Nuala Ní Chonchúir's Blog, page 41

REMEMBERING ANN LOVETT EVENT

Remembering Ann Lovett
Wednesday 5 February at 6.30pm in 
John Hume Building Lecture Theatre 4, NUI Maynooth

Ann Lovett was 15 years old when she left her school early on the 31 January 1984. She didn’t go home. Instead she disappeared into the grotto by the graveyard in the town of Granard, Co Longford. There, all alone, she gave birth to a baby boy. Several hours later they were both found dead.

The lonely death of Ann Lovett and her son said everything about a society that could claim to respect and value women’s lives while abandoning a frightened pregnant teenager. Her death ignited a public conversation about the type of society that Ireland was and what it needed to become.

To remember the thirtieth anniversary of Ann Lovett’s death, and its significance for Irish society, the Department of English at NUI Maynooth has convened a panel discussion. Joining in the conversation will be Catríona Crowe (Head of Special Projects, National Archive), Justine McCarthy (Journalist, Sunday Times), Anne Mulhall (School of English UCD) and Ailbhe Smyth (Feminist). It will be chaired by Sinéad Kennedy (Department of English NUIM).
The evening will begin with a short performance in memory of Ann Lovett by singer Christy Moore.


For more information contactSinéad Kennedy
sinead.m.kennedy@nuim.ie01-7083396

GLADSTONE LIBRARY - GUEST BLOG

Ahead of my week-long residency at Gladstone's Library in Wales, I guest-blog at their site today, about why the colour red is the reason I get to go there and write. Can't wait!

DELAWARE POETRY REVIEW

A Delaware road signI have poems in the Delaware Poetry Review along with Alison Funk and James O'Neill Miller and others. All thanks to the issue's editor, writer Billie Travalini, who was such a gracious host to me in Delaware last year.

In her editorial she says: 'Here, nouns and verbs are expected to do their jobs. Here, silence is heard. Each of the poets gathered in this collection ... offers keen – and often magical - insight into the transforming power of silence.'

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE - GATE THEATRE - REVIEW

Sam O'Mahony as Darcy & Lorna Quinn as LizzieMy husband brought me to Pride and Prejudice at The Gate for my birthday at the weekend. There can hardly be an adult reader who has not read P&P, Jane Austen's novel of the Bennett sisters, afflicted with loving but foolish parents, who let them down in various ways. This was The Gate's Christmas offering but it has been breaking box office records and continues it's run (with limited availability) until the 8th of February.

I may have set myself up badly for the show by rewatching the BBC mini-series that featured Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie - surely the most sublime Lizzie ever. I am also reading Jo Baker's most enjoyable Longbourn, which tells the story of P&P from the point of view of Mrs Hill and the other Bennett servants. (I'm very interested in it having just finished writing a domestic service novel set in the 19th C - ooh, Jo Baker writes well!) Anyway, with heads full of Ehle's Lizzie, we took ourselves to The Gate and what we saw was very enjoyable, with a few minor quibbles. One of those being dropped accents - surely at this stage of the run the actors should have their English accents down pat?
The Bennett girls, hungry for husbandsLorna Quinn was a vivacious Lizzie and acted as narrator at times to speed along what was already a full-throttle production. P&P is a long novel and it is always difficult to present it as a play without galloping through the plot. One of the ways they did this was to dispense with some characters - there was just one Miss Bingley, for example,which handily got rid of the other sister and her drunken husband. Rebecca O'Mara stole the show as Caroline Bingley with her spot-on fusion of grace and bitchiness in a polished, perfect accent.

Rebecca O'Mara - excellent as Miss Bingley and Aoibhín Garrihy - a warm and lovely Jane BennettStephen Brennan played Mr Bennett in the way he should be played, with humour and tenderness (when is Brennan ever below par?) and Eleanor Methven as Mrs Bennett was also as silly and hysterical as she should be without flowing over into pantomime. Mark O'Regan was very good as the repulsive Bennett cousin, clergyman Mr Collins - he stuttered and simpered beautifully. The other Bennett sisters filled their roles well: studious Mary, flighty Lydia, whingy Kitty. It was Aoibhín Garrihy who stood out here with her perfectly serene and likeable Jane.

Stephen Swift made a sweet and amiable Mr Bingley and Sam O'Mahony certainly looked the part as Darcy (he is tall, dark and handsome enough for him), but he hadn't enough to do and I didn't see any real warmth grow between him and Lizzie - that may have been due to the rushed nature of everything. But they might have danced more, for example.

Barbara Brennan, another consummate actress, was suitably present and imposing as Lady Catherine de Bourgh but I do think director Alan Stanford might have resisted giving her repeated lines for comedy. As a character, de Bourgh is a frightening prospect with her outrageous snobbery and self-righteousness. I would have preferred if she was left to be as hideous as she is - in a serious way - rather than mine her for laughs.
A rather crappy phone pic I took of the setBruno Scwengl's set is beautiful if a little static. I liked that the set-movers were in period costume and gave the impression of being the servants of the house.

All in all a very enjoyable production and, if the audience on Friday night are anything to go by, it is going down very well with Austen fans in Dublin.

Pride and Prejudice runs at The Gate until the 8th February. This week is sold out, but it is always worth a try for returns. And there are tickets available for the following weeks.

EXPLAIN YOUR SHELF

Explain Your Shelf features the bookshelf beside my desk today. I am a sucker for this kind of thing: nosing into other people's desks or shelves. When I watch TV or films, or see photos of people in mags with bookshelves behind, I am constantly peering over shoulders to see what they read/collect. Explain Your Shelf is a simple concept, well executed. It's nice to be featured.

TODAY SHOW RTÉ & NEW ISLAND - BOOK PUB COMP

There is still time! Closing date: 25th January!

Book Publication Competition 1. The Promoter is New Island Books (company no. 186067), whose registered office is at 2 Brookside, Dundrum Rd, Dundrum, Dublin 14, Ireland.
2. The competition is open to persons aged 18 years or over who are habitually resident on the island of Ireland. Proof of such residence may be required by the Promoter.
3. Employees of RTE and of the Promoter and anyone else connected in any way with the competition or with helping to set up or run the competition are excluded from the competition.
4. There is no entry fee and no purchase is necessary to enter the competition.
5. Only one entry will be accepted per entrant.
6. Entries must be original works of fiction in the English language of up to but no longer than 100,000 words in length. Entries must not have been previously published in any form (print or digital, traditional of self-published) or under any other name. Entries must not have been submitted previously to the Promoter. No illustrated works or picture books will be considered. Entrants must detail their name, address, telephone number and e-mail address together with the genre of the book and the word count.
7. Entrants must submit their 500 word synopsis and their first 50 page sample to editor@newisland.ie with "Competition Submission" in the subject line, between 16:00hrs on Friday 10th January and Midnight Sunday 25th January 2014. Entries must be submitted in MS Word format and by email. Printed manuscripts will not be accepted, nor will manuscripts contained on CDs or other storage devices sent by post.
8. The closing date for receipt of entries is midnight Sunday 25th January 2014. After this date no further entries to the competition will be accepted.
9. Unsuccessful entries will be destroyed.
10. Shortlisted entries will be contacted to supply full manuscripts by Midnight Friday 21st February 2014. Shortlisted writers who cannot supply a full manuscript by this date will be eliminated.
Contact us at: today@rte.ie
11. No acknowledgment of receipt will be send. The Promoter accepts no responsibility for entries not received successfully for any reason whatsoever.
12. The prize for the winner of the competition is as follows: A one book publishing deal contract with the Promoter, no advance, standard Irish publishing industry royalties. The Promoter will absorb all costs associated with publishing from editing, to cover design and print. Book to be published in 2014.
13. The Promoter is a service provider only and does not take any legal responsibility for the content of the winning entry.
14. The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify any entry if the entry criteria are not met, or if the entry contains defamatory, illegal or offensive material.
15. The Promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any law or regulation or any other event outside of the Promoter's control
17. One winner will be chosen by an independent panel of judges appointed by the Promoter.
18. The decision of the panel of judges is final.
19. First the shortlist, then the winner will be announced on the RTE Today show. She or he must be available to appear on the show at a time or times agreed with the show's producers, and must also make themselves available to be interviewed by representatives of the RTÉ Guide, if required. The winner agrees that their book can be included in all media and social media as deemed appropriate by the Promoter
20. The Promoter's decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition is final and no correspondence will be entered into. RTÉ DOES NOT HAVE, NOR TAKES, ANY RESPONSIBILITY (LEGAL OR OTHERWISE) FOR THE COMPETITION.
21. The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by Irish law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Republic of Ireland.
22. The winner agrees to the use of his/her name and image in any publicity material created by the Promoter, by RTÉ or by the RTÉ Guide. Any personal data relating to the winner or any other entrants will be used solely in accordance with current Irish data protection legislation and will not be disclosed to a third party (OTHER THEN RTÉ) without the entrant's prior WRITTEN consent.
23. The Promoter reserves the right to change the title of the winning manuscript prior to publication.
24. By entering this competition, entrants will be deemed to have indicated their acceptance of and agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

DOOLIN SHORT STORY COMP

ARENA REVIEW OF *OF DUBLIN* CHAPBOOK

Writer Arlene Hunt (also publisher at Portnoy Publishing) reviewed my chapbook Of Dublin and Other Fictions on RTE Radio 1's Arena last Thursday. You can listen to it here, for another few days.

ON COVERS, TITLES & END-OF-NOVEL STUFF

Lionel Shriver - pic from The GuardianI am in a very weird position at the moment in that I am working on crucial end-of-writing things on two separate novels. It's all good fun but my mind is having to leap from one book to the other in alarming timeframes, and there are plenty of other things going on besides.

This week, I have seen covers for Novel #2,  The Closet of Savage Mementos, (exciting!) and have narrowed it down to two possibilities. The designer is rejigging both at the moment and I am dying to see the finished products. I have just written blurb for that novel too and am waiting to see what my editor makes of that.

Meanwhile, my agent and I are toing and froing across the Atlantic about the title for Novel #3, which she will be submitting to publishers this month. My original title is not all-encompassing enough so we are trying all sorts, from the wordy to the downright plain. Nothing has satisfied both of us yet so we will continue researching, then batting things back and forth until we land on the right title.

In the middle of all this I have two deadlines for stories, one of which is proving baffling to me (the story that is, not the deadline). The other is nearly done but it is mournful and I am not 100% certain it will suit the publication. Hmmm.

I was reading an article about Jennifer Weiner this week in the New Yorker (on gender imbalance in publishing etc.) in which she mentioned personal dressers and personal assistants and all sorts. I'm not quite at that stage (!!) but, sometimes, I feel there should be three of me: The Writer, The Admin Person and The Mother.

All this busy-ness reminds me, too, of that recent Lionel Shriver article in the New Republic, about being pulled 20 different directions as a writer, and which one sniffy commentator called 'a writerly diva fit'. Pfff. Lionel was making the point that being too busy means less time for actual writing (which is very agitating for a writer). A quote: 'Now that every village in the United Kingdom has its own literary festival, I could credibly spend my entire year, every year, flitting from Swindon to Peterborough to Aberdeen, jawing interminably about what I’ve already written—at the modest price of scalding self-disgust.'

I'm with Lionel. I'll end on a more uplifting quote from her about the whole business: 'If sometimes stressful or distracting, even subsidiary commitments are also opportunities: to connect with flesh-and-blood readerships, to air views and grievances, to exploit a more theatrical side of one’s character (I’m a ham), and for pity’s sake to get out of the house.'

DEAR NUALA

Letters from Bay PathI get a lot of post. My kids are always jealous. My 4 year old has recently started to write to her 2 year old cousin in Dublin just so she can receive something from the postman too.

Today I got extra special post. My bladder is near my eye at the best of times, but I was moved to a few little tears by the package that came today. It was a collection of thank you notes, and a gift of two notepads, from students I gave a talk to in October in Bay Path College, Massachusetts.

Notepads from Bay Path studentsDid I mention my love of these particular notepads to them? And that I stock up on them in the States when I go? I may have. Whatever the reason I am thrilled to have these. They are my perfect beside-the-bed writing fodder.

But more thrilling, of course, are the letters. They are so heartfelt, so kindly, so positive. One girl thanked me for writing about motherhood - she worries she writes about it too much but now feels free to write what she wants. Another girl told me that, since my talk, she writes for pleasure for an hour every day. One said hearing me speak about the writing life 'touched' her as she is an aspiring writer. Another: 'Your accent is really cool'!!

It is good to be thankful and I am every day: for my family, for my job, for my health. But it also lovely to be thanked - it makes you feel valid and revitalised. I've been glowing all day since I opened the envelope from Bay Path.

The class I spoke to is called WELL - Women Empowered Learners and Leaders. I wish every college had a class like that, where students from all faculties are brought together to be supported and to learn how women can excel in the world.

I'm not sure I could live in Massachusetts: it's too far from my family and it's way too cold. But that's all I can come up with against it. Massachusetts is an evolved place; this was clear to me when researching my novel set there. Even in the 19th Century they were progressive. And the people I met there late last year were educated, liberal, friendly, kindhearted and positive. And the libraries I visited - oh my God, the fantastic libraries; I was green over them.

Massachusetts, it seems to me, cares about women, which says a lot about any place. Bay Path is a women's only college and I was stunned by the level of support and nurturing the young women there receive, along with their good education.

So I want to say my own thank you to teacher Kim, and to Yomira, Sibley, Brittany, Theresa, Jillian, Jensen, Chasidee, Olivia, Megan, Xiaotai and all the other lovely people I met in Longmeadow, Amherst, Shelburne Falls and Cambridge. I will be back in Massacusetts as soon as I can manage it. Maybe not to live (!) but definitely to breathe deep on its positive, nurturing atmosphere.