A Few Writerly Baubles

Some good news, for me and for you - plus a random word

Publishing of Pandemic Piece

In the first panicked days of the pandemic, I found myself writing short pieces in response to what was going on; you could call them prose poetry pieces. I put them up as ineptly made videos on YouTube and sent a couple of them out. I sent one to a publishing press in America called Two Shrews Press, who were putting together a pandemic diary.

A full five years after I sent it out, Two Shrews Press sent an email saying, 'If you've received this email, you've been selected for publication in our pandemic diary. The piece is called The Closing, and recounts the moment I learned the schools were closing – while I was in a school. I know everyone wants to act like the pandemic never happened, but if you want to listen to The Closing, here's the video.

Irish Writers' Centre Masterclasses

The Irish Writers' Centre is organising a series of regional masterclasses which will give you a chance to do a workshop in a library with a well-known writer. The majority are in the northern half of the country (Galway, Derry, Sligo.)

However, Danielle McLaughlin is making a return visit to Waterford for Waterford Writers' Weekend in October. Devoted fans may recall that I was the MC for her reading at SpeakEasy last October. You'll find the details of the Writing in the Regions Masterclasses here.

Japanese Gardens Writing Extravaganza

I've a very weak emotional sphincter muscle, so I'm going to blurt out the news I tried to tantalise you with last week about the Japanese Gardens. The Gathering of Writers will take place on Saturday 14 June in the afternoon. It will be part of the third Sean Dunne Writers' Weekend.

This is me at last year's Gathering. You can see the green of the Japanese Gardens all around me, and I'm under a canopy. I'm wearing a hat, a reddish-brown top and black trousers, and I hold a clipboard with paper in my hand.

I'll be banging on about this more as the time goes on, but the weekend is shaping up to be a good one. The Waxed Lemon will launch the next edition of its literary journal on the Friday night, and on the Sunday, friends and acquaintances of Sean Dunne will share their memories and celebrate his poetry. Along the way, there'll be haikus.

Waterford Council Arts Survey

Waterford City and County Council is compiling its next five-year arts plan at the moment and is asking artists to complete a survey which will help them in compiling the arts plan.

The Council has already had consultation meetings with artists. Here's a link to that survey, and if you're in the Waterford area, I suggest you fill it in, following the maxim of the disabled community: Nothing about us, without us.

WordNerd: Whobeganit

I used to have a slot in this newsletter called The Word Nerd, where I shared words I loved. I'm reviving it because I heard a beauty last week. To 'give someone whobeganit' means to punish or discipline them, according to Green's Dictionary of Slang.

It's hard to pinpoint an origin for this word, but it's used in Cork and Waterford, and seems to popular in the horseracing world. If anyone can shed any more light on this, let me know.

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