Flipping the Bird at Cúirt

Hee hee. Of all the terrific photos taken of myself and the workshop kids at the Cúirt literary festival in Galway I think my favourite is this one, where I seem to be flipping a member of the audience the bird while he joyfully shows me the fingers right back.

I’d been talking about my characters and why I write them. The Moorehawke Trilogy came up and, of course, Christopher Garron and his mutilated hands. I was explaining to the kids about the idea of chopping someone’s fingers off to signify they were a thief. This young fellow and I got into a conversation around the mythology of these particular gestures (flipping the bird and showing the fingers) and how  they are reputed to be ones of defiance from archers who had escaped having their fingers chopped off by vengeful kings.

Hence there will, forever more, be this photo of me flipping the bird at Cúirt literary festival.

I had a blast guys (not just because I got to make rude gestures at my audience) Thanks for much for looking after me and for the opportunity to meet those amazing kids.