Category: Short stories

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Cork International Short Story Festival 2015

I am so excited! I missed last year’s Short Story festival in Cork due to a little baby boy being only 3 weeks old! But, this year, he is bigger and I am getting sleep, we have a routine and my husband is very kind.

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I am off to Cork for a day and a night. I am meeting up with Madeleine D’Arcy to chat to her about writing and stuff. Going to get to Deirdre Brennan’s reading, Danielle Mac Laughlin and Tom Morris and I will spend obscene amounts of money on short fiction. There will also be a dinner of tapas at some stage with an old friend who also loves short stories.

Life is the best, you know.

 

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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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Thoughts on reviewing books

Thoughts on the review process

Apparently, most journalists don’t even read the books they review, they skim, hope and write random sound bites about books. I have developed a knack for knowing when this is happening! Can tell it straight away!

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But, guess what? I read all the books I review, I think deeply about them and I wake at night and toss and turn about the worry of offending and upsetting talented writers…I sometimes hold back in case i meet these writers and they hate me.

I have taken my time reading Paul O’ Reilly’s short story collection and after reading this, I have been thinking so much about why I like certain collections, styles and themes. i have also been bingeing on Wells Tower, Everything burned, everything ravaged and Madeleine D’arcy’ Waiting for the bullet and yesterday, Claire Keegan’s Antarctica!

What all this reading, thinking and tossing and turning has led me to conclude is that writers, obviously have unique voices and writing styles but I usually enjoy them all. The thing that will turn my head is the content, intended audience or the “turn” of the story.

Content-Irish short story writers tend to write about fairly typical things. Some male ones can verge towards sex, drinking and being drunk in the snow/old man’s pub, rock and roll, depression, mental health issues etc. Some female short writers like to write about affairs. Women having affairs with their sister’s husband or driving in a car with their husband and not connecting with them at all throughout the journey. Other favourite women’s content includes women getting pregnant when having sex for the first time and having the baby and giving it away.

I am stereotyping, somewhat, for effect and to make a point. But these sort of content issues have been covered again and again and I am sure Irish men and women have moved on from these types of reading contents.

affairsI love all sorts of writing styles and voices but in terms of content, for me to LOVE a collection, it has to quirk things up. Not a huge amount just don’t start the story with an affair, women’s curves and breasts…If it’s funny silly, brilliant. If it is bizarre as in I have never met a character like the one in the story, I am in! I also don’t like stories that are so experimental they make no sense at all in the world we live in. you know those ranty types, trying to be all “James Joyce” and “Ulysses”. Leave that to the genius, please. Gives me a headache.

So, when I make a good review, it usually down to my personal tastes in these things.

Phew. I can breathe now and perhaps, sleep tonight. My disclaimer is over. I feel much freer! I am hoping to use these categories to give more honest reviews and hoping no offence will be taken as I am sure there is a market for all those affairs, stolen kisses and pints of guinness out there!

What type of situations and people do you like to read about?

 

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I’ve been mostly reading a story or two in Amsterdam!

Had a little first family city break to Amsterdam last week. Emrys was the perfect boy and Simon was the perfect husband, as always!

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We stayed in an Air B and B apartment and I got the chance to read a couple of stories. I am savaging Wells Tower, “Everything burned, everything ravaged” presently and managed the first story from the Madeleine D’arcy collection, Waiting for the bullet. I am so nearly finished with Paul O’ Reilly’s, The girl missing from the window.

Holidays are great for reading and I am pretty chuffed that the Mboy slept on the plane there and back. Happy days! Writing was zero though, there was far too much walking to be done! We hit the Jewish Museum, the Jewish Quarter, Van Gogh Museum, the Miro Gardens and the Ann Frank House to name a few. Mboy was also treated to the Ajax football arena by his father. I was let off to walk, shop and drink coffee and read. Nice tradition to start!

We also treated the Mboy to a classic, Dutch, children’s book. Miffy is a character I remember well and I am sure you do too! I bought the original and first Miffy for him. I’d like to start a thing. Problem is that Dick Bruna, who wrote these books 60 years ago wrote them in the spirit of the time so Miffy’s Mum is busy cleaning the house and Miffy’s Dad is out in the garden. Proper order. 😉

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Wells Tower-Everything ravaged, everything burned

It is a beautiful day. A new soft, navy blue notebook was purchased. A coffee was had. My husband bought me a copy of Wells Tower’s short story collection, published in 2009! But, it reads fresh and good.

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I have savaged the first few pages. Characters are Colin Barrett and Kevin Barry but language is American and silly. In fact, the characters and situations are all silly but true. It’s just the way things should be in a good, short story.

Thanks to Colin Barrett, who I asked for new recommendations ages ago and finally got around to getting one of them! I hope he doesn’t mind me saying but maybe, he should set up a blog called “short story collections for people who like short story collections”

Could be a BIG earner!

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The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly’s debut collection launch

There was great glee and fun last week in the Lewis Household. A short story collection. An Irish short story collection. A local launch of an Irish short story collection.

The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly was launched in the Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy during Focal Literary Festival.

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Paul O Reilly is a writer of stories, drama, screen plays and is also a talented musician and techy guy. He has a busy family and runs his own company. He has been published in every single good literary magazine there ever was and has been listed for every single good fiction competition there ever was. He is also a terribly nice man. We could be jealous but let’s not.

He read a couple of excerpts from his collection, “What Rosie Did” seems to the be the one that is being pulled out everywhere and rightly so, it is very interesting and does reel you right in. I have read nearly half the collection already, which is pretty good as I have been terribly busy with painting pebble dash at the front of the house, raising a baby, boot camping with buggy buddy babies and meeting my fiction group to get all critiqued! I am also completing a short story at present, facilitating a professional development techy course for primary teachers online and preparing a teaching demo for my upcoming place at the Summer Writing Institute in Maynooth University at end of the month.

However, I will be posting my thoughts on Paul’s collection and getting stuck into Edge Hill Short Story Readers’ Prize, Madeleine D’arcy’s debut short story collection.

Summer 2015 could be called the year of the Irish short story collections!

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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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Flannery O Connor’s Mystery and Manners

As you know, I am a member of the Carlow Writers’ Co-operative, I love it but recently I have noticed that most of the writers are turning to poetry…Hmmm, is poetry the new black? We have three fiction writers and two short story writers, me and another girl. We met at my gaff after baby went down to talk all things short and to critique and overhaul each others work.

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She brought me a  copy of Flannery O’ Connor’s Writing manual type book, Mystery and Manners. It is made up of her thoughts and lectures on writing prose with a full chapter dedicated to the short story form. I have just finished that very chapter and it is brilliant, of course. She speaks about the two main and important parts of the short story. They are, according to her, mystery of the personality of the characters as in the character needs a personality and the second and probably most important things is the concrete, the visual and the senses. What does the writer see, what does the writer want the reader to see and feel or get meaning from? In fact, her musings and advice remind me of a poetry workshop i did last week with A Doctor Derek Coyle…Perhaps, poetry and short stories are more similar than we think.

Mystery and Manners by Flannery O’ Connor is available from every good place you can buy books, i would think. Amazon has it http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Manners-Occasional-Flannery-OConnor/dp/0374508046

 

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Birdman and Raymond Carver

Finally got around to seeing Birdman recently. It took time!

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I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Michael Keaton and Emma Stone completely rock. The way it’s shot is my thing too. But, the best thing is that it uses the most well-known short story from Raymond Carver, What we talk about when we talk about love. 

The film shows a washed up, former action hero actor who is trying to direct, adapt and star in a broadway version of Carver’s short story. The film and the show choose to use Carver’s editor, Gordon Lish’ edited version of the story. This story is more aggressive and sweary than Carver’s gentle one. But, most importantly it is more suited to the theme of the film-art versus commercial and giving the audience what they want as opposed to making real art.

Critics and fans of Carver have been very unhappy about this fact but I think it works as that’s the whole point of the film.

Anyway, what I do think is I want to go straight back and read Carver’s wonderful story and hope one day someone will put this on the stage!