Featured – Page 4

April 29, 2016July 18, 2019

Mark Haddon and “beige” short stories

Mark Haddon is the author of “The curious incident of the dog at night-time”, a brilliant novel about a teenage mathematician who has behavioural and social issues. It is really good and funny and sad. But, he also writes short stories and writes them very well too.

He wrote this amazing short story called “The Gun” and it was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Awards a few years back. You can hear him read it here and I strongly recommend that you do.

I reviewed it back then and it was my favourite and I hoped it would win. It didn’t and a least fave story of mine did instead. No matter, Mark is back with a new short story collection called The Pier Falls on May 5th. He is quite the outspoken and self-assured writer, which is why I really like him and his writing as I think having a real personality shines in the writing!

I have been reading a couple of articles he wrote on the short story form and how he writes recently and in this one, he talks about Wells Tower’s Everything Burned, Everything Ravaged short story collection which I loved, loved, loved. The title story is one of Mark’s most loved because of its sheer humour and bravery in actually being fiction! I agree with Mark that too many short stories now are quite “meh” and “slow” and nothing at all happens. In other words, they are quite like real life, I want my fiction to be, well, fiction! It drives me slightly ever so mad when someone is reading a piece of fiction and wonders if it would really happen in life! No, of course, it wouldn’t. That is why it is a piece of imaginary ficiton. Those people are recommended to go pick up a memoir or a book of non-fiction if they want “realistic” James Wood in his book “how fiction works” talks about how fiction should be lifelike and written as a piece of art. Something that makes the reader think about what the artist might be trying to say. I think fiction needs to be entertaining and get me thinking too.

Mark Haddon finishes his thoughts by saying that ““Werner” and “The Fourth State of Matter” by Jo Ann Beard are the two stories he has read that combine those two things about fiction that I love-the “fictional stories in which nothing happens and real-life stories in which everything happens.”

You can read all of Mark’s article here on the Guardian website and his new collection, The pier falls is out May 5th with Jonathan Cape.

April 26, 2016July 18, 2019

William Wall’s new short story collection-Hearing Voices/Seeing Things

Hearing Voices/Seeing Things by William Wall and published by Doire Press was ordered on Sunday and arrived today, Tuesday. The very quick Lisa Frank had it out to me super fast and I cannot wait to get stuck in and am reserving some time while M-boy( 20-month baby/toddler/messer of ours) has a little nap.

I know, I know. I promised not to purchase any more books but I am slowly working my way through the ones I have and when I read Eileen Battersby praising Mr. Wall on his writing in the Granta anthology of New Irish Writing, I had to click the order button. If you are going to blame anyone for the purchase, I would lay the blame at Eileens’ Battersby’s door. Or Doire Press. Or William Wall.

Now, off to get into the book. Ta ta. Be good.

April 9, 2016July 18, 2019

Teaching fiction for the Carlow Writers’ group

I developed and taught a short module on fiction this morning for the Carlow Writers’ Co-operative group that I am a member of. The group are fundraising for a travel bursary so I was eager to help out!

I am a primary school teacher by day and give courses for teachers in the evening. This was the first adult-type learning course I had given in creative writing. I was nervous but I really enjoyed it. I used all of my knowledge of teaching methodologies and planning and some of the challenges I face as a writer of short stories. I wrote while my students wrote, which I believe is of huge importance. I am not a big fan of the writing teacher who sits and watches or walks around while the students write. If the teacher is writing alongside her students then it helps him/her to relate to the challenges along the way. It was also a sneaky way for me to write!

This morning, we focused on setting and how writers like Claire Keegan have dealt with setting. I am going to add a tab on creative writing prompts that I use or have seen being used on rozz.ie so feel free to use and adapt! Would love to hear what you think.

March 30, 2016July 18, 2019

Is Easons a bookstore or a stationary shop?

I was in Sligo Town last week and had a little browse in the two bookshops I could find there-Liber and Easons. Liber was very cute with a big emphasis on cookbooks, healthy eating and children’s books too as well as a section on poetry and literary titles. Easons, which was next door, was basically a magazine, gift and stationary shop. I am not lying! There were a few random books as in the Top ten type. Mostly cookbooks again. I bought a new cookbook and left feeling all sad.

I went to Dundrum Town Centre the other day and was shocked to find that the whole centre only has one bookshop. Well, what they call a bookshop. Easons again. It is a big premises but again seemed to focus on eating, top ten, buy one get one half price type affairs. All in all, they had 6 shelves for fiction. By fiction, I mean crime novels or Top Ten. They had a two small shelves called “Literary” and it stocked mostly 1916, Yeats, Heaney, plays and many dictionaries! They had two copies of Danielle Mac Laughlin’s short story collection and many of both Claire Keegan’s short story collections. Dundrum had an amazing bookshop called Hughes and Hughes but that sadly passed away at the same time the Abercrombie and Fitch store opened. Connection?

Easons in O’ Connell Street was the biggest shock to me really. The whole ground floor was made up of Top tens, magazines and the 1916 books took over half of the floor. At the back is where Easons of O’ Connell street house the fiction. I was specifically looking for David Means, a pretty well-known short story and novelist. They did not have and the lady on the customer services did not know either who he was and told me that they stocked “plenty” short story writers like Anne Enright and Belinda Mc Keon. Right.

I am worried about the fact that independent bookshops are not able to make it anymore. When we first moved to Carlow, we had a wonderful second hand and used bookshop called Paul’s. He sold up and the building was taken over by DNG.

Luckily, in Dublin City, we have some pretty cool, independent bookshops but why are more and more people buying non-literary books like crime, romance and cookbooks as opposed to beautiful, “make you feel good about words and sentences and life” literature? I but most my books on the book depository because I have nowhere in Carlow or nearby to get the books I want. If there was a great bookshop in Carlow, I’d go and buy. Any takers?

But, seriously, Easons and seriously, Dundrum Town Centre, you might want to check yourself.

March 23, 2016July 18, 2019

Long trips to home in Mayo and the New Yorker podcast

I am originally from a small village in the West of Ireland. It takes us about 5-6 hours to get from my home in Carlow to my Mum’s house! so, Simon and I listen to New Yorker Fiction and Poetry Podcasts as there are hundreds of them available for free.

A well-known author reads a short story from another well-known author previously published in the New Yorker Magazine. For book lovers, each podcast is an hour of bliss. The New Yorker Fiction editor, Deborah Treisman is the Editor of the New Yorker Fiction magazine and is a brilliant interviewer. She always comes across as really serious and sometimes as if she doesn’t understand the short stories that are being read out! Obviously, being who she is, this is her way of getting to the nub of the story and pulling some good stuff out of the writer she is interviewing.

On the way down, we listened to David Means’ short story, the Spot being read by Jonathan Franzen. It is a most excellent story and we enjoyed the poetic rhythm and messed up characters and general naughtiness. On the way back, we listened to short story-hero of mine, Kevin Barry read Brian Friel’s, Saucer of Larks. Kevin is always very entertaining and his readings of stories are the best. He had Deborah giggling and laughing away.

You can hear Kevin read here at http://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction/kevin-barry-reads-brian-friel

and Jonathan read David Mean at http://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction/jonathan-franzen-reads-david-means

I use a free app called Podcast addict which downloads all the NY Fiction and poetry podcasts for me and has them ready for long, long, long roadtrips. Enjoy.

March 14, 2016July 18, 2019

Feeding the wild writer:Colm Keegan at Mountains to Sea Festival.

I attended a short workshop with Colm Keegan last weekend at the DLR LExicon in Dun Laoghaire for the Mountains to Sea Festival. It was a packed workshop, over 18 people but Colm handled and facilitated it well. I have read some of Colm’s short fiction and poetry and really liked his style and writing. He is also a very cool performance poet as well and has great things said about his classes so I was looking forward to it.

We looked at some different examples of what he thinks is wild writing. First, we looked at Chuck Palahniuk who is most famous for writing Fight Club. We read an excerpt from his short story/fiction type novel, Haunted. Certainly, we have full-on themes and ideas in this piece and the class got into a discussion on taboos. We explored the fact that there are many Huge taboos in writing that can shock readers but it is often the small, quiet taboos that no one likes to admit to speaking about that need airing.

After reading a piece from Dave Lordan’s First Book of Frags, we took part in a series of writing exercises. We wrote about something we had thought about in the last 24 hours, week and just now! It was good to write without censoring or stopping myself to edit. Colm added a simple piece of advice-write everyday and don’t edit or critique the writing. It could be complete rubbish or badly written and it may often not go anywhere. This type of free writing brings up creative connections and associations which can lead to a writing flow.

The workshop was full of cool people tha I would have liked more time to get to know and it was brilliant to get recommendations on new reads as well as simple, honest writing advice. Colm is very encouraging and makes it all look very easy!

The workshop flew by! At two hours, I feel I have only started to see what a good teacher Colm is. I am definitely going to look out for his day workshops and retreats. His blog can be found here along with information of the workshops he is running. http://uiscebot.wix.com/colm-keegan#!kingfisher-writers-retreat/c23we

February 26, 2016July 18, 2019

Poetry Workshop with Philip Terry

There will be a poetry workshop with Phillip Terry in the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies, Mater Dei Institute (DCU) at 6 p.m on Tuesday 1st March 2016.

Philip Terry was born in Belfast, and is currently Director of Creative Writing at the University of Essex. He is the author of the lipogrammatic novel The Book of Bachelors, and the poetry collections Oulipoems, Oulipoems 2, and Shakespeare’s Sonnets. His translations include a version of Dante’s Inferno relocated to present-day Essex, and Raymond Queneau’s last published book of poetry, Elementary Morality.

Philip Terry’s tapestry was shortlisted in 2013 for the Goldsmiths Prize.

It is a free workshop so if you are about the area, contact Michael Hinds at michael.hinds@dcu.ie.

Oh, to live nearer the capital!

February 24, 2016July 18, 2019

Summer Writing Institute For Teachers (SWIFT) 2016

Alison from the Summer Writing Insitute in NUI, Maynooth sent me information about the TWO summer courses for educators in writing this summer. I was accepted onto the week-long course last year and it was the best professional development as a teacher I have attended!

It is going to be taking place in TWO venues this year-Maynooth and Donegal. If you are interested in teaching writing, please send your application to Alison at writingcentre@nuim.ie and find out more details at http://muwritingcentre.blogspot.ie

January 30, 2016July 18, 2019