Tattoo-Tatú featured on Raw Light

The title poem from my last collection Tattoo-Tatú is featured on Jane Holland's Raw Light blog for her Short Season of Other Poets here.

Jane Holland is a poet, novelist and editor of the online arts magazine, Horizon Review. She is also a newly appointed commissioning editor at Salt.

MITCHELSTOWN S/STORY SHORTLIST

Myself and Vincent McDonnell have concluded our adjudication of the entries received for The Mitchelstown Short Story Prize and the short list of 10 stories has been passed on to the final judge, John MacKenna. The organisers expect to publish the name of the winner, and the 5 runners up, on or before 31st March 2009.

The winner will receive the Cork County Council Library Services Prize of €2,500 and a laptop, sponsored by The Mouse Pad, Mitchelstown.

It's fun for me to see the names on the shortlist for the first time and here they are, congrats to them all:

SHORTLIST

Adam Chaney, Utah, U.S.A.

Chani Anderson, Galbally, Co. Tipperary

Kathleen Murray, Cabra, Dublin 7

Olivia Rana, Malone Road, Belfast

Irene Rose-Ledger, Glasthule, Co. Dublin

Róisín McDermott, Celbridge, Co. Kildare

Margaret Irish, Kilkenny City

Mary Lennon, Coolock, Dublin 13

Micheál O’Siocháin, Charleville, Co. Cork

Tanya Farrelly, Clondalkin, Dublin 22

Competition site here

INVENTIVE BOOK MARKETING - AN EXAMPLE!

OK, I'm not a fan of videos on blogs, or YouTube for that matter, but this is a funny and inventive promo video from Colm Liddy for his début book from Penguin Irl, Forty Fights Between Husbands and Wives.

I admire Colm's gumption in the promo stakes - how on earth, it makes me wonder, am I going to adequately promote my new book in the autumn?!? I just haven't a clue...

See here for Colm's video

STINGING FLY - Spring 09 Issue

The brand new Stinging Fly arrived today in my letterbox. I have a piece in it about First Drafts, as have Colette Bryce, Mia Gallagher, Dermot Healy, Philip Ó Ceallaigh and Peter Sirr.

Monica Corish is the featured poet and there is plenty of new fiction and poetry from the likes of Alan McMonagle, Máiríde Woods, Gerry Murphy, Michael O'Loughlin, Matthew Sweeney and Paula Meehan.

Dubliner Orlaith O'Sullivan is named as the recipient of this year's Stinging Fly Prize and, in her report, judge Sinéad Morrissey had plenty of good general and specific things to say about writing, including the following:

"In the end, I had to place the question of genre to one side, as much as it was possible to do so, and establish, or re-establish, basic, fundamental characteristics of excellent writing. Surprise became the defining factor. I wanted to find work which took me by surprise, which deepened upon subsequent readings, and which was deft enough in the deployment of its own rules that they had been internalised, rendered invisible by the creative momentum they allowed."

Read her full report on Orlaith's achievement HERE.

PERPLEXED SKIN - STRONG AWARD SHORTLIST

I'm delighted that my friend Patrick (Pat) Cotter's poetry book Perplexed Skin has been shortlisted for the Strong Award. The book is sexy, witty and learn-ed. Here's what I said back in September when I launched it alongside three other Arlen House titles, at the Unitarian Church in Dublin:

"In his collection Perplexed Skin, Patrick Cotter writes frank and sensuous love poems, many of them embedded with a sudden and painful kick in the teeth: a girlfriend is stolen by bad feng shui; lovers lie with each other ‘like siblings’; and in ‘A Tigress is..’ the big cat ‘is a girl who licks up all your purring like milk, before leaving you’.

Pat’s poems are also ripe with a rueful self-criticism: the narrator compares himself unfavourably to sculptures in a museum; or laments his hair which stands in ‘shocked thin peaks of grey flames’. In the poem ‘The Poet Contemplates Book Cover Portraits’, the poet at 22 years old, and the poet at 42, have different ideas about the youthfulness of the now ubiquitous jacket photo. Expect to see a portrait of the poet as a banana on the back of Pat’s next book. You’ll know what I mean by that when you’ve read this one.

In a poem about the act of writing, the narrator observes that writing in a bar is more companionable than ‘a silent room’ because the noise there makes ‘the great trek through the word-veldt less lonesome’. Pat uses a rich Hiberno-English on his great trek, though his influences are doubtless European; he is unafraid of the local and the colloquial, the subversive and the funny, the searing truth and the wry observation."

The other shortlisted authors/books are:

Áine Moynihan: Canals of Memory (Doghouse)
Simon Ó Faoláin: Anam Mhadra (Coiscéim)
Ciaran Berry: The Sphere of Birds (Gallery Books)

Galway poet Mary O'Malley is the judge and I wish Pat the best of luck at the Strong Award at the Poetry Now Festival on the 29th of March and I'll be there shouting for him. Well, not literally shouting or I'd be kicked out, but you know what I mean. Pat's new collection Making Music is due for publication very soon and he blogs here.

SWANSEA REVIEW

Pic: mé féin in Swansea last year

The Swansea Review, issue 2, is now online and I have two poems in it here. I was treated like royalty last year on a reading trip to Wales - one of my highlights of 2008. Great people, the Welsh.

There are two interviews about short fiction, one with the lovely and talented Clare Wigfall, whose next book is about a chihauhau (my first pet, Tiny, was a chihauhau!). It's a kiddies' book so I'll buy it for mine when it appears. The other short fiction interview is with Nam Le, author of The Boat.

There's new fiction, another poet, and an article on translation from Welsh language poet Menna Elfyn; and an essay by Stevie Davies on her novel The Eyrie which I reviewed (glowingly) for The New Welsh Review in 2007.

All in all a well put together journal (and not just because I'm in it!) by editor Fflur Dafydd, who is also a novelist and one of the hot new young Welsh writers.

INTL WOMEN'S DAY READING

Feminist Open Forum, which I'm a member of, but have yet to attend a meeting (Dublin-based, so awkward for me) are celebrating International Women's Day (a few days early!) with:

Spellbound:
An Evening of Poetry and Prose to Celebrate Women's Writing

Wednesday, March 4th

Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin

7.30pm-9.30pm

An evening of poetry and prose with Catherine Cullen, Claire Kilroy, Medbh McGuckian, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Enda Wyley and others.

Inquiries to: feministforum@gmail.com / 086 0704036

NOTICEBOARD SNIPPET #7

‘The difference…between the person who says he ‘wishes to be a writer’ and the person who says he ‘wishes to write’. The former desires to be pointed out at cocktail parties, the latter is prepared for the long, solitary hours at a desk; the former desires a status; the latter a process; the former desires to be, the latter to do.’

Sir John Mortimer

33 DOs and 12.5 DON’Ts of Poetry Submission

Here's some sage advice from Happenstance Press. A lot of it applies to submitting any kind of work to a publisher or agent. It's long but worth a read if you are serious about getting published:

Swing the odds in your favour by doing the DOs and dodging the DON’Ts

Do: Obtain (and preferably buy) several publications by the publisher(s) you intend to approach. Think carefully about the extent to which your work fits into the list. If doubtful, email the publisher.

Do: While checking through the publisher’s previously published work, think about poem types and lengths. If you’re submitting mostly lengthy poems, and the list is mainly short lyrics fitting inside one book page, there may be a problem. Think about it.

Do: Check whether the publisher has any submission guidelines. Look on the website. If you don’t use the web, find a friend who does.

Do: Follow the submission guidelines. To the letter.

Do: Check you’ve stamped your submission adequately.

Do: Include a stamped addressed envelope big enough to include the poems you sent.

Do: Type or word-process your work neatly and accurately.

Do: Word-process your poems in an plain font – Times Roman, or Arial, or Garamond, or Palatino Linotype. Something that doesn’t draw attention to itself rather than to your poems.

Do: Use the size of font that you would expect to find in a book—probably size 12 and on no account bigger than 14.

Do: Avoid text language. Don’t use lower case i unless you can find a very good reason for doing so.

Do: Present your work on crisp, clean white or off-white paper.

Do: Make sure you know the NAME of the editor who’s likely to be reading your work. It shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Do: Include a covering letter (word-processed), briefly (don’t list every single published poem) mentioning reputable publications where your work has been published. (If you aren’t sure what is meant by ‘reputable’, plenty of people are—ask around.)

Do: Include your name and address somewhere clear but not obtrusive with EACH poem. Give each poem its own sheet of paper, even if it’s very short.

Do: Check your use of apostrophes. As far as the world goes, it doesn’t really matter whether you, or anyone else makes an error with an apostrophe. But where your poetry is concerned, you need to show that you care enough to get it perfect. Every time.

Do: Tell the publisher if you have won or placed in a competition.

Do: Tell the publisher if you have read and liked (be truthful though) publications on her list.

Do: Tell the publisher if you play an active role in local poetry groups, writers’ circles, festivals etc

Do: Tell the publisher if another poet on the same list has recommended you submit.

Do: Read any written communication from the publisher carefully. Even if it’s a straight rejection, it may contain useful comments. Remember that publishing is a business. The main reason for rejection is because the publisher doesn’t think he or she can sell your work effectively enough to keep the business going. Reflect on this. Work out why. It’s the key to everything.

Do: Reply to a rejection letter if it says something useful. Say thank you if someone has spent time with your work. Courtesy gets your name remembered. You want your name to be remembered. You want to be a person, not just print on a page.

Do: Keep in touch with the publisher if invited to—take a look at the website every few months to see what’s going on.

Do: Check whether the main editor is also a poet, and if so where he/she publishes. Try to get your poems into those same magazines, since it’s likely that he or she reads them.

Do: Keep an eye on the poetry publishing business. Read about what’s going on. Go to festivals. Meet other poets. Make contacts. Make friends by being nice to people and interested in what they’re doing.

Do: Find good readers for your poems, astute people who will give truthful reactions and help you improve. Distrust people who always say everything you write is marvellous.

Do: Talk to other poets who have published first collections. Ask them how it worked, how they managed it.

Do: Look meticulously at the acknowledgements page of new poetry collections, especially those of any publisher you’re interested in. See where those poets are placing their poems—which magazines. Try to get your work there too.

Do: Be ambitious for your poems. Aim to make them better and better and better. As good as you can get them in a lifetime.

Do: Have fun. Somehow. Do have fun. Make poetry friends. Laugh about it all. If trying to get your poetry published is making you miserable, change the game.

Do: Write short reviews of poetry publications you’ve enjoyed and post them on Amazon. Say why you liked them. This is good for your own prose style and it’s good for the poets you’re supporting. This doesn’t mean you need to rave slavishly—you can be truthful and mention what you did and didn’t like. But avoid lambasting poetry you hate. Life is too short. It doesn’t reflect well on you and it’ll make you enemies.

Do: Keep buying newly published poetry books and pamphlets—buy ones that you like and want to support. It’s crucial to keep the business going. If you don’t, the chances of your work being published diminish accordingly.

Do: Write good prose. Remember Coleridge’s dictum: prose = good words in the best order; poetry = the best words in the best order. If you can’t get the order right for the good words, your poetry may not be that hot.

Do: Read 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell by Chris Hamilton-Emery (http://www.saltpublishing.com/)

Now contemplate the DON’Ts....


Don’t: Present your poems in italic or bold font.

Don’t: Centre all your poems.

Don’t: Offer to pay for publication of your poems.

Don’t: List a track record of publications which turn out to be all local to where you live—you need to penetrate a wide geographical area if possible.

Don’t: Present poems that include tipp-x, deletions or spelling mistakes.

Don’t: Send more poems that the submission guidelines advise.

Don’t: Tell the publisher by what date you would like her to reply to your submission.

Don’t: Put © Millie Mathiesson at the end of each poem. It will drive the publisher NUTS. a) He or she has no possible interest in stealing your poem. b) You automatically own copyright of your work and do not need to assert it in a publication submission.

Don’t: Telephone the publisher to follow up your submission. If you make them feel pressurised, you will alienate them.

 
Don’t: Brood about rejection. What the hell! Just think hard about your options. Use your intelligence. Keep sending to magazines. Good magazines. Keep writing poems.

Don’t: Send self-bound copies of your poems, pamphlets or books. Send things in the usual submission format of loose leaf pages, each with the poem & your name and address.

Don’t: Assume that publishing your poetry is the only way to prove you write good poems. It’s not.

Don’t: Expect applause.

2009 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest

The 10th Annual Raymond Carver Short Story Contest is now open until March 31st.

The judge is Melvin Sterne, founder and original editor of the magazine.

Salt author Elizabeth Baines came third in this last year, so they are not biased towards American voices, as I might have previously supposed. (I feel that about a lot of US based short story mags/contests, but I'm open to correction...?!)

Prizes: $1000, $750, $500. There are also two editor's choice prizes of $250 each.

For rules see: Carvezine.com

Winners will be announced on the website on June 1. Stories will be published in the Summer 2009 issue on June 15.

Any contest related questions, please email contest@carvezine.com.

Happy writing!

Love Poems in a Dublin Church

Poetry Ireland, Imram and Cois Life present
A special reading of love poetry in Irish on Valentine's Day:

Saturday 14 February @ 10.45am
Whitefriar St Carmelite Church, 56 Aungier St, D2

This sounds lovely, but I will be hotel-bound with my beloved elsewhere... I wouldn't mind only we got engaged in that church, beside the tomb of Saint Valentine, so we belong there. Still, I'm happier not to be travelling too far for a relaxing day of shopping, eating and whatever else!

Filíocht le Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Liam Ó Muirthile, agus Colm Breathnach. Amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós le Lorcán Mac Mathúna. Beidh na filí ag léamh rogha dánta ón leabhar Filíocht Ghrá na Gaeilge, curtha in eagar ag Ciarán Mac Murchaidh, agus foilsithe ag Cois Life.

Poetry read by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Liam Ó Muirthile and Colm Breathnach. With traditional love songs in Irish sung by Lorcán Mac Mathúna. The poems and songs that will be performed come from the recently published anthology Filíocht Ghrá na Gaeilge/Love Poems in Irish, edited by Ciarán Mac Murchaidh and published by Cois Life.

Reading begins at 10.45am, just prior to 11.00am mass, with additional poems and songs performed during and after mass.

For more information contact
T 087 2912797 E liamog62@mac.com W coislife.ie
For the latest news, events and competitions, visit
www.poetryireland.ie

WIDE SARGASSO SEA

I’ve just finished reading Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys – her imagined prequel to Jane Eyre. I had watched the BBC dramatisation of it, with Rebecca Hall as Antoinette/Bertha, a few years ago, and enjoyed it, so I knew the story already. But nothing beats the novel. And what an odd, atmospheric and passionate novel it is. The style is strange – stream of consciousness and unreliable narrators – and very compelling to read.

It’s set in 1830’s Jamaica, and so often I wanted to jump into the pages of the novel, into the lush heat of Jamaica and Dominica, and slap Edward Rochester around the head for believing malicious gossip and for driving his wife mad. I can’t say it’s totally turned me off him but it has certainly made me wary of him. I hope he made a better husband to Jane Eyre than he did to the troubled but ultimately sane, Antoinette/Bertha.

I can see why people have been urging me to read Wide Sargasso Sea for years – it’s creepy and oppressive and interesting all at the same time. And for Brontë fans, it certainly makes for a wider appreciation, or reading, of the sublime Jane Eyre.

Jean Rhys was a fascinating woman: born in Dominica in 1890, she married three times, and lived in Paris for a spell in the 1920’s, where she was encouraged in her writing by Ford Madox Ford. Presumed dead, when her literary output dried up, she was alive and well in Cornwall and Wide Sargasso Sea was published in 1966, though she had had the idea for it floating in her head for years.

It’s a gem of a book and I love the fact that a nineteenth century masterpiece inspired a twentieth century one. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it. If you have, what did you think of it?

INSIGHT INTO HAIKU

Ennis Book Club Festival 2009 and the Irish Haiku Society announce

Insight into Haiku with the poet Anatoly Kudryavitsky: a haiku reading and a haiku workshop.

It will be held in the Clare Museum, Arthur's Row (off O'Connell Square), Ennis, Co. Clare on Saturday 7th March, 2009; 12 noon to 1pm

Admission is €10/€8

To book contact Glór Box Office. Tel. 065 6843103 or email boxoffice [at] glor.ie

Further festival information at

www.ennisbookclubfestival.com | e-mail: info [at] ennisbookclubfestival.com, irishhaikusociety [at] hotmail.com | Tel. 087 972 3647 or 085 784 2822

DUNLAVIN LIT COMPS OPEN

Entries are now being accepted (apparently) for The 27th Annual Dunlavin Festival of Arts Short Story and Poetry Competitions. The website link is still the old one, however...

From last years rules:

2000 word story, with a €5 entry fee.

3 poems per €5 entry fee.

Poems and stories should be sent to Florence Grace, Rathsallagh, Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow. Closing date is March 31st. Full set of rules available on www.dunlavinartsfestival.com

(Florence Grace! Now isn't that a gorgeous name?)

JOHN UPDIKE & SHORT FICTION

I've been thinking about John Updike's death and his stories over the past few days; I always enjoyed them, got quickly pulled in to them. I loved their honesty and rawness, especially when it came to men and women and the hurts they inflict on each other in relationships. (One of my major themes in To The World of Men, Welcome and in my next book, Nude).

I liked what Anne Enright said in The Observer on Sunday about the way he wrote about sex:

"I once spent about a year trying to think of a man who writes about sex properly, who isn't boasting. Then the name Updike came to me as someone who was writing something slightly boastful but real. All male authors seem to be either boasting or disgusted by sex; they write about it like it's the worst thing that could happen to anybody, whereas Updike took pleasure in it. He was helpless to the idea that the sentence should do something, and sometimes he gave into it too much, but the result is really lovely and somehow true about how we experience the world and sexual relations."

I haven't read Updike's novels but his short stories are hauntingly good; I wonder if shorter fiction was his favourite form? Alex Clark of Granta wasn't talking about him when she said the following, but it strikes me that it applies:

"[Short fiction writers] write short stories because they want to; because what they want to say and the way they want to say it is best accommodated and enhanced by writing over a shorter distance. It should be no more complicated than that."

Updike ruminated and internalised in his stories but, God, he did it in a way that sucked you in. I'm glad he was so creative (i.e. prolific); it means I have lots to catch up on.

BRIDPORT PRIZE OPENS

The Bridport Prize 2009 - a competition for Short Stories and Poems is now open. Deadline: 30th June.

It is, apparently, the richest open writing competition in the English language - with £5000 first prize for a short story (of up to 5000 words);and £5000 first prize for a poem (of up to 42 lines).

The Bridport was a starting point in the careers of writers such as Kate Atkinson, Tobias Hill, Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore.

Anyone can enter - so long as the work is previously unpublished.
It costs £7 per story or £6 per poem and the closing date is 30th June 2009.

Each year the prize is judged by well known writers - this year they have Ali Smith judging short stories and Jackie Kay judging poetry.

Enter online or download an entry form www.bridportprize.org.uk. Or send an SAE for an entry form to be posted to you to

The Bridport Prize
PO Box 6910
Dorset
DT6 9BQ
UK