Writerly News Nuggets. From Vikings to Publishing

This newsletter is full of nuggets about interesting writing events and wonderful wins.

The Pink Cage In The Paper

A full thirteen years after it was published, The Pink Cage found its way back into the newspapers, thanks to Mary Crowley of the Munster Express, who subscribes to this newsletter.

I'm grateful to Mary for giving The Pink Cage such comprehensive coverage on her The Munster Bookshelf page. She gave a synopsis about the book and about me, and also praised the book.

Just to clarify, the book is only available from me, and you can purchase the last remaining copies, which some may see as writerly gold, via derbhile@writewords.ie.

And here's the review. If you zoom up, you should be able to read it.

Writerly Fun In Schools

After an ice-related delay, I began my BLAST schools writing residency last week. I did two back-to-back intro sessions to make up for lost time, and the boys were wonderful – that's the only word for it.

They're aged around 10 and 11, which I believe is the ideal age to start creative writing. You have the imagination, but you also have enough of the mechanics of writing to turn your ideas into stories. In the next five sessions, the boys will create their stories, step by step, stories that evoke the passion and wildness of Viking times.

SpeakEasy Poetry Event

There's just two weeks to go until the first SpeakEasy event of 2025, happening on Friday 7 February in Phil Grimes Pub, Waterford, at 8pm. I'm looking forward to meeting our featured poet, Eleanor Hooker, who is not only an award-winning poet, but a life-saver – she's a helm and PR officer for the Lough Derg RNLI branch. Our musician is Eva St Maria, who performed at SpeakEasy before under the name Eva Luna.

But most of all, I'm looking forward to hearing your words in the open mic, where you can share your poems or short prose pieces. It's a warm and welcoming environment, where any nerves you may feel at the thought of reading will soon melt away.

Waterford Libraries Publishing Event

Big shout out to Margaret Organ in the Arts Office and the staff at Waterford Libraries, who are supportive in such a proactive way towards writers. Waterford Libraries has invited acclaimed writer Jan Carson to Waterford to share her wisdom, at an event called Writing Practice and the Publishing Industry. It's happening on Monday 24 February at 6pm in the Waterford Gallery of Art, and places are limited, so book now – it's free. You can book your place here.

Finally, thanks to new free subscribers Christine Jaksy and Jet Pendergast. If you want to join them and subscribe, hit the button below.