Boyne Berries (7)

Boyne Berries 7

Ciaran Mangan of The Meath County Library did the honours at the launch of the seventh edition of the Boyne Berries literary magazine at The Castle Arch Hotel in Trim on Thursday last. On what was one of the wettest nights of the year, a large crowd, some travelling from as far away as Dublin and Cork turned out, with as many as twenty reading their contributions of poetry or prose. A journey into the dark perhaps with Peter Goulding leading off with "The Lie" and others such as "Mad" by Afric McGlinchey and "Tribal Dancer" by Blaithin Allain adding to the surreal. Further in there are others in the same vein with "School Run" by Aideen Henry, memorable both for its content and delivery. Rory O' Sullivan has a fine piece as usual " Apocalypse" showing how to string traditional verse together, and Paddy Smith no slouch when it comes to delivery himself. Far too many to mention though. Best to get a copy! Click on the Boyne Writers' site opposite for details!

Photos: Ciaran Mangan Of Meath County Library and Book Cover.

Liam Clancy/Poetry.

Liam Clancy/Poetry.

If "Raglan Road" can lay claim to being the best known poem by an Irish artist then Austin Clarke's "The Planter's Daughter" must surely be the second on the list. I heard it first on The Makem and Clancy Album recorded at The Gaiety in 1977 and most recently in - Live At The Bitter End- broadcast last weekend by RTE. Described by Bob Dylan as probably the best ballad singer of them all, Liam Clancy was probably the best performing poet of them all as well, though given to changing the odd word here or there, and usually for the better! I liked his old version of the above. On the tribute show on St Partrick's Night on RTE Radio (If my memory serves me well) he recited a poem about Rafferty, or written by Rafferty, or maybe Padraic Fallon. I tried looking it up? Maybe it was "Mary Hynes". As he said himself quoting Beaudelair "One should always be drunk". He will be missed.

Photos: Orla Fay and friend and James Linnane at The Boyne Readings.

Open Mic Readings/Knightsbridge.

Open Mic.

The very talented Ross Hattaway and Oran Ryan were the guest readers at what was perhaps the most successful of the open mic readings at the Knightsbridge Village Hall. I doubt if I could do justice to either of the above, or to the quality of the other contributions, but Oran Ryan's shifting of perspectives in the extract from "Ten Short Novels..." and Ross Hattaway's reflection on the absurdity of things, or should that be the rotteness of things, using a rubbish bin as a focal point was no mean feat in either case. Rounding off things nicely (if you'll pardon the pun) the chairman Paddy Smith, no mean exponent of the above arts, ended the night with No More High Fives. "There was a breathless hush.....". Details of both Ross Hattaway's and Oran Ryan's publications can be had from The Boyne Writers' Site or Michael Farry's Blogsite. Click on the links opposite.

Photos: Oran Ryan left and Ross Hattaway to the right.

Open Mic Readings March/Knightsbridge.2010

Open Mic.

The guest readers for the next open mic session at The Knightsbridge Village Hall are Ross Hattaway for poetry and Oran Ryan for prose. Dublin based and raised in New Zealand, Ross Hattaway's first book of poems "The Gentle Art of Rotting" was published by The Seven Towers Agency in Dublin in 2006, and there's an interesting title for a start. Widely published, further details can be found on The Boyne Writers' Website. Click on the link opposite.

Oran Ryan has had two novels published by The Seven Towers Agency, notably "The Death of Finn" and "Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger", again refer to The Boyne Writers' Site for further information. The Writers' Group have a busy month ahead as their literary magazine "Boyne Berries 7" is being launched at the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim on the 25th at 8pm and good luck to them with that.

So what can I leave you with? There's a film out there that should have got an Oscar and didn't. "In The Loop", check it out!

Photo: Cloisters: Bective Abbey.

Meath Writers' Circle./Favourite Poems,

Favourite Poems.

One of the suggestions made by Tommy Murray at the last gathering was that everyone should bring in a favourite poem or a piece to read, and some brought two! Myself included. Others got into the spirit of the thing and read from memory, or out of one of the books lying around. Pat Bennet read from William Shakespeare, "Fear no more the heat o' the sun", while Myra Lawlor read a piece from "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmund Rostand. Other contributions are listed below, though the names have been omitted given the hour that's in it. What would you have picked?

* On a Favourite Cat~ Thomas Gray.

* Base Details~ Siegfried Sassoon.

* The Red Wheelbarrow~ William Carlos Williams.

* The Old Woman of the Roads~ Padraic Colum.

* Let Me Die a Young Man's Death~ Roger McGough.

* My Favourite Things~ Julie Andrews.

* Ozymandias~ Percy Bysshe Shelley.

* September 1913~ W.B. Yeats.

* Funeral Blues~ W.H. Auden.

And if I had to read again? "The Darkling Thrush" by Thomas Hardy.

Photo: Ye old moat Trim Castle.