Category: reading

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Saturday and the Irish Times

It is rather silly, I know. I wait for Saturday morning to arrive where I can sit with a nice strong cup of caffeine and a copy of the Saturday Irish Times. It really is an excellent paper. It beats any other paper, even the Sunday Times. Other people will probably disagree but those people probably like the Financial Times or the Daily Mail because of it’s magazine. That’s fine. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

Especially though, it is incredibly ahead of the trends when it comes to art, culture and literature and is modest in the way it promotes good Irish writing. The weekend review section makes me a poor woman though? They always have some review of a short story collection or novel that I will want to buy. I take a snap of the review on my phone and that image will sit in my head for a while until the nice men in Hodges and Figges Bookshop take lots of money from me. Next book on my read list is Ron Rash and his short story collection “Burning Bright”. Apparently, I have to buy it. The people in the Irish Times told me to so it would be rude not to.

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Holiday reading

I have spent the last two weeks in the beautifully cool city of Santander, in the region of Cantrabia, Spain.  I still had a couple of new short story collections to read at home and was debating to bring them with me but then I thought of using my kindle instead.

I downloaded “Solace” by Belinda McKeon and “Selected stories” by William Trevor and”Broken harbour” by Tana French.
Some explanation is needed, I think! Solace is a novel I have been meaning to read for a while. I hate reading a book just because it’s popular or won some type of award and Solace seemed that type of book. No, I would wait until I felt like reading it. That time came after the West Cork Lit festival in Bantry. Belinda Mc Keon was reading and staying at the whole event in the same hotel we were in. I saw her at breakfast every morning and noted she looked using iPads and twitter and was fascinatingly to look at. Sounds, like I was a bit obsessed, I wasn’t. She just happened to be an early riser like us! So, her little face stuck in my mind and when I downloaded the sample first chapter from Solace, I liked and wanted more. I read Solace in barely two days! Belinda really gets Ireland but especially rural Ireland. I had never thought of the pull of the father and the guilt of the son as they leave rural life, farming and land behind them.  She also seems to write very descriptively about modern Dublin life and having a baby! Solace is a must read that reminds me of what a good short story is about:nothing but everything. The novel opens with a prologue which makes you carry on reading until the end. I’m giving nothing away!
The second novel I read in ultra quick time was Broken Harbour by Tana French. She is an Irish(well, we have claimed her as Irish!) crime writer whose first two novels scared the bejesus out of me! This one is as compelling though it seemed to go on a bit too much towards the end and didn’t scare me as much. Maybe, I’m becoming less nervy in older life! I enjoyed it, a very light read that those type of women might bring to the beach. Tana French is no Belinda Mc Keon thought I’m sure both women are happy with their own genre and style. Worth a read but not as good as her first two, though disturbing observations on the Celtic Tiger and what went could have gone wrong.
I am only half way through William Trevor’s Selected Stories. I’ve noticed that be seems to be a very formal, gentlemanly type of writer and his stories could be easily lengthened out into a novella. I’m enjoying him though and learning from him as the master of the short story. He was born in 1928 but he can do it all-old style, modern, funny, sexy…Jealous?
The holidays have been great for not only reading but for writing. Since, my time in Bantry, I have written 9 individual short stories, with two of them becoming the longest I have ever written. Now, the next step is to draft, redraft and then show to the writers group. We have a reading coming up at Penfest Carlow 2012 and hoping to get one into a good state for that!

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Carlow Penfest Literary Festival 2012

Carlow Penfest literary festival

Now in its second year, preparations are underway for Pen Fest 2012, the annual Carlow County Library literary festival.

The focus of this years festival is on emerging writers and will feature workshops and talks by experts in the literary field. A number of different genres will be covered throughout the weekend including

Writing poetry for Beginners with Iggy McGovern on Friday, 14th September at 7 p.m. in Carlow Library

Iggy McGovern is a physicist who also writes poety and is an Associate Professor in the School of Physics at Trinity College. He has had two collections of poetry published. The King of Suburbia was published by The Dedalus Press in 2005 and won the inaugral Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry. A second collection, Safe House, was published by Dedalus in 2010.

Screenwriting for Beginners with Ferdia Mac Anna on Saturday, 15th September at 11 a.m. in Carlow Library

Ferdia Mac Anna has worked as a television producer/director, journalist, magazine editor, screenwriter and scriptwriter, as well as songwriter and singer for many years. He has taught at various colleges and institutions and he currently lectures in Screenwriting and TV and Radio Broadcasting. He is perhaps best know for his three novels, The Last of the high Kings, The Ship Inspector and Cartoon City. His memoir, The Rocky Years is in development for a TV drama series. He has written one poem

Author, director and film maker Bob Quinn will give a talk entitled “Atlantean: from film to book and back again“on Saturday, 15th September at 4 p.m. in Carlow Library

Bob Quinn is primarily known as an independent film-maker, and has made more than 100 films, including Listen (1978); Self-Portrait with Red Car (1976); Poitín (1978); Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoire (1975); Atlantean (1985); and Budawanny (1987). He has received many awards, and two of his films are in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is also the author of Atlantean – Ireland’s North African and Maritime Heritage; Smokey Hollow, a novel; Maverick: A Dissident View of Broadcasting Today; and The Atlantean Irish: Ireland’s Oriental and Maritime Heritage. He is a member of Aosdána, and lives in Connemara.

Writing for Children with Herbie Brennan on Sunday, 16th at 2 p.m. in Carlow Library

A professional writer whose work has appeared in more than fifty countries, Herbie Brennan is enjoyed by children and adults alike. Herbie has an well-established career writing for the children’s market — from zany picture books to teenage fiction and from game books to school curriculum non-fiction. His teenage novel, Faerie Wars, also rocketed to international success. Herbie lives in an old County Carlow rectory with his wife the author, painter, therapist and crystal expert Jacquie Burgess.

An Evening with Carlow Writers’ Co-Op on Sunday, 16th at 4 p.m. in Carlow Library

Carlow Writers’ Co-Op are a group of Carlow based writers who meet every two weeks to share and explore all styles of writing. Established for a number of years and closely affiliated with Carlow County Library Service, the group will provide an evening of readings to close Pen Fest 2012.

Stay tuned to the Pen Fest page for news of workshops, lectures, participants and booking. For further information contact John at jshortall@carlowcoco.ie or phone 059 9129713. Details can be found here.

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The Long story, short

Jennifer Mathews from the Cork Short Story festival likes writing stories! She really likes writing longer than the average short story and had noticed that short stories were getting…em..shorter!

It launches in October 2012 and will be exclusively online. Looking forward to it already.

She has set up a webpage and journal for all those people who like to take their time with telling a story. If you want to submit;

Short Story Guidelines

1. Stories should generally be between 4000 and 9000 words, although a few hundred words less or more are welcome. A maximum of two stories at a time will be considered. Please do not re-submit work previously declined, or work that has been published elsewhere.

2. The Long Story, Short is a literary journal for fiction only. Stories for children are not in the scope of this journal. Translations are accepted. Genre fiction will only be considered should it have very strong literary merit.

3. At this time we regret that we cannot pay contributors. Donations, no matter how small, are welcome to help fund web-hosting of The Long Story, Short so we can continue to publish work which is longer than what is found in many conventional publications.

4. The editor will endeavor to respond to writers within 8 weeks from the date they submit their work. Unfortunately, we cannot make comments on individual submissions.Submissions are welcome at any time. A reading period may be introduced in future.

5. The Long Story, Short will publish one story per month only. If your submission is unsuccessful, please do try again in future. Remember, readers make the best writers.

6. Stories must be sent in a document attached to an email (NOT pasted into the body of an email). No PDFs please. Send to longstoryshortjournal@gmail.com .

Find more here at https://longstoryshort.squarespace.com/

 

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Éilís Ni Dhuibhne:The shelter of neighbours short stories

The shelter of neighbours:short stories by Éilís Dhuibhne 

Yes, I am aware that Éilís Ni Dhuibhne released her new short story collection a couple of months ago while all the other people had read, reviewed and moved on. How do those people do it that quickly? I take my time with a short story and read bits of pieces of other short story writers. I think it allows me to contrast the styles and content. While, I was reading Shelter of Neighbours, I was also reading Jamie O’ Connell and Sarah Hall. It’s a hard life!

In shelter of neighbours, Éilís focusses on the writer as a tool to almost tease the existence of a writer and their life. Jamie O’Connell does this frequently in his Some kind of beauty. Éilís writes in an easy style, her characters are mostly odd balls, fristrated with life and the ordinary. My favourite ones are the ones that take on a macabre sort of quality. A literary lunch and Trespasses  are gems, in this sense. In The moon shines clear, the horseman is here, the main character goes though a sad return to the past and you will by reading furiously to see what happens in the end!  I really liked the way she set different short stories in a fictional estate in Dublin, the characters intertwine in a minor way throughout some of the stories, which is nice. It makes the short story genre move back and forth into the novel genre. Bikes I have lost is about 50 pages, almost a novella. The story needed this though I don’t quite understand the ending!

Many of the stories speak of an older Ireland, with one story “The Blind” forecasting the present day of money, children and priests in a subtle way.

Overal, the stories are so comforting, nothing much happens or so we think until the ending builds right up and we look back and piece together the moments she had created.

You can buy her book on kindle or in paperback here.

 

 

 

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Mountains to Sea festival, Dun Laoghaire

The annual Mountains to the Sea Festival is coming up from the 4-9th September. Some brilliant names and workshops like Kevin Barry, John Banville and Derek Landy. Go see their website at http://www.mountainstosea.ie/ for more details.
I’ll be there if you are not!

 

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A chat with Kevin Barry author of “City of Bohane” at the West Cork Literary Festival

Kevin Barry:West Cork Literary Festival, 2012

 

I got to meet and chat with Kevin Barry,author of “City of Bohane: at West Cork Literary Festival. I’ve uploaded the interview as it is. Kevin was so generous with his time and I think you will find lots of practical, solid advice for the writers out there. I’ve certainly taken it on, since the festival, I’ve focussed myself to writing a new story every day. The idea is that over the year, I’m bound to find a couple of good ideas to run with. And, it happened today! I made a kernel of something that I think I can turn into something, story like! It also occurred to me that writers are mostly inclusive and motivating folk. I don’t know any other aspect of the media world that would be so giving of their time and help. And yes, Kevin has described himself as having a gigantic ego but he absolutely hasn’t. I miss Bantry and all the writers, cannot wait to return next year. In the meantime, we have the Cork Short Story Festival to look forward to, which I will be covering. Kevin is reading at this too. Those Cork people really have it worked out, don’t they? If you haven’t had the pleasure to read “City of Bohane”, I insist you get it and devour it! You can buy it here.         This edition is the new,swankier cover. I have only got the old, orange original. Anyway, you just want to listen to Kevin. Enjoy! Listen here. kevinbarry1 I will upload part 2 after a few days!

The 2nd Best City of Bohane cover
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Day 3 of West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry

I was becoming very sad…my last day at Bantry but was also really excited/nervous. Simon had got me tickets to hear Kevin Barry read that evening for my birthday. I had also managed to grab a few minutes with Kevin. I’ll upload the interview I did with him but in those 20 minutes, there are a huge amount of advice and tips for would be writers. He was very generous with his time and extremely easy to chat with, which is good.

Derek, our friend had recommended that we go listen to Gerard Dawe read from his new book “Selected Poems”. so, when I finished up with Kevin, we made our way to Bantry Library. Slightly late but brave, we skulked at the back until a nice librarian offered us a seat. When we went up to buy his book, Simon got chatting with Gerard. Gerard is a fellow of Trinity College Dublin, he is associate professor in English and Creative Writing, and inaugural director of the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing at Trinity College. Turns out, he is also childhood friend with Simon’s Uncle, Eon, who now lives in Canada. Yes, we know, Ireland is such a small place. Simon was chuffed with this connection!

The main event was at 8:30 with Kevin Barry and Sri Lankan author, Romesh Gunesekera. Claire Kilroy compered the event, she did a fantastically relaxed job of it! Kevin read from his new short story collection “Dark lies the island” He read just one story, everyone loved hi. He reads as well as he writes, very dramatically and full of humor and emotion. It was one of my favourite moments of Bantry 2012. Romesh read from his novel “Prisoner of Paradise”. Afterwards, Claire interviewed them with some questions from the audience. Kevin and Romesh seemed to gel really well together, even though their writing is totally unconnected. They gave lots of practical advice and wisdom, Kevin was the same as when I spoke with him-motivating and encouraging.

Was beyond sad to leave the next morning early. But, I will absolutely be back, that is a promise! Bantry is a superb little town, people are friendly, food is delish and the literary talent is pretty good too!