Swift Satire Festival, Trim. 2014

The Swift Satire Festival celebrates the life, works and legacy of Jonathan Swift. The seventh Swift Satire Festival will take place in Trim, Co Meath, this weekend, July 12-13, 2014.

Click here for the full programme of events

What's On in Brief.

SATURDAY:
Poetry in Motion. Starts: 10:30. 
Stand on a box on the streets of Trim and read poetry aloud. Books supplied.

The Feat of Clay. Start: 11:30
Stand in the footsteps of Swift during a fun outdoor reading of his wicked satire on religion, A Tale Of A Tub. You’ll have one foot on the sod of Co Meath, one foot on the clay of Straid Dam lake, Co Antrim, where Jonathan Swift famously killed time on a Sunday morning while waiting for his congregation to turn up for Service during the period he was ministering at the parishes of Kilroot, Templecorran and Ballynure, Co Antrim. Participation is free.

Registration takes place from 11.30am! Please email Paddy Smith at paddysmithtrim@gmail.com or text/ring 086 1577526 to book your place.Venue: Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station)

Here’s a video about the task of bringing Co Antrim soil to Co Meath for the big occasion!

Official Launch. Start: 12:00. 
The official launch of the 7th Swift Satire Festival in Trim. All welcome – come along for a few brief speeches on the grounds of the spectacular Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station)

Guided Tour of Swift's Trim: Start: 13:30. 
Historian Richard Haworth brings you on a walking tour of the town of Trim including visits to St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral and Talbot’s Castle/St Mary’s Abbey, the house once owned by Stella and, later, by Jonathan Swift. €5 per person. Limited to a maximum of 50. Starts Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station)

Poetry in the Parlour - Open Mic. Start: 16:00 
featuring poet Kevin Higgins from Galway. Tickets: €5. Venue: The Old Rectory on Loman Street

The Battle of the Books: Start: 20:00. 
Judgement night in this €500 international poetry and prose writing competition. The 10 shortlisted writers (or their stand-ins) will read their entries, which judge Niamh Boyce will then comment upon before announcing her winner at the end of the night.

The audience will vote for their own winner, who will receive the €100 Audience Prize, and helpful advice (and some fun) will be delivered by two Mentors, Peter Higgins and Michael Farry. (How do I get involved in this sort of thing!) Tickets: €5. Venue: Trim Castle Hotel.

View the Battle of the Books shortlist here.

SUNDAY

A Bite of Satire: Start: 12:30. 
A two-course lunch featuring a one-man show on the life and literary legacy of Flann O’Brien/Myles na Gopaleen, Flann’s Yer Only Man, written and performed by Val O’Donnell.

Plus the World Premiere of a 10-minute play, Ah Feckett, written and performed by two graduates of the Gaiety School of Acting, Brian Burns and Owen Martin.

Then, over your coffee at the end of lunch (at about 3pm, we reckon), listen to a prominent national figure delivering a 40-minute talk, The Swift Lecture. This year’s speaker is John Lonergan, the former Governor of Mountjoy Prison who will talkon Would Jonathan Swift be proud of Modern Ireland?

€25 per person. (Includes lunch, the two stage performances and The Annual Swift Lecture). Venue: Trim Castle Hotel

Trim Swift Festival - Poetry in the Parlour

Trim Swift Festival event, Poetry in the Parlour takes place on Saturday 12 July at 4pm in the Old Rectory on Loman Street, Trim. This is a two-and-a-half-hour session of poetry, with an Open Mic, with featured poet Kevin Higgins from Galway.

The parlour in The Old Rectory has been kindly made available by Martina Quinn. It has space for less than 40 people. Time is also limited, so the Open Mic readers will be the first 25 readers to arrive. The poetry of Jonathan Swift will also be featured during this session. If the weather suits, we will move from the parlour to the grounds of the Old Rectory.

Tea/coffee and biscuits served at the interval. Tickets: €5

Kevin Higgins’s poetry features in the generation-defining anthology Identity Parade – New British and Irish Poets (Ed Roddy Lumsden, Bloodaxe, 2010) and one of his poems is included in the recent anthology The Hundred Years’ War: Modern War Poems (Edited by Neil Astley, Bloodaxe, April 2014). The Ghost In The Lobby (Salmon, Spring 2014) is Kevin’s fourth collection of poems.

More information including ticket details on the festival website.

Trim Swift Festival - The Feat of Clay

Swift Satire Festival, Trim has featured a novelty reading of one of Swift's works each year. This year has possibly the most novel reading of all with The Feat of Clay reading at 11:30am on Saturday 12 July.

This is a fun outdoor reading of Swift’s wicked satire on religion, A Tale Of A Tub, simultaneously by 125 people. Each reader will have one foot on the sod of County Meath and the other foot on the clay of Kilroot, County Antrim, where Jonathan Swift ministered before coming to Laracor, Trim. How will it be done? Come along and see!

The fact that this takes place on the twelfth of July is especially significant.

Participation is free. Registration takes place at 11.30am! Email Paddy Smith at paddysmithtrim@gmail.com to book your place. Venue: Trim Castle grounds (opposite Garda Station)

Swift Festival, Trim - Battle of the Books

The Swift Satire Festival in Trim takes place on Saturday July 12th and Sunday 13th, 2014.

The satire battle between the Boyne Writers Group and Meath Writers Circle has been discontinued and in its place, retaining the name, is judgement night in the €500 international poetry and prose writing "Battle of the Books" competition.

The 10 shortlisted writers (or their stand-ins) will read their entries, which judge Niamh Boyce will then comment upon before announcing her winner at the end of the night.

The audience will vote for their own winner, who will receive the €100 Audience Prize.

Helpful advice will be delivered by two "Mentors" who will champion or denigrate each of the shortlisted writers. I seem to have been persuaded to play the part of one of these, Peter Higgins is the other. A press release says "Any similarity between Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets and our two Mentors, Peter Higgins and Michael Farry, is not entirely coincidental". Indeed!

Niamh Boyce is from Athy and won the overall Hennessy XO New Irish Writer of the Year and the Emerging Poet Category for her poem “Kitty”. Her unpublished poetry collection has since been highly commended in The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award 2013. Her novel, The Herbalist (Penguin Ireland) won Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2013. She also writes short fiction and is working on a new novel.

This takes place at 8pm on Saturday 12 July and tickets to this event are : €5.

At The Edge Reading, Cavan

The new Cavan literary evening, At The Edge, Cavan takes place on Tuesday 1 July in the Johnston Library, Cavan town
between 6.30pm and 8pm.

There are three very different readers: Cavan poet, Paddy Halligan, member of LitLab will be followed by Galway Poet, Rachel Coventry, who recently took part in Poetry Ireland Introductions, and Leitrim performance poet, Stephen A Murphy is the third featured reader.

There will be an open mic session afterwards where budding writers and poets from Cavan and further afield will have an opportunity to read a short piece of work.

This is the second event in this series. All welcome.

iYeats International Poetry Competition 2014

The iYeats International Poetry Competition 2014 is now open for submissions. There are two categories: General (for adults) and Emerging Talent (for poets aged between 16 and 25).

Deadline: Wednesday 9 July 2014. Prizes are usually presented at a reading during the Yeats Summer School which takes place this year 27 Jul - 8 Aug.

The judges for 2014 are Peter Sirr and Catherine Phil McCarthy.

Prizes: First Prize - €500: Emerging Prize  - € 300: Commended x 2 - €50

Entry fee: €5 per poem, or €12 for three poems.

Entries can be made online at www.hawkswell.com/iyeats/poetry/enter

Bloomsday 2014

A very good year for the garden!

"I love flowers Id love to have the whole place swimming in roses God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country with the fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even out of the ditches primroses and violets nature it is as for them saying theres no God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their learning . . . "

James Joyce, Ulysses: Episode 18, “Penelope”

Circa Words 2014! Bloomsday Celebrations

Circa Words 2014! Bloomsday celebrations at the Irish Writers' Centre 14 June

Circa Words 2014! – a two-day experimental writing festival taking place over Bloomsday weekend, paying homage to James Joyce as 'godfather' of experimental fiction by providing a space for contemporary experimental fiction writers, publishers and readers to meet, experience new forms of writing and even share their work.

Full details on the Irish Writers Centre website.

Boyne Berries Journal is delighted to be part of the Bloomingle and the Boyne Berries stand will be attended by the editor, Orla Fay, assisted by the previous editor, Michael Farry. By the way submissions for the next issues of Boyne Berries are now open, follow the link.

10.30am–12.30pm: The Bloomingle

The festival begins on Saturday morning with a marketplace where teams from progressive journals will meet and 'sell their wares' to interested writers and readers. Budding writers will equally get the chance to pitch to journals in this give and take environment. We're expecting a bustling morning with lots of networking and sharing of information. Prepare to unearth the hive of activity that is the Irish journal scene.

Free event, all welcome.

Other events for Circa Words 2014!

2–4pm: The Big Ol' Yap: Talk-shop moderated by Dave Lordan, experimental fiction writer and teacher. Expect discussions, disagreements and just a bit of chaos. Free event, suggested donations: €5. All welcome.

7–8.30pm: Dubliners 100 with John Boyne, Evelyn Conlon and Thomas Morris: Authors John Boyne and Evelyn Conlon, and Thomas Morris who devised and edited the collection, discuss the challenges of picking apart Joyce's stories and reinventing them as contemporary and individual. Cost: €7/€5

London Magazine Poetry Competition

The London Magazine has launched a worldwide poetry competition which is be open for all ages.

This will be a chance to get published in one of the oldest and most prestigious literary journals in the UK which has been home to Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Christopher Reid and many more, along with winning a cash prize.

Opening date: 1st May 2014.  Deadline: 30th June 2014
Entry fee: £5 per poem. Judges: Hugh Dunkerley and Michael O’Neill.

1st Prize: £200 (and published in a future issue of The London Magazine)
2nd Prize: £150 (and published on The London Magazine website)
3rd Prize: £100 (and published on The London Magazine website)

For further details visit the website.

Poetry/Prose Competition - 500 Euro prize

The Battle of the Books is an international writing competition (open to poetry and prose) organised by the Swift Satire Festival in Trim, Co Meath. A prize of  €500 will go to the winning entry.

Closing date for entries is Tuesday 1st July, 2014. Poems: minimum 40 lines, maximum 60 lines. Prose: minimum 800 words, maximum 1,000 words. Entry fee is basically €5 per entry, though there is a bargain offer of €10 for three entries.

Travel is the theme of the competition, but the interpretation of ‘travel’ will be very wide indeed.

The competition is being run by the Festival, which will take place on Saturday/Sunday 12th/13th July. Shortlisted competitors will be invited to read their entries at a function in the town on the Saturday night. Writers who cannot attend will have their pieces read for them by actors or other writers.

The festival celebrates the life and works of the writer Jonathan Swift, who lived at Laracor, just outside Trim, for many years. This writing competition celebrates Swift’s wonderful talent as a storyteller.

A Prompt for the competition has been suggested by the organisers (although, like all prompts, it can be totally ignored). This comes from the very first page of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. The Prompt is:
‘You prevailed on me to publish a very loose and uncorrect account of my travels’. 

In other words, anything goes – as long as it has some mention/whiff/suggestion of travel. It can be pure fiction or memoir or any other genre of writing. Humour is not essential but it certainly won’t do an entry any harm. Entertainment is highly desirable.

Note: previous publication elsewhere does NOT disqualify. The material must, of course, be the entrant’s own work.

Judging will be by Niamh Boyce who has blogged about it here.

Full details of the competition are on the Festival website here or may be had by emailing  paddysmithtrim@gmail.com
Postal and online entries are welcome. Online payment by PayPal is being set up on the website.

Tom French New Poetry Collection

The Gallery Press in association with Meath County Council Library Service is hosting a reception to celebrate the publication of a new collection of poems by Tom French, Midnightstown,  in Dunboyne Library, Castle View, Dunboyne, County Meath at 7.00 p.m. on Thursday 5 June 2014. All welcome.

From the Gallery Press website:
Tom French’s third collection opens with the poet alone with his newborn son in a delivery room. Through what North described as ‘a heartbreaking quality of understatement’, he confronts and stares down extreme experience and praises the everyday.

An oncology diary is simultaneously dispassionate and moving. In language of calm power he registers a brother’s suicide and fraught relationships. He offers glimpses of a battle in World War I, while other poems observe saplings as they prosper and actors preparing a play. They record incidents in barbers’ shops and salvage materials from old newspapers.

Tom French is a custodian of family and local histories, a caring, careful celebrant of
‘our loved and unloved, living and dead . . .
the rest of the road home, the night ahead.’

Meath and the Decade of Commemoration

Meath History Workshop presents a public seminar: 

Meath and the Decade of Commemoration 1913-1923

on Saturday 31 May 2014, 2 – 5.30pm in Kells Peoples Resource Centre 

at the corner of Carrick Street and Moynalty Road, Kells.

Speakers and Topics

Peter Connell: Terrible Beauties? An Overview of a Turbulent Decade.

Pádraig Yeates: The Sympathetic Strike in 1913 – Myth or Reality?: the lockout and after.

Geraldine English: Strangers in their own land: the RIC in south Meath 1910-20.

Danny Cusack: Doing your own research: Class, labour and the case of Thomas Harten.

Tracey Holsgrove: More than Just Bandage Rollers?: Women in Meath in the Decade of Centenaries.

Plus: Panel discussion chaired by Myles Dungan. I'm one of the "experts" on this panel. Looking forward to a good discussion.

Admission: €5 waged, €3 unwaged (no booking required). All Welcome.

Recommended Reading:
Oliver Coogan, Politics and War in Meath 1913-23 (Second edition, 2014) Available for €15 from all Meath branch libraries.

Aesthetica Creative Writing Award

Aesthetica Creative Writing Award: Call for Entries 2014.

The Creative Writing Award is a fantastic opportunity for existing and aspiring writers and poets to showcase their work to a wider, international audience: previous entrants have gone on to achieve success and recognition across the world. There are two categories for entry: Poetry and Short Fiction.

Fiction entries should be no more than 2,000 words each and poetry entries should be no more than 40 lines each. Both short fiction and poetry entries should be written in English. Submissions previously published elsewhere are accepted.

Prizes include:

Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, a compelling anthology of new writing loved by audiences internationally

£500 prize money for Poetry winner: £500 prize money for Short Fiction winner

A selection of inspirational books from Bloodaxe Books and Vintage Books

A complimentary copy of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual

Entries close 31 August 2014. For more information and to submit visit the website

Entry is £10. One entry permits the submission of two works into any one category. You may enter as many times as you wish.

Looking for literary inspiration? CLICK HERE to pick up a copy of last year’s Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual.

Poetry in the Parlour

A very successful event last evening in the Old Rectory, Trim, as part of the Bealtaine Festival. A full house with great support from Meath Writers Circle, Boyne Writers Group and Navan Small Impact Writers.

Paddy Smith performed the MC duties with his customary good cheer and Martina Quinn welcomed us to her home, explaining the history of the wonderful house.

Lots of poetry, some prose and memoir and even a few Limericks enlivened the proceeding and the MC's determination to ensure everyone kept to their allotted time was a ringing success!

Thanks to all involved especially to Martina for being a most generous hostess.

Poetry in the Parlour for Bealtaine

The nineteenth Age & Opportunity Bealtaine Festival takes place this month. This festival celebrates creativity as we age and many events are taking place in county Meath and all over the country in arts centres, theatres, libraries, galleries, community centres, local halls, care settings and in the main cultural institutions.

The theme for this year is And catch the heart off guard from the late Seamus Heaney’s poem, Postscript, about the Flaggy Shore in Clare. Just as Heaney’s car in the poem is surprised by big soft buffetings, it is hoped that Bealtaine 2014 will provide some surprises for many people.

To celebrate Bealtaine, Boyne Writers Group and Meath Writers Circle have organized a poetry reading in the Old Rectory, Loman Street, Trim on Thursday 22 May at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome to this Poetry in the Parlour Bealtaine event. You are welcome to read favourite poems or poems of your own. Indeed if you just want to listen and enjoy you will also be most welcome.

The Old Rectory, pictured above, was built in 1751 and though it has been adapted and enlarged on several occasions during the last 250 years, it is essentially the same now as when first built.

Picture below: A plaque was recently unveiled on the building in memory of Dean Richard Butler who, in addition to being the Dean of the Cathedral, was an historian, teacher, writer, humanitarian and lover of Trim town. The newly ordained Richard Butler arrived in Trim in 1819 and remained in Trim until his death in 1862.

We are very grateful to Martina Quinn, current occupant of Dean Richard Butler’s home, for inviting us to hold the reading in the house.

Poetry Ireland Introductions 2014

Poetry Ireland Introductions Series is a very significant event each year and achieving a place on the series is a considerable achievement and an important step in a writing career.

This year, the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series teams up with the Irish Writers’ Centre and Dublin Writers Festival for two cabaret-style evenings in the the Irish Writers’ Centre to reveal nine new promising voices: Erin Fornoff, Angela T Carr, Larry Stapleton, Breda Wall Ryan, Kevin Conroy, Colm Scully, Rachel Coventry, Paul McMahon and Stiofán Ó hIfearnáin.

A number of these have been published in Boyne Berries. Congratulations to those and to the others.

This year’s programme will also include specially selected musical accompaniment from new and emerging musicians, singers and songwriters.

Venue: Irish Writers Centre, 19 Parnell Square, D1
Time: Monday 19 May 7.00pm and Wednesday 21 May 7.00pm
Admission: €8 / €5

http://www.dublinwritersfestival.com/event/poetry-ireland-introductions-series-2014/

The Moth Short Story Prize

The Moth Short Story Prize is sponsored by the arts and literature magazine The Moth, recently described by the novelist David Mitchell as ‘a beautiful creature’.

The competition has become a fixture on the international writing calendar, and this year the first and second prizes have increased to €3,000 ($4,186) and €1,000 ($1,395). There is also a very attractive third prize of a week-long writing retreat at Circle of Misse in France. The Circle of Misse house rests on the banks of the Thouet River (‘thouet’ being the ancient Gallic word for ‘tranquil’), a tributary of the Loire. Circle of Misse will also kindly pay €250 ($348) towards travel expenses.

This year’s competition will be judged by Mike McCormack, a recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature whose debut short story collection was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His novel Notes from a Coma was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award and was described in the Irish Times as ‘the greatest Irish novel of the decade just ended’.

The prize is open to everyone, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished. There is a 6,000 word limit. The entry fee is €9 ($12.50) and you can enter as many stories as you like.

The closing date for the competition is 30 June 2014.

The three winning stories will feature in the autumn 2014 issue of The Moth and the winners will be invited to read at a special event at the Winding Stair Bookshop in Dublin in September 2014.

For details of how to enter the competition go to the Moth webpage.

Poetry for Spaces - Donegal

Poetry for Spaces promotes the work of poets from the north-west by displaying their poems in public places around Donegal. Poems have to be no longer than twenty two lines and should be appropriate for viewing in a public area.

Poets who have participated so far include Mary Barr, Eamonn Bonner, Olive Borland, Maureen Curran, Colin Dardis, Kathryn Daily, Janice Fitzpatrick Simmons, Sine Friel, Nick Griffiths and Gréagóir Ó Dúill.

Being a native of Sligo I qualify and my poem Hospital Visit will be on display at the following Donegal locations from Wednesday, 30 April for approximately two months:

Dungloe: Ionad Teampeall Chróine; SuperValu; Public Services Building
Gweedore: Library
Letterkenny: Public Services Building; Courtyard Shopping Centre
Milford: Public Services Building
Ramelton: Town Hall

For more information contact North West Words through their Facebook page or email: nwwpoetry-space@yahoo.ie

Dundalk Bough Bells Reading Festival

The Dundalk Bough Bells Reading Festival presents a poetry reading with Mary O'Donnell and Michael Farry on Saturday 10 May at 7.30 pm The venue is the Oriel Centre, Old Gaol, Dundalk.

I'm delighted to be involved in this event and delighted to be on the same bill as the wonderful Mary O'Donnell.

The event poster calls Mary a novelist but in fact she is also a well published poet having had five collections of poetry published. Her poetry has been translated into French, Romanian, and more recently, Chinese. She has also translated a selection of work by the Austrian poet Ingeborg Bachmann.

Her fiction includes the best-selling literary novel, The Light-Makers, named The Sunday Tribune's Best New Irish Novel of 1992, Virgin and the Boy (1996), and collections of short stories, Strong Pagans (1991), and Storm Over Belfast (2008). She won the 2011 Fish International Short Story Prize. 

From 2pm until 5pm on the same day four northeast writing groups will read their prose and poetry in the Market Bar, Market Square, Dundalk.

Among the groups involved in this are the two writers groups I'm a member of, Boyne Writers Group and Cavan/Meath LitLab. It should be a great afternoon and evening.

New Noel Monahan Poetry Collection

It's a busy week in Cavan literary circles. After last evening's very successful inaugural At The Edge reading in Cavan Library, more poetry in Cavan on Thursday evening.

Where the Wind Sleeps, New and Selected Poems by Noel Monahan will be launched at Cavan Courthouse and Council Chambers on this Thursday 8 May 2014 at 8pm.

The launch will be performed by Gerard Smyth, chairperson of Poetry Ireland, Kavan Donohoe will provide music and there will be wine and refreshments.

The cover of the book features a panting by local artist Pádraig Lynch and the launch will be accompanied by an exhibition of Pádraig's work.

The book, Noel's sixth collection, is being published by Salmon Poetry.

Where the Wind Sleeps: New & Selected Poems features selections from five previous collections, published over twenty-three years, as well as new work and gives us an intriguing insight into Monahan’s observations at the edges of time and place.

The collection will be launched in Dublin on Tuesday 13 May at 6.30pm in  The Little Museum of Dublin, St Stephens Green. Mamisa String Trio will provide musical entertainment for the evening.

New Reading Event in Cavan

Kate Ennals is the main organiser of a series of readings and open mics in Cavan with the aim of create a regular, popular, literary space in Cavan which is accessible and entertaining. There are numerous writers and poets, writers groups, and local workshops in Cavan, but there are few outlets for aspiring writers to read their material so following each of the readings will be an open mic session for local writers to perform their own material.

The inaugural session of At The Edge takes place on this Tuesday, 6 May 2014, in the Johnston Library, Farnham Road, Cavan  from 6.30 to 8pm. Each featured reader will read for 15 minutes and these will be followed by open mic readers.

Shane Connaughton, as a Cavan man, will open the proceedings. Shane was born in Kingscourt, and his teenage years were spent in Redhills where his father was the local garda sergeant. He has written screen plays, novels, memoir and short stories. His novel, A Border Station, (1989), deals with a boy’s relationship with his parents set along the Ulster border where his father is the local garda sergeant. Shane is also the author of The Run of the Country (1991) and Big Parts (2009).

Shane will be followed by June Caldwell. June worked for 13 years as a freelance journalist for the UK and Irish press. She has been shortlisted for the RTÉ Guide/Penguin Short Story Competition. In 2010 she received an Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) bursary for fiction. She is currently working on a collection of short stories themed around 'the city', and a novel set in the Blitz in Coventry and in 1980s Dublin.

I will be the third reader. This isn't the first time I've read at the library in Cavan. A couple of years ago some LitLab members read on a stage outside the library during the Fleadh Cheoil. RTE actually filmed some of us and Paddy Smith made the evening news reading one line (or was it two) of  The Old Woman of the Roads I think!

The following four events in the At The Edge series will take place on Tuesday 1st July, Tuesday 2nd September, Tuesday 4th November and Tuesday 2 December 2014.

Cyphers Poetry Magazine Launch

I'm delighted to have a poem included in the latest issue of Cyphers, the Dublin based poetry magazine which is edited by Leland Bardwell, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Macdara Woods. The administrator is Áinín Ní Bhroin, a fine poet who was one of the Poetry Ireland Introductions poets in 2011.

The launch of this issue of Cyphers takes place as part of the Strokestown Poetry Festival 2014 on Sunday 4 May at 12.15pm. I hope to be there.

The winner of the Strokestown International Poetry Prize will be announced at 7.30pm on that Sunday evening by judges, Paddy Bushe and Neil Astley. The short list is here.

Brilliant Flash Fiction

Dawn Lowe, a good friend of Boyne Berries, is involved in a new online magazine called Brilliant Flash Fiction. The magazine is looking for brilliant stories of 1,000 words or less for their first "real" edition to be published at the end of June.

They welcome original, unpublished work in all genres: sci-fi, memoir, historic fiction, etc. Email your submission to brilliantflashfiction@gmail.com. Paste your story into the body of your email and also attach it as a .doc file. Do not submit more than two stories quarterly.

At present, no payment is available. Authors will enjoy sharing their work with an appreciative audience and the possibility of having their work published in a to-be-announced anthology.

More details on the magazine website.

Irish Writers' Centre : City Bike Tales

The Irish Writers' Centre has recently launched a lunchtime series 'The Town We Love So Well' and for the next in the series, next Friday 9 May, they have decided to link the city to biking tales, in honour of all the cyclists that will be passing through for the Giro d'Italia.

Award-winning illustrator and sometime writer Alan Clarke will be hosting and they're encouraging performances on the day that will link peoples' own cycling experiences – however amateur or professional! – to the world of writing/spoken word.

Come as a guest or as a performer;  read from your own work or from another's – poetry, prose, flash fiction, comedy, music, anything goes – as long as it's bike related! Slots are filling up so if you're interested please do book in advance to this address: events@writerscentre.ie.

Event: City Bike Tales as part of The Town We Love So Well
Where: Irish Writers' Centre
When: 9 May, 1–2.30 pm
Who: Award-winning illustrator and occasional writer Alan Clarke will be MC-ing and the audience will be made up of performers and guests.

This event is sponsored by Dublin City Council.

Poetry Manuscript Competition.

Bradshaw Books is pleased to announce the opening of the Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Competition. The prize includes the publication of a first poetry collection by the winning author and twenty free copies of the book.

The overall competition winner and two runners-up will also be featured in the next edition of the prestigious Cork Literary Review.

Participation involves an entry fee of 20 Euro and an initial submission of 5 - 10 poems. Upon qualifying for the shortlist of 12, poets will then submit a full manuscript of 50 poems minimum for judgement.

This year's judge is Poet and former longstanding Director of Poetry Ireland, Joe Woods.

Angela Carr was the 2013 winner with her collection ‘How to Lose Your Home and Save Your Life’.

The 2012 Winner was Annette Skade and her collection Thimblerig was published in July 2013. Annette was also the winner of the inaugural Bailieborough Poetry Festival Competition in 2013.

Full details on website.

Prolitzer Prize for Prose 2014

Details of the Prolitzer Prize for prose writing 2014 have just been announced.

Prize: Winner: £150, Publication in Prole 15 in December 2014; Publication on the Prole website
2 x runner up prizes of £50, possible publication in Prole 15; Publication on the Prole website

Judge: Sue Pace has over 120 short stories, personal essays, poems and non-fiction articles published in regional and international formats.  This includes not only literary journals in the USA, but also journals in Australia, the UK and Canada.

Her poems may be found in several "Open To Interpretation" coffee table books.  Her plays have been produced in Seattle, Portland and at the West Coast Ensemble in Hollywood, CA.  She was a "Distinguished Writer in Residence" at Seattle University and recently received an Honourable Mention in NIMROD'S Katherine Anne Porter competition.

Entries will be judged anonymously. Entries are open until October 1st 2014. Winners will be announced in issue 15 of Prole in December 2014 and on the website by December 15th 2014.

Entries may be fiction or creative nonfiction that epitomises the editorial values of Prole: to make writing engaging, accessible, entertaining and challenging. Quality is all. Word limit 2500. All work must be the original work of the writer and be unpublished.

Fees: £4.00 for first entry, £3.00 for any subsequent entries.

Via the website and enter by email. Make the correct payment using PayPal. Then email your entry, including the text and PayPal transaction number within the body of the email, to: prosecompetition@prolebooks.co.uk

Sebastian Barry's The Temporary Gentleman

Sebastian Barry's recently published novel The Temporary Gentleman is narrated by John "Jack" McNulty, an Irishman, born in Sligo, whose life spans the first 60 years of the 20th century.

The character is based on Barry’s maternal grandfather, Jack O’Hara. Jack McNulty is related to Roseanne McNulty of Barry's The Secret Scripture and to Eneas of  The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty.

I'm delighted that Sebastian Barry includes my recent history book in his short list of the "immeasurably helpful and inspiring books" which he consulted in the writing of The Temporary Gentleman.

Irish Times interview with Barry here.
Guardian review of the novel here.
Independent review here.

My book is available from the publishers, Four Courts Press, in bookshops and elsewhere online.

Happy Easter

The tulips are at their best at just the right time.

Something about the way they twist

As if to catch the last applause,

And drink the moment through long straws,

And how, tomorrow, they’ll be missed.

from Tulips by A.E. Stallings.

Svlvia Plath's poem Tulips refers to flowers she received while in hospital recovering from an appendectomy. It was written in 1961 and published in her posthumous volume Ariel. 

I didn't want any flowers, I only wanted

To lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty.

Happy Easter!

Good Friday

A crucifixion scene from a grave stone in the ruins of Tulsk Dominician Friary, Co Roscommon. More about this site here.

Three poems for this day, two well-known, Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward by John Donne (1572 – 1631), and Easter Wings by George Herbert (1593–1633) and the less well-known, Good Friday, by Scottish poet, Edwin Morgan (1920 – 2010).

Regime Magazine : Submissions Open

I was lucky to have a poem included in the last issue of the journal, Regime, published in Perth, Western Australia. I was especially pleased that they accepted a poem written as a result of a previous visit to WA.

I missed the launch but when I was in Perth in January/February I met three of those involved, Nathan Hondros, Chris Palazzolo and Peter Jefferies, and we had a great chat about poetry, publishing and life in general.

Regime Books, the collective which publishes Regime, has just sent out a call for submissions for the next issue, closing date 16 May. Please submit your poetry, short stories, and performance writing before then. Full details on this page.

Regime Books is a collective of writers, poets, editors and publishers who are committed to publishing the best writing they can get their hands on. As well as the journal they have published books of stories and poetry.

They are also announcing the launch of a new model of community publishing – an idea Regime Books invites writers and poets to join.

So how will it work?

Regime Magazine of New Writing will remain a not-for-profit enterprise, but also strictly not-for-loss.
We want to pay our writers and poets in currency, not copies.
We are dedicated to printed editions that are supported (and not replaced) by technology.
We will be inviting guest editors.
We will consider inviting suitable sponsors, and opening our books to donors.

Now here are the changes:

Our cover price will increase to $25 a copy (including postage). Why? $10 per copy sold on our website will be evenly distributed to our talented contributors (contributors will not receive free copies or a distribution from copies sold through third party retailers – the cover price for that is eaten by the printer, bookseller and distributor).

There will be 50 poets, 5 short story writers and a performance writer included in Regime 04.
There will be two print runs for Regime 04 for orders made through our website.

You can also reserve your Regime 04 before it's too late (yes, we're serious, the clock is running out). $10 for every copy sold goes directly to our contributors. Visit the website right now!

A Poem in Prole Issue 13

I'm delighted to have a poem in the current issue of Prole, issue 13. This is my second time to be in this great journal of prose and poetry.

This poem, A Pair of Dead Man's Shoes, was well workshopped by the two groups I belong to and also at a great workshop with a great bunch of poets at Cork Spring Poetry Festival 2013 which was led by Carolyn Forché.

This issue also contains the winning poems from the Prole Laureate poetry competition, judged by Kate Noakes whose comments on the poems are also included. A poem by Kate is also included.
Congratulations to Michael Crowley, winner, Martin Malone and Sarah Grace Logan, runners up.

This issue also has a poem, The Forty-Ninth Iron Man, by Maria Isakova Bennett whose poetry we have published recently in Boyne Berries

You can buy and enjoy Prole (available as a pdf and as a print version), either this issue or a three issue subscription, by using the options from the drop down menu on the journal's website.

SiarScéal Anthology, Roscommon in Reflection, Free on Kindle

Kindle readers can download for free the SiarScéal Anthology, Roscommon in Reflection, all of this weekend.

First published in 2012, in print and e-book editions, the anthology represents the fruit of the first five years of the Hanna Greally Literary Awards.

In the Foreword to this volume of poetry and prose, author Dermot Bolger had this to say: "This is a book that emanates from Roscommon and resonates with the landscape and varied stories of Roscommon, but, like all good writing, it slips free of all boundaries and borders to speak directly to the human heart about the human condition."

Starting Thursday, 10 April and running for five days, to the following Monday 14 April, Kindle readers can avail of this special promotion, just by logging on to any of the Amazon domains. If you do not already own a Kindle device you can simply download one of the free Kindle Apps to your phone, iPad, tablet, computer or laptop.

SiarScéal Festival 2014 will take place on 25 October in Roscommon Town. Entries are now being accepted for the 2014 Hanna Greally Literary Awards.I was lucky enough to win this award last year.

This year's overall winner will have their book published for free, in print and e-book editions, courtesy of The Manuscript Publisher. The theme for this year's competition is open, which is all the more reason to get writing. Closing date is Friday, 10 October.

SiarScéal Festival 2014 programme of events will also include a writers workshop, presented by Fred Johnston of the Western Writers Centre. Fred is a poet, playwright and novelist. He writes in both English and French. In 2004, he was writer in residence to the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. His his most recent collection of poetry is entitled, Alligator Days.

Celebration of Noel King and Doghouse

The demise of publisher, Doghouse Books, which was announced late last year, was widely mourned and it was thought that the great work done by the imprint and its editor, Noel King, should be marked.

Accordingly, Doghouse Poets and friends present an evening of poetry and song to celebrate Noel King's enormous contributions to poetry in Ireland as well as Doghouse's retirement as a poetry publishing house after ten years and forty nine books.

The event takes place on Friday 11 April 2014 at 7.30pm in the The Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2. All are welcome. More information from: conaty.tom@gmail.com

Doghouse will continue to service its published writers until 30 June 2015. Until then, any volume still in print may be ordered through their website. You can get any number of copies postage free for the price of €12 to anywhere in the world.

Picture: Noel King with Boyne Writers Chairman, Paddy Smith, at Noel's reading in Trim in 2011.

Richard W. Halperin in Sligo

The Yeats Society, Sligo,  presents Richard W. Halperin, who will read from his two collections published by Salmon, Anniversary and Shy White Tiger, as well as from a work-in-progress as part of their Poets Parlour series of readings in the Yeats Memorial Building, Hyde Bridge, Sligo tonight Tuesday 1 April 2014 at 8.00pm.

Richard’s work has been widely published since 2005, especially in THE SHOp, Cyphers, Revival Literary Journal, The Stinging Fly (featured poet, summer 2009), Ambit, Carillon, The Delinquent, Obsessed with Pipework.

Several of his poems have been honoured in competitions in  Ireland, the U.K. and Italy. He gave his first reading at Glenstal Abbey and has since read throughout Ireland, including at the Guinness Book of Records marathon, Irish Writers’ Centre, Dublin. Prior to retirement as Chief of Section, UNESCO, he edited Reading and Writing Poetry (Paris, 2005), available gratis via the internet. He is currently working on a third collection Quiet in a Quiet House.

Boyne Berries 15 Launched!

It's done! The last of my Boyne Berries was launched last evening in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim. It was a most enjoyable function and I was delighted at how well it went and how well those who attended seemed to enjoy it.

Paddy Smith as MC was his usual bright self with plenty of attempts at humour, most of which worked well! He suggested that Fr Sean Henry, who launched the issue might give a general absolution to writers present who do such violence to the English language in the work!

The local PP, Fr. Sean Henry, then officially launched the issue and complimented the group on their work in the community and on the publication of the magazine. He spoke of the importance of the word, of reading and of books and mentioned his own love of poetry. Emily Dickinson is one of his favourites.

Then the readers. A total of seventeen contributors read. As well as the locals they came from Louth, Cavan, Dublin, Longford and Kildare. A great variety of material, prose and poetry and some nice humour as well. Sometimes these occasions see a lot of "serious" stuff read but last night there was plenty of laughs as well.

The night ended with presentations of framed prints of Greg Hasting's cover image to Fr. Henry and to myself as retiring editor. Orla Fay, incoming editor, made some very kind remarks about my tenure as editor and told us how excited she was to be taking over.

Then I was delighted and surprised to be presented with a beautiful Children of Lir by Genesis, Mullingar on behalf of Boyne Writers Group to mark my retirement. Thank you all very much.

Photos:
Top: Paddy Smith presents the Children of Lir on behalf of Boyne Writers Group.
Middle: Orla Fay presents a framed copy of Greg Hasting's cover image.
Bottom: Sharon Tighe Mooney, Mary Melvin Geoghegan and Orla Fay at the launch.

Boyne Berries 15 Launch

The latest issue of Boyne Berries magazine will be launched on Thursday 27 March at 8pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim. This is issue 15 of the magazine, which has been published twice yearly by Boyne Writers Group, Trim since 2007. This issue has contributions from various parts of Ireland, the UK and the USA.

This is the last issue under the editorship of Michael Farry, a founder member of the writers group and editor since the beginning. Having successful edited fifteen issues Michael has decided it’s time to pass on the responsibility to some one else. Orla Fay from Dunderry, a long-time member and well-published poetry and prose writer is taking over.

The seventy pages of prose and poetry in this issue reflect a wide range of topics. A quick glance at the titles gives a flavour of the variety of the contents: Accordion Lesson, An Existentialist’s Wedding Vows, McDonalds Saturday Afternoon, The Snaring of the Snark, The Harpist at the Top of Grafton Street, Loughcrew, The New Curtains and The Hayfield.
A feature of this issue is the number of pieces which deal with ageing and dementia. Andy Jones wonders why he bothers planting an tree – Ten years will see me planted as sure as the Acer, Noel Carey’s poem on an old woman, possibly his mother, has the ironic title The dignity of life and Monica Corish titles her poem about a parent dying The Road Rising to Meet You.

There is also humour; a short story, Cathy Conlon’s Gran’s Shopping Trip, tells of an expedition to Cleary’s with Granny to buy a present for her ninety third birthday. Gran proves quite a handful and a misunderstanding about the meaning of the word “wardrobe” results in her getting something she didn’t want!

And there is plenty of humour elsewhere in the magazine. Dawn Lowe’s science fiction story The Chairwoman involves a female explorer from the planet Chair attending a writers group meeting with hilarious consequences. Louisa Moss from Trim has a short, amusing, cynical gloss on Dorothy Parker’s famous lines: Men seldom make passes /At girls who wear glasses. Caroline Carey Finn’s story House of Cards is a hilariously whacky account of the first day after a divorce settlement. She held on to the pub!

The passing of Seamus Heaney is marked by a poem from well-known midlands poet, Mary Melvin Geoghegan. Entitled A Response to Hearing Mid-Term Break Again it pays homage to one of Heaney’s best-known and best-loved poems. Padraic O’Dowd from Boyne Writers has a poem about the experience of soldiers in the trenches during the First World War, The Enlisted. Margaret Galvin from Wexford writes about donating an item from her wardrobe to charity: My wedding suit is gone off/ in a truck to Belarusse/ among bales of old curtains/ and sacks of wellingtons.

Many of the contributors will attend and read their work at the launch. All are welcome to attend the launch and admission is free. Previous launches have been very enjoyable occasions and have been very well attended.

Boyne Berries 15 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. Copies can be purchased on the group's webpage.

Boyne Berries 15

The latest issue of Boyne Berries magazine will be launched on Thursday 27 March at 8pm in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim. This is issue 15 of the magazine, which we in Boyne Writers Group, Trim, have published twice yearly since 2007.

As with previous issues the publication includes poems and stories by local writers authors and those from far away, first-time authors and well-published authors. This issue has contributions from various parts of Ireland, the UK and the USA.

This is the last issue under my editorship. I felt it was time to pass on the work and the enjoyment to another and I'm delighted that Orla Fay is taking up duties from issue 16. Orla Fay is a long-time group member and well-published poetry and prose writer.

I have enjoyed my years as editor. I've made lots of friends all over the work and was delighted to publish work from new writers and well established ones. It did involved a lot of work, everything from sending out the call for submissions to compiling a print-ready pdf for the printers. I've had great support from the group over the years and am very grateful to have been entrusted with the task.

I've learned a lot during my time as editor - a lot about writing, a lot about submitting to magazines and a lot about writers. I must expand on that at some stage but not at the moment. I have to prepare for the launch on Thursday.

Our launches are usually most enjoyable. We get audiences of between 40 and 60 usually with lots of contributors attending and reading. As well as those who travel long distances from far flung parts of Ireland, Cork and Galway for instance, we have had poets from Canada, the USA and the UK attending and reading.

So I'm looking forward to a good launch on Thursday. Cover of Boyne Berries 15 above, cover image, as for each previous issue, by Greg Hastings.

SiarScéal Festival Roscommon 2014

SiarScéal Festival 2014 will take place on Saturday, 25 October in Roscommon Town. The festival, which celebrates the culture and heritage of the county of Roscommon, is now in its eight year.

The full programme of events, which have just been announced, includes morning and evening activities appealing to all ages and a wide range of interests, literary and cultural tastes. The main venue for the festival will be Roscommon County Library, Abbey Street, Roscommon Town.

Proceedings will commence with an official opening, presided over by County Librarian and festival patron, Richie Farrell, with the Mayor of Roscommon as invited guest.

This will be followed by the launch of the book, The Battle for Coman's Wood by Mario Corrigan, a work of historical fiction inspired by the students from Castleplunkett National School and Abbey National School, Roscommon.

The afternoon will see announcement of the winners of the Hanna Greally Literary Awards for 2014, entries for which are now being accepted. The closing date is Friday, 10 October. Entries may consist of poetry, prose, short stories (maximum 60 lines or 300 words) on any subject or theme.

 I was lucky enough to win this competition last year; picture of presentation by judge, Eleanor McGrath, above.

The annual Ger Hanily Memorial Cup, which forms part of the awards ceremony, will be awarded to the best entry on the theme of Coman's Wood.

The incentives for entrants to this years Hanna Greally Literary Awards, includes cash prizes, trophies and certificates. The overall winner will come away with a €1,000 publishing services package from The Manuscript Publisher, the Irish-based publishing solutions provider. The prize is designed for self-publishing authors and independent publishers. It will result in the winning entrant having his or her book published, in print and e-book format, with full editorial, design, ISBN registration, sales and marketing support.

In the afternoon, a writers workshop with Mario Corrigan will be hosted, on the subject of Writing for Children: Historical and Mythological Adventures.

The festival will conclude with an evening classical concert with recitals, to take place in St. Coman's Church of Ireland, Roscommon Town.

More information about SiarScéal Festival 2014, including the full Programme of Events and competition entry details for the Hanna Greally Literary Awards, are available from the festival website.

Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition

The Munster Literature Centre is reviving its Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition. Two winners will each have their manuscript published, receive €500 in cash and fifty complimentary copies of their chapbook.

The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country BUT at least one of the winners will be a debutante (with no chapbook or book published previously). 25-50 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".

Manuscripts must be sixteen to twenty-four pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or 'versions'. The poems can be in verse or prose. An entrance fee of €20 will be charged for each manuscript. Entrants may enter more than one manuscript of 16-24 pages.

The winning chapbooks will be published in August 2014 with striking cover designs, ISBNs, barcodes and will be offered for sale internationally through our own website, Amazon and selected independent book sellers.

The winning poets will be considered for the 2015 Cork Spring Poetry Festival programme and have their chapbooks entered for the UK Forward Prize for best poem and anthology. The winners will be selected by a panel chosen by the management board of Southword Editions. Deadline: April 30th 2014.

Full details here.

Two previous winning chapbooks, Done Dating DJs by Jennifer Minniti-Shippey and Never Trust Where a Cat Sits by Irene A. Mosvold, (pictured above) are still available from the centre for €10 post free.

A Review of my Sligo 1912-23

An excellent review of my The Irish Revolution 1912-1923: Sligo in the latest issue of the Irish Literary Supplement, extract above.  This is a twice-yearly publication of book reviews of books of Irish interest, founded in 1982. It is published in association with the Center for Irish Programs of Boston College, Massachusetts.

This review is by Dr Deirdre McMahon of Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, a widely published historian with a particular interest in twentieth century Irish history

The next volume in this Four Courts Press series of county histories of the Irish Revolution edited by Mary Ann Lyons and Daithí Ó Corráin, Tyrone by Fergal McCluskey, is due to be published very soon. My volume was of course first in the series.

Carolyne Van Der Meer's Motherlode Launched

Carolyne Van Der Meer's Motherlode, A Mosaic of Dutch Wartime Experience  was recently launched to great acclaim in Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore in Montreal, Canada.

The book is published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Ontario, Canada in their Life Writing series and the publisher's website contains more information and you can purchase copies of the book there.

Carolyne is a friend of Boyne Berries having had poems published a number of times in the magazine and making the long trip from Canada to be at the launch of our special Boyne Berries 10 issue.

From the publisher's website:
Motherlode: A Mosaic of Dutch Wartime Experience is Carolyne Van Der Meer’s creative reinterpretation through short stories, poems, and essays of the experiences of her mother and other individuals who spent their childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland or were deeply affected by wartime in Holland. 

The book documents the author’s personal journey as she uncovers her mother’s past through their correspondence and discussion and through research in the Netherlands. 

Motherlode also considers mother—daughter relationships and the effect of wartime on motherhood.

Photographs of the launch are by photographer Bassam Sabbagh.

More on this page on Facebook.

Motherlode Facebook page.   

Review of the book by Gina Roitman on The Rover

Five Words Poetry Competition Results

Ó Bhéal launched the Five Words International Poetry Competition last April. Each Tuesday from April 2013 to January 2014 five words were posted online. Entrants had one week to compose and submit one or more poems that included all five words. A new set of words was posted each week.

Congratulations go to Don Nixon, England, who is the winner of this inaugural competition for his poem, Fado in a Lisbon Bar. Highly commended were Afric McGlinchey, Ireland, for Frozen moment and Janet Lees, England, for A boy of six thousand parts.

Among the nine poets shortlisted was Boyne Writers Group member Tom Dredge for his poem The Choice. Well done Tom!

Full results on the website.

These winning, highly commended and shortlisted poems will appear in Five Words vol VII, to be launched at Ó Bhéal on Monday the 14th of April, along with an award presentation and readings from available contributors.

National Student Poetry Competition

Windows Publications in association with Cavan Crystal announce details of their 22nd National Student Poetry Competition 2014. Adjudicated by Heather Brett & Noel Monahan.

€100 1st Prize in each category with several runner-up prizes and over 50 highly commended certificates
Closing date Friday 18th April 2014.

Entry to this competition is free and no entry form needed. Entrant details (name, age, school or contact number) must be clearly marked on the BACK of each entry if posting work or at the end of the work if sending by email. Poems should NOT have been published before or won a prize in any other competition, and must be the student’s OWN work.

Entries will also be accepted on line as well as by post and from individual students as well as school entries. For email entries please send to: heatherbrett22@hotmail.com or by post to Windows/Cavan Crystal Poetry Competition, Cavan Crystal Hotel, Dublin Rd. Cavan, Co. Cavan, Ireland  on or before Friday 18th April 2014 (Extended closing date) Please state which category you are entering.

Award ceremony will be held in Cavan Crystal Hotel on Sunday 25 May at 3pm. It is a condition of the award that prize winners must present themselves at the ceremony before a prize can be awarded.

Junior Category-Open to all students throughout Ireland and the U.K. in primary or national school education or equivalent.    
                                                                                                 
Senior Category-Open to all students throughout Ireland and the U.K. in second level education or equivalent.                                                                                                                                  

Irish Language Category - Open to all students between 10 - 18 years of age.

Poetry Competition in memory of Séamus Heaney

INTO and Poetry Ireland Poetry Competition in Memory of Séamus Heaney

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) is proud of its tradition in supporting the Arts and were privileged to share the company of one of our most eminent poets Séamus Heaney at the Consultative Conference on Education in Athlone in 2011.

Heaney was involved in the education of undergraduate teachers as a lecturer of English in Carysfort College of Education, Blackrock, Dublin, in the 1970s and early 1980s. There is a video of Seamus Heaney reading his poem Valedictory Verses at the INTO Consultative Education Conference in 2011 on this page..

In honour of his memory the INTO, in collaboration with Poetry Ireland, is launching a poetry competition for members. All members, North and South, are eligible to submit a poem.

Entries are limited to one poem per member, which can be in Irish or in English. Closing date is 31 March 2014. The decision of the judges is final. The winner will be announced at Congress 2014. The INTO will publish the winning poem in the union's publication InTouch.

All entries must be accompanied by an entry form and posted to Poetry Competition, Áras Vere Foster, 35 Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

Download entry form in PDF format or Word format here.

The INTO and Poetry Ireland will appoint an adjudicator to judge all applications. There will be a prize of €300 for the best poem in English and the best poem in Irish, in addition to an option of spending some time in the Tyrone Guthrie centre in Annaghmakerrig.

Over the Edge etc

Just back from a busy two days in Galway - busy but very enjoyable. The Over the Edge on Thursday evening was great. A very large crowd in the library to hear Kate Ennals, Alvy Carragher and myself read our work.

In fact Alvy performed her poems and did so very impressively. Her material was great and the delivery excellent, making it an extremely hard act to follow.

Fifteen minutes is the perfect length of time to read I have decided. It's short enough to make you choose your poems very carefully, plan everything to the second and avoid digressions. I read a mixture, some from Asking for Directions and more recent ones, including one just finished.

Kevin Higgins was a great compere and the audience, over 60 I think, was very responsive as you expect from a Galway audience. The fact that the library closes at eight o'clock concentrates all the readers. The open mic was, as usual, great with a fantastic variety of material.

Late evening I attended the launch of the latest issue of Crannóg and the presentation of the WOW! Awards. The Crane Bar is a more intimate venue and the upstairs room was crowded. Again great readings. Crannóg 35 is a fine production, congratulations to the editorial board, Ger Burke, Sandra Bunting, Jarlath Fahy and Tony O'Dwyer.

James Harrold, Galway City arts officer, presented the WOW! 2014 awards and the anthology was on sale and can be purchased on the website. Congratulations to the WOW Award winners and runners up. Full list is on on the Wordsonthe page website.