Nearly there with The Angels' Share

I've got great news now: the book has gone to print and I'm in the process of sending invitations. The launch date is set for Wednesday 23rd of May, in the Basement Gallery, Dundalk Town Council Offices, Crowe Street, Dundalk @ 6pm. My dear poetry friend and colleague, Enda Coyle-Greene has agreed to launch it for me.

In fact, that's a very busy week for Doghouse Books as two other books are launched too. 


Monday 21st, sees the launch  in Trim, Co. Meath at the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim, Co. Meath.(Time: 8pm) of Asking for Directions, by Michael Farry and then Rus in Urbe, by James Lawless, gets its lift-off in Leixlip, Co. Kildare at the Springfield Hotel on Tuesday 22nd at 7.30pm. 

My book is available to pre-order now, but books won't be sent until launch date.You can order here at Doghouse's website. If you're around Dundalk on the 23rd, consider yourself invited - there's free wine!

More Lovely Poetry Books...

... being launched in Dublin on Tuesday 8th December @ 6.30pm at the Unitarian Church, St. Stephens Green, by Director of Poetry Ireland, Joseph Woods. This is a lovely venue for a launch, as you get to read your work from a pulpit and the acoustics are very good in poetry terms. Plus, there are interesting stain-glass windows to gaze at as you hear the words.

The books in question? Well, Arlen Houseare are launching five books; Red Riding Hood's Dilemma, by Orfhlaith Foyle, Shedding Skin, by James Martyn, imram/odyssey by Celia De Freine, An Urgency of Stars, by Geraldine Mills and The Truth in Mustard, by Terry McDonagh.

All interesting titles, I think you'd agree. I can't go myself, because I must teach... but I shall be looking forward to ogling the books and getting inside the covers before too long :)


Good luck to them all on the night - maybe you might fit this line-up in :)

A Gallery of Poets

Last night, like I hadn't enough to be doing, I headed to Dublin's Waterstones to a Gallery launch of five poets' latest poetry collections. The poets didn't disppoint. I ended up going home with an armful of books, and really enjoyed hearing them sound their poems out. I met the lovely Hugh O'Donnell hob-nobbing with Denis O'Driscoll and chatted to quite a few poetry g-literati (hi Teresa!).

In order of appearance: Tom French, with The Fire Step (his first collection, Touching the Bones won the Forward Prize in 2001); Vona Groarke with the very accomplished Spindrift (I've seen quite a few of her poems from the collection in various journals and papers over the last while); Kerry Hardie, with Only This Room; Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, with The Sun-Fish (a PBS recommendation this quarter); and Peter Sirr, with The Thing Is.

I like all of them very much and am having a good read of them all, being suitably impressed by their writing, skill and techique. Peter Sirr's remarks about the complexities and wrestling with the minutiae of editing, and how it is always taxing raised a few chuckles in the room, as did editor, Peter Fallon's ripostulary remarks about how we all submit to the editor - hmm.

On a more serious note, Peter Fallon referred to the dangerous currents of uncertainty in the arts world and how none of us know how these will play out, especially now that the Celtic Tiger has well and truly scampered off over the horizon - eastwards. Tough times are coming. Small comfort I know, but in the end, it was still a good turn-out last night, all things considered.

Drogheda Writes 2 Launch Tonight!

Finally this baby is going out into the world. I've spent the last four months in intimate contact with all the contributions: editing, placing, sharpening, paring away at the final edit and it's due to be launched this evening by the Mayor of Drogheda, Frank Maher as well as special guest, Joseph Woods, Director of Poetry Ireland. It contains poetry, memoir and fiction, as well as the Amergin Award winners of 2007. It weighs in at 136 pages in total and is packed with talent, from the youngest contributor of eight to the oldest contributor at almost 80!

It's been a real labour of love - I have undimmed respect for anthology editors everywhere.

So now, I give you a brand new anthology: Drogheda Writes 2, a veritable garden of blooms! Tonight at 8pm in Drogheda at The Venue, McHughs, Chord Road. Yahoo!

She's Off Gallivanting Again

I'm up to Dublin tomorrow for the International Women's Day reading in the Central Hotel, Exchequer St. I'll be airing a few poems of my own at it, (like maybe that villanelle about Bras), as well as looking forward to hearing Medbh McGuckian, my old tutor, reading from her work...and a good friend, Catherine Ann Cullen, reading hers too. There are many more of us reading on the night, and I'm raring at the bit with excitement.

On Thursday, I'm heading to London, to meet up with a few blogger friends, and Thursday evening I'm going to the Oxfam Reading @ Marylebone to check out these 'Young British Poets' that everyone's raving about.

It's the launch of The Manhattan Review and some of the British poets that have a big feature in it will be reading there:

Thursday, 5 March - 7 pm start time; ends at 10 pm
Oxfam Books and Music shop, 91 Marylebone High Street
London W1 (5 minutes from Baker Street tube station)

With special guests
Philip Fried, poet and editor, in from New York and Penelope Shuttle
And with short readings by 14 of "The Young British Poets"

Ooh, what a night it's going to be :)) Now I'd better get on, this hair of mine won't dye itself.

Bits & Bobs

I have been in oxter-land! That's where you're so damn busy that you don't realise that the sh-loppy stuff is right up to your armpits and rising faster than you can say, 'Get me out of here, I'm a celebrity poet!'

Firstly, at another book launch last night in Belfast for an anthology of Canadian, Newfoundland and Irish poetry. The readings from the book were only inspirational and the lovely laid back setting of Bookfinder's Cafe, was completely ideal for creating the necessary ambiance for a weighty tome like this one.

The Echoing Years is produced by The Centre for Newfoundland & Labrador Studies of the School of Humanites, Waterford Institue of Technology. Edited by Stephanie McKenzie, Randall Maggs and John Ennis, the book is literally about 3 inches thick in the spine: and contains some of the great and good poetry that is contemporary now.

Placing poetry from both sides of the pond, from countries not as used to being highlighted, as shall we say the US or the UK, means that the spotlight is allowed to play a lot longer and brighter on this selection of poets. There are some real thrills and surprises in the book: such as Leonard Cohen, Michael Ondaatje and in the Irish section a wonderful translation of Barbara Korun by Theo Dorgan. I haven't even skimmed the surface with this volume - it is (and I am sorry to have to use this cliche) a veritable cornucopia; with the contents page running to 34 pages alone from a total of 1280... some mighty reading over the next few weeks! If you know someone who loves contemporary poetry, you could do a lot worse than stick this in their Christmas stocking(s).

Two: people are starting to send me virtual champagne (how did you know!) and I am awaiting my before-birthday present from my husband with the proverbial bated breath! This evening we are having a family party for me with the kids; tomorrow I set off to stomp around sarf Landin, wiv me gud OU mate (sorry, came over all cockney there!) and later on have a generally good time indulging myself at the Saturday blogmoot for Bookarazzi in London's West-End and hang with the Minx and the Debi one - you know they very conveniently decided to have the moot on my birthday ;)

I have officially decided to get on and enjoy this birthday for all I can - see you this time next year! ;)

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Okay - maybe not - And my piece of knitting in the Grace story has made it into the Shameless Lion's Writing Circle; go on and have a deko (writer 15), you'll need to scroll down!

More Launches

I had the pleasure of being invited to a very glamourous poetry book launch last Thursday evening, in Damer Hall, Stephen's Green, Dublin. The book in question, Snow Negatives, is a collection by Enda Coyle-Greene, the well deserved winner of the Patrick Kavanagh prize in 2006. Check it out and put it in your (or someone else's) Christmas stocking - it's a fantastic read.

If you don't know already, this is quite a prestigious prize for poetry, awarded to a manuscript of an Irish native annually for 36 years, but you must not have published a book previously. Winners in the past have gone on to bigger and better things - think Paul Durcan, Peter Sirr, Pat Boran, Sinead Morrissey and Conor O'Callaghan to name check but a few. Funnily enough, the winner of the PK award has just been announced this weekend, making it the full year since Enda's book was selected.

The launch itself was absolutely packed to the rafters - I've never been at a poetry event so well attended in my life -which augurs well as a riposte to those that say that poetry is dying off! Pat Boran spoke a few words over the book and then Mary O'Donnell gave us a very sound and interesting introduction to the work itself. Enda then read from the book, garnering a spontaneous round of empathetic applause for her formal sequence, 'Words to Form my Mother.'

For myself, I had a very good evening catching up with 'poets all sizes,' finishing my evening in Doheny & Nesbitts of Baggott Street - my old stomping ground, from my days with News Extracts (back before child production became a business ;) ), talking about ballroom dancing -as you will do, on these occasions.

A London Blogmeet... and a Launch!

Plans are afoot for a blogmeet for Bookarazzi members in central London. I thought I would go too, since it's nice to have faces to put to names and really talk books with everyone there... and then I thought about tucking copies of Kairos in my suitcase and erm, well, launching it there... and then I remembered that I'm 40 on the weekend in question...

It's the 1st of December, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate it... how about you?

Kairos Launched!

The good ship Kairos was launched into orbit with great acclaim and applause on Wednesday, 19th September, 2007!

Well, okay, maybe not 'great' acclaim... but the speeches were very nice, the wine was too and a good many copies of the book were snapped up and signed by yours truly. That's Daire (8) there, holding one of the books!

All the children attended and they were immaculately behaved; if we ignore the investigating of the main theatre, the clomping up and down the main staircase and the hiding behind the side curtains of the small theatre space where the reading and speeches took place. Not during the reading, though, in fairness!

Noel Lennon gave the launch speech, doing a very nice job of introducing me and my work to Dundalkers, Droghedians and Dubliners alike, not forgetting the contingent from Kerry too.

So that's it! The book is launched and is available for sale here: Doghouse Books. You should state if you want your copy signed, but be prepared to wait a week or so for delivery - the publisher is busy honouring poetry commitments in France!

Also, anyone who wants a taster of the poetry is welcome to listen to the interview of Tuesday morning here.

Next week, I'm reading at Chapters bookstore, Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Friday 28th September @ 1pm, with Seven Towers author, Oran Ryan; presenting awards at the Amergin Festival of Writing in Drogheda that evening; and reading on Saturday, 29th @1pm with Doghouse stablemate, Catherine Ann Cullen at the same festival, in the Droichead Theatre, Stockwell Street, Drogheda.

And on Monday I'm registering for the Creative Writing course in Queen's University Belfast - so if it goes a bit quiet here for a few days - don't worry! I'll be back :) Now, I'd better go and get something together for class tomorrow... the handouts won't write themselves!

Pressure - pushing down on me...

Ooh, this back-to-school lark never fails to whack me out!

I have deliberately not added up any amounts of money in outgoings to the schools this week as I don't really want to scare myself that badly. That might sound like denial - but hey, it's what got me through six labours, and I'm still here! I'm hoping that by the end of the week, requests for money for 'arts, crafts and photocopying,' swimming lessons, hurling, music lessons, new instruments and various other 'extra-curricular activities' will have faded gently into the thick bottom of a nice glass. Parenthood, don'tcha just love it? Not.

This is the time of the year when newspapers trot out the usual figures about how much a parent will spend on a child's schooling during their school life - and when I am at my most sceptical about those figures. Hub & me reckoned that if the Irish Times really had their figures right this Saturday, we would need three squillion million second mortgages just to get us to the end of number six's primary education. I really do wonder sometimes what normal parents are buying for their kids? And then I wonder where the papers get their information from and who compiles these figures?

On the launch-of-the-book front, progress is being made, slowly but surely. I got a nice surprise in the local paper last week, well shock really, to see an article about the forthcoming book being launched on the 19th of September - the date wasn't the shock, mind you, it was just seeing it there! I received my own copy of the press release the following day. Postal system playing up again, I guess.

Noel tells me that the books are due back at the printers from the binders this Friday. Trouble is that he's away for a well earned break doing what he does best - storytelling, and I won't be able to physically see/feel/smell/ the book until he comes back and posts me a copy... I really can't wait to see it!!!

The time in between

Well, that's it! Kairos is gone to press. All the emendations, decisions, proof readings, punctuation and grammar checks are done; the blurbs have been requested and written; the cover layout and internal layout are chosen and it is on its way to a machine to be printed and then bound.

No rest for the wicked though - a launch date has been confirmed, 20th September, Dundalk Town Hall, and someone needs to be chosen to launch it (sounds like it's been built in a shipyard). Somebody who will say a few magic words, crack the bottle of champagne on the hull and declare it a done deal.

I have the relative luxury of declaring a day off - only from writing though. I have to bring the six to be shoed (sounds like they're horses!) and finish off looking through their uniforms and booklists. I love reality - keeps me grounded.

Catherine Ann Cullen's 'A Bone in my Throat' launch

Senator David Norris

Well, another busy night mingling with the great and good of the Irish poetry world. This launch was introduced by Noel King the editor of Doghouse Books.Noel then made way for Senator David Norris to talk about Catherine Ann's book. His compliments ranged from the actual book production, to the contents inside and made all of us hungry to hear Catherine Ann reading from her work.

Catherine Ann read a selection of varied poems from the collection, but one that really appealed to me was based on her meeting her future partner at the Chester Beatty library in Dublin, one of the city's wonderful archives. I give you her opening lines:

We have only just met
Downstairs at the Chester Beatty Library
We have not touched each other yet


Upstairs Durer's Adam and Eve are contemplating
Each other and the apple
The serpent is already waiting


This gives a great flavour of the motifs that recur in this collection. Cullen uses myths, legends and biblical beginnings as a jumping off point to explore how humanity cannot resist being tempted - as indeed Oscar Wilde once wittily put it, 'I can resist anything except tempation.

This post is a little rushed, due to all hell breaking loose here, but I intend revisiting Catherine Ann's book at a later stage. In the meantime, I am off to Kerry for a week tomorrow, so have a blog party here if you like - comfy beanbags and lots of food left in the fridge!

Doghouse Poets and Publisher, left to right: Hugh O'Donnell, Catherine Ann Cullen, Noel King, yours truly, and Anatoly Kudryavitsky.

From the Same Stable

I'll be off again next week to attend a Doghouse launch in Dublin. This time it's Catherine Ann Cullen's debut collection, A Bone in my Throat, which will be held in the Rubicon Gallery at 10 St. Stephen's Green, on Thursday 12th July at 6.30pm and is being introduced by Senator David Norris.

Catherine Ann Cullen is quite a prolific writer, writing children's books as well as poetry. She is quite widely published, a sample of her work is here.

A Bone in my Throat is one of four books being published by Doghouse this year. The other three include Anatoly Kudryavitsky who launches at the Gerard Manley Hopkins literary festival at Monasterevin on the 23rd of July with his book, Shadow of Time, his own poetry in English.

The third is Hugh O'Donnell, previously Roman Pines at Berkeley (Salmon, 1990). His launch will be in September, date to be confirmed.

And that leaves my own, Kairos, which has just had its cover picked last week - a beautiful image of a red coastal-scape with a peculiar yellow sun.

Dave Lordan's Book Launch, Dublin

Last night I went to Dublin to the Winding Stair Bookshop on Ormonde Quay. This is a gorgeous independent bookshop, which has a lot to recommend it and not least the intimate size just about accommodating the huge crowd of supporters that turned up to Dave Lordan's launch of The Boy in the Ring.

Lordan's book has been published by Salmon Press, Ireland and was previously selected as the Patrick Kavanagh prizewinner of 2005. Indeed Salmon Press are one of the big hitters in poetry publishing in Ireland, a fact that Dave humorously alluded to in his own few words last night. That last link will take you to three of Lordan's poems from the book. This prize is awarded yearly to poets who have not been published, and most prize winners go on to greater things afterwards.

The Boy in the Ring was introduced by Ronan Sheehan, an Irish novelist. In particular Sheehan spoke of how Lordan's work engages with the political as well as issues of society. He also gave some history behind the poem Attis and Cybele translated from Catullus, the Roman poet (1st century BCE) as part of a wider commission. Dave read this long poem out later on, and I can testify to it's raw power. Not many poets write about heroes that rip their own balls off... Reason alone perhaps, to get your hands on a copy?

I made firm new friends with Elena, Tina, Claire and Maria not all necessarily poetry supporters, but appreciative nonetheless. Proceedings retired to Toners of Baggot Street, with some music -acoustic and live - and an Open mic, which revealed some of the talent that Lordan has been encouraging in his role as a creative writing tutor.

A nod to Hazim here, an Iraqi actor/poet. His performance piece wrapped us all in existential twists and he is appearing again in Dublin on the 4th of July, at the Project Arts Centre. We finally topped the night off in BiaBar in Temple Bar. It was a truly great launch, a testament to the great warmth of Lordan and his cohorts. Hello to Rosa too!

Update: Dave has since left a link to the Attis and Cybele poem which can be found here. Brilliant!

Launch Night 10th April 2007 - Best of Irish Poetry 2007

I'm going to a lot of these things lately! This time the launch was for a publication entitled Best of Irish Poetry 2007, an imprint by SouthWord Editions part of the Munster Literary Centre in Cork. The launch in question was held last week, hosted by Poetry Ireland upstairs in the Unitarian Church just off St. Stephen's Green West, Dublin.

What exactly do you call a large gathering of poets anyway? This launch featured around nine poets who came to read from the Best of... giving the audience a great flavour of its contents. I must confess I already bought the imprint back in February and was well acquainted with the contents.

As I sat back in the pew contemplating stained glass illuminations featuring Discovery, Truth, Inspiration, Love and Work, I relished my glass of complimentary red wine and privately toasted the circumstances I found myself in.

Proceedings were opened with Poetry Ireland's acting Director, Jane O'Hanlon, and she introduced Pat Cotter of the Munster Literary Centre who spoke eloquently about how anthologies can allow access to poetry in a way that perhaps a single collection may not afford. Pat also raised the point that the Best of... can be seen to be a reclaiming of the shaping of the Irish canon: from an Irish perspective, rather than one defined by critics further abroad.

Best of Irish Poetry 2007, edited by Maurice Riordan and Colm Breathnach, represents a cherry picking of the best of Irish poetry published in respected journals both inside and outside Ireland published in the last twelve months. Pat Cotter explained that this anthology is set to become an annual event (something to aim for, maybe?) and its aims are to help promote and raise awareness of our contemporary writers in an accessible manner. Indeed, accessible is one very good way of describing the poetry contained, and made even more so by the readings that took place last night.

John F. Deane kicked off the readings: his poem, Towards a Conversion was received very well, and I thought the reading also added to my understanding of this beautiful poem. Other poems that stood out for me were Katie Donovan's Buying a Body and Peggie Gallagher's Letter to my Children. There was also a strong representation in Irish, from Dairenna Ni Chinneide's Fuascailt and Gabriel Rosenstock's Imram thar m'eolas.

Afterwards in closing, Pat Cotter spoke of the need to support poetry more than ever, by buying and how quickly poetry books disappear from stock in bookshops. This is not because they are flying out the door in people's shopping bags - but because bookshops don't want them on their shelves as long as they used to. That story sounds sadly familiar. Pat also raised the point about touring circuits for poets. When their publication comes out, there is a ready made tour-circuit on which they can promote their work, raising awareness of the work.

I have to say, that I had a great evening and it was worth being wrecked in work next day - magic! As to Best of Irish Poetry 2007's availability, I bought mine in February in Easons. I have looked on Amazon, but can't find it.