HACKERS – AN APOLOGY

Many of you will have received an e-mail purporting to be from me. Most of you will realise – alerted by the terrible grammar, I hope, as much as the content – that it was in fact from some idiot hackers who have compromised my mail.

All I can say is sorry; it stresses me out. I stopped using Hotmail because the same thing happened. Now I am G-mail-nervous. I’ve taken steps to stop this happening again and I really hope that they work.

AFTER FLAT LAKE ’08 – REVIEW # 2

Pat McCabe at the Butty Barn, Flat Lake 2008

As you do at any outdoor festival of its kind, at Flat Lake we spent a lot of time wandering from tent to tent, and exploring the beautiful grounds of Hilton Park. The site wasn’t huge so it was easy to find a quiet place to walk down by the lake or among the trees. The food and bar areas were along the side of the main house, and our only complaint was the scarcity of good vegetarian food. We had some Reggae Soup at one point, and chips late at night, but otherwise there were just noodles at €7 a pop. Luckily, as guests, we were being fed soup, sambos, tea and scones at intervals.

Anyway, back to the gigs. We happened upon a few performance poets; I’m not a huge fan of performance poetry, mainly because it is often so badly done, but these women were good. First up was Whatsername who wore a skirt with the words ‘Psychotic Tendencies’ stencilled on it. She had a combative but chatty between-poem style and her poems themselves were hilarious diatribes against society, men and herself. She lamented trying to bring her sons up as ‘right-minded, vegetarian eco-terrorists’ to find them as teenagers hooked on Playstation, Coke and Tesco sausages. She talked of single parenthood as ‘the Lidl of lifestyle choices’ and she maintained the death of feminism was caused by the Spice Girls. She knows, of course, feminism isn’t dead, but I knew what was she was getting at.

Next up on the same stage were the Poetry Chicks, a duo, who riffed through three pieces on the destruction of our landscape, a cursing Donegal Granny, and how one of them – the Scottish one – hates Rabbie Burns. All very energetic, well put-together and performed, and funny.

Off for another wander then to the Art Car Boot Sale and I bought a small, surreal watercolour called ‘Flying Fish’ by figurative artist Joan Mallon. A bargain at €15. Where would you get it?!

My reading was at 3pm in the Hilton Palladium, which was the theatre stage and it was tucked below the house, among the trees. Most events on Sunday were delayed because most people were too hungover to get up it seems, but mine didn’t start too late as no one turned up to take part in the Tell the Best Lie competition which was to be on before me. Clearly all Flat Lake punters are very honest…

Fellow Galway writers Mike McCormack and Hugo Kelly came along to support me, as well as Stinging Fly editor Declan Meade – thanks guys! – and a scattering of strangers. The stage was low and straw covered, and I couldn’t really see the audience with the bright lights, but I felt comfortable and the reading went off well. My ‘Writers’ Rooms’ poem (after The Guardian photos) went down well, garnering its own round of applause.

We had to forgo Edna O’Brien’s interview but, as I just heard her in June, I didn’t mind too much. So we packed up and hit the road, happy with all we’d seen and heard, and already planning next year’s visit to the weird and wonderful world of the Flat Lake.

AFTER FLAT LAKE ’08 – REVIEW # 1

So we drove though torrential rain to Hilton Park in Monaghan for the Flat Lake Literary and Arts Festival, were only misled (by 20 miles) by one signpost, and didn’t even have to pitch our tent: the kindly organisers had already pitched one for us! The rain did not stop all day Saturday but the atmosphere was relaxed, the people friendly, and so we dove in and enjoyed sitting on bales of hay, being entertained in a motley of tented venues, like the Hilton Palladium and the Post-Lounge Tent of Sentimentalism, and the Butty Barn.

First stop for us was Dónal O’Kelly’s madly energetic one-hander ‘Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here?’ (with Trevor Knight on music) where O’Kelly morphs from wound-up Dublin entrepreneur, to deportee to Oz, to a Leitrim doctor trapped in a grim Africa. O’Kelly sucks you quickly into each evolving character and the piece moves from madcap to serious in a blink. Very enjoyable.

One of the biggest crowds we saw at the festival turned up for Séamus Heaney’s reading in the big-top. He was his usual gentle, humble self and he took the theme of learning for his reading. He talked about influences – something I’m very interested in because I’m not sure what I believe about ‘influence’ – citing GM Hopkins, Wordsworth and Kavanagh, but he also talked about being influenced by the ‘magical energy’ surrounding him and his contemporaries in the 1960’s: his wife Marie, Michael Longley, the Simmons et al. He read several of his translations of poems attributed to Saint Colmcille and two poems about his father: ‘Lick the Pencil’ and ‘The Harvest Bow’. Séamus said his Da rarely spoke. ‘I think,’ he said, 'he believed speech was a kind of affectation.’ He read ‘Mid-term Break’ to us, a poem that always makes me well up. It was powerful.

Paul Brady gave a fantastic performance to a very appreciative crowd later on in the Butty Barn and his songs brought back lots of good memories from my twenties. Fantastic. The roof nearly lifted when he did ‘Arthur McBride’.

Early on Sunday – after a sleepless night in a cold tent – we toddled along to hear Ailbhe Slevin and Mike McCormack in the Butty Barn. I wasn’t familiar with Ailbhe’s work – she read from an as yet unpublished novel Quickening. It has an intriguing storyline involving a mother who may or may not have lost her memory. Mike read from his novel Notes from a Coma – the part where Anthony goes to Romania to buy JJ from the orphanage. The theme of children worked well between the two readers and both of them read extraordinarily well.

More anon, otherwise no-one will be moved to read this post until the end!

FLAT LAKE LITERARY FESTIVAL

I'm reading on Sunday at the Flat Lake Festival, if any of ye plan to go. I'm in good company: Famous Séamus, Edna O' Brien (or should I say Edna O'Blog?!) Stephen Rea, Morag Prunty, Dermot Healy and Medbh McGuckian, to name a small few.

My poetry reading's at 3pm on the Theatre Stage, Flat Lake Fest, Hilton park, Co. Monaghan.

The line-up on the website hasn't been updated in ages but the site itself is worth a look here for the curious.

NEW STINGING FLY STORY ANTHOLOGY

The publication date for the latest Stinging Fly short story anthology is September 22nd. The launch of Let’s Be Alone Together will be in Cork on the opening night of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Festival - Wednesday, September 17th, 7pm at Triskel Arts Centre. I'm looking forward to it already.

The anthology of short fiction is edited by Declan Meade, editor and publisher of The Stinging Fly. It includes new stories from Ragnar Almqvist, Evelyn Conlon, Danny Denton, Damien Doorley, Michael J. Farrell, Mia Gallagher, D. Gleeson, Rosemary Jenkinson, James Lawless, Colm Liddy, Viv McDade, Emer Martin, Gina Moxley, Helena Nolan, Jim O’Donoghue, Dónal O’Sullivan, Breda Wall Ryan, Ingo Schulze, Tom Tierney and William Wall.

More about the rest of the festival line-up soon.

NICK LAIRD ON TRANSLATION

Nick Laird wrote well about translation in Saturday's Guardian in the Author, Author slot; a piece I always love to read.

He is living in Italy (and Zadie too, presumably) for the last eighteen months. The part I especially liked was his version on 'versions', which is what those of us who translate are now calling the poems we have translated. True for him, it's the word I find I use most when trying to describe the new poem I have made of an Irish or English language one of my own. But, when translating others, I still call them translations.

Here are Nick's three basic approaches to translation:

a plain prose translation, a kind of paraphrase that tries to stick closely to the original idea

a version that tries to incorporate as many of the linguistic devices as possible from the original language, and adheres as closely as possible to form, rhythm and lexicon etc

a new poem, using the new tricks of the new language, but perhaps incorporating devices from the old poem

I'd have to say that the third kind - a new poem - is my favourite type of translation. I prefer to read or create something like a poem in the target language version, rather than something literal and clunky.

Countering Frost's famous quote, Russian poet Joseph Brodsky said, ‘Poetry is what is gained in translation’. Or at least it should be.

BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2008

Salman Rushdie is the editor for this year’s Best American Short Stories. Salman had a collection of stories East West published in 1994. I wonder if he writes stories all the time, or anymore? I wonder that about a lot of writers who mainly publish novels and then, suddenly, a short fiction collection comes out. I’m thinking Colm Tóibín, for example with Mothers and Sons. Maybe their publishers are more comfortable with them producing novels, as most publishers are?

Anyway, The Best American Short Stories 2008 will be out next month and series editor Heidi Pitlor talks sensibly, in a Q&A, about what she looks for in the thousands of stories she reads in lit mags each year:

‘I look for solid writing, an ease with language. I want to be engaged with the characters and story lines, the settings or the language or ideas. When reading, I want to forget that I have to clean the kitchen or pay the bills. I also like to be surprised and moved in some way.’

Featured writers include A. M. Homes, Steven Millhauser, Karen Brown and Jonathan Lethem.

NEW BLOG FOR WOMEN WRITERS

Writer / teacher / journalist and long-time editor of Electric Acorn, Nessa O'Mahony has set up a new blog for women: Women Writers Writing Women. It's literally brand new so support her by having a look and maybe making a comment.

She says: "I'm hoping to create a blog where women writers can share work and respond to the work of others. Please join.".

THE SHORT STORY ON SCREEN

‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is a film loosely adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story of the same name. The film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett will be released (in the USA, presumably) on the 19th of December 2008.

This follows on the tradition of film-makers looking to short fiction for good story fodder: Annie Proulx’s story ‘Brokeback Mountain’ made a fine film; though at 25,000 words it is probably more of a novella. Alice Munro’s story ‘The Bear Came Over the Mountain’ was made into the film ‘Away From Her’ last year. Also the very powerful, Australia-set ‘Jindabyne’ was adapted from a Ray Carver story, ‘So Much Water So Close To Home’; it starred our own lovely Gabriel Byrne.

In ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, Benjamin (Bradders) is born aging backwards which causes complications when he falls in love with a thirty year old woman (Cate). The pre-blurb says the film is ‘dark, romantic, and deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way’. Sounds great to me!

LONGER SHORTLIST FOR SEÁN Ó FAOLÁIN

News just in from the administrators of the Seán Ó Faoláin Prize at the Munster Literature Centre. As entries almost doubled this year - to 707 - they have generously decided to allow me, as judge, to pick four further runners up!

This means that there will be 1st prize, 2nd prize, and EIGHT prizes of €100, plus publication in the literary journal Southword.

Not only does this take the sting out of choosing a shortlist for me (a task I currently have in hand) but it is further evidence of what a fair-minded and supportive competition this is for new and emerging writers.

Once again the Munster Literature Centre shows how it should be done.

JANE HOLLAND ON MAKING A POEM

Go to Jane Holland's Raw Light blog for an insight into her creative process, writer's block, and the safe birth of her poem 'Fifth'.

A quote from her post:
'You have to remember that I hadn’t written a poem for over three years when ‘Fifth’ suddenly came to me, out of the blue. In such reduced circumstances any poem is miraculous. So I was reluctant to mess too much with those early drafts, however pedestrian, in case I jinxed my return to poetry.'


It was Jane who wisely advised in another post that 'first drafts are not holy relics':
'They will still exist, perfectly intact, after you have rewritten the poem twenty-five times. So release your grip on the poem; let it move in whichever direction it chooses. If the redrafting process unnerves you, keep the first draft at your elbow and use it as an anchor; however ‘out there’ subsequent drafts become, your original impetus can remain steady.'

POSITIVE LITERARY ENERGY

Inspired by Tania and her general positivity, here’s a few good things that happened these past few days:

An absolute gem of a story turned up in my penultimate batch of Seán Ó Faoláin reading. It has put a smile on my face and gone straight onto the ‘YES!’ pile. It has a flash-bang of an opening, great language, and a quirky humour that is just spot on.

I got to meet Dermot Healy last night, a literary hero. He was the judge for a lit comp I won (entered pre-comp-retirement) and he said lovely things about my story, which is about Hadley Hemingway, Ernest’s first wife.

My co-collaborator in the Postcard Poems project, Órfhlaith, sent me three fabulous cards. I wrote poems based on two of them. Not great poems in a general way, but they match the cards and that’s what the project’s about. I can’t wait now to launch the project on the world. As if it’ll care! But we will, and that’s all that matters.

I've been reading a whole load of poems in Irish as Irish language editor of The Best of Irish Poetry 2009. It’s so interesting to see what people are writing about: everything from Russian dolls as a symbol of aging woman, to marital in-fighting over what to plant in the garden, it seems. Great stuff!

STORY COMPS: JUDGING, ENTERING, RETIRING

I’ve been asked to be one of two readers for one of the better Irish short story prizes in 2009. We read for the judge and pass on what we like to him. I haven’t got all the details yet but I’m happy to do the work, because I love short fiction and because, most importantly, I get paid. Writing is what I do (it and its peripheral work) and that’s why I say ‘most importantly’.

What with that, and my current judging of the Seán Ó Faoláin prize (700+ stories entered!), I’ve come to the conclusion that it is time for me to stop entering literary competitions. If I’m involved in judging a few of the biggies, it seems unseemly somehow to keep entering others. I’ve also learnt (from my Seán Ó F adjudication) that it is mostly beginner writers who enter these competitions and they need that forum to get a foot on the ladder, just as I did a number of years ago.

I’ve kept entering comps over the years because the prize money is often too good to pass by. I earned €3,000 for a 2000 word story once; €500 on another occasion and various hundreds, tokens, crystal, books etc. In comparison, most magazines pay in the region of €100 for a story. I have never re-entered comps I’ve been placed in, or won, but I’d always try my hand at new ones, big and small, and at the ‘goodies’.

This is my second time to ‘retire’. After my second book of stories was published, I felt there was no place for me to be entering comps anymore. A writing friend told me I was mad. ‘Look at the money,’ she said, ‘you’ll earn nothing like it anywhere else for writing.’ She was – and is – right: advances are generally dismal and royalties few. She and I both have had a healthy winning record; we were good at ‘literary Lester Piggotting’ as Fred Johnston so amusingly put it once.

And I admit, I will still try the Davy Byrne’s Award if I have anything ‘suitable’ available near the deadline. If it’s good enough for La Enright, it’s good enough for me. And at €25,000 for a story plus five shots at €1,000, the money is great. Not that I imagine Richard Ford would be wowed by a single syllable of mine, but I can dream, right?

NOTICEBOARD SNIPPET #5

"Writers need a generous atmosphere to grow in." Seán Ó Faoláin

IRISH LANGUAGE SCRIPTS WANTED

Here's something for the Gaeilgeoirs among you.

Six Irish language writers are being sought to develop a script that will be broadcast as a part of a drama series, with the theme of family, on TG4.

SÍOL will give the six writers the opportunity to write, develop, and produce a television script of not more than 25 minutes

The chosen ones will get to participate in a series of masterclasses, before bringing the series to production and broadcast.

Closing date for entries is August 13, 2008

For detail, see the Síol website. Ar aghaidh libh. Go n-éirí libh. Go mbristear bhur gcosa, srl srl!!

AUGUST SHORT REVIEW ONLINE

The Short Review, August edition, is now live here.

There's a review of and interview with a female Paddy O'Reilly from Oz; Tim Jones's Transported is also there, and a collection from the gorgeously named Pia Z. Ehrhardt.

Go there. Read. Enjoy!

WEST 47 - CALL FOR SUBS

My 100th post! Yay!

The 22nd edition of West 47 will be published online by Galway Arts Centre in September. They are inviting work by Friday 29th August 2008. Prose: 2000 words, or 75 lines in total for poetry.

For postal submissions, include a cover letter giving your name, address, phone number and email address; a 75-100 word biographical note and an SAE (please note IRC’s are NOT accepted in Ireland). You must also include a word version of your submission on floppy disk. No identifying information on the submission itself. Postal submissions can be sent to west47, Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway, Ireland.

For email submissions: a cover message with all the info as for postal entries; submission should be included in the body of the email AND as an attachment. Email submissions can be sent to miles@galwayartscentre.ie.

ANNIE PROULX'S SAGEBRUSH

What did you all make of Annie Proulx's new story 'The Sagebrush Kid' in The Guardian mag at the week-end?

After a very factual beginning (snooze) it took off, I thought. It was nicely creepy. I adore the mad names she conjures up (for all I know they are real). There was Mizpah Fur, Dr Frill and Mrs Quirt, to name a few.

Unusual names have a tendency to stick out oddly in many writers' stories but Annie seems adept at making them fit with both the story and the character. Who could ever forget Quoyle and Wavey Prowse from The Shipping News?

SHORT SHORT & POETRY COMP

The Dromineer Literary Festival, in Co Tipperary, have a deadline of August 15th for their poetry and short story competitions. There's no theme mentioned, which gives more freedom. I won the story section of this a number of years ago and the theme was 'Another September'. So much easier without that, eh? Though some people love a prompt, I think, and find it challenging. Anyhoo, the details:

Short stories: 600 words (unpublished). Judge: John Maher.

Poems: up to 40 lines (unpublished). Judge: Tony Curtis.

Entry fee: €10 per story, €5 for the first poem, €3 for every subsequent poem.

Prizes: €500, €350, or €150.

Mark your envelope ‘Dromineer Literary Festival’ and send to Deborah Powell Ballycommon, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary

See the festival site for more info.

ANNE ENRIGHT'S WRITING ROOM

Anne Enright uses a corner of her living room to write in. She must have great, undisturby type kids.

I know it's a while since this was featured in the Guardian, but I was just doing my go-through-the-papers-for-articles-to-cut-out routine this morning, and came across it again. I've stuffed the hard copy into my bulging Anne Enright file. Yes, in case ye didn't know, I'm a fan.

It's further proof to me of the humility and lack of pretentiousness of the woman. Though maybe she is planning a fancy-schmanzy study upstairs because she says she writes in this room pictured 'at the moment'. She also says she 'can write anywhere'. I think if a writer needs a very particular set up to write, it's bad news. Train yourself to write anywhere! But always have your fixed place too, so your family know you are serious.

You can read the entire piece here.

John McGahern Yearbook

The John McGahern Yearbook, Volume 1 edited by Dr. John Kenny is now available.

To order, you send your name and address with cheque/postal order/bank draft to The John McGahern Yearbook, Summer School Office, NUI Galway or e-mail fiona.dwyer nuigalway.ie [There is no charge for postage and packing.]

The Leitrim Observer noted that “the highlight of the book is the inclusion of the ‘After McGahern’ contribution, Mike McCormack was chosen as this year’s writer. The organisers of the year book decided that in order to keep McGahern's influence alive after his death, a specially commissioned original short story should be included which would be prefaced by the writers reflections on their encounter with John McGahern's work. McCormack's story entitled ‘There are things we know', has it's roots in the McGahern style with it's sparse but exact use of adjectives and it's emphasis on the unsaid.”

I only hope that Mike includes this new story in his next collection, as the McGahern book costs €50. Eek.