Upcoming July Readings

I have two lovely readings coming up. The first is in Dublin, next Thursday 12th July (especially for Norn Iron fans), at 6.30pm in the Twisted Pepper, Abbey Street, Dublin, with the lovely Seven Towers; it's just a quick slot in a themed evening on the subject of 'Friendship' - I think there may be one or two poems from my book that I can tenuously link!

The following Saturday 14th July (Bastille day), I read in lovely Tralee, at the gala Poets in the Doghouse reading in Siamsa Tire - note the early start of 5pm - with all the poets from this years' publications, including Monica Corish, Gréagóir O’Dúill, Michael Farry, Anatoly Kudryavitsky, James Lawless & meself. Looking forward to that one, as I missed out last time, in 2007. Great craic will be had by everyone afterwards, no doubt and I hope to get some pictures too.


It's been a busy six weeks or so since my poetry collection, The Angels' Share was launched: back at work, portfolios to be marked, new classes started and it feels like I'm only getting to the stuff I should be doing now.

Life has a funny habit of going on, while you're trying to keep pedaling the bike of normality, in the pouring rain.

Cambridge Play Readings

In November, there is a drama reading festival in Cambridge, UK: the project is called Naked Stage, and various plays will be given readings in front of an audience, with an opportunity to give feedback afterwards. If you live in or near the area, you might want to go along.

I mention this because Jaki McCarrick, a Dundalk based writer is having a reading of her play The American Hotel, on Sunday 16th November.

Jaki's work is popping up all over the place lately: her play Leopoldville, (more details at the link) an edgy drama set in an Irish border town, recently received two readings; one in Virginia, Cavan, and the other in London. That play was received very well by intrigued audiences in both countries, so it will be interesting to hear how The American Hotel is received.

Tickets are £3, at the door: B Bar, Market Passage, Cambridge, UK. More here on the Write On website.

I'll meet myself coming back...

Well, Edinburgh was only fantastic, even if it was the quickest in and out of a city I've done; excepting the trips to London, I guess.

In any case, I arrived on Sunday lunchtime, and did a quick swizz around the park in Prince's Gardens, which are just at the foot (or should I say root) of Edinburgh Castle. I thought while looking up at it, well, you'd not invade that place easy! Rob and his wean made the perfect tourist guides - and I can say categorically that having a scooter is probably the coolest way to get around downtown Edinburgh!

After getting my bearings and a bite to eat, it was off to the Great Grog to get stuck in. Firstly it's a lovely space, very relaxed with comfy chairs to lounge in, always conducive to reading and hearing readers. I kicked off and then Claire Askew read from her work: saving her best poem till last, and then Sally read sections from her long poem just published in a fine edition: The Bees. It's a great idea and the book has a lovely look to it, on creamy paper with gorgeous black and white prints inside. My ones love it already!

Alan Gillis read then, sumptuous sounds go into his work and you can see why Hawks and Doves got shortlisted for the Eliot prize this year. A pleasure to hear him, and indeed everyone, give voice to their work.

I was so tired yesterday I came straight home, made dinner and retired to bed - so, so tired - but it was worth it. And I seem to have come home with way more books than I left with... oh boy!

Cork - O' Bheal

For those who aren't from Irish shores, I'll try to translate 'O' Bheal'. Beal (h-aspirated there... God bless me Irish teacher) means 'mouth'. The 'O' bit makes me think of the shape of the mouth sometimes and means 'from'. So loosely speaking, it's 'from the mouth' or 'spoken word.'

O' Bheal is in existence since April of this year and has already confirmed its place as 'The' place to read when and if in Cork. It takes place on a Monday evening and has an easy format that lends itself well to both supporters and guest poets.

Firstly there's the challenge: five random words are gathered from the audience and then a long fifteen minutes are given so that everyone can compose a poem based on the given five words. Anyone who wants to reads out their poem and whoever gets the loudest applause/cheer/foot-stomps gets a free pint - always a useful carrot when you're a poor-mouth poet ;)

This week the words were: barn, useless, peril, fidget and posit. Have a go yourself - but I warn you, the 'barn' always seems to situate the poem, in, well, a barn!

The challenge is then followed by the guest reader, which in this case was yours truly, and here I must say what a pleasure it was to be allowed to include reading one of the longer mythology-based poems from Kairos alongside the shorter, more modern ones - it all did seem to go down well in Cork - and I enjoyed myself much more than I thought I would - think I might be getting used to it at last!

(I wonder is this the time to mention that if you're looking for a Christmas present for a poetry lover, you could do a lot worse than a specially inscribed copy of Kairos ? ... Ah well - no harm in trying!)

Finally there is the Open Mic session, where everyone gets to 'run what they brung.' There was great variety in the work presented for our delectation and a few things that stuck with me on the way back up the road in the car were: the set involving some wistful fiddle playing combined with what I guess you might call 'Irish rap'; a poem about recycling glass which turned out to be a lot more; a poem about a ballerina's feet, butterflies and chaos theory... a poem about hands, another about ears... another about Christmas in the 1920s...

I could go on, but there simply wouldn't be room here - lets just leave it with the fact that it was a great night, only slightly marred by the fact that I had to hop into the car and drive home, so that Insane Husband could scoot off to honour business commitments. My eyes hurt today!

Just a quick thank-you (yes, more thanks ;) ) to Paul Casey, organiser and MC of O' Bheal, a well-versed poet in his own right, who I think we will be hearing a lot more of in time to come...

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I have been challenged to seven random facts by Belle and twelve things I love about Christmas by Scarlett. So, I'd better get cracking on them, then hadn't I?!?

Gallivanting again

This week saw me fulfil some more reading obligations: briefly, a lunchtime reading in Chapters book shop of Parnell Street, in Dublin on Monday and then the Poetry Ireland reading in the Unitarian Church on Tuesday night alongside Catherine Ann Cullen, Hugh O'Donnell and Anatoly Kudryatsky.

It was a great pleasure to be reading at this venue; having watched and listened to many other poets of good standing from the (not uncomfortable) pews, it was a truly great feeling to get my turn in the pulpit. We were also very lucky to have two very accomplished Japanese musicians- a harpist and a violinist (sadly I forgot to take note of their names on paper) as well as an unusual music-scape in the form of Nepalese singing bowls, played by Anatoly.

The occasion was tinged with a little sadness as Poetry Ireland is losing its manager of two years, Deryn O'Brien to the Kingdom of Kerry; alas for PI, yay for Kerry. But I believe that she was given a very rousing send-off by the Dublin contingent and I know that she will do very well in the Kingdom.

I have another reading to do in Cork on Monday 10th Dec, at 8.30pm as part of the O'Bheal series of readings/open mic nights that happen down there on Monday evenings. I am looking forward to this one very much, as I've not had the chance to be at one of them before.

In the meantime, the CW Saturday class is just finished for the Christmas break - we are hoping to continue on again in the New Year (once I get my module assignments over and done with) and I am finishing up in Queen's on Friday until the new semester starts. They give you these generous holidays and then fill them with lots of hard work to do; I've three megadocious assignments due just before the end of January and frankly the thoughts of them frighten me half to death.

Results are due from the Open University on Friday 14th December. That's when I'll finally know the grade for my CW course of much earlier in the year and (fingers crossed) I will be asked to accept my degree in English Literature... Booking for the award ceremony opens on the following Monday. Can you imagine me, in Robes, Scroll et al... accompanied by the rabble of my family! What better way to do it than to bring them all along and get my youngest to (loudly) upstage the distinguished guest on the day ;)

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.

Mithering and Dithering

Our second assignment for the Research Methods module is due in about 2 and 1/2 weeks... and I am having a good old dither about it today. And yesterday.

I think it was the sheer scope of the task at hand. On the face of it, it looked simple: a 1000 word report evaluating the archival resources available in Northern Ireland - or near where you live - that's if you can winkle anything of 'literary worth' out of a provincial Local Authority Archive that specialises in water board records and minutes of meetings... you get the picture don't you?

A visit to Armagh is in the offing to look at the rather splendid sounding Armagh Public Library or Robinson Library, where they specialise in lots of interesting books, manuscripts and documents mostly before the 1800s. They have a first edition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, with his own emendations there!

Meanwhile, back at the Kairos/poetry ranch, the two November readings have sort of snuck up on me. Galway and Over The Edge is next Thursday 1st November, in Galway City Library at 6.30pm. I am reading with two other poets, Megan Buckley and Jean Folan, both with tremendous literary credits to their names.

After a wee visit to some outlaws in Cahirciveen on Friday 2nd, it's back to Tralee, my adopted home for a good bit of the summer, for the big read on Saturday 3rd November, at Siamsa Tire. This time it's with the other Doghouse Pups from this year, Catherine Ann Cullen, Anatoly Kudryavitsky and Hugh O'Donnell. It's a nice way to meet up with Noel our editor again and the other three.

Todd Swift reading in Limerick

I've just found this on White House Poets and wanted to share here. It's Todd Swift reading his Houdini poem, the one that combines memories of his father with Houdini's larger than life persona. It misses the first line or so, but gives a great flavour of how Todd reads. He comes across well, and even has his pint of plain there on the table with him.



Isn't technology cool!

Kindness, Generosity and great Poetry too.

I picked a very good night to venture down to Limerick. With the launch of the second issue of Revival, a good crowd of people arrived to the White House pub on O'Connell Street. Some were contributors and others were proud supporters.

Many contributors read from their freshly minted Revival copies, including me, and the support and reception were tremendous. I spoke briefly to the Editor, Dominic Taylor, expressing my admiration to him and Barney Sheehan, for the work they put in weekly in bringing diverse talents to their loyal audience at the White House Pub, and their hard work in promoting the written and spoken word in Limerick and its hinterlands.

The MC, Barney Sheehan, (he's the guy with the dicky-bow) kept the flow moving along nicely and once Revival was launched, read from, and declared to be selling well, the proceedings moved along to the Belfast Poets group.

Barney Sheehan

The Belfast Poets present touring group comprises: PhatBob, Aisling Doherty, Ellen Factor, Chelley McLear, Gordon Hewitt and Jenni Doherty. Their readings are vivid and expressive, using visuals to back up their readings, adding depth to the performance. Their writing is born out of the context of NorthernIreland as it effects them, with some emphasis on the political. They take that political edge and fuse it with their individualised vision, personalising it both in the words they use and in the method of expression, and making it relevant in the wider context of the world - calling to mind world experiences of human atrocity.


I really enjoyed the whole set; in particular the duet, His Words, by Ellen Factor and read to great effect by herself and Aisling Doherty; and the chilling piece by Chelley McLear, Silence is Deadly, with its really effective visuals and voiceover. Gordon Hewitt's reading of Welcome to the Terrordome took performance poetry to another dimension - his energy is almost tangible; and PhatBob's gentle romantic lyrics in Not Sleeping Without You grounded the performance in a calm expression of humanity too.

Aisling and Ellen

The group offers something for everyone, and not least is their interpretation of poetry as a performance, as something that makes you think again about the world around you. The effect on the audience was palpable, raising the bar on poetic expectations of what performance can add to poetry.When I spoke to them later, they told me about their Australian Tour last year, and how they were welcomed there.

But they also told of the personal cost of making that Tour happen: that was when I really realised their commitment to their passion in poetry. And if you have passion and talent - poetry might carry you further than you think. Buying their chapbook afterwards showed my support and allowed me to re-read in calm the poems that had fired me up.

To round out the night nicely, the MC invited readers to participate in the Open Mic part, and many volunteers read again, including me, allowing everyone a chance to air work in progress.

Afterwards a few of us retired to a later-opening hostelry across the road, where I had the chance to speak to PhatBob and Ellen Factor about their work and ethos. I also made great friends with Bertha, Martin, Seadna, Ed and Kate, an artist, and we even made it as far as the dance floor!

I learned from an earlier exchange with Miceal Kearney, a Revival contributor, about North Beach Nights, (that's Galway, not San Francisco), a Monthly Open Mic night in Galway, and that both of us would be attending the Over the Edge reading next Thursday, also in Galway - so someone to look out for there too!

Overall the night was so enjoyable. I made some new friends and the generosity and hospitality shown to me was so warm and welcoming (in the tradition of all those in the Wesht!), I felt like part of the furniture in such a short time.

I'll definitely be returning to Limerick! A big thank you to you all down there!

Barbara Smith
All pictures can be viewed here, courtesy of Dominic Taylor:
Revival Launch 2

Off on my travels or...

...should that be travails?

Catching the 11:38 to Dublin and thence on to Dublin Heuston to catch a train to Limerick.

Wish me luck for the reading tonight, at 9pm sharp and I'll raise a glass to you all afterwards when I get to relax and listen to the Belast Poets doing their stuff!

See you when I get back - with some pictures hopefully!