A Week of Writerly Adventures

This newsletter contains a few nuggets from my writing week.

Sitting With My Writing Guru

On Monday I had the first of two sessions with my 'writing guru,' the fear-busting Suzanne Power. She's a great woman for blasting through your blocks and getting you going. True to her name, the session was powerful. I will say no more than that for now; the fruits of our sessions will appear in the months and years to come.

Turned Down By Festive Star

Rejection is a thorn that writers have to learn to pick out of their skin if they want to move forward. My Christmas piece was turned down by the Festive Star Magazine, but I am already looking for ways of making sure those words don't disappear. The piece in fact first appeared in this newsletter, about a year ago. It was called Christmas When You've No Children, and here it is again to refresh your memory. Plus, I will be performing it at…

… SpeakEasy Poetry Event, 22 November

Yes, I do love a clumsy segue. I'll be MCing the open mic session at SpeakEasy this coming Friday, 22 November. Come and join us at Phil Grimes Pub, 8pm, to hear the poetry of Scott McKendry, and to be part of the open mic session. We'll have music too, jazz from clarinettist Darren Dreelan, pianist Killian Browne and singer Aileen. All this delight will be yours for a mere €5, cash on the door.

Photo Description: This is the SpeakEasy poster. It’s a blue-grey colour and has a microphone at the bottom. It gives the details of the event and lists the sponsors at the bottom.

Attended Book Launch

Book launches are really cool now. The days of turning up, drinking warm wine and listening to a boring speech are long gone. I went to a book launch last Saturday where I heard songs from newsletter subscriber and Renaissance woman Mary Howlett.

These songs bookended a reading from the poet, a Q&A with another poet and questions from the audience. Afterwards, there were biscuits wrapped in foil - I love the mystique created by a foil-wrapped biscuit. Well done to Frank Farrelly on the highly successful launch of his poetry collection, Small Victories (Revival Press, Limerick.)  

Thanks to Mary Howlett and all my other subscribers. And well done to any subscribers who were accepted by The Festive Star – enjoy the headrush.