NOTEBOOK LOVERS UNITE!

Ah notebooks, how I love thee.

We’ve got a new shop in Galway and I went in and bought two pretty notebooks yesterday. Irresistibly beautiful tiny notebooks that fit in a jeans pocket and have a little elastic band to hold in stray bits of paper – my favourite kind.

I gave a talk to the new BA in Creative Writing students in NUI Galway yesterday about the writing life. On the way home on the train I realised I had forgotten to tell them to buy the smallest, most beautiful notebook they could find and carry it with them always. I thought this as I took my new notebooks from the bag and flicked through them admiringly. Practically salivating.

It struck me, though, that I have somewhat of a notebook mountain. Not just full notebooks but empty ones. Like most writers (female writers?) I have a stationery fetish and I buy notebooks fecklessly and recklessly. It doesn’t matter if they are expensive or that I have plenty of blank notebooks already, I will always buy more. They call to me from the shelf: ‘Buy me, buy me.’ And I oblige.

So, I decided to actually count the blank notebooks, just to see. Oh dear. There are 23 blank notebooks, that I could find. There are more lurking in my house. Anyone else out there similarly afflicted?

NUDE TOUR RETURNS TO ENGLAND

I am here today at Vanessa Gebbie's blog on the penultimate stop on the Nude not Naked Tour.

As a virtuoso writer and editor Vanessa couldn't contain herself and asked more than the requisite 3 questions but her questions were so interesting, I didn't mind at all. Hope you enjoy the interview and thanks for sticking with me thus far.

THE MUSTARD PURSE

Here's a poem written by my American friend, poet and artist Marcella Brown. I'm off to Sligo to see the lovely Martha and while deciding what bag to bring, I remembered this poem which Marcella sent me recently. That's my bag! Yay!

THE MUSTARD PURSE

I wonder how it feels
to be a mustard purse,
to hold the secrets precious to a woman.
The color makes me quiver
from the inner sanctum of my eye.
I have to touch this mustard purse
just to hold its grassy hue.

I'd like to be a mustard purse
so I could be caressed and held,
hung and slung,
opened and undone,
guarding coins and pens and books,
stashing buried notes
...and poet's quotes.

WRITING4ALL - SHORT STORY TIPS ESSAY

Writing4All is a resource for Irish writers of all shades and persuasions.They call themselves 'a creative writing community where Irish writers can share and develop their work'. In fact, as it's web-based, their general info is open to all.

They have sections on events, competitions and writing news, and there is a forum you can join. They are also running a short fiction competition with a first prize of €1000.

Their Getting Started section has advice-essays from Carlo Gébler (the novel) and Gabriel Fitzmaurice (poetry) and now I have one there too, on the short story: 'Tips on how to get started as a short story writer'. You can read it here.

NUDE IN NORWAY

This week my virtual tour takes me to Irish writer and journalist Johanna C. Leahy's blog in Oslo.
We talk about Trinity College, my path to publication, blogging and, of course, short stories!
Clicky here to 'listen' in.

CHARMS VS SELF-BELIEF

I like to think I'm not superstitious, in the same way I'm not religious, and yet I do like the rituals of both camps, in some ways: I salute lone magpies; I can be quite moved by Mass at Christmas etc. And I have carried/used talismans for special requests: rose quartz to feel more loving, Sheela-na-Gigs for fertility, that kind of thing.

Anyway, while my novel was out doing the rounds of publishers over the years (yes, YEARS) every so often I would sort of pray to some higher power to help it on its way. Then I decided to 'make' a charm in the form of a collage to send positivity to the manuscript of the book as it went from publisher to publisher. (See image above.) That was probably about 3 years ago.

My novel is called You. I placed the title of the novel in a lovely blue sky, sitting on cloud 9. The arrows were to force it up and up above the real world into the stratosphere of the publishing world. It was a picture of positivity.

And still the rejections came. Lovely rejections, saying all sorts of nice things: some of them I would have been happy with as a review of the novel. But they were saying no, nonetheless. Still, I never lost faith in my novel - I felt it was good and that it worked, despite some publishers' reservations. My feeling was that it needed the right editor - someone who understood it and would champion it. I always thought that person would be a woman.

This year, at last, my novel found the right editor; she is the one who finally decided to take a chance. You will be published by the wonderful publishing house New Island in 2010.

Did my picture-talisman, perched on the sitting-room cabinet work? Well, no and yes. No, in that only dogged determination and self-belief will keep a rejected book being sent back out. Yes, in that seeing the picture reminded me daily not to lose faith and to keep on trying. The moral of the story for wannabe writers? Never give up.

NIGHTJAR PRESS - SINGLE STORY CHAPBOOKS

I'm a big fan of chapbooks and an even bigger fan of short fiction, so Nightjar Press's new publications are ideal for me. I bought all the Picador Shots when they came out a few years ago and when I saw these Nightjar ones, I had to have both short story chapbooks.

They didn't disappoint. Both stories are dark, suspenseful, creepy and very well written. So, if that's how you like your literary fiction, pop a message in the comments, I'll put the names in a hat and then send the chapbooks on to the winner.

Spreading the short story love!

USA STOP ON VIRTUAL TOUR

I'm in the US of A today on my Nude not Naked Virtual Book Tour, with the lovely Dawn Rennert, at her blog She Is Too Fond of Books.

We talk about themes, animating the inanimate and the difference between nude and naked. Toddle over there and see what else we talked about. Leave a comment if you like!

HORIZON REVIEW 3 - NOW ONLINE

I am fiction editor of Horizon Review 3, which is now online here.

I chose stories from six fabulous writers: Órfhlaith Foyle, Colm Keegan, Julia Van Middlesworth, Eva Eliav, Vivien Jones and Janice Soderling. I hope you enjoy my selections.

This is the poetry issue of the review and it features interviews with Craig Raine, Pascale Petit and Hugo Williams, plus new poems by Helen Ivory, Claire Crowther and many others, and a review of the Forward Prize-winning collection Rain by Don Paterson.

Image from www.better-photographs.com

NUDE IN REVIEW #3

Nude has been reviewed again, this time by blogger Jen Matthews over at her place 'A Yank Refugee in the PRC'. I was alerted to it by google. What a nice Sunday morning surprise! It's here.

NUDE IN REVIEW #2

The Irish Times have reviewed Nude today and it is a brilliant review. Yay! Thank you Katie Donovan! Read it here.

WIN COPIES OF NUDE - IN GENEVA WITH PETINA!

Today on my virtual tour, I am in the company of the beautiul and megawatt-talented writer Petina Gappah in Geneva, Switzerland. Petina is from Zimbabwe and her collection An Elegy for Easterly was recently shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor Award. We talk about lots of stuff: writing with a family, ideal dinner party writer-guests and, of course, short stories.

Petina is giving away 2 signed copies of Nude to readers of the blog. Head on over to win one and read our chat here.

NUDE IN REVIEW

Two reviews of Nude appeared this week. One rather strange one - in its unreviewy-ness - in The Short Review here. The reviewer liked the humour in the book but the rest of what she said was..I don't know...kind of incomprehensible. Not sure what to make of it.

I also reviewed Simon Van Booy's book Love Begins in Winter for this issue of The Short Review here.

And Nude was also reviewed in The Sunday Business Post by Julian Fleming. He aid it was 'affecting', that the prose is 'fluid and descriptive' and, ultimately, that the book is 'a success'.

SUNDAY TIMES REPORT - IRISH LANGUAGE WRITERS

A friend rang me this morning to alert me to the fact that my name was mentioned in a Sunday Times article about Irish language publishing. The article by Eithne Shortall is typically negative and wrong-headed about books in Irish and the support for writers who write in Irish.

Firstly the shock headline, which is inaccurate and actually contradicts the content of the article:
'€74,000 grants for writers who sold 76 books'.

I could use bad language about that headline but I won't. Let me just say, as those interviewed for the piece said, sales of Irish language books rarely take place in book shops. They are more often sold at book launches, readings and literary festivals, or directly from the publisher. This reflects the realities that a) bookshops will not give shelf space to anything other than surefire sellers, and b) Irish language books have a smaller audience than English language books. These are facts, accepted by those who write and love Irish language books.

Also, why shouldn't Irish language writers receive grants? These grants are also received by writers in English (I received €5000 in a very welcome Arts Council Bursary recently) but there is no huge backlash against them.

To say, as this article does that 'Irish language books are not popular; writer Darach Ó Scolaí was awarded €30,000 in grants but clocked up 6 sales' is frankly, ridiculous. Even if each of Darach's siblings bought his book, he'd have more than 6 sales!! Darach ó Scolaí's books have sold in their thousands. FACT. Mostly his books have not been processed through Nielsen BookScan. FACT.

As for my name being mentioned as an Irish language writer, this is a partial inaccuracy. I am in fact a translator; I have an MA in translation. I write the very odd poem in Irish but mostly I translate, both my own work and that of other writers. It is accurate to say that I received a €900 travel award. I went to a Welsh university to deliver a lecture on translation to a creative writing MA; I also read to them and did a further bilingual reading in the Dylan Thomas Centre, with Welsh writer Menna Elfyn. Is the journalist objecting to me getting that money? If so, why?

What is this absolute negativity towards the funding of Irish langauge literature about? Why is there almost a hatred towards the writers who choose to write in Irish and who receive government support to do that? Eithne Short's reporting is as gleefully negative as it is inaccurate. I don't understand her motivation.

Gregory O'Donoghue Poetry Competition

An exciting new international poetry competition, in memory of well loved Cork poet Greg O'Donoghue, has just been announced by the Munster Literature Centre. Do these people ever rest? Clearly not, lucky for us.

DETAILS:

The Munster Literature Centre is pleased to announce a new international poetry prize for single poem, named in honour of a late Irish poet long associated with the Centre. The Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize will have a first prize of €1,000 (on 1 October 2009 approx. US$1400 or UK£900) and publication in Southword Literary Journal. The winner will have the opportunity to travel to Cork, Ireland in February 2010 to receive their winnings and read their poem at the opening of the Cork Spring Literature Festival. The MLC will subvent travel costs for the winner up to €600 and provide hotel accommodation and meals for three days during the festival. There will be a second prize of €500, third prize of €250, and ten runners-up will each have their poems published in Southword and receive Southword's standard fee of €30.

Entry details here.

TINY POEMS

When I lived in Scotland one of my friends bought me a book by Ivor Cutler. In it were hilarious little poems/stories. When I came home, I showed it to my sisters and we got great mileage out of the poems' subversive wit. I still have that miniature book.

I was reminded of this when I started to look for outlets for some of my own tiny poems which are little scraps that make me laugh. But no editor has accepted them (not that I've really tried much - I'm a lazy submitter.)

Anyway, I found this site: Tiny Poems and thought, Yipee!! So I mailed the editor...but got no response. At all.

OK, I thought, I'll just post them on my own blog. So here we are. Tiny poem number one. (You might have to click on the pic to read it properly - camera issues...)