Brian Kirk's Blog

 

So we’re back in the swing of things again after the excesses of the season. Now might be an appropriate time to consider sending out your work to journals and competitions. And there’s plenty of good homes out there if you look hard enough.

Here’s just a few:

RTE’s Francis MacManus Short Story Competition closes on 31st January so you better get cracking!

Labello Press short story competition also closes on 31st January. There’s a much longer word count here than you normally get in short story competitions too!

Cúirt New Writing Prize (poetry and stories) closes on 30th January.

Davy Byrne short story competition- run by The Stinging Fly and judged this year by Anne Enright, Yiyun Li and Jon McGregor. It closes on 3rd February. You better have a good one for this comp. Previously won by Anne Enright and Claire Keegan.

Doolin Short Story Competition closes on 3rd March 2014.

Listowel Writers’ Week have a host of competitions with deadline of 31st March. I read there last year and highly recommend it in every way. Poems, stories, plays etc all catered for.

Short Fiction Prize. Run by University of Plymouth,opens on 1st March and closes on 31st March.

Bridport Prize. Stories and Poetry, the big one if you will. Two very talented friends of mine John Murphy and Noel O’Regan made the last 10 in fiction in this last year. A huge achievement. Closes on 31st March.

The Moth Short Story Competition closes on 31st March also.

Remember also that there are plenty of other journals and magazines out there who do great work and are looking for new and exciting poetry and fiction.

Southword closes for poetry and fiction on 18th March and The Stinging Fly is open during the month of March for submissions of poems and stories. You should also look at Bare Hands, Wordlegs, Colony, Crannog, and The Incubator which is new and very welcome.

There are probably many many more out there so keep your eyes pealed. So what are you waiting for? Get on with it!

 

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After The Fall…

(In lieu of a new  year’s greeting)

 

The Christmas holiday has always been a difficult time for me as a writer. At this time of year there are other, and in many ways, far more pleasant distractions and responsibilities surrounding family and friends. And that’s how it should be. But in that limbo between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve I always get the urge to write something new. However, wanting to write and actually writing are two very different things.

Over the past two weeks I’ve lost the daily habit of writing. In my mind I am always writing, but during these weeks I have not put pen to paper of finger to keyboard. I know myself well enough to know that there is no point in trying to compose fresh material, so in the shadow of a closing door I took to revising. Poems to be precise. I have a large number of poems which, over the course of the past year, I’ve been adding to and attempting to collect in a meaningful way.

To date every attempt to seek a recurring theme has led me up one blind alley after another. I considered simply putting my best ten poems first and naming the collection after the first poem along with the standard appendage “and other poems”. I was never quite satisfied with this. So in these short dark days, in between my other responsibilities, I’ve been re-reading my poems and looking for clues.

The New Year is not my favourite time of year. Not for any particular reason prompted by the memory of a personal tragedy, but simply because I have reached a certain age and at this age all markers of the passing of time have become a taunt to me. I know I have years left on this earth, but not so many as I had this time last year.

All week I dipped in and out of Facebook and Twitter, reading other peoples hopes, regrets and wishes for 2014. At first it bored me, but I suppose the similarity of the posts and status updates was to be expected – after all who doesn’t want success or health or happiness for themselves or their loved ones? I kept reading all the same in the way one does with social media, and after a while my attitude began to change.

We all want to believe that the future will be better than the past, even if there are no grounds for believing so. Faith and hope are innate in us I think. Despite everything that is bad about the world – the violence, intolerance, hatred, venality – we cling to any sign of goodness to allow ourselves to go on living, to go on hoping for a better future. So every year we make resolutions that we know we will never keep. But it doesn’t matter. It gets us over the hump of Christmas and into January, and you know anything is possible then. A new leaf, a clean slate. All the old clichés, you might say, but even a writer can forgive them at this time of year.

Reading the poems I was struck by the religious language used in many of them. The idea of the Fall recurs; that after the Fall our lives are broken somehow, imperfect. This is self-evident, even if you don’t like the biblical reference. The Fall sets the stage for drama and argument, for the transformation of the quotidian into something else. After the Fall we make the best of our bad lot, we go on as Beckett says, because there’s nothing else we can do. Bleak stuff you might think, but it served well enough for Milton and Shelley so it should be adequate for me too.

 

…This Is How We Live

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I haven’t blogged in a while due to pressure of work and all things Christmassy piling up around me. So as an apology, and as a gift to anyone who stops by, I give you my Christmas villanelle When we were small.

When we were small

 

The thing we loved the most when we were small

was opening our presents in the dark;

the days were short, the tree was very tall

 

and from bright paper fell a new football

or cars that raced on magic that made sparks.

The thing we loved the most when we were small

 

was waking up our parents with our calls

of “Santy’s come! Wake up!” The dog would bark,

the days were short, the tree was very tall

 

when we believed that God cared for us all

and angels urged us shepherds still to hark

to things we loved the most when we were small.

 

This is the way we live after the fall,

grown up in knowledge but by faith unmarked.

The days were short, the tree was very tall

 

when we accepted God was all in all

and Christmas was the time we chose to mark

the things we loved the most when we were small,

when days were short, the tree was very tall.

 

It was a good year all in all, from a writing point of view. I made some hard decisions about a big project that was going nowhere and made a fresh start to another novel. The highlights were being a part of Poetry Ireland Introductions and reading a short story at Listowel Writers’ Week. You can see  details of everything that I published in 2013 and some other bits here. It was also an important year for poetry particularly because I joined the Hibernian Poets in September and have already learned loads. They are incredibly talented bunch of poets who bring so much to each workshop and yet they make you feel at home and encourage you to make your work better and better, not to settle for anything less than the best a poem can be. I look forward to sharing more time with them in 2014.

I hope 2013 was good to you and wish you all a happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

 

 

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The latest issue of Wordlegs is out now – Winter 2013, Issue 16, and I have a story in it called To the Sea . This is the third story of mine that’s been featured in this excellent web journal. My stories Pressed Service and Back to Love featured in Issues 7 and 10 respectively.

Elizabeth Reapy has created a brilliant resource for readers and writers of short fiction and poetry since Wordlegs first appeared in 2010, not to mention the very successful Shore Writers’ Festival, which had it’s second birthday earlier this month. There is some excellent work from a host of talented writers in the Back Catalogue and I highly recommend that you spend some time there soon.

This issue features a brilliantly dark story by Elizabeth Reapy called With Colin Farrell in the Hollywood Hills, great poetry from the likes of Maurice Devitt, Michael Whelan, Stephanie Conn and Kevin Higgins, plus flash fiction from Sarah Clancy. Go make a cuppa coffee now!

 

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I was delighted to have a poem included in the latest issue of the Poetry Bus, PB5. Great cover isn’t it? Peadar and Collette O’Donoghue do a superb job putting together the poetry and art work for this top quality publication. The willingness to take a chance and do something a little bit different is what makes Poetry Bus stand out. The paraphrase of Frost on the flyleaf says it all: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — / thought, fuck it, I’ll take the bus / and that has made all the difference.”

My poem God’s Gift appears alongside work by the likes of Alan McMonagle, John Saunders, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Afric McGlinchey, Stephanie Conn, Noel King, Micheál Gallagher, Alan Jude Moore, Valerie Sirr, Niamh Boyce, Kate Dempsey, John MacKenna and many many more. Long may the Bus continue!

You can order your copy of PB5 here.  I recommend it highly.

 

 

Another poem of mine, The Poet’s Work, was featured in this year’s Stony Thursday Book. The anthology was launched in the old Belltable Arts Centre on O’Connell Street in Limerick last Thursday, and it was a great night. Paddy Bushe, this year’s editor, spoke about the difficult task of choosing poems and then invited featured poets to read their poems. It was a pleasure to read there and to hear such a variety of voices, among them Orla Fay, Louis Mulcahy, Kevin Griffin, Mark Whelan, Terri Murray and Susan Kelly. Other poets featured in the anthology who weren’t there on the night include John W. Sexton, Micheál Gallagher, Gene Barry, Theo Dorgan, Noel King, Eamonn Lynskey, Alan Weadick and Gerard Smyth. It’s a beautiful production as usual and it reads as well as it looks. It’s a great pleasure to be part of it.

Two other bits of news. I was commended for a short story in the Over the Edge New Writer of the Year 2013. The poetry section was won by the brilliant Breda Wall Ryan and the wonderful Jennifer Matthews of Munster Literature Centre and Long Story Short fame was  commended for poetry too.

Sad news also this week that Doghouse Books is no longer publishing. Founder and editor Noel King announced the bad news earlier this week after more than ten years and almost fifty quality publications. Copies of Doghouse books can still be bought here at the website however while stocks last.

 

 

 

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This  time of year there seems to be a rash of literary festivals. We just had Red Line Book Festival run by South Dublin Libraries in Tallaght last week and now we have three more festivals coming up in Limerick, Sligo and Dublin.

The Cuisle International Poetry Festival is on in Limerick from 24th to 26th October. Poets featured include Anthony Cronin, Biddy Jenkinson, Macdara Woods, Hugh Maxton, David Wheatley, Adam Wyeth, Jo Slade, Ron Carey and Kerrie O’Brien. Among the other highlights of the festival is a young poets award and the launch of the Stony Thursday Book 2013 on the evening of 24th October. This year the editor is Paddy Bushe and I’m delighted to have a poem included, a sestina, The Poet’s Work. I’m looking forward to being there on launch night. A full programme of events is here.

Shore Writers’ Festival is now in it second year and takes place in the Ocean Sands Hotel, Enniscrone, Sligo, between 1st and 3rd November. Shore is the brainchild of Elizabeth Reapy, founder and editor of Wordlegs online literary journal. I had the pleasure of meeting and reading with Liz at Listowel Writers’ Week earlier this year and she is an immensely talented writer, brimming with energy and ideas. Unfortunately I can’t make it along this year, but I recommend it highly for those interested in writing, whether it be to hone one’s skill at a poetry or story workshop or listen to a panel discussion or just to enjoy the performances of a wide variety of very talented writers who will be there. There is a very interesting interview with Liz at Short Story Ireland and the full programme of events is here.

The Dublin Book Festival is also coming up soon. It will be held between 14th and 17th November at the Smock Alley Theatre, Temple Bar, and has a hugely impressive list of events. Authors include Patrick McCabe, Paul Howard, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Jennifer Johnston, Niamh Boyce, Sinead Morrissey and Leanne O’Sullivan. You can view the complete programme here.

There’s bound to be something for everyone in one of these.

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This year’s Red Line Book Festival runs from October 15th to 2oth. There is a fantastic line-up for this year’s festival with the usual big names in attendance including Colm Tóibín, Fintan O’Toole, Deirdre Purcell, Dermot Bolger, Catherine Dunne, Peter Sheridan, Arlene Hunt, Alex Barclay and many more.

The full programme of events is here, but I’m going to highlight a few workshops and events which may be of interest to you.

Tues 15th October 8pm to 9.30pm at Civic Theatre Tallaght – Booking required

Publishing: The Inside Track with Lilliput Press

Panel Discussion chaired by Ciarán Carty (New Irish Wrting, Irish Independent) with Literary Agent Faith O’Grady,  Publisher Anthony Farrell (Lilliput) and Authors Kevin Power, Mike McCormack & Elske Rahill.

Wed 16th October 8pm at Civic Theatre Tallaght – Booking required

Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About, featuring Colm Keegan, Stephen James Smith and Kalle Ryan.

Thurs 17th October 6pm at RUA RED Arts Centre Tallaght – Red Line Book Festival Poetry Competition prize giving and reading by judge Alan Jude Moore.

Followed at 7.30pm by reading by poet Michael J. Whelan – Against the Black Sky: Peacekeeper’s Poems.

Fri 18th October 6.30pm to 9.30pm at RUA RED Arts Centre Tallaght

Blurring the Wobbly boundaries between Page and Stage

A Workshop with The Poetry Divas at RUA RED Arts Centre – Admission €12/€8

Places limited, book early to avoid disappointment!

Would you like to build up confidence in reading your poems aloud onstage? Are you looking for advice and tips on how to improve? This workshop is not about strictly performance poetry and or reciting poems; it’s about poetry in performance, for an audience.

As well established poets and performers of their own poetry, The Poetry Divas will focus in this workshop on the art of performing poetry for others. They will discuss rhythm, emphasis, dramatic pause, timing, movement, flair and nerves. After polishing your performance skills, the workshop will culminate in a performance to put them into practise in front of an audience.

Please bring along a few poems which you would like to work on, or poems by another poet which you would like to perform.

Minimum age 16

Poetry Divas are Kate Dempsey, Triona Walsh, Barbara Smith and Maeve O’Sullivan.

Audience to come in around 8-8:15pm

Fri 18th October 8.00pm to 9.30pm at Civic Theatre Centre Tallaght – Booking required

Lady Killers:Ireland’s Leading Female Crime Fiction Writers, Alex Barclay, Louise Phillips, Arlene Hunt,  with special guest Joanne Richardson, U.S. Former Boulder Colarado Coroner, in conversation with Susan Condon.

There’s plenty more besides, so check out the full programme of events.

 

 

 

 

 

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This year’s Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award closes on 5th November.

“1^st Prize is the Ledwidge plaque (a keepsake) inscribed with the winner’s name & cash prize.  Cash prizes and books for Second and Third and merit certificates for finalists.                 

The first 3 poems will be entered in the Forward Prize UK

In addition, the winner will be invited to read at the annual Francis Ledwidge Commemoration at the National War Memorial Gardens in July 2014         

Rules   

Poems must be the competitor’s own work, not previously published or broadcast.

Poems should not exceed 40 lines of type

€ 4 per poem, 3 for €10.

Maximum 6 poems (€20) payable to the Inchicore Ledwidge Society

      

Name and address and telephone number on a separate sheet.

S.A.E. or Email addressfor winners list. Poems will not be returned.

All entries must be submitted before 5^th. November 2013 to  

The Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Award 2013,

C/o 20, Emmet Crescent.

 Inchicore, Dublin 8

Winners will be notified and results will be announced at our annual awards night enquiries 0858497531: check out our Facebook page: Inchicore Ledwidge Society.”

 

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As part of the Lucan Festival 2013 the poet Eamonn Lynskey is hosting a poetry evening in the Kenny’s in Lucan Village on Tuesday 24th September. Proceedings start at around 7.30pm and I’ll be one of the featured readers along with Paul Bregazzi, John Kelly, John Murphy, Ross Hattway and Liz McSkeane.

Eamonn’s poetry has been published widely since its first appearance in the 1980s in the Irish Press ‘New Irish Writing’ page edited by the late David Marcus. His work has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Cyphers, SHOp, The Stinging Fly, The Stony Thursday Book, and Crannóg and many others. His first collection, ‘Dispatches & Recollections’, was published by Lapwing (Belfast) in 1998 and his second ‘And Suddenly the Sun Again’, was published in 2010 by Seven Towers.

(And the rest of us on the bill aren’t bad either).

If you’re free, do come along and have a drink and a listen!

 

 

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I am delighted to have my story When the future happens published in Issue 2 of the Lakeview International Journal of Literature and Arts. Please have a read. This issue also features work by Valerie Sirr, John MacKenna, Laura Cleary, Madeleine Darcy, Afric McGlinchey, Noel Duffy and many, many more.

Lakeview is edited by Jose Varghese and the excellent Mel Ulm from The Reading Life is on the advisory committee. It looks like a great production with some fabulous art work and I’m looking forward to reading all the stories and poems.

I was longlisted for the Penguin Ireland / RTE Guide Short Story Competition so I’m looking forward to meeting all the other listed writers and Niamh Boyce and Mary Grehan (Penguin authors) at a workshop on Friday next 13th September in the Library and Archive on Pearse Street.

Finally, the Burning Bush 2 are doing a series of interviews with featured writers and if you stay tuned you can check out interviews with me, Patrick Chapman, Stephen Murray, Afric McGlinchey, Kimberly Campanello, Kevin Higgins and more over the next while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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