Things!

CORRESPONDENCES: an anthology to call for an end to direct provision is available in bookshops as well as online via the Stinging Fly for purchase. Edited by Stephen Rea & Jessica Traynor, it’s a collection of stories, poems, images & essays from those in direct provision in Ireland, paired with work from Irish writers & artists. How the project worked is that there was back-and-forth over email between each pair, particularly with a view to offering editorial tweaks and fine-tuning to the pieces by those in DP, so that the work on offer isn’t just about sharing these voices & stories but helping them to arrive in the public eye with their best possible foot forward. To be work that is both political and artistic. And to be part of a community of people telling stories and making things in this country. So there’s all that, and there’s the power stories have to help with cultural and political change (we’ve seen that here in recent years with the referendums), and then there’s of course that other thing that helps with change, which is cold hard cash, and all proceeds from the anthology go towards MASI (Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland). Very much worth purchasing a copy or three as Christmas gifts, in other words.