Nuala Ní Chonchúir's Blog, page 5

SUNDAY TIMES REVIEW - JOYRIDE TO JUPITER

Louise Carroll in The Sunday Times reviewed my book alongside June Caldwell's début short story collection today. Here is the full text of it below. I'm pleased as a dog with two pockets :)

*
Love affair continues with the short storyReviews by Louisa CarrollJune 4 2017, 12:00am, The Sunday Times
Joyride to Jupiter by Nuala O’ Connor New Island Press £9.99 pp180
Room Little Darker by June Caldwell New Island Press £9.99 pp220

If, as the writer Lorrie Moore claims, short stories are like love affairs while the novel is a marriage, then I’ll happily stay unattached. Being perfect for the phone readers and the pressed for time may explain the short story’s recent surge in popularity. However, as shown in two new collections, Joyride to Jupiter by Nuala O’Connor and Room Little Darker by June Caldwell, the short story also best reflects the intensity of contemporary life.
“With these moments of clarity we learn to value tiny things . . . that’s what I’m telling myself. We’re f*** all on the grand scale,” says the sadomasochistic slave narrator of Caldwell’s story Leitrim Flip. The characters in both collections share this ability to muse insightfully about the purpose of their own existence while simultaneously behaving in ways that contradict the insight. This calls to mind the title of Thomas Morris’ recent short-story collection We don’t know what we’re doing. As Caldwell’s slave continues: “I feel so mentally crazed so much of the time, I just want someone to take me in hand, to show me how to behave.”
O’Connor’s vivid characters are at least in the driving seat of life’s joyride, but seem far from in control. Those characters in Joyride to Jupiter who resist their own futility by using coping strategies such as repression, egotism and belligerence fare poorest. In the title story from the collection, the repercussions of elderly Mr. Halpin’s belief that he is “the worm” in his wife Teresa’s “dementia apple” costs him dearly, as does the blind egotism that leads Xavier in The Donor to decide on a whim to track down a young boy conceived through his sperm donation.

It is the characters that relinquish control in favour of acceptance who find momentary peace such as in O’Connor’s Girl Grief, in which a grandmother and her recently orphaned granddaughter surrender to the abyss of grief together. O’Connor’s language is clean and conscientious as well as poetic and lyrical, evident in the abstraction of Yellow. The collection exudes a quiet confidence and exercises the exemplary restraint of a seasoned writer who knows when to pull rather than push.
Caldwell’s high-octane Room Little Darker is the more freewheeling. From the outset her prose is a bombardment of sounds and images, like a boy racer’s car throbbing to its own dub-beat soundtrack. This is an unflinching collection which thuds with life and kicks with horror. It is miserably hilarious, taking in subjects as diverse as drug addiction, sadomasochism, homelessness, and even child robots designed for paedophiles in BoybotTM. Caldwell’s first collection is a mark maker, relentlessly demanding the reader to “take our modern horrors on the chin in the same way sewage is turned back into drinking water, axiomatically”.
Caldwell’s stories are underwritten by a deep assessment of the fallibility of the human condition. Upcycle is an affecting portrait of a family’s contradictory relationship to their abusive father’s dementia, and Cadaverus Moves is a loving warts-and-all depiction of a beloved brother’s death by cancer.

Both collections benefit by the other’s existence. O’Connor’s collection would be served by some of Caldwell’s fearlessness, and Caldwell by O’Connor’s informed subtlety of hand.

FLASH FICTION DAY IN DUBLIN

I'll be at the inaugural Flash Fiction Festival in Bath for NFFD this year but for those in Ireland, Big Smoke Writing Factory are having their customary celebration. See below for details of reading and comps.


 Hello all! Our annual event for National Flash Fiction Day will take place this year on Sunday, 25th June, 3pm-6pm, in the International Bar on Wicklow St.
 
THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAIL...

Bold and brief, fleeting and urgent - with National Flash Fiction Day now in its sixth year, we've embraced all things devilish! We're proud to present our #NFFD event, THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAIL! Join us in The International Pub for our now-traditional event on Sunday 25th June to celebrate writing that is short and sharp. We hope to showcase the best flash fiction writers Dublin has to offer!

We're also thrilled to announce the return of our flash fiction competition, THE 66! This year we've made it even harder- the word-perfect flash challenge where every story entered must be EXACTLY 66 words (including title) . No more. No less. The competition is free to enter and we have a brillinat first prize lined up! The deadline for submissions is 18th June and 2 stories max can be sent (in separate emails please!) toflash@bigsmokewritingfactory.com!

We're also looking for readers! If you would like to read at our event please submit your work (published or unpublished) to us! We'll select the finest 666 word (including title) stories for the event. The deadline for submissions is 11th June and 2 stories max can be sent (in separate emails please!) to flash@bigsmokewritingfactory.com!

Whether you're a total flash-enthusiast or you've never encountered flash fiction before, this is an afternoon of creativity and inspiration not to be missed! As always this event is FREE and all are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!

THE ANNAGHMAKERRIG AFTERS

Home from Annaghmakerrig. Real world re-entry is hard. No more fabulously tasty meals and decadent desserts, no more fresh scones and Scrabble, no more Eimear Quinn singing, no more buttercup and lake walks, no more lovely, funny convos with people of wit and wisdom.



The blow is softened, of course, by seeing my kiddies and husband, the cats and the canary, and opening some nice cava to celebrate my new book, which I got to hold for the first time today. Whoop!!



I also pressed send today, after finishing the final re-write on Becoming Belle, at Annaghmakerrig. So, mission accomplished. When the MS is off your hands, you expect major relief and giddy happiness. What you get is a muted 'Oh' from yourself and a minor ache because your beloved characters have flown.




Annaghmakerrig was the perfect mix of hard work and joyful companionship. I am now going to take two whole days off. I plan to read and walk and do little else. After that, it's the start of promo work on Joyride to Jupiter  which, of course, I'm looking forward to hugely.

I hope you'll all join me at the launches for  Joyride to Jupiter  on the 14th and 16th of June, in Dublin and Galway respectively. Full details to follow.

TOM GAULD, TYRONE GUTHRIE, EDITING/REWRITING

Another gem from Tom Gauld:



I head to the Tyrone Guthrie Centre tomorrow to finish the final rewrite on my novel Becoming Belle, out June 2018. It has been quite a journey with this novel but I am looking at the finish line now, thank the stars. I can't wait to hand it in and get on with other things: mentoring, launching my short story collection Joyride to Jupiter and doing festivals to promote it, starting at Belfast Book Festival on the 8th June. I also can't wait to write something else. The thrill of having time to start either a new novel or concentrate for a bit on short stories. Whoop! Bring. It. On.

NOVEL MASTERCLASS WITH MIA GALLAGHER

Saturday 27th May 10.30am-1.30pmFollow up: Saturday 2nd Sept – 10.30am-1.00pm
Are you writing a novel? Join Farmleigh’s Writer-in-Residence, internationally acclaimed author Mia Gallagher, for two intensive morning masterclasses on The Novel. In each session, Mia will address a range of common concerns and difficulties faced by many novelists, both emerging and established. Responding to each participant’s needs, she will share technical and inspirational tools to help you better understand your process, the type of work you are making and how to make it – including the key question of how to complete a first draft. The initial session (May) will identify a set of realisable writing aims for each participant over the summer. In the follow-up masterclass (September), you will be able to share any new challenges, questions and breakthroughs you’ve identified during that time.Places are free of charge but limited to 12 people, and allocated through a submission process. Priority will be given to writers who are in the middle to late stages of a first draft, or who are already working on their second draft.  Writers who can attend both sessions (May and September) will also be given priority.To apply: Please email 250 words to linda.moran@opw.ieby 5pm May 19th. As part of the 250 words, state what you think is the biggest problem you are facing with the novel, and what you would like the masterclass to help you with.
Mia Gallagher is a novelist and performer based in Dublin. She is the author of two acclaimed novels: HellFire (Penguin Ireland, 2006), winner of the Irish Tatler Literature Award (2007), and Beautiful Pictures of the Lost Homeland (New Island, 2016), longlisted for the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Award (UK, 2016) and chosen for the Irish Times Book Club in February 2017. Mia’s essays, reviews and award-winning short fiction have been widely published at home and abroad. She is an experienced editor, mentor and workshop facilitator and relishes working with emerging novelists who are committed to creating long form fiction.

COVER REVEAL - Joyride to Jupiter

Today I can reveal the cover for Joyride to Jupiter , my new short story collection, out in June, from New Island. It will be released June 12th and there will be two launches:

The Gutter Bookshop, Dublin, 14th June, 6.30pm. Lia Mills will launch.

Rosie McGurran Gallery and Studio, Roundstone, Galway, 16th June - Bloomsday! - time & launcher tbc.

Ta-dah! Floaty woman in sparkly shoes and lots of clouds. I love it! Thanks to Mariel Deegan for a fun, collaborative design process.

NY AND BUSY-NESS

Ground art - Williamsburg Bridge
I really wanted to blog about my trip to New York and my dinner/talk with the fabulous docents from the Morgan Museum (about Emily Dickinson) but outrageously painful tonsils, and jetlag, have had me corpse-like since I got back from NY.

Docent dinner table
And I have proofs to finish (for Joyride to Jupiter), and Becoming Belle to re-write, and a flash paper to write for my upcoming trip to Roma. And I've my Cruinniú na Cásca gig tomorrow, and an Italian exam to study for and essay to complete. So everything is feeling a little overwhelming and full-on and time is not on my side. I worked on my proofs both yesterday and today, though I am sick and it's a bank holiday weekend. I've no choice. If I don't do it, it doesn't get done.


Books acquired in NYC
And this is one of the major drawbacks of being a writer and self-employed: the absolute impossibility for time off. NY was supposed to be a holiday, one that would incorporate a trip to the Morgan to see the Emily exhibition. Then my cousin-in-law, who works at the museum, asked if I would give a talk to her docent colleagues. I LOVE talking about Emily D so yes, I said YES. And we had a gorgeous dinner and they were erudite, funny, sweet people and it was enormous fun. But it was work and work gigs make me anxious and cranky until they are complete. So inevitably, during some of our holiday time, I was a bit wound up.


A trip highlight: the aerial tram across the river from Roosevelt Island


Also my agent and main editor are in NY, so naturally we arranged to have lunch. And we did and we yapped and laughed and made plans for next year's novel (June 2018) and we admired the cover for my forthcoming short story collection which my agent and I had just that morning signed-off on (reveal soon!). I love these people, we get along and we have great fun when we get together but, again, this is work-related stuff (no matter how jolly) and here I was, again, on holiday but allowing work to seep in.

McSorleys - the ale was deliciousI have this vision of a time where I do nothing but sleep, eat and read. Sleep. Eat. Read. It's a dream, a wish, something that can't be reached, I guess. I'm grateful for the life I have built and I'm not moaning about all the joy and privelege that writing brings but sometimes I would just love a day off. Just one day to call my own where I wouldn't do one thing that was work-related. Not one little thing. And, also, that I wouldn't feel guilty about it. Because this is the major problem - I can't seem to give myself a break. If I'm not working I feel guilty because time is so precious. I can't even have tonsillitis in peace :( (Or, I can't let myself...)

Liberty Island from Battery Park
Not wanting to end on a downer, I will apologise for the cheerless post and wish you a very Happy Easter. I hope you all got as much chocolate as I did :)

BEING AWOL & CRUINNIÚ NA CÁSCA

I broke the 100,000 word mark on my novel today. This is AMAZING to me. I write short. Short poems, short-short stories, all my novels are short. This one - Becoming Belle - was originally a lot shorter but I am on my third (!) re-write for my editors and that process has generated wordage. I keep looking at the word count thingumie at the bottom of the screen and thinking, No!! That's not possible. But here we are, and I have a new deadline of the 31st May, so the novel may get even longer. I'm channelling my inner Tolstoy, clearly. It's tough work, involved and brain-melting and, of course, joyful, in the way that re-working and writing new scenes always is.

So excuse this tumbleweedy blog. This novel re-write, work on my short story collection Joyride to Jupiter (out in June!), plus various trips to Dublin, Italy and, next week, New York, mean I am flat out. Add to that, end of year exams and an essay for the course I'm doing in NUI Galway and you can see why I have been AWOL. (Mountains to Sea was fab, btw - Paula Meehan, Vona Groarke and Geraldine Mitchell are poetry goddesses.)

Anyway, I really dropped by here to mention Cruinniú na Cásca and the event I am taking part in with Fionn Davenport, Mark Geary and Sasha Sykes, 'Experiencing Ireland as an Artist'. We will be in St George's Hall, Dublin Castle at 2pm on Easter Monday, 17th April. Admission is free but tickets must be reserved in advance. See here.

In the meantime I am away to Manhattan to commune with my beloved Emily Dickinson at the Morgan Museum. Can't wait!

Miscarriage essay

My article/essay, first published in the current Ogham Stone Literary Magazine, is up at the Irish Times website here.

UPCOMINGS EVENTS - IRELAND & ITALY

A month to the day since I last blogged. Good Lord, where does the time go? Spring has sprung, at least!

I had one deadline of 31st January (for novel #4, Becoming Belle) and now I'm on a deadline for my s/story collection, Joyride to Jupiter. So, between those two things, and much else, life has been hectic. But it's all good - New Island and I are discussing covers (such a joyful thing) for Joyride to Jupiter so the excitement for its June publication is building.

I'm also busily prepping for my masterclasses at the Irish Writers Centre (the course is sold out but there's a waiting list you can join.)

Meanwhile, I have a few events coming up:

I'll be reading at the launch of the Arlen House poetry anthology Washing Windows, 2pm Saturday the 4th March in Pearse Street Library, Dublin.

I'm giving a short story seminar in Florence, Italy on the 9th March at St Mark's Church at 2pm. And a reading that evening at the same venue at 6.30pm. More here.

I will be interviewing my friend, and fellow The Peers member, Alan McMonagle about his début novel  Ithaca  on Monday 13th March in Backstage Theatre, Longford at 8pm, as part of the book's launch night shenanigans.

I'm also giving a short story seminar at the Mountains to Sea festival in Dun Laoghaire on 25th March at 11am. More here.

Also at Mountains to Sea I am taking part in the Heroes reading event and I'll be talking about (surprise, surprise) Emily Dickinson. Event info here.