Heather Brett
A huge crowd attended the awards last night in the Cavan Crystal Hotel. I briefly met Heather Brett who went on to present the awards. A great number of young people were honoured in the primary and secondary school categories and it is terrific to see such encouragement of poetry at this level.
The overall winner in the adult category is Michelle O'Sullivan while Grace Wells took second place. Among those highly commended are Honor Duff, Mairead Donnellan, Mary O'Gorman, David Mohan and myself. The poem I had commended is called On The Dais of Spring. It is a 40 line piece with 8 verses of 5 lines and it is written in free verse. I know I have left out names but perhaps information will be forthcoming on the windows website. I shook hands with Noel Monahan (Noel and Heather Brett edit Windows Publications) when I collected my certificate. Before leaving I spoke to Honor Duff and the lovely Mairead Donnellan. My sister was good enough to accompany me to the event.
While there I picked up a copy of Windows Publications Authors and Artists Introduction series no. 9. Michael Farry and Paddy Smith of the Boyne Writers are included in this book.
"Don't tell me the moon is shining.
Show me the glint of light on broken glass."
Indeed! This quote from Anton Checkov appears on the inside of the Introduction series.
To go off on a tangent the Boyne readings and open mic took place last night too. The featured reader was Willie Hodgins of Meath Writers Circle.
And to further drift - I had close encounters with some swallows today in work. I was happy to see them swooping and darting about.
My son won the kids Cavan Crystal a few years ago. At the time I was struggling on a tight budget. I knew he'd been shortlisted, but we just couldn't afford to go. Heather Brett somehow got money somewhere to put us all up in a hotel for the night, and not only that, she made it a night to remember. It was the birth of my son's love of poetry, and me believing in the good of people...
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't have to exchange your soul in return! It's good to hear of such nobleness.
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