GIVEAWAY WINNER - YOU

Lá fhéile Pádraig faoi mhaise. Happy St Patrick's Day! Here's the draw for the copy of YOU. Apols for the delay!

All the names in the St Paddy's day crock:

And the winner is...Grace Song AKA Annette Seifert. Get in touch with your address, Annette, to nuala AT nualaoconnor.com. Congrats!!

LINES OF VISION - LAUNCH & OPENING

Lines of Vision: Irish Writers on Art will be launched by President Higgins tonight at 6pm at the National Art Gallery. The book contains stories, poems and articles inspired by artworks from the gallery and it celebrates the National Gallery of Ireland's 150th anniversary. I have a wee story in it based on a Jack B. Yeats painting. I'm looking forward to the private reception for the writers before the main event at 6pm. The book is accompanied by an exhibition which opens to the public on Wednesday.

There are lots of literary events taking place around the book/exhib, including a study morning on Jack B. Yeats that I am doing on the 15th November with Roddy Doyle, Moya Cannon and Dermot Bolger. The morning can be booked here.

The Sunday Times had a review of the book this past weekend by Cristín Leach Hughes. She said of my story: 'Nuala Ní Chonchúir spins a quick, gripping yarn about gunrunning from Jack B. Yeats's 'Men of Destiny'.' Here's a photo of the review, which will be readable if you click on it and zoom in:

ÁRAS TRIP - pics & report

Aesop ceiling, Council of State Room, Áras an Uachtaráin

Well, the trip to the Áras to meet President Higgins was very enjoyable and a tad surreal. I met the bus at Kinnegad and we all travelled up to the Park from there. It was a gorgeous day and I sat beside an English teacher from Edenderry who also writes, and we had great chats about Plath and Kinsella, kids and education and all sorts.

Poet Jean O'Brien outside the Áras

Entrance hallway, Áras an Uachtaráin

The Áras is run like clockwork. Naturally the President has a hectic schedule. We were on time and enjoyed a leisurely walk up to the house, taking in the fountains and trees in the stunning grounds - it was a gorgeous spring morning. We were met in the hallway by two members of staff (army men) and one of them, John, was our guide. Everywhere, from the entrance hall to the basement loos, is packed with gorgeous artworks, ancient and modern.

Candelabra, hallway

We were shown into the State Reception room and we formed a large circle around the room (there were fifty in the group between student poets, librarians, teachers and writers). Soon President Higgins was announced and he welcomed us and said a few words about the importance of libraries and bringing a love of poetry to young people.

President Higgins with Mary Reynolds and Martina Barry

Then he came around the circle and chatted to each of us and shook our hands. It was funny how nervous I felt. I read with Michael D. Higgins many years ago in Galway library but it felt very different meeting him as President of the country.

Mary Reynolds, who lead our group, went around with him and introduced each of us. He asked who had published The Juno Charm and when I said Salmon he asked if Jessie was still up on the cliffs in Clare. I said she was, with the dogs, and he laughed and told me to send her his best wishes. We were to present our books at the end but some people slipped gifts to him as we went around so that got a bit messed up. In the end, Mary took copies of our books to give to him via his staff.

We had a photographer with us so I will get my pic of me with the President anon. I hope I don't look crazed. I couldn't stop smiling :)

Ciarán O'Hanlon, reciting his winning poem

The two young students who won in the creative writing section and the recitation section then recited their poems for the President. They are Ciarán O'Hanlon from Ballymahon Convent and Avril Holton from Edenderry. They did brilliantly.

Avril Holton, reciting Goldsmith

We had group pics with the President, then - each county getting one picture with him.

Westmeath Group

Then we had the tea! On lovely white china with a navy and gold trim, which are the Presidential colours. There were shamrock biscuits and green cake; little iced buns and marble cake. Naturally, in the course of research, I sampled several items and am happy to report that they were gorgeous: homemade and tasty. The President mingled, cup of coffee in hand, but all too soon he has to leave to deal with other duties.

Áras biccies

Áras cake

Áras buns

After the President left, the very gregarious John gave us a tour of the rooms, with all sorts of interesting history and gossip thrown in.

The tour

We went into the President's Room which holds portraits of all the Irish presidents to date. They will have to shuffle the portraits along soon to let Michael D.'s picture in.

President Mary Robinson, portrait by Basil Blackshaw

President Mary McAleese, portrait by Joe Dunne (I think - our guide wasn't sure who the artist was)

Mirror, Council of State Room

From there we went to the Council of State Room and then through to the State Drawing Room, which has a lovely cosy feel to it, with it's silk lined walls and beautiful furniture.

Me on the Louis IV sofa

Steinway in the State Drawing Room

There's a Steinway in there and one of the students played a tune on the piano for us. By then our tour was closing and we had to bundle outside for group photos and farewells to our guide John.

Poet Noel Monahan tripping down the Francini Corridor

It was a great day and a great privilege to be there and to meet our Poet President, who is a lovely, decent man. Going to the Áras yesterday is just one of the many privileges that writing brings to my life and for which I am always grateful.

There's a virtual tour of the Áras here.

GOING TO THE ÁRAS

Michael Tea Higgins cosy by Virginia Costello

I'm very excited to be going to the Áras tomorrow to meet Michael D. Higgins, our lovely President Poet. I've been working on a poetry in schools project in Westmeath for the last few months, doing workshops with students then judging their final poems. Other counties involved are Longford and Offaly.

The President has invited us all to his house tomorrow - all the teachers, writers, students and librarians involved. Excitement. My fellow poets are Noel Monahan and Jean O'Brien. I plan to report back on our trip to the Park. I wonder will he use the Michael Tea cosy for the tay?!

And the winner of the Shine On anthology (Dedalus Press), as chosen from the hat by Finn, is Úna Spain! Congrats Úna :) I'll be in touch!!

SALMON'S 30th BIRTHDAY SHINDIG

I went to Salmon's 30th birthday celebrations in the beautiful Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green last night. Going to these types of events is like sitting down with a good anthology - you are suddenly privy to a selection of poets you were unlikely to stumble across in a normal day's reading.

The beautiful and mega-watt talented Mary O'Donnell launched the evening and she talked specifically about Salmon's contribution to opening up the poetic world in Ireland to women writers, and especially to those in the west of Ireland, like Rita Ann Higgins, Eva Bourke and Moya Cannon. (Arlen House took up the poetry baton in the 1990s and, along with Summer Palace Press, these publishers, in particular, continue the good work with women writers.) Mary said, 'As an American writer living in Ireland, Jessie allowed us to see ourselves.' She cited Joan McBreen's anthology of women poets The White Page as a highlight for her in Salmon's publishing history.

Other speakers included Director of Poetry Ireland Joseph Woods who told us that Salmon were the first to publish our new president Michael D. Higgins, namely his first collection, The Betrayal.

Jessie Lendennie, publisher and co-founder with Salmon spoke, as did her fellow founder Michael Allen. When Michael was no longer part of Salmon, Jessie, who proclaimed herself 'stubborn', said she just wanted to keep going. And so she did.

I am a roe in the Salmon caste of writers, according to author Michael O'Loughlin (that is, I have not yet spawned) but I'm nearly there - I should have my book in my hand next week. Michael's wife Judith Mok was among last night's readers and she also sang, beautifully - she's a professional opera singer as well as a writer.

Other readers, among many, included Alan Jude Moore, Nessa O'Mahony, Pete Mullineaux, Bertha Rogers, Ann le Marquand Hartigan, John Fitzgerald and, my favourite reader of the evening, the wry English poet Julian Stannard. Julian had everyone giggling at his irreverant and beautifully written work. I bought his collection The Parrots of Villa Gruber Discover Lapis Lazuli and read it on the bus on the way home and can highly recommend it. Julian's work and all of these Salmon poets can be discovered on their site here.

There were lots of poems about dogs, several about meat and Michael Allen read a long Michael D. Higgins poem about a harsh schoolmaster who goes a bit doolally after seeing a Virgin apparition. The poem had several refrains one of which was 'love everybody but particularly love yourself'.

There was wine, there was chat, there were wall-to-wall poets, there was Luka Bloom, there was a raffle of all the books published by Salmon this year, there was the shush of the Luas as it passed by the church door. All in all, it was a fine celebration of Jessie and her thirty years of publishing great poetry.

PRESIDENTIAL GIVEAWAY - SHINE ON

In honour of our wonderful new President, Michael D. Higgins, I am giving away a copy of the new Shine On: Irish Writers for Shine anthology which contains a poem by the very man. Also a story by me and fabulous work by lots of other Irish writers. I blogged its launch here.

In the spirit of patriotism, I am confining this giveaway to Ireland. Sorry, my lovely overseas readers - I will do a giveaway of the new poetry book next month which will be for everywhere :)

Just leave a comment to say you want to be in the draw and I will pull a name out of the hat next Friday, the 4th November. Good luck!