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Midsummer Macabre
Check out the Midsummer Macabre collective video on YouTube, where I and other horror writers read one of our stories.
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Written in the Stars
Today at 7pm in the Town Hall in Gort, I'll be reading poetry, alongside other local poets, as part of the Poetry Ireland's Poetry Day Ireland - the theme is 'Written in the Stars'.
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Culture Night at Charlie Bryne’s
I'll be reading from my new collection, The Boughs Withered (When I Told Them My Dreams), at Charlie Byrne's Bookshop in Galway as part of Culture Night. The event kicks off between 6pm - 9pm on Friday, 20 September 2019, and I'll be on early in the proceedings.
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Reading Territory
‘Territory’, a story written by Julie Steinbacher, has gone up on Podcastle today as a podcast. I read the story, along with Kim Jones, for Podcastle. I’ve done enough radio and podcasts before to know I enjoy this kind of work, so it was a no-brainer when Rachael Jones, the co-editor of Podcastle, approached me with the offer. ‘Territory’ is a rich, beautiful story, so that was a selling point also. It was a fun experience, and I hope people enjoying listening to Julie’s story.
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in praise of libraries
I had a different post planned today, but then I read writer Saundra Mitchell’s guest post on Mundie Moms’ blog in support of Banned Books Week. Not only is it a clear essay about the importance of having a diverse selection of books available to children so they can navigate life, but it’s a fantastic reminder of the importance of libraries. Personally, I feel I owe a major debt to the library in my home town. I grew up in pre-web, pre-mobile phone Ireland, where you had to travel to Dublin to find a bookshop for the kind of novels I liked: i.e. the weird stuff. This is not that…
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hearing the resonance bell
Today I wrote a poem, went to a poetry reading, and read out a different poem at the open mic section. I know no one at these events, and it’s nerve-wracking for me to read poetry in front of strangers. Still, it’s a good exercise, and I haven’t had the opportunity to attend of late. Generally, I find listening to other people read their work inspiring. I enjoy the diversity: the rapid shifts of pace and subject matter. Even when some of it is not to my taste. Often, there is a combination of words, a phrase, a verse, or an entire poem that hits the resonance bell. Then those…
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read
A few days after I listed my three one-word summaries of my goals for this year (write; hydrate; exercise.) I realised that I’d left one off the list: read. It slipped my mind because reading has always been an integral part of my life Yet, reading for pleasure has taken a lower priority as demands on my time have increased. In two hours I can watch a movie, but a book requires a greater investment. I read all the time: articles, journals, magazines, news items, blogs, etc. On top of this I’m usually involved in some kind of research, which requires scouring through history books, reference material, and/or online resources.…
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a week passes quickly
I can’t believe a week has passed since I last wrote an entry here. It’s weird how time compresses and before you know it a passel of days have trooped past you towards multiple sunsets. I saw a bunch of cool documentaries at the Film Fleadh: Goat Walker, and Ässhäk, Tales from the Sahara, as well as the Siberian folk story, Bride of the Seventh Heaven. The German animated film, Inspector Derrick was good fun, and Zang Yimou’s emotional operatic vision, Hero, ended up being much better than I first thought. During the week I finished Starfish, by Peter Watts, as well as a short novel by Jonathan Lethem called…
