland until summer 2008 when the service was suddenly cut.

Carlingford, Co Louth was the location for the reunion and on Saturday we walked the one and half hour walk from Glenmore over the Golyin Pass down into Carlingford. The weather was clear and it was an enjoyable walk with magnificent views over Carlingford Lough from the top.

Picture above the group at the start of the walk. In the picture below Carlingford is behind the group and the port of Greenore to the right.

The Golyin Pass is an old traders' short cut pass across the mountain. There is a well-built causeway most of the way up the mountain which helps.

This is part of the Táin Way and to our right as we walked was the mountain called Barnavave or Maeve's Gap. To the left was Slieve Foye. The Táin Bó Cualgne is a well known ancient Irish saga. The translation by Thomas Kinsella (1969) with illustration by Louis le Brocquy is a well known version. More recently Ciaran Carson has published a well received translation (2008).

Of course it all began, The Táin that is, with some pillow talk in Connacht, in Rathcroghan in modern Roscommon where Maeve and her husband Ailill lived.

Boyne Readings: Tom French and James Lawless

The Co Meath based poet, Tom French, will be one of the featured readers at the Boyne Readings and Open Mic in Trim next week.

Tom lives in Laytown and works in Navan in the Local Studies Division of the Meath County Library Service.

The Trim readings, which are organised by the Boyne Writers Group, will take place on Thursday, 19th November, in The Village Hall of the Knightsbridge Retirement Village, Longwood Road, starting at 8pm. Visitors are very welcome.

The other featured reader will be James Lawless, a novelist/poet/playwright who lives in Co Kildare.

Tom French is a popular figure in Meath literary circles. A native of Co Kilkenny, he came to public attention in 1999 when he received a Bursary in Literature from The Arts Council, and his work was awarded the inaugural Ted McNulty Prize. His first collection of poetry, Touching the Bones, was published in 2001 by the prestigious Gallery Press, Oldcastle, and won the Forward Prize for First Collection, 2002. His second collection, The Fire Step, was published last month, also by Gallery Press.

James Lawless is a Dubliner living in Co Kildare. His first novel was Peeling Oranges, published in 2007 by Killynon House Books, Mullingar. He has had numerous award-winning short stories and poems published and broadcast in Ireland and the UK. His story Jolt was shortlisted for the Willenden Prize. His other awards include the Scintilla Welsh Open Poetry competition in 2002 and the Cecil Day Lewis Play Award 2005 for What Are Neighbours For? James has had two books published this year: Clearing The Tangled Wood: Poetry as a way of seeing the world, and a novel, For Love of Anna.

The Boyne Readings and Open Mic sessions are held on the third Thursday of the month. Anyone who would like to read their own material at any of the sessions is very welcome.

“And where would we be without listeners?” asked Boyne Writers Group chairman Paddy Smith. “Whether you wish to read or not, you are very welcome at our sessions. We are the only regular Open Mic session in Co Meath.”

The sessions have been attracting up to 35 people. Admission to the Boyne Readings and Open Mic is €5, which includes tea/coffee and biscuits. Enquiries to Paddy Smith 086 1577526 or Michael Farry 086 8283314.

My Fuchsia

One of the highlights of my garden, still flowering, is this fuchsia. (Photograph taken two days ago). I planted this small fuchsia in the top of a bit of the trunk of a tree which my sister in law brought me quite a number of years ago and it grows there every year, dies back in the winter, flowers luxuriantly every summer and well into the autumn.

Fuchsias are, according to the British Fuchsia Society, characterized by entire, usually opposite leaves, pendent flowers, a funnel-shaped, brightly coloured, quadripartite, deciduous calyx, 4 petals, alternating with the calycine segments, 8, rarely 10, exserted stamens, a long filiform style, an inferior ovary, and fruit, a fleshy ovoid many-seeded berry. So now you know.

It was a suprise to me to learn that they are not native to Europe, but of North and South America and were only introduced to Britain in the early 1800s. In Ireland it is common especially in the West and South. I associate it especially with the seaside area of Sligo where my father came from - between Ballisodare and Ballina. I spent many summers on holidays there and remember the huge hedges of fuchsia.

It had been so named by the plant collector Charles Plumier in honour of the German botanist Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566).

Reading Rooms in Cavan

A very enjoyable Reading Rooms event in the Radisson, Cavan last evening featuring English poet Hugo Williams (pictured right signing books).

The evening began with an open mic with ten readers. I read my Stamp Collecting poem and my Auschwitz poem. Both seemed to go down well especially the Stamp one - Hugo Williams even mentioned it in an introduction to one of his boyhood poems and wondered if we were more or less the same age.

A nice variety of material in this section with LitLab members prominent. Three singer/songwriters took part in the open mic including Michael O'Brien from Cavan who sang at the October Windows launch in The Writers' Centre, Dublin a while ago. He sang his City of Mirrors song based on the Gabriel García Márquez novel One Hundred Years of Solitude - a great song.

The first half concluded with Lisa O'Neill, a Cavan singer/songwriter with an Electric Picnic performance among her accomplishments. Her performances of her own songs and one cover went down very well. She even sang a song to Bob Dylan - impossible to get away from him these days.

The second half started with a reading by Ciarán O' Rourke, a young Dublin poet, who has won the Cúirt New Irish Writer Award and also won an award at the Listowel Writer's Festival. Again the audience responded well to his readings and his fine introductions.

Then we had Hugo Williams. He read for at least half an hour, many "greatest hits" plus a generous selection from the new volume West End Final shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot prize. He started with the hilarious (or is it very sad) Breakfast in Bed from the new book. The hits included the four that can be listened to and read on the Poetry Archive. Some poems he introduced at length, other barely any introduction. He established a rapport with the audience straight away and they responded with great appreciation of the nuances and humour of his lines.

I envy his easy style, the effortless delivery, the wit and humour which often conceal great sadnesses and trauma. He read a number of poems about his mother including one about her cremation. One the Poetry Archive website he includes this saying by Fred Astaire - If it doesn't look easy, you aren't working hard enough - which seems to sum up his work very well.

All in all a great night with over fifty in attendance. Well done to the organiser Cavan native writer Rebecca O'Connor, who has taken part in the Caomhnú and Flat Lake arts and literary festivals. She hopes that this was the first of a series. The Reading Rooms events are funded by Cavan County Council's arts office.

Hugo Williams in Cavan Tonight

Going to see English poet Hugo Williams tonight in Cavan. The first few paragraphs of his Wikipedia entry (presuming it's correct!) gives a flavour of who he is.

Hugo Williams (born 1942) is a British poet, journalist and travel writer. His full name is Hugh Mordaunt Vyner Williams He is the son of actor Hugh Williams and the model and actress Margaret Vyner, who co-wrote some upper-middle-class comedies in the late 1950s. His brother is the actor Simon Williams, and his sister Polly was married to the actor Nigel Havers until her death from cancer at the age of 54.

Williams attended Eton College. He is a regular contributor to the "Freelance" column in theTimes Literary Supplement and is poetry editor for the Spectator. Williams has been poetry editor and TV critic for the New Statesman, theatre critic for the Sunday Correspondent, film critic for Harper's & Queen and a writer on popular music for Punch magazine.

I have listened to his Poetry Archive CD and his reading style and content fit in exactly with what might be expected from his biography. His style is disarmingly off hand almost casual and it takes at least a second listen to appreciate the full significance, depth and sometimes terror of his material. You can listen to some of his poems at the Poetry Archive. Her News is one of my favourites.

He writes a lot about his father and his latest book West End Final includes some dealing with that relationship. Guardian interview here. Picture above from Guardian article.

The reading is on at 7.30pm in the Radisson Hotel, Cavan. He will be accompanied by a young poet from Dublin by the name of Ciarán O’Rourke and Cavan’s very own musical star, Lisa O’Neill. The event is sponsored by Cavan County Council Arts Office.There’ll also be an open mic slot for singers and poets. Hmmm what will I read, somehow the Bob Dylan poem or the Fish and Chips poem don't seem to strike the right note. I'll think carefully about this one!

Tickets: 10 Euro.

More Nice Public Sculpture

Another piece of public sculpture in Nice. Entitled Music Power it is by the Nice-born French artist who called himself Arman (1928-2005). His official site. At one stage in his career his speciality was sculptures which were accumulations of an object in this case musical instruments. He has created a number of similar sculptures.

In my opinion it's another of those sculptures where once you get the idea you lose interest - like the gun with the knotted barrel I saw in Luxembourg. Now this sculpture below which is in the same area is much more interesting to my mind. I don't know who it is by nor do I know what it is about or what it means but surely that's the point isn't it?

Nice Public Sculpture

The city of Nice has an interesting array of public sculpture old and new. The new sculpture seems concentrated on the area along the tramway from the Place Massena near the Promenade Anglais to the Acropolis Convention Centre and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMAC).

The Place Massenas has these seven figures on pillars by Spanish
artist Jaume Plensa which are said to represent dialogue between the seven continents (Above). They are most striking at night when they are illuminated by interior changing lights. Nothing in the figures themselves suggest the continents which is a change from the racial stereotyping common in such monuments.

They reminded me of the Stylites of the early church, those early saints who lived, fasting and praying, on high pillars. In his recent book of poetry The Dark Age, Irish poet James Harpur includes a poem spoken by the Syrian pillar hermit, Symeon Stylites, which voices the struggle of the artist seeking seclusion.

Then beside MAMAC is La Tete au Carre which was created by French sculptor and artist Sacha Sosno. This was designed for the Central Library of Nice. It stands 26 metres high, and is I think the administration building for the public library system in Nice. A bit like the library in Navan except that one has no neck. In fact wouldn't it be good if all such "square office blocks" had to have some kind of neck.

Yale University Online

I'm just back from a week in Nice, France. A good time of the year to visit if you don't like too much sun. Some reading - Mallarme in translation and a very little writing, rewriting actually. Lots of art galleries in Nice, I visited a few.

More on Nice later in the week. Among the emails when I returned was one from Yale University Online announcing the release of ten new offerings on Open Yale Courses. The audio and/or video can be easily downloaded.

I'm a great fan of these - I listened to all of the Milton course and the Modern Poetry course earlier and found then enjoyable and informative. You need the time of course. These older ones are still available here.

Among the new ones on the Open Yale Courses curriculum are:

EEB 122 - Principles of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior with Professor Stephen C. Stearns

ENGL 300 - Introduction to Theory of Literature with Professor Paul H. Fry

HIST 202 - European Civilization, 1648-1945 with Professor John Merriman

ITAL 310 - Dante in Translation with Professor Giuseppe Mazzotta

RLST 152 - Introduction to New Testament History and Literature with Professor Dale B. Martin

I'm particularly interested in the Dante and the Theory of Literature courses. I'll download them on to the iPod and hope to listen when I get a chance.

Michael Hargadon, Sligo Poet

One of the pleasures of the internet is the ease with which you can obtain second-hand copies of long out of print books. I enjoy reading novels, short stories and books of poetry especially those from Sligo published in the past. Someone once said to me "You can enjoy reading bad books too" and she was right.

I often search sites such as ABEBooks for old books of poetry by long dead Sligo authors. Recently I got a copy of A Lovely Home by Sligo-born Michael A Hargadon (1888-1968) published by Maunsel and Company in 1915. My copy was Withdrawn from Stock at Keele University Library Staffordshire.

Very much of the time, deservedly forgotten but still an enjoyable read. We don't write like this any more. Come to think of it some actually do!
Among the poems about his childhood, schooling, friends is this poem on Yeats:

William Butler Yeats

A Son of Sligo now careers sublime,
The truest, sweetest poet of our time,
Whose fame in every cultured nation rings,
In cots of peasants, palaces of kings,
Whose mystic calls allure us to explore
Enchanting fields we never saw before.
Immortal Yeats! long may thy course aspire;
Long may they adept fingers tune the lyre;
Long may the lustre of they mind aspire,
The brightest flame cast from the muse's fire.

You can download and read the whole book A Lovely Home here. It's not the same as having the book in your hands!

Hargadon is an interesting character. He was born in Calry near Sligo town. He became a journalist and in 1915 emigrated to Canada where he continued as a journalist with the Montreal Daily Star. Later he became publicity officer with the Canadian Pacific Railways.

Towards the end of 1915 a campaign was launched in Canada to aid the families of soldiers who had gone to fight in World War 1. The newly arrived Hargadon wrote a poem asking for the help of the public for this cause which was published in Montreal papers and later all over Canada.
A fund of a few million dollars was subscribed and Hargadon became well know all over the country. Part of the poem below;

TO THOSE THEY LEFT BEHIND
(A Poem for the Patriotic Fund)

Your wives flit around about your homes,
And give you of their care;
Some of the boys who went left wives
As kind and just as fair;
Your wives have all the joys they need,
Their dresses warm and neat --
How could you see a soldier's wife
Ill clad upon the street?

. . .

The boys who went left these ones too
Appealing to your store;
You will not miss all that is asked,
So give a little more.
Thus giving and thus helping
You will be aiding on
The struggle that will have no end
Till victory has shone;
Each bill you give is a shell
Shot at the Kaiser's heart
Shoot, shoot and shoot until that hell
Is shot and rent apart.

Oh! drop those dollar bombs until
Our fiendish German foes
Are beaten back to the abyss
From which at first they rose
Give, give your brave assistance
Until the earth is free --
Upon the struggle rests the fate
Of you as well as me.

Hargadon continued to write poetry and published Irish and Canadian Poems in 1921 and Among the Mountains 1925. The latter was illustrated with paintings of Canadian mountain scenes.

Information on the poet comes from Worthies of Sligo by John C McTernan the former Sligo County Librarian who built up the local archives section of Sligo Co Library and has published a number of books on Sligo.

Hugo Williams to Read in Cavan

Wednesday 11 November will see local and international talents come together for a unique evening of poetry and song at the Radisson Hotel, Cavan, sponsored by Cavan County Council Arts Office and initiated by Cavan poet, Rebecca O'Connor, who has taken part in festivals including the Caomhnú Literary Festival and the Flat Lake Arts and Literary Festival.

The special guest of the evening is Hugo Williams, (left) one of the UK’s finest poets. His Collected Poems, which brings together work from eight books, was published in 2002. His poetry collection Dear Room (2006), was shortlisted for the 2006 Costa Poetry Award. His latest collection is West End Final (2009), shortlisted for the 2009 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year) and shortlisted for the T S Eliot prize. You can hear Hugo read four poems at the Poetry Archive here. Review of West End Final here.

He will be accompanied by a young poet from Dublin by the name of Ciarán O’Rourke and Cavan’s very own musical star, Lisa O’Neill. To listen to Lisa O’Neill sing go here on YouTube.

There’ll also be an open mic slot for singers and poets (please contact Rebecca in advance if you fancy taking part), along with music from Ciaran O’Neill and Brouhaha in the cellar bar afterwards.

Venue: Radisson, Cavan. Time: 7.30 pm. Tickets: Euro 10. You can book in advance by contacting Rebecca O’Connor at oconnreb@hotmail.com or 087 2657251.

Press report here.

All Souls' Day

Today is All Souls' Day the day we traditionally visited churches and graveyards to pray for the dead and gain indulgences which shortened their time in Purgatory.

The poem that comes to my mind today is Yeats' All Souls’ Night - the first verse:

Midnight has come, and the great Christ Church Bell
And many a lesser bell sound through the room;
And it is All Souls’ Night,
And two long glasses brimmed with muscatel
Bubble upon the table. A ghost may come;
For it is a ghost’s right,
His element is so fine
Being sharpened by his death,
To drink from the wine-breath
While our gross palates drink from the whole wine.

Rowan Gillespie's statue (Is it a sculpture or a statue or both?) of Yeats in Sligo on the right.

Another poem, All Souls by Edith Wharton here and another, All Souls' Day by Hermann von Gilm here.

There is also the classic Irish play All Soul's Night by Joseph Tomelty.

But when exactly is All Soul's Night? Is it tonight or last night? I often have the same problem with Christmas Night, is it the night before or after Christmas Day. If the Day is 24 hrs then the night of each day starts at 12 midnight on that date. OK? So last night was All Soul's Night. But what about Hallowe'en? Isn't that regarded as All Soul's Night also in the sense of ghosts being abroad. Be careful out there, language is waiting to cause you trouble.

Hallowe'en

It's Hallowe'en!

There are lots of poems about Hallowe'en at Poets.org also poems about Hell, about Vampires and an article about where American poets are buried.

The site also has ideas on poetic fancy dress costumes

I think I'll go as Walt Whitman - with the butterflies as well.
(Picture right from the www.poets.org site.)

Latest issue of Revival

The latest issue of Revival the poetry journal published in Limerick was launched on 14 October during the Cuisle Poetry Festival in the famous poetry venue The White House Pub. This issue is a tribute to Limerick's Frank McCourt and the cover has an image of Frank by Una Heaton.

It contains a piece in memory of Frank McCourt by his brother Alphie and a poem by well known American poet W.S. Merwin which was read by the author at a recent memorial held in honour of Frank McCourt at Sun Valley Idaho.

Two of our Boyne Group members, Orla Fay and Tom Dredge have poems in the issue as has a member of the LitLab, Pat Devaney.

I was in the White House for the launch which was followed by a reading by that week's featured poet Maurice Riordan. Maurice was born in Lisgoold, Co Cork and lives in London and teaches on the Writing MA at Sheffield Hallam University.

This was followed by an open mic at which eighteen writers read from their work including myself. I had intended to read a poem about death but there were so many poems touching on that theme that I read one about fish and chips instead.

It was a great night of poetry which finished sometime aroung 12.30am. If you haven't been to a White House reading then you should try to get to one. It's a great experience. You can see a slideshow of the readers here - down the page to the relevant date.

More Luxembourg Sculpture - Final One

Down in the city near the centre is this sculpture which screams for attention. It is called "La Temperance" by French-born sculptor Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002). It can be found at the northern end of the Place Emile Hamilius. The sculpture was erected in 1995 when Luxembourg was European Capital of Culture.

It is a representation of Temperance, the tarot card and another version of it exists in the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy which contains many of her Tarot character sculptures. She appears to be holding two joined vessels in her hands. Temperance is almost invariably depicted as a person pouring liquid from one receptacle into another. Historically, this was a standard symbol of the virtue temperance representing the dilution of wine with water.

There is a connection with the gun sculpture at the Jean Monnet building. In 1961, Niki de Saint Phalle became known around the world for her Shooting paintings. These consisted of a wooden base board on which containers of paint were laid, then covered with plaster. The painting was then raised and de Saint Phalle would shoot at it with a rifle. The bullets penetrated paint containers, which spilled their contents over the painting. She travelled around the world performing shooting sessions. She stopped making these shooting pictures in 1963 as in her own words, I had become addicted to shooting, like one becomes addicted to a drug.

Sculpture in Luxembourg

At the entrance to the Jean Monnet building in Kirchberg in Luxembourg where our conference was held last week is this sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd. It is one of a series he has created and which have been situated at prominent sites and buildings across the world. More information about it here.

It's not difficult to guess that it is titled Non-Violence. It's the kind of thing that gives sculpture a bad name. Realistic it's not. If you straightened out the gun barrel it would be much longer than it should be. You may glance at it and say Great! Sculpture I can understand. But what's the point? Does it make anyone consider the question of violence or aggression? Of course not.

Not far away there's another sculpture, picture below, which is much more interesting. There's no information on or near the piece to identify it and I have failed to find anything on the internet about it but to me it's much more interesting. What is it supposed to represent? It's sculpture so it's up to you to decide.

Poetry in Luxembourg

In one of the main squares of Luxembourg city centre there is a memorial to the Luxembourg national poet, Michel Rodange (1827-1876). He was a primary teacher and later a functionary in the Public Buildings Administration. He was a poet in his leisure time.

In 1872 he published the satirical epic "Rénert oder de Fuuss am Frack an a Ma’nsgrésst" ("Rénert" or the fox in human clothing). This work, an adaption of the traditional European clever fox tale, was written in the language of the country. It was well regarded for its detailed yet mocking analysis of the character of the Luxembourg people. Like many another writer he does not appear to have been appreciated during his lifetime and it was only after his death that his work was appreciated.

The monument is a fine memorial near the city hall with a sculpture of Reynard himself on top.

As for his most famous poem I haven't been able to find an English translation anywhere on the internet.

Back from Luxembourg

One of the great things about teaching over the past decades was the opportunities for travel to other European countries to experience other educational systems afforded by the various European funded projects. I enjoyed short visits to Germany, Poland, Austria, Denmark, UK and Portugal.

I thought that was all over when I retired but I was asked to attend the Safer Internet Forum in Luxembourg last week and was delighted to go.

Twenty seven teachers (and one retired teacher!) - one from each country, took part in a teacher forum on internet safety which then fed into the general debate. It was most enjoyable to meet colleagues from other countries and see that the problems are the same everywhere. What strikes one is that in spite of overload and cut-backs teachers are still enthusiastic about their job.

The conference which was held in the European Commission Conference Centre in the Jean Monnet Building was interesting, with relevant input from a students' panel comprising two students from each country, the teachers' panel and researchers, academics, ministry of education representatives and other interested parties. The working language was English but there was simultaneous translation into a number of other languages. During boring presentations in English it is always wonderful to switch to French or German and enjoy the different flow of the language without the distraction of understanding what is being said.

We stayed near the venue on the Plateau de Kirchberg, 3 km from the centre of Luxembourg city where many of the European building are - no shopping or eating areas just high rise glass walled building. And the building is still going on. We did get a little time on the last afternoon after the conference finished to do a little sightseeing in the city centre. A typical European city but it has a long deep gorge winding through it which makes for spectacular sights.

More on Luxembourg with some pictures perhaps when I recover fully.

Luxembourg

Limerick last week, Luxembourg this week. Any place beginning with L will do when you're retired. It's a bit like coming back from retirement because I'm attending a teachers' forum and conference on Safer Internet here as the Irish teacher representative.

Forget Ryanair, LuxAir is the way to fly. Flew from London City airport on a plane with propellors, first time in a long time to do so. A great flight, a free meal, snack actually, and boiled sweets before landing. Great.

You might imagine 27 teachers talking about schools, pupils and internet safety might be dull and boring but no way! Enthusiastic teachers with all kinds of innovative ideas sharing their experiences is exciting. The general impression is how similar the experience is in all countries of the EC.

Paddy tells a story about attending a European conference in the early days of the EEC when delegations from other countries came to the hotel the Irish delegation was staying in to watch the Irish delegation eat and drink!

I always feel I should introduce myself at such a function by saying something like: "I'm from Ireland BUT I don't drink Guiness and I don't sing".

National Novel Writing Month

NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH: THE LARGEST WRITING CONTEST IN THE WORLD!

No Judges. No Prizes. Winning Manuscripts Deleted. Appeal Remains a Mystery.

There are some who say writing a novel takes awesome talent, strong language skills, academic training, and years of dedication. Not true. All it really takes is a deadline – a very, very tight deadline – and a whole lot of coffee.

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month: a nonprofit literary crusade that encourages aspiring novelists all over the world to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. At midnight on Nov. 1, 150,000 writers from over 90 countries – poised over laptops and pads of paper, fingers itching and minds racing with plots and characters – will begin a furious adventure in fiction. By 11:59 PM on Nov. 30, tens of thousands of them will be novelists.

NaNoWriMo is the largest writing contest in the world. In 2008, over 120,000 people took part in the free challenge. There are more than 1,000 registered novelists in Ireland already this year and it’s not November yet. And while the event stresses fun and creative exploration over publication, more than 30 NaNoWriMo novelists have had their NaNo-novels published, including Sarah Gruen, whose New York Times #1 Best Seller, Water for Elephants began as a NaNoWriMo novel.

Around 18% of NaNoWriMo participants "win" every year by writing 50,000 words and validating their novels on the organization's website before midnight on Nov 30. Winners receive no prizes, and no one at NaNoWriMo ever reads the manuscripts submitted.

So if not for fame or fortune, why do people do it? "The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creative potential like nothing else," says NaNoWriMo Founder and Program Director (and ten-time NaNoWriMo winner) Chris Baty. "When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it's a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month."

Writing is recession-proof – all it takes is paper, pencils, and imagination!

Events for The Ireland North East Region (Meath, Louth, Cavan and Monaghan) will take place in the D Hotel, Drogheda on the following dates, all events are free to participating writers;

· Saturday 31 October : 10am–noon – getting the group started
· Sunday 8 November : 7.30-9.30pm - writing
· Sunday 15 November : 7.30-9.30pm - writing
· Sunday 22 November : 7.30-9.30pm - writing
· Sunday 29 November : 7.30-9.30pm - writing
· Tuesday 1 December : 8pm onwards – a Thank Goodness it’s Over party

If you would like more information about National Novel Writing Month, or would like to talk to participants from your area, please visit our website at www.NaNoWriMo.org, or contact our local Municipal Liaison, Grace Tierney (Grace.tierney@ireland.com). There is also an FAQ available online.