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The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly

The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly

I am always excited about new Irish short story writers, Paul O’ Reilly seems to gave won every awards going and is also talented in every artistic way you can name. His collection, The Girl missing from the Window is published by Doire Press and was launched at the Strawberry Festival in Enniscorthy which I attended.

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Paul writes very well, he can pull a story structure together exceptionally well and constructs the perfect start and end of stories with no hardship.

The first story in the collection, What Rose did, draws you in from the title and the opening sentence.

“The day before Rose Carney died was a Friday.”

It’s direct, always a winner for a short story so it makes you want to read on and on. The story is slow-paced with simple language. It is highly current as the topic of the story is that of teenage suicide. It seems to have gained a lot of attention as when I read reviews on the collection, it was mentioned constantly.

 

Other interesting stories were What’s eating him? This story  has a strong American feel to it, about a customer who falls in lust with the waitress in the diner that he is in. A good feel to this as I read it, easy going.

The Love Drug marks a departure from the tone/style taken by the writer so far. In this, the narrator is a grieving husband who loses his wife due to a mistake she makes at a party. I won’t give it away but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that this type of situation is outside of writer’s normal life experience. I think it shows slightly and I’m not sure if I was convinced of how real the character’s lives and mistakes were to the writer. It’s like when your mother or father tries to be hip, cool and down with it. Anyway, all I can say is that perhaps the writer was experimenting with content and he gives it his best attempt, which was good enough for me a a reader.

Guys and the way they might look at you is also a very good story. Probably my favourite out of the collection. I like a long, short story and this is such. I hated the female character and loved the male one in it. For me, this means the story is a hit! For example, if I can feel strong emotions towards one character as if they are real, then the story is alive. I loved the way the story was drawn out and out and left linger at nearly forty pages long. The ending too, is sweet and smacks of real people, real life and relationships. This is where the writer shines, when he can write feeling into the characters and where I can feel like this really could happen and not just an idea that has no connection with the writer and his experience.

I would recommend the collection as Paul is a skillful short story writer. The Girl Missing from the Window is a balanced piece of work that centers around the relationships in families and partnerships, each story earns its place with the quieter ones sitting nicely among the more noisy ones! It entertains!

You can buy this book from Doire Press at doirepress.com

 

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Carlow Arts Festival-“Have your say” forum

The general public was invited into the Carlow Arts Festival Offices yesterday for a chat, tea, food etc. There were lots of people with lots of things to say!

Cornelia Mc Carthy, the Chair of the Board of the Festival facilitated a lively and encouraging debate on where the Festival needs to improve. As with all open forums, things can get bogged down in what needs to improve and I hope the Board can remember the positive things that were said as well.

I am very much looking forward to helping, discussing and attending the 2016 Carlow Arts Festival. You should too.

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The mission statement of the festival is that:

 aspires to foster culture in all its forms and to promote the growth of visual art, drama, entertainment, literature, music and dance and to advance education in the arts; to reimagine a Carlow which appeals to domestic and international cultural visitors, to offer a diverse range of artistic experiences and activities in both town and county, and to produce work that is not replicated elsewhere.

I am focussing on the words culture in all forms, advance education in the arts, reimagine Carlow, domestic and international cultural visitors, diverse range of experiences& activities in the town and the country and without replication elsewhere.

These are HUGE aims! We need to keep these in mind so much so that they should be printed out at the front of the office and left there as a reminder for all of what the festival aspires to.

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Day Three at the SWIFT Writing Institute 2015

On day three, we moved from the Phoenix Building to the Library building on North Campus. A beautifully, new, shiny, glass building with an excellent Starbucks on the ground floor. Students are spoilt these days, it’s official.
We started off with our daily journalling followed by Matthew Martin, a senior lecturer in English in St. Mary’s University, Belfast. He took us on a whistle stop tour of a survey he is carrying out. It is a survey of writing pedagogy in Ireland. We spoke about creativity, beating the exam and assessment system and disadvantage among many other things. Loved this session.
Then, I as up to my teaching demo. I decided to speak about writing and children with English as an additional language needs. I focussed on animoto, photo story, book creator, story bird and kid blog to show how I have helped children with little English to create their own story. I was happy when it was over, it seemed to go well but that could be due to the fact that I bribed the fellows with chocolate and popcorn.
Next up was Orlagh, a fellow educate together teacher who stunned us with idea after idea of how to help children with little English communicate, learn and have fun. I was struck by her learning and teaching ethos, showing the learner respect no matter what age or background. Real educate together ethos stuff going on there.
To finish up, we had Chris and Jo, two higher level educators who spoke about getting third level students to speak up, write and want to learn. I realized what an easier job we have at primary level. Most children will want to learn if it is made fun and child centered. We had a chance to do a quick observational task for writing, one I will be stealing and listened to the difference between scientific and personal writing style.
Another wow day. Inspired and stuff.

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Wordlegs Magazine, my story and a college in California!

I wrote a story called “In the event of a sudden loss in cabin pressure” for the Post-Celtic Edition of Wordlegs magazine back in 2013. Elizabeth Reapy was the Editor and I was so chuffed to be featured in that edition. I got to read my story at the 10 days in Dublin Festival and it felt good.

image3Last year, when I was busy growing a baby inside me, a man called Pete Clark contacted me. He told me that he had discovered my story “In the Event of a Sudden Loss in Cabin Pressure” during Summer 2013 from Wordlegs Press and that he was currently using it in a short unit on Irish literature for his Grade 10 class. How did he discover Wordlegs magazine? He told me it was through a man named Victor Luftig. He has worked at Brandeis University, University of Virginia, and other places. Here’s his bio. Pete told me he had been a big inspiration regarding teaching and academics and bringing it to high school students.

Pete asked me if I would speak with his classes via skype one evening so we set up a meeting there and then! I had an energetic discussion and Q and A with the two classes who are looking at my story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. They had taken such time and care to put together questions and thoughts about it, the Irish and literature, the Celtic Tiger and recession and how these had impacted on writing here. We talked about the themes of expatriation and repatriation that are parts of many cultures, but have certain and unique questions when applied to our Irish experience and how that impacts on literature and the arts.

It felt great, thanks to Victor, Pete Clark and the students.

My story “In the event of a sudden loss in cabin pressure” ( and some other ones) in the WordLegs Magazine can be downloaded and read here.posttigerstories

 

 

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Stinging Fly Magazine-Spring Issue

Stinging Fly had a great deal on last week. Free p and p! I couldn’t resist although I would have purchased it anyway! I love opening up a new copy, this one is especially shiny and turquoise. With a man and a gun.

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I’ve managed to read a few pages, namely the Sara Baume essay on dogs in literature. An interesting subject matter and it invites you, surely, to get her debut novel-Spill, simmer, falter, wither. It is quite the read. How does she remember the order of the book’s title though?

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My Poem for Ireland is…

First up, we have the very religious and very Christmassy poem from Patrick Kavanagh, A Christmas Childhood. This poem is told from an adult’s viewpoint to begin with then switches to that of a child. It tells us that really only the young can fully enjoy the wonder of Christmas and its magic. However, as an adult, it may come back in snippets. Kavanagh evokes crystal clear images of Christmas and what it was to him and many of the people who read this, I would assume. I love Christmas and can relate to the innocence and awe that is lost by the child once they become an adult. That does make me sad. However, I get the impression Kavanagh was a holy man and this comes across strongly in the poem. There is an old-world feel to this, typical of feel that we get from reading Peig Sayers. A time and place that is gone but yet, important but perhaps not that important enough to be my Poem for Ireland.

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A Disused shed in Wexford by Derek Mahon. I’m didn’t connect with it but I can see it is a powerful poem about history and the pain of the people in it.

Dublin by Louis MacNeice-I really liked it. Brilliant imagery. I am there with him.

Easter 1916 by W.B. Yeats is a strongly evocative and emotional response. I have always really liked this poem. A terrible beauty is born..and so many other great quotables from this poem.

Fill Arís by Séan Ó Ríordáin-I can’t get on with the theme or the idea behind this poem. It is old-world. There is so much more to life that the life that Sean tells us to return to. I’m not sure if this Ireland exists anymore apart from when the tourists come out. It’s a no from me.

Filleadh ar an gCathair by Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh. This poem is the opposite of the poem Fill Aris and its thoughts. The city rocks and pulses in this poem. I loved it. The short, snappiness of the language and the words. The images it brings up. This poem loves the city. It’s a modern classic. This is my third favourite for A Poem for Ireland.

Making love outside Aras An Uachtarain-I am not overly keen on Paul Durcan’s poetry. He is what some people describe as “gas”. His poems always try to make the reader laugh with their apparent cuteness. The title here might win it the Poem for Ireland alone but that’s not enough, in my opinion. People will need to read this poem and the other 9 poems and make up their mind without simply reading the title and thinking it’s “hilarious”. Once you get over the title, there is not much left there.

Quarantine by Eavan Boland is a simple narrative of a love story based in the Famine. I really liked it until I got to the end whereupon it became all preachy-like.

The Statue of the Virgin at Granard Speaks by Paula Meehan is my second favourite. I love the way Paula Meehan uses her voice and accent as a rhythm. This poem tells the story of a young girl who gave birth to a baby at the statue of Mary in Granard years back. It is told in the voice of the Virgin Mary and ends on the depressing point that Virgin Mary did nothing to help this girl and her baby. A statement on religion perhaps and humanity.

When All The Others Were Away At Mass by Seamas Heaney, the late master and hero of Irish poetry had to be featured in any Top Ten list of Irish poetry. This poem is simply beautiful and evokes a moment that everyone who loved their parent can relate to and be touched by. There are no tricks here. No showing off. It is a poem for everyone and that is why I make this my Poem for Ireland. This is my  favourite of the Poem for Ireland shortlist but I am unsure to whether this poem could be called my favourite Seamas Heaney poem or even my favourite Irish poem. I’ve got to pick from the ten here and that is the one I pick.

I predict Heaney will win as we love, love, love him. Or it may go the gas-sounding title. Choose wisely, guys! If you get the chance, you can read the poems here and listen to audio and watch archived footage from the poets themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Poem for Ireland:My Top Three:Guest Post by Simon Lewis

Poem for Ireland – my top 3 – Simon Lewis

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Of the ten poems in the shortlist, I’m not sure if I’m heading into Rick O’Shea territory by admitting I had only read 6 out of the 10 of them before. I think I get away with this as most of these 6 were not on the Leaving Cert syllabus. Also, I can’t think of any reason why I would have chosen to read the two poems in the Irish language so I’m giving myself a pat on the back before I even get down to business. (As an aside, I have to begrudgingly admit, I liked Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuaigh’s poem.)
It was quite difficult to choose my top 3 poems from the list as some of them are so good in different ways. I loved the clever rhyming in Louis MacNeice’s Dublin, and I found myself a bit emotional reading Séamus Heaney’s When all the others were away at Mass. To make my task easier, I don’t like Paul Durcan’s poem at all. Eavan Boland’s poem isn’t my scene either. The other Irish poem, well, it was a bit too Irish.
This wouldn’t be a blog post without giving out that my favourite poem wasn’t in it. In fact, every Facebook status about this list seems to question the exclusion of certain poets or poems. Patrick’s Kavanagh’s A Christmas Childhood is in the shortlist. I was surprised it wasn’tStony Grey Soil, Inniskeen Road: July Evening or In Memory of my Mother. My favourite one of his is Epic. In any case, the chosen poem on the shortlist fell outside my top 3 so I’m sure Patrick Kavanagh is very disappointed and rolling in said grey soil.
From the shortlist, it was hard not to choose Disused Shed in Co. Wexford. There’s very few poems that are able to capture everything and Derek Mahon does it so well. The first line:
Even now there are places where a thought might grow —
 
sets us up from tiny insignificance to the seemingly equally insignificant shed in Wexford and then it just goes nuts and takes off! Somehow, Mahon manages to take in everything in the poem and, I guess, it was always going to be number one.
My second favourite poem from the list was Heaney’s. I have no idea why I didn’t want to like this poem so much – maybe I was subconsciously trying not to pick him – but, as I said above, it made me quite emotional. Very little makes me like this, especially poetry, but I found myself in his world and connecting my own experience of losing my mother. Heaney and I couldn’t come from two more different Irish cultures but for this poem, we shared a feeling.
The third poem in my top three was Easter 1916 by Yeats. I don’t know why but I just like it a lot. I’m currently editing an online magazine called Sixteen, which explores themes from the 1916 Rising and this poem was the stimulus for its second issue so maybe that’s one of the reasons why. I’m not at all nationalist in my own outlook in life and there’s little of the poem that I relate to on a personal level. I do however love the clever rhyming scheme throughout. I like the form and the repetition of A terrible beauty is born. It’s a great poem and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it competing with Mahon’s poem in the national vote.
I was thinking that if the poets remained the same but a different poem was chosen for each of them, what would my top three have been? I think Paula’s Meehan’s Death of a Field would have easily made it. As I said Kavanagh’s Epic would have got the top spot. I’d probably still have Derek Mahon in there and it probably would be the same poem or maybe Antarctica.
It’s great to see that poetry is getting an airing on the national airwaves and hopefully it will continue and give some of our newer poets the space to showcase a more modern Ireland.
Simon Lewis is a primary school principal in Carlow Educate Together. He is has been listed for the Hennessey Prize for Emerging Poetry 2014 and is awaiting the results at the end of February. He has also been listed for the Listowel Poetry Prize, Dromineer Literary Prize and a special commendation in the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Awards 2014. He has also been published in many literary journals and magazines to name a few- Boyne Berries, the Blue Max Review, Irish Literary Review Silver Apples, Black Water and RTE’s Arena New Planet Cabaret book.
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Back to it-Carlow Writers’ meeting

Last night, I took a big step! I returned to my writing group, the Carlow Writers’ Group. The last time I was there, I was very pregnant and now I have a nearly 5 month old boy. It is only in the last few weeks that he has started to sleep at night, therefore I am less tired and have started reading in the evening.

My last reading with big belly!
My last reading with big belly!

I have returned to Binocolar Vision by Edith Pearlman. I actually have forgotten a lot of her stories so am re-reading and enjoying! some. I find her style and characters cold at times but her characters are usually interestingly and eccentric loners.

The group went well, I didn’t bring any writing and I am hoping I will the next time. Simon stayed with the baby so he will go next time.

I am hoping to reblog when I am reading more regularly.

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Ivy Day in the Committee Room by Eimear Mc Bride

Ivy Day in the Committee Room by Eimear Mc Bride

I was really looking forward to this one, because of the recent hype around Eimear Mc Bride and her writing and because I wanted to see what she did with my least loved Dubliners’ story.

The story still remains my least favourite of the Dubliners collection. Eimear Mc Bride has been lauded much recently and I have not read A Girl is a half formed thing either though have picked it up in bookshops and read the first few pages and put back again for another time. Eimear Mc Bride writes in an “experimental” way. Joyce did too, in Ulysses.

I don’t quite understand why Mc Bride chose to write this story in this style as none of the Dubliners’ stories that Joyce wrote did. In fact, they were written in a plain, direct manner. Mc Bride seems to write this type of way. I wonder what she will do next? I’d like to see something fresh and unique especially in a short story collection that gave the writers a free reign. Experimental writing is not my bag, baby so in fairness to Eimear, it would be hard to please me! Her story has been dubbed the best of the collection by the critics whereas I would pick another one but it is down to personal reading taste.

Ivy Day in the Committee Room by Eimear Mc Bride is available in Dubliners 100 by Tramp Press.