Year's End By Richard Wilbur

Searching for a poem of the year ending or a new beginning, I settled on this. Richard Wilbur was an American poet who was born in 1921 and died on October the 14th 2017. He was a Pulitzer Prize winner and United States Poet Laureate. And many more as well. With thanks to BirdCagePictureFilms for posting and of course Richard Wilbur and not forgetting youtube. Have a happy new year folks! 

The Pogues - Fairytale Of New York (Official Video)

Voted the best Christmas song ever and with almost sixty five million hits on the site above hard to argue with that. Kirsty brings more than a little something. Loaded before in 2017 at about forty million!  Enjoy.

An Tobar: Poerty for Pleasure/December 2019!

An Tobar: Poetry for Pleasure/ December 2019!

Walk: Ardbraccan

The theme for the December meeting was appropriately enough "Christmas" and the opening contribution was by a poet whose material gets a outing on more than the odd occasion. Patrick Kavanagh's Christmas 1939 was the first one read followed by a Clarice Williams poem Christmas Past and then another one by Patrick Kavanagh's Christmas Eve Remembered. Mistletoe by Reginald Arkell is not one I'm familiar with but I came across a reference to Enid Blyton and a connection to the poet at Mistletoe Farm, not too sure but the dangers of it were mentioned more than once or twice and the season that's in it. Sarah Teasdale's Christmas Carol got a reading and a little humour was introduced with John O Brien' s Tangmalangaloo. There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue which is I believe from a Latin text, was read by John Curran and there are a number of pieces out there on youtube. Myself I read my own poem Christmas and also A Christmas Toast - Just Deserts which was followed by Willie G. Hodgins reading The Cradle and Joseph's Dilemma which are also his own poems. Jim Owens read A Gowel - Christmas Magic which is a fine piece composed by himself and the night finished off with Forecast by Jean Kenward and Pauric Colum's A Poor Scholar of the Forties. This I'm told was in the old school books but not one I've heard before. Fine poem though! The theme for the next night is "Hospitality" and the meeting place is just past the gates of An Tobar coming from the Navan direction in Leona Rennick's house. An Tobar is closed for January. 

Poetry for Pleasure/An Tobar, December!

Greetings friends

You are welcome to join us on this Tuesday evening 17th Dec for our last session of the poetry group this year.

Hope the weather will not deter people for joining the fun and the sharing tomorrow evening

Best wishes

jim

PS

You are also welcome to attend a special reflection session on Sunday afternoon 22nd Dec at 3pm in An Tobar

Pull up to the Fire ‘Cois Tine’ 

We know Christmas  is really  a time of sharing, caring and celebrating peace and joy.

 This special evening in An Tobar by the fireside, Cois Tine, provides us with an opportunity to step aside for a while and take  time to nourish the inner spirit.

 The evening will be a time for relaxing the body, quietening the mind, and nourishing the spirit.  

The evening with be a time to share stories, memories, maybe a song, a poem, maybe a piece of scripture, a little silence and if the spirit moves us a wee blast of prayer. 

Sunday afternoon 22^nd December from 3pm to 4.30pm followed a cuppa and some festive fare

Poetry for Pleasure Group December 2019

An Tobar, Ardbraccan, Co Meath

                   

Trim Poetry Festival/Competition!

Trim Poetry Festival/Competition/Launch, Boyne Berries 27!

The above festival takes place on both Friday and Saturday the 13th and 14th of March 2020. The submission deadline for Boyne Berries 27 is fast approaching (Wednesday 1st of January) and guidelines for this are posted on their webpage; link to the right. The Friday evening of the festival will include the launch of the magazine and readings from the contributors. Saturday will have a poetry workshop by festival poet, Anne Tannam.

Trim Poetry Competition

The deadline for this one is the 12th of February and the judges are Michael Farry and Orla Fay. There is quite a substantial prize for the winner and runners up and a shortlist of ten will be posted towards the end of February. Those included will be notified and invited to read at the festival on Saturday afternoon the 14th of March. The winner and shortlisted poems will be published in Boyne Berries 27. Be sure to check out all details and guidelines before entering. 

Trim Poetry Festival

Michael Farry has further info on this on his webpage; link to the right. Also details are on the competition page of the Poetry Ireland website.  

The Children of the Nation/Second Issue!

The Children of the Nation/Second Issue!

Having sold out on the first issue a second batch is now available and can be obtained through either Connolly Books or Culture Matters.org at a cost of €10 or £9. However orders through Jenny Farrell will continue to be €5 including postage and she will be ready to resume posting again after the 23rd of December. This is no small anthology and would make an ideal Christmas gift in that as she points out in the introduction the "readers will find the poems entertaining as well as thought provoking". The title borrows from the Proclamation of the Republic and is a reminder that we've strayed a long way from those beliefs. 

Jenny Farrell/Editor

Fr. Peter McVerry/Launched Anthology.

From the Introduction

The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally.

Still waiting you might say!

The editor Jenny Farrell can be contacted at editor@culturematters.org.uk or text/WhatsApp to 087 783 4213.

The Meath Writers' Circle/ December Meeting 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle/ December Meeting 2019!

Paul Martin and Willie G. Hodgins

The Meath Writer's Circle held its last meeting of the year on Thursday night last with an update on our magazine sales, which are in their hundreds by now, so a good success there. The next meeting will not be until February of 2020 with a long break over the Christmas season so plans on hold until then. A number of things in the pipeline which may or may not come to pass. But as they say; way to go! A happy Christmas to everyone!

The Meath Writers' Circle 5th Annual Magazine 2019!

Meath Writers Circle 5th Annual Magazine 2019                Darby Print                €8



Tempted though I am to select many pieces for special mention here (some contributions are truly remarkable), I’ll keep shtum and let readers decide for themselves. But I will say that this book is beautifully produced and features works of fiction, memoir, history, ballad and performance poetry, essay and of course some nostalgia. And the real beauty is in the fact that this motley crew of writers come from every walk of life and every age group, from 8 to 80, with the ‘young poets’ section assuring the safety of poetry as an art form in the future. There are pieces here by experienced award-winners, too; they know who they are.



Cover design is by Eugene Kane and although there’s no credit given for the plates and illustrations throughout the book, it’s a highly polished publication. Copies are not available in the shops but can be purchased directly from Willie Hodgins at 086 1085528. At only €8 a copy it’s a steal and in fact you should buy two – one for yourself and one as a Christmas gift. There’s something for everyone in this gorgeous book.

Anne Cunningham/Book Reviews
The Meath Chronicle.

Thanks Anne
FM.

Boyne Berries 26!

Boyne Berries 26!

Finally got around to a read through of a magazine that has become a staple part of the Irish literary scene. Since its first issue in the Spring of 2007 Boyne Berries has published writers who are both local and from just about anywhere further afield that you'd care to mention. Maurice Devitt was supposed to launch this one but due to weather circumstance and postponements Jean O' Brien did the honours instead. Her own poem Kintsugi - Golden Joinery was I believe the inspiration for the cover above and the editor Orla Fay remarks on this in her editorial and on the art work by Rory O' Sullivan who created the image. Continuing on the name dropping Michael Farry has an interesting piece on this on his blog site: link to the right. The magazine has any number of interesting poems and pieces of prose and is an absolute gem in that they are not afraid to make a point, both as reflections and as something that might shape. Also included here is the Trim Poetry Competition Shortlist poems from 2019. Great pieces of prose towards the end as well. Give yourself a treat and purchase a copy for Christmas. Priced at €10. Cherry picking ~ just too difficult!

“The Children of the Nation” working people’s poetry from Ireland

Launched by Fr. Peter McVerry in Connolly Books, Temple Bar on Saturday last, I believe every copy sold out on the day. Represented there were the Irish Trade Union Movement, Fórsa, Unite, CWU, Mandate, and the Belfast and Dublin and Galway Trades Councils. Other speakers were Eoin Ronayne, Deputy General Secretary of Fórsa, Mike Quille of Culture Matters and the editor of the Anthology, Jenny Farrell, Department of Languages & Humanities, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. The Anthology includes a foreword by Brian Campfield, General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, 2010-2015 and President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, 2015-2017. The video was loaded by Eoin Mc Donnell.  

The Children of the Nation/The Irish Times!

The Children of the Nation/The Irish Times.

The above anthology will be launched tomorrow in Connolly Books in Temple Bar, Dublin by Fr. Peter McVerry. Below is a link to an article in The Irish Times which is worth a read or two. It is almost one hundred years since the creation of this state and in that time the treatment of the marginalised and the adherence to an economic and social order that was responsible for its creation in the first place is a joke we've played on ourselves. Was it for this...  

Writing in the margins: a collection of working-class Irish poetry

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/November 2019!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/ November 2019!

The theme for last night's gathering in Ardbraccan was on remembrance and at least sixteen people brought poems or readings that touched on some quality of the above. Rose Mawdsley led off with her own piece on the "Famine Walk" and while I suppose everyone is familiar with some aspect of this catastrophe, there were many others that were equally harrowing. Any analysis or account of those years treads more than a little careful. Respects by Jane Clarke, a writer who was originally from Roscommon but now living in Wicklow was next followed by In Memory of my Mother by Patrick Kavanagh. The Oak Tree by Johnny Ray Ryder was followed by Holly by Seamus Heaney. Carol Owens read her own poem In Remembrance of  Leonard Cohen and very good it was, followed by Bereft by John Quinn and this one I hadn't heard before. Last Flight, Last Sight by Eugene Kane was about his brother Camillus who died on the Missions in Kenya and this was followed by Bridie Halton reading a poem by her Uncle Felix which also touched on the subject  of the famine, In Remembrance of the Famine Victims. A Brother's Demise was read by Willie G. Hodgins and Memento to More for Peter and Dee was read by John Curran. Myself I read Comrades by Eva Gore Booth. Above Pesaro 1993 by MacDara Woods was followed by Do You Remember, a beautiful poem by Dunsany poet Myra Lalor. Finally the night finished off with Home by francis Ledwidge, The next meeting is on Tuesday the 17th of December and the theme is off course Christmas. All are welcome! 

Children of the Nation/Press Release!

The Children of the Nation: An Anthology of Working People’s Poetry from Contemporary Ireland

On Saturday, 23^rd November at 3 p.m. in Connolly Books, Dublin, Fr. Peter McVerry will launch a unique anthology of poetry in both Irish and English by Irish working-class writers from the thirty-two counties of Ireland. There are sixty-seven contributors, women and men, of all generations, including both emerging and established writers. The common focus is on themes which reflect the texture and preoccupations of working-class life in contemporary Ireland.

The anthology is edited by Jenny Farrell and published by Culture Matters, a website and publishing co-operative which takes a progressive and socialist approach to the arts and culture generally. It has been generously supported by the Irish Trade Union movement.

The ‘children of the nation’ were promised equal treatment in the Proclamation of the Irish Republic of 1916. However, the lived realities of the working class, the unemployed, the precariously employed, the homeless, and other groups have rarely appeared in mainstream published poetry in Ireland and Britain.

This is the first anthology to be published in Ireland which focuses on poetry written by and about working people and their experiences, cares and concerns.

As Brian Campfield, past President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, writes in his Foreword:

The anthology is inclusive and egalitarian, and values authenticity, relevance and communicativeness as well as literary skill and inventiveness. It is grounded in individual effort, but has transformed these individual endeavours into a collective expression of the lives, aspirations, concerns and hopes of that class in our society which constantly has to struggle to get its voice heard and valued.

The poems are about life at the margins of society. The themes include class, the treatment of women, work and worklessness, poverty, violence, racism and many other social and political issues. They express suffering, exploitation and abuse, but also hope, solidarity and internationalism.

One of the central themes is homelessness – homelessness in the sense that people are alienated from this society, and forced into emigration; homelessness in the sense of not being able to afford a home, and being at the mercy of private landlords; but also homelessness in its starkest, most inhuman form of being out on the streets with nowhere to go. As one poet in the anthology concludes:

The/ rich get richer and the/ poor grow more/ poor, and most of us have/ nowhere to/ live. For there ain't no home/ in Dublin.

It is therefore fitting that Fr. Peter McVerry will launch this pioneering anthology. There will also be brief addresses from the Irish Trade Union Movement and from Culture Matters, as well as poetry readings by some of the contributors.

The Children of the Nation: An Anthology of Working People’s Poetry from Contemporary Ireland. ISBN 978-1-912710-25-6

Price: €10/ £9 plus p. and p.

Available from the Culture Matters website, culturematters.org.uk.

Verona Pentony Irishwebtv.com talks to Imelda May at the Savoy Hotel Lon...

So to redress the balance! Verona who was one of our poetry readers on the night, "Dust Settles" was also in London recently where she picked up first prize at the Socially Conscious Business Awards in the Savoy Hotel and just who is that girl to her right..... With thanks to Drumlin Media who loaded.  

The Meath Writers' Circle ~ Magazine Launch/Photos!

The Meath Writers' Circle ~ Magazine Launch/Photos!

Frances Tallon and Willie G. Hodgins

Frances Tallon

Some of our contributors and friends

Frances Tallon and Willie G. Hodgins

Betty Hodgins and Sean Reilly

Willie G. Hodgins

Eamon Courtney

Sean Kane

Michael Farry

Eugene Kane

John Curran

Sean Reilly

Paul Martin

Jim Owens

Just some of the photos taken at the launch of our Annual Magazine on last Thursday night in the Trim Castle Hotel.  Francis Tallon of the Meath County Library did the honours and a most excellent speech. Where are the women readers you say? I will have to redress that balance the next time in some way! 

The Meath Writers' Circle/5th Annual Magazine Launch 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle/5th Annual Magazine Launch 2019!

Frances Tallon of The Meath County Library Service will launch our Annual Magazine for 2019 on Thursday the 7th of November at 7.30pm in The Trim Castle Hotel. All are welcome to attend and contributors are invited to read their poetry or other pieces on what promises to be an exciting and entertaining evening. The magazine includes both modern and traditional verse with articles on the healing power of music, short stories, pieces that are of historical interest, topical issues, children's poetry, performance poetry, lyrics with video links and not forgetting some of the poetry that is included here as well! Some of Ireland's finest writers are here, and much further afield than that. The magazine would make for an ideal Christmas present and will retail at only €8 on the night. And with more than sixty pages in all (A4 size) and about the same number of contributors, makes for a fine gift. Hope to see you there! 

The Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards 2019!

The Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards 2019!

Mervyn Ennis/ Coordinator of Creative Writing Awards Saggart

Sang Kevin Johnson, Patrick Kavanagh and Elton John

Orla Fay receiving her Highly Commended Certificate
From Judge Maria Wallace

Just a few photos from last Saturday's event in Saggart Heritage and Arts Centre in Tallagh, Dublin. All photographs of prize winners and a list of those Highly Commended and Commended are on their Facebook page. The winner of the Prose Category was Andrew McLaughlin and the winner of the Poetry Category was James Conway. Managed a Commended on a poem so a thank you to the Judges.

Launch Boyne Berries 26/ Photos!

Launch Boyne Berries 26!

Just some of the contributors to the Autumn issue.

Karen Fay and James Linnane

Michael Farry

A few photos taken at last Thursday night's launch of Boyne Berries 26 at The Castle Arch Hotel in Trim County Meath. Will have a read through and get back to in a week or so. Congratulations there to everyone. Getting to 26 is quite a feat.

New Launch Date: Boyne Berries 26!

New Launch Date: Boyne Berries 26!

Boyne Berries 26 will be launched in The Castle Arch Hotel in Trim, County Meath on Thursday the 24th of October at 8pm by poet Jean O' Brien. Jean is an award winning poet whose fifth collection, Fish on a Bicycle was published by Salmon Poetry in 2016. A winner of many awards including The Arvon International Poetry Award and the Fish International, she was commended for the Forward Prize and shortlisted for the Voices of War Competition by UCD. In 2017 she was awarded the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship. Info above from both the Boyne Berries blogsite and Orla Fay's. Links to the right. After the readings light refreshments will be served and all are welcome!  

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/Readings!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/Readings!

I think about ten in all turned out for the October meeting on Tuesday night at An Tobar with a wide variety and selection of poems on the Autumn Equinox or turn of the year, though you could interpret it lightly or not as you wished or desired. The first poem read was by Emily Bronte, Spell bound which was a fine choice given the theme. The Touch of the Master's Hand which was written in 1921 by Myra Brooks Welch was next followed by my own contribution De Scripto Meridians which is more about waiting out Winter! A Bachelor in Autumn by Myra Lalor was the choice of Sean Reilly followed by  The Night Wind by Eugene Field (1850 - 1895) a poem I hadn't heard before. Willie G. Hodgins read his own piece Winter which coincidentally was the choice also of Leona Rennicks so it got a second reading as well! An excerpt from Patrick Kavanagh's The Great Hunger was next and was very well read and there are poets and there are poets. Lead Kindly Light which was written in 1833 was read given that Cardinal Newman was recently canonised (October 13th) and Carol Owens read her own piece The Dark Places Where The Beetle Goes which was an interesting piece of observation. Shell Shocked Land by Kildare poet Helen Fallon finished the round and this one was a prize winner in this year's Trócaire Poetry Competition though I did sneak in my own piece Beyond this Point to finish the night. The theme for next month is "Remembrance" of any kind and all are welcome!  

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/ October 2019!

At An Tobar, Ardbraccan

Everybody welcome to our Poetry Group on

Next session Tuesday evening 15^th October at 7.30pm

The guiding theme for October is ‘Equinox or endings or just the time of year’

People can bring a poem that has a special meaning for them  

People can come and listen to others read

The session in good An Tobar style is followed by a cuppa.

 For further information please feel welcome to contact: 

Ø Jim Owens 087 967 6728,  Email: kiltale@eircom.net

Ø Carol Owens  Email: carol.antobarpoetry@gmail.com  

                              Ø Jackie Smyth (An Tobar) 046 9078973                                                                Email: antobarnavan@gmail.com

 An Tobar, Ardbraccan, Co Meath

Suggested donation: €5

The Jester of the Kingdom 2019!

Tralee Humorous Verse Competition 2019!

The final of this competition will take place in the Kerins O' Rahilly's clubhouse in Tralee on Friday the 18th of October at 8 pm, though finalists are requested to register no later than 7.40 pm with Sonia Elston. There is over €400 in prize money to be won and the judges on the night are: Noel King and two yet to be appointed. Open Mic and before a live audience with live music and dancing by Beautiful Noise. Until late! The poems will be printed in a book which will be on sale on the night (€4) with a proviso that the work is copyright and must not be reproduced without the writer's consent. For further info contact Sonia at 087 219 5406 or e-mail at soniaelston@yahoo.com 

By coincidence  Friday the 18th is the Graduating Day at Tralee IT and anyone visiting the Kingdom or looking for a night's entertainment or celebration following the award ceremonies are guaranteed a great time.

The Meath Writers' Circle/October 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle ~ Meeting/October 2019!

Sean Reilly, Sean Kane and Willie G. Hodgins

A few Bravehearts made it out to our October meeting last Thursday night in the midst of what was not such inclement weather, given all the forecasts. Code somewhere between yellow and green I'd say, though along the west coast it wasn't too pleasant at all. When I left the house the rain was bucketing down but ten minutes later the sky cleared  and the night turned sort of quiet for a while. The magazine is now with the printer and after a last look-see should be good to go. The launch will be in November and more details or information to follow in a week or so. Hopefully all goes well. The rest of the night was given over to a few stories and poems and a discussion as to who might do the honours as to the launch! Looking good so far and a big thank you to everyone who something in. 

The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2019!

The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award 2019!

The Francis Ledwidge Poetry Award has a closing date of the 5th of November with a first prize of the Ledwidge Plaque inscribed with the winner's name plus a cash prize. There are cash prizes and books for second and third places with merit prizes for finalists. In addition the winner will be invited to read at the annual Francis Ledwidge Commemoration at the National War Memorial Gardens in July 2020. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into following the results. The poems must be the competitor's own work and not previously published or broadcast. Not to exceed 40 lines of type. The entry fee is €5 per poem or 4 for €15. The max number of poems you can enter is 6. Fees payable to The Inchicore Ledwidge Society. Please put your name and telephone number on a separate sheet. S.A.E. or email address for winners' list. Poems will not be returned. Send your entries to: 

The Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Award 2019,

C/o 20, Emmet Cresent.

Inchicore, Dublin 8. 

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/September 2019!

An Tobar ~ Poetry for Pleasure/ September 2019!

The Autumn season of poetry readings commenced last Tuesday night in Ardbraccan with a theme on "Birds" and brought some interesting contributions that strayed a little perhaps but some great pieces were read. John Quinn's The Blessing of the Bog was the lead off and not one I'd heard before, followed by Eugene Kane reading his own poem My Little Pigs. Blackbird by John Drinkwater was next and Jim Owens read his own piece The Divine Gardener. Staying close to that thread Seamus Heaney's St. Kevin and the Blackbird was followed by Summer and Fall, credited to Anonymous. Many good poems to his name. Creed by Norman Gale was another piece I hadn't come across before and definitely worth a look-see. The Song of the Bee by Nancy Nelson Pendleton was followed by my own Fledgling Accounts and John Sheahan's Autumn and the night finished off with Thomas Hardy's The Darkling Thrush. The next meeting is on Tuesday the 15th of October with a theme on the Equinox or endings or just the time of year. All are welcome.    

Boyne Berries 26/Launch!

Boyne Berries 26/Launch!

The poet Maurice Devitt will launch the above magazine in the Castle Arch Hotel in Trim Co. Meath on Thursday the 3rd of October at 8 pm and all are welcome. A special feature of this issue will be the inclusion of the poems shortlisted for the Trim Poetry Competition in 2018 and information as to the names included is available on the Boyne Berries Blogsite: Link to the right. Maurice Devitt holds an MA in Poetry Studies from the Mater Dei and was a winner of the Trocaire/Poetry Ireland and placed and shortlisted in many others. He was selected for Poetry Ireland Introductions in 2016 and was a featured poet at the Transylvania festival in 2015 and a guest speaker at the John Berryman Centenary Conference in both Dublin and Minneapolis. Also nominated for the Pushcart, Forward and Best of the Net Prizes. He is the curator of the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies site and has recently published his debut collection: Growing Up in Colour - Doire Press. A number of his videos available on youtube and worth a visit. The above information from the Boyne Berries site. So if you happen to find yourself in the south Meath area on the night why not drop in for a visit.

* The Launch of Boyne Berries 26 has been cancelled due to weather conditions forecast for tomorrow night, Thursday the 3rd of October !  It will be launched on a date yet to be decided. 

The Meath Writers' Circle/September 2019!

The Meath Writers' Circle/ September Meeting 2019!

Paul Martin, Willie G. Hodgins and Eugene Kane

With some away on holidays or pilgrimage and the meeting being brought forward to Wednesday last only a small number of five in total turned out for our September meeting. Not like the times when we averaged about fourteen or fifteen, but such is life. (Won't attribute that!) The magazine proof arrived and reading through at the moment before passing it on. Hopefully all turns out good. The magazine launch will be sometime in November and yet to be decided. One for the next meeting! Some interesting poems were read and stories told.

Theo Dorgan reads his poem "Croke Park"

On a day when Dublin attempt to make sporting history I went looking for a poem that relates in some way to the importance of what sport and indeed the GAA is to Irish social or community life and whose games are now becoming very popular in many other parts of the world and not just among the Irish diaspora. Theo says it better. From the UCD Library Collection and with thanks to youtube.

Leonard Cohen's Prince Of Asturias Speech - No Overdubbing

The story of Leonard. Something for a Sunday Morning. Give a listen. Uploaded by Allan Showalter and with thanks to youtube as well.

Bailieborough Poetry Prize 2019!

Bailieborough Poetry Prize 2019!

The closing date for this one is Friday September 6th and this year's judge is Cavan Writer-in- Residence Anthony J. Quinn. Full details and information about the contest are available on their website and a link is also available on Michael Farry's blogsite. Link to the right.

Link below! And good luck. Check out all details.

Here           

Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards 2019!

Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards 2019!

The above competition has a closing date of Friday the 20th of September and the winners will be notified and must be prepared to read their work if possible at the awards at the Heritage Centre in Saggart Co. Dublin on the 26th of October 2019, 4 to 6 pm. Address is as above and published authors Michael Whelan and Ms Maria Wallace will judge the competition.

The cover charge for the competition is €4 per poem, or 3 poems for €10 with a max of 6 poems and €5 for a prose entry. Entries made payable to: Saggart Literary Project Writing Awards. Poems not to exceed 45 lines. Entries must be typed in plain font Times Roman point 12 single spacing on plain white A4 sheet, without decoration or illustration and may be in Irish or English. The entrants name must not appear on the typescript but only on the entry form. The work must be the author's original work and not have been published or broadcast previously.  There is also a Facebook page for the above. The judges decision is final.  

Kristina Train - Saturdays Are The Greatest

Destined to become a classic I would say. Heard it on late night radio and checked out on wikipedia. Born in America but now lives in the UK, I'm amazed it hasn't more hits on it. Reminds me of Nick Drake's ~ Riverman. Captures that lazy Saturday feel.....  With thanks to Chromeman who loaded and youtube.