Nuala Ní Chonchúir's Blog, page 58

'Fish' in theNewerYork

Big Fish - Jeremy EnecioMy short-short story 'Fish' features in theNewerYork. And the illustration with it, by Jeremy Enecio, is very cool, methinks. Jeremy was born in the Philippines and moved to the USA at the age of four. He holds a BFA in illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore; he now lives and works in New York as a freelance illustrator.

WORLD POETRY DAY giveaway

 
Happy World Poetry Day!

In honour of the day I am giving away a copy of my last collection The Juno Charm (Salmon, 2011). Just leave a comment to go into the draw.

And here's a poem from the book for the day that's in it.

The Writer’s Room after The Guardian’s photographs
My desk was a present from Margaret Atwood. After Zen and the Art of Uterus Maintenance sold its first million, she said I needed a place to write, other than the local bus-shelter.
My view is of the bare wall, of course; the window and the street are too distracting for a mind as relentlessly creative as mine – the very leaves on the trees inspire me.
I picked up the rug on a trek in Uzbekistan, and that basque-shaped card is from Madonna – she just adored my last little offering: The Sex of a Good Enough Woman.
My chair, as you can see, is a bale of hay. I will always be a simple farmer’s daughter, with that need to stay close to natural things; my oak shelves were salvaged from the Titanic.
My computer is Sony’s latest – trés posh – but I, of course, prefer paper and ink, then I bash out a final draft on my Remington, and let my super editor deal with it all.
Have you bought the new collection yet, Back-pedalling from Hell on My Menstrual Cycle? It’s sort of Paul Muldoon meets Wendy Cope, with a dash of Famous Séamus, for gravitas.
My agent says it will be my biggest book to date, so I’ve left space on the shelf for a few gongs: The T.S. Eliot, the Irish Times, the Nobel – I’ll be content with whatever comes my way.
Yes, it’s in this humble room – where I am unassailable – that all the magic begins.

POETRY DAILY - Chagall poem

I and the Village - Marc ChagallMy poem 'In Vitebsk There Lives a Cow' is the featured poem on Poetry Daily today. It is also in the current issue of Prairie Schooner . The poem is after the Chagall painting above.

ANTO KANE'S PICS FROM 10 DAYS IN DUBLIN

Photographer Anto Kane took some fine pics of us nattering/reading at the 10 Days in Dublin Fundraiser on Sunday night. Here they are:

Gerry Stembridge, our fabulous chair/moderator



Meself, looking half cut (I wasn't)

Self, Stephen James Smith, Gerry Stembridge, Temper-Mental MissElayneous & Katie Donovan There was a lot of giggling throughout :) Katie reading 'Rootling' - the best breastfeeding poem I have ever heard

Temper-Mental doing her Cailín Rua piece - she is spunky and charming

PRAIRIE SCHOONER DRAW WINNERS

Sorry, I'm a day late with the draw - I'm playing catch up after a weekend in Dublin (the 10 Days in Dublin Event was a blast!)

So, here are all the names in the pretty pink hat...

 And the winners are...


Deborah and Jackie  - congrats! Send me your addresses to nuala @ nualanichonchuir dot com.

Q and A for IRISH MONTH at THE READING LIFE

I am Q&A-ing with Mel Ulm over on The Reading Life blog today. Yesterday he took a look at my short story collection To The World of Men, Welcome (Arlen House) here.

Lots of other writers have taken part in the Q&A - this is Mel's annual Irish Writing Month - and many of them are worth a look to compare responses. Fred Johnston's answers are particularly interesting - honest and provocative. Which makes a change from the PR speak and blandness we are usually subjected to. Other writers interviewed include Pat Jourdan (again, very interesting as always), ditto Órfhlaith Foyle and Geraldine Mills. Are we noticing a Galway bias??!!

TANIA HERSHMAN ON MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day!

As we both have recent books with 'mother' in the title, my friend Tania Hershman and I have decided to feature each other on our blogs for Mother's Day. Tania's collection of short-short fictions is called My Mother Was an Upright Piano and it is a startling, inventive, wonderful read. Writer Aimee Bender has said of it: 'Funny, fresh, lyrical. These stories are like colorful glass lozenges holding the substance of our everyday lives, sparkled up by the unusual and wondrous.'

Learn more about Tania's book here and enjoy the story below, 'The Lion and the Meteorite Can Never Touch You', from the collection. Tania's blogs at Tania Writes:


The Lion and the Meteorite Can Never Touch You by Tania Hershman
I'll keep you safe, my love, my baby, she whispered into the child's ear, I will never leave you, and the child took it for granted that this was how it would always be. The child grew taller, cleverer, bolder, knowing always that her mother was beside her, ready to throw herself between her daughter and the lion waiting to pounce, the car swerving from its path, the meteorite on its way earthwards. The mother, for her part, did everything her strength allowed to protect the child from any hint of the world as it really is. She sheltered her daughter from tales of rape, mutilation, torture, disease, war and famine. They had no television, the radio was rarely switched on, the atmosphere was peaceful, joyous. The daughter heard nothing of the horrors that we conjure up against one another; she basked in her mother's sun and never doubted her own power.
When they discovered the lump, the mother whispered in her ear as the daughter sat in her hospital bed: You'll be fine, nothing can touch you.  The daughter believed her, heard the mother's words in her ear as the anaesthetic slid into her veins. When they opened her up and discovered a body with cancer colouring every organ, reaching its insidious fingers into each crevice, encouraging every cell to mutiny, the mother broke down. Doubled over in pain, she screamed at the doctors, losing her sanity because she too had believed what she had whispered.
Come, come, said the daughter, helping her mother into the chair beside her bed. I'm alright, I don't mind it. She felt nothing, cocooned by the medication. But her mother couldn't accept. Her own pains grew stronger and stronger, until she was given her own bed in another ward. The daughter, her suffering body allowing her only to slowly limp along corridors, sat beside her mother, whose pale face was fading with the hours. Thank you, the daughter said into her mother's ear. I'm ready for this. I'm ready for anything. And she watched as her mother broke her promise and left this world. I'm alone now, the daughter whispered to herself, and she closed her eyes and let the disease take hold of her until she, too, slipped away. 

PRAIRIE SCHOONER GIVEAWAY

 
I have two copies of the brand new spring 2013 Prairie Schooner to give away. Prairie Schooner is a literary magazine that comes out of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and is edited by the legend that is Kwame Dawes. I had a lovely visit with them there this time last year.

I have three new poems in the issue and there is fiction from Roxane Gay and others, lots of reviews, essays and poetry.

Just pop a comment in the comments and say you want to be in the hat. I will draw two names on Monday. Good luck!

10 DAYS IN DUBLIN FUNDRAISER

I'm looking forward to reading/chatting at this on Sunday evening:

For the final installment of the 10 Days in Dublin '10 Grand in Dublin' fundraising campaign we are pleased to announce an evening of poetry and spoken word from a range of exciting and esteemed writers and poets.

The spoken word scene in Dublin is thriving at the moment and while in the UK & US it is an art form in its own right it's something that hasn't really moved beyond open mic nights in Ireland despite our great tradition of storytelling. This evening of performance and discussion in the New Theat...re aims to examine this through speakers from a variety of backgrounds from rap/ performance poetry/ spoken word/ written word/ playwright/ novelist and lyricist. This myriad of genres including many crossovers will support a very interesting, varied discussion.

Stephen James Smith is a poet and playwright from Dublin whose work has won poetry grand slams and been shortlisted for the Bewley’s ‘Little Gem Award.

Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a fiction writer, poet and creative writing teacher whose professional experience has been spread across the arts.

Temper Mental Miss Elayneous is female hip hop artist and lyricist who bills herself as the psyche of social consciousness and the revolution of rhyme. She has performed everywhere from poetry slams to music venues and festivals.

Katie Donovan is a poet and editor lecturing in Creative Writing in IADT and co-editor of several publications dealing with Irish women writers.

The collective experience and knowledge of this group looks set to spark off a series of fascinating and informative talks and performances that will explore the state of the Irish oral tradition in modern society.

We are thrilled to host such an event in the New Theatre on Sunday, March 10th at 7.30pm and at the fantastic price of €10. This night looks set to round off an extremely successful and exciting series of events that have set the bar for the 10 Days in Dublin Festival 2013 and one that will help us continue to improve and achieve the goals we’ve set ourselves to make this year’s festival an even bigger, better event.

Tickets are now available here: https://entertainment.ticketsolve.com/shows/873492004/events

REVIEWING OLDS ON ARENA TONIGHT

I'll be reviewing Sharon Olds's T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poetry collection, Stag's Leap, on Arena on RTÉ Radio 1 tonight. 7pm - 8pm.

I am excited that she is coming to read at Cúirt in Galway on the 26th of April. Tickets on sale 13th March.