Reading in The Irish Writers' Centre tomorrow night 7pm

The jeans I like that have been missing since October have just been found and where were they? In the top drawer of the chest of drawers!  Why didn't I see them before this?  Anyway this is good as I can wear them tomorrow with a black top and a black jacket.  So that's sorted.  I'm also going to get my hair done tomorrow afternoon so at least I should look the part.

Now I only have to worry about feeling like a rabbit caught in headlights, stunned and unable to speak.  Or perhaps I will panic and run from the building.  No, just calm down.  It should be okay.  Except I feel a bit like an "i" (a little i in an ee cummings poem).  I've printed off the story and read it aloud once.  I must read it again in a while.  In the immediate I have to go to sleep and go to work in the morning. 

The next Lonely Voice Short Story readings will take place on Wednesday, 6th July at 7pm, where Sarah Gilmartin, Deirdre McClay, Orla Fay and Guy Barriscale, the four short-listed writers, will read from their winning stories. The readers were selected anonymously by guest judge Leo Cullen.

Poem 42


n

OthI

n


g can

s

urPas


s

the m

y


SteR

y

of


s

tilLnes

s

e.e. cummings

High July a Battle of the Books

It's not quite Independence Day but it may be something of a small revolution today if the Boyne Writers' Group can take back the trophy in The Battle of the Books, a satirical writing contest.  The Meath Writers' Circle are hotly tipped to win.  Their captain is the fine Tommy Murray and I'm sure the lovely Frank Murphy will take his place on their team.  Our Boyne Writers are represented by the great Michael Farry, James Linnane, Caroline Finn and Bill Comerford, all of whom are good speakers.  Good luck everyone!  The event is taking place in the Trim Castle Hotel from 1.30pm on.

And pictured above and below roses from my garden.  While I took the photos the bees and wasps hummed about me.  All I could think of was keats' line "the murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves".  It was from Keats' poetry that I learned about sensuousness. 

The Linnet's Wings

Wow I am so proud to have a poem included in the summer issue of the online magazine The Linnet's Wings.  It's a gorgeous ezine and if you follow the link to have a read click on the Digital Edition to get the full effect.  Poets included in this edition are Eira Needham, Lark Beltram, Annie Whitehouse, James Owens and Nonnie Augustine.  You can find my poem Drawn to the Light on page 28.  Also included are Susan Tepper, Anne Earney, Andrew Stancek, Liz Haigh, Beth Crossley, Brian McMillan, Cezarija Abartis, Peter Kieran and Katie O'Flynn.

The Linnet's Wings was founded in Edgeworthstown in the summer of 2007 and  inspired by the ideas and writings of Maria Edgeworth, Lord Byron ,Oliver Goldsmith, Jonathan Swift, Padraic Colum and many of the other fine voices-of-old who once lived in and graced the surroundings of this small village.

The Linnet's Wings is supported by an international team of editors who are based in the Republic of Ireland, US, UK and Canada.  Their aim is to showcase writers and artists whose work stimulates and challenges the sensibility and imagination of its readers, and to provide a seedbed of inspiration for writers/artists and readers both, just as was done by the voices of the past.

Find it here:

http://www.thelinnetswings.org/



Garcia Lorca

Anyone who is interested in the poet Garcia Lorca check out this link to an article in the guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/jun/25/spain-franco-federico-garcia-lorca

Pride

Happy Pride to all my gay and lesbian friends.  The pride march starts today at 2pm at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. 

The Lord of the Rings

We did The Hobbit for Junior Cert in school so afterwards I bought the Lord of the Rings trilogy and knuckled down to reading it for the summer.  It was difficult to give way to a present of fantasy but I loved the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, and sure enough I found my way slowly through the books.  I'm not a fan of the movies but I might watch them again at some stage.  Such a strange world presented by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I might read the fellowship again too.  How scary are the Nazgul!? argh run...

The Road goes ever on and on

-------- Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
-------- And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
-------- Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
-------- And whither then? I cannot say.

- From The Fellowship of the Ring

Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and Sea!
West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree
Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old.
O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of
-------- gold!
O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree,
Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea?

- From The Two Towers

Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.

- From The Two Towers

The Lonely Voice: Short Story Introductions

I recieved an email earlier informing me that one of my short stories, Safa, has been selected as one of four winners of The Lonely Voice June 2011.  The judge is Leo Cullen and I will read my story on Wednesday, 6th July, in the Irish Writers' Centre.  I'm very proud and especially as this is a story I really wanted to tell and I spent hours in the library making it work one evening before coming home and spending more hours typing it up.

The Lonely Voice: Short Story Introductions take place on the last Wednesday of every month. Up to four short story writers are selected and invited to read their work at the event.  The Lonely Voice are particularly interested in providing a platform for emerging writers, who previously may not have had the opportunity to read their work in public.

For more information visit:

http://www.writerscentre.ie/html/events/thelonelyvoice.html