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Dual national
I was born in the USA, and when I was three my parents whisked me and my brothers and sister back to Ireland. I don’t have many early memories of America, but I’ve been told I returned to Ireland with a Southern accent (the last place we lived was in Georgia). My mother was always ‘Mom’, and my grandparents were ‘Grandma’ and ‘Grandpa’, something I took for being entirely normal, but it was one of a number of signs of my difference. It’s only been for the last few years that I’ve come to realise how much that sense of being from another place shaped the formation of my identity…
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Spring Blossoms
The drab days of winter are behind us, and in-between indifferent Spring weather, we do catch a few glorious hours during which garlands of fragrant blossoms glow in the sunshine. Today has seen a stretch of magnificent weather which stirs the senses and brings with it a burst of energy. I spotted this tree in blossom as I was heading to a cafe. I pulled over the car, jumped out, and snapped off a couple of shots in the hopes that something would arise from it. The worse thing about sunshine is how hard it is to take photos using a screen. But, I’ve learned the fine art of ‘prescient…
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Stark visions
It struck me recently that I’ve been a member of Flickr, the image-hosting web site, for 10 years this year. At this point I’ve a cache of over 3,000 images online. I’ve taken at least ten times that many, but I don’t just dump everything I take online. I like to be selective. In some ways it’s an extension of writing: I’m crafting a narrative, and to achieve an interesting result it requires editing. I’ve been looking at this selection of photographs again and pondering the variety, so for the month of April I’m going to dip in and out of these images and talk about them a little on…
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April Fool’s Banana Bread
Discovering there was a surfeit of bananas in the house today I decided to bake banana bread. I don’t bake often, and when I do it tends to be straightforward items. I’m not one for elaborate bakes and fancy icing, although I appreciate the efforts of those who do. This weekend is starting off damp and chilly, but it’s warm in the kitchen and now there’s a sweet fragrance in the house. It’s a tasty solution to a surplus problem.
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New Play Reading part of Galway Theatre Festival
I mentioned recently that my short play The Love of Small Appliances had been selected to be part of the Waking the Feminists West New Play Reading. Last night the programme for this year’s Galway Theatre Festival was unveiled, and our event is going to be part of the schedule – hurray! It’s happening in the Town Hall Theatre Studio, Galway from 6pm on 6 May. You can book tickets now for this staged reading of six writers’ work via the web site. Last week I had a feedback session with several dramatruges associated with WTFW, including Justine Nakase, the director of my excerpt. It was a helpful, and inspiring,…
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Making the Modern Heroine
Tonight I’ll be speaking at the two hundred and forty sixth Inaugural meeting of The Hist in Trinity College Dublin, on the subject of ‘Making the Modern Heroine’. I’ll be discussing the topic in relation to pop culture. It’s been a long time since I was a student at TCD, so it’s likely to be a combination of strange and familiar. Hopefully, it will also be fun!
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Spooky Girl in Respectable Horror
I’m pleased to say that my short story ‘Spooky Girl’ will be appearing in a forthcoming anthology from Fox Spirit Books, called Respectable Horror, which is edited by Kate Laity. I’ve admired the work of Fox Spirit Books for some time – a more recent British small press, set up by Adele Wearing, which quickly began winning awards for its range of interesting titles. More importantly to the likes of me, it has a reputation for professionalism. Kate Laity is an audacious polymath of wide-ranging expertise, and it’s always fun and enjoyable to be in her company. So I’m looking forward to working with both of these forces for good…
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WTFW New Play Reading
We're starting the week off 'write'! (Get it!) Congratulations to the Successful Six! #wtfwnewplayreading pic.twitter.com/fL22odg4Dp — WakingFeministsWest (@WakingFeministW) February 29, 2016 I’m thrilled that my short near-future play, The Love of Small Appliances, has been selected by the Waking the Feminists West team, to be part of their New Play Reading initiative. The staged reading of the selected plays will be taking place on 6 May in the Town Hall Theatre, studio, in Galway. I’m looking forward to working with the director Justine Nakase, and seeing how the actors take on these roles.
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Talking Bande Dessinée on Arena
This evening between 7pm – 8pm I’ll have a segment on Arena – RTÉ Radio 1’s Arts & Culture show – to discuss the forthcoming Fête de la Bande Dessinée, the Irish / French Comic Book Festival, which is taking place from 2 -3 March in Dublin. I’m very much looking forward to this event in Dublin, and delighted to be able chat about it and promote it with the Arena audience. Here’s the programme for the festival: Wednesday 2 March, from 6.30pm Pulse – Irish Comics Now Mart Firestation: 190a Rathmines Road Lower, Dublin 6 Pulse takes a snapshot of what’s happening in Irish comics right now. From small-press…
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the lowdown
Thanks to British author Simon Bestwick for asking me to be part of his Lowdown series of artist conversations on his web site. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js Since my ego construct occupies my mental headspace most of the time (ah, in dreaming, then it can go all askew), I can become bored with my own musings. I ponder and analyse my approach to the world constantly, so I’m often reluctant to elaborate upon it with others. This is no doubt partly an Irish thing of not wishing to appear too big-headed (Who does she think she is?). Also, I’m quite allergic to articles that contain writer’s advice. My skin itches like it will…
