M&M27/Michael Farry & Matt Gilsenan!

Here's some interesting video from both Michael Farry and Matt Gilsenan of Trim, County Meath. Despite the lockdown and the restrictions imposed they have produced a number of videos of both poetry and song and if the above is anything to go by, well worth the twenty minutes or so of your time. Michael Farry's blog link is to the right. Well done guys. Note the number!

The Fab Four and the Four Evangelists

Johnny Duhan's fantastic take on the "Fab Four" and a few others as well! Something for Culture Night or should that be Culture Weekend. His in-depth knowledge and musical background lends more than a little something to his analysis and makes for an interesting half hour or so. If "Eleanor Rigby" was the first Beatles track to get my attention then "Working Class Hero" was definitely the second. I can remember crossing the Half-Penny bridge in Dublin (going south) and hearing a busker give a fair old rendition to the original. It wasn't a song that got any real 'airplay' back then or even now. "So you think you're so clever...." "Across the Universe" is probably way out there somewhere beyond the furthest reach and that's some achievement for the guy from Liverpool. (NASA ~ look it up!) Together the Beatles were much more than the sum of their parts and changed everything. With thanks to Johnny and the old share button on youtube.  

Chapter 67 : Ballyshannon, Ireland’s Oldest Town!

Looking for something to go with The Allingham Festival info, I came across this fine video on Youtube. Narrated by Barry Sweeny it tells something of the history of Ballyshannon and the surrounding area. So with thanks to all concerned and the old share button. 

The Allingham Festival 2020

The Allingham Festival for 2020 is a Flash Fiction and Poetry competition with a closing date of  Monday, midnight, September 28th. You can submit online or by post and an entry form can be downloaded from their site. The entry fees and other details are also available on the Poetry Ireland competition page. (Link to the right)

www.allinghamfestival.com 

Enjoy the video and good luck with the competitions!

Staying Home/Brian Kirk!

Perhaps the best poem I've come across on the Covid 19 Pandemic. The video and poem combined are ten out of ten. It is part of a sequence of poems by the Dublin writer, Brian Kirk, 'focusing on the theme of isolation and social distancing and the wider issues and challenges of community and family arising out of the current Covid 19 Pandemic'. (From the writer's website: Link to the right)

Brian Kirk is a poet, short story writer, playwright and novelist from Dublin, Ireland. His first collection of poetry, After The Fall is published by Salmon Poetry and his novel for children, The Rising Son is also available. Awards and credits; too numerous to mention. With thanks to Youtube and Brian for loading. A visit to his website for more information.

Waterford Poetry Prize 2020!

Waterford Poetry Prize 2020!

The Arts Office, Waterford City & County Council is pleased to announce details of the Waterford Poetry Prize 2020. This is open to all writers currently living on the island of Ireland. The prize will be announced at the Waterford Writers' Weekend in October 2020, during the Imagine Arts Festival in Waterford city. There is no age limit and no entry fee,

The first prize is €400 plus attendance at a designated writing course at the Molly Keane Writers' Retreat, Ardmore in 2021. Second prize is €300 plus a writing course in Ardmore and third prize is €200.

The closing date for receipt of entries is 12 noon on Wednesday 16th of September 2020. The judge is writer and poet Colm Keegan. 

The entry form and guidelines can be downloaded from
 www.waterfordarts,com
Or by contacting the Arts Office on 058/41416.

* Info from Press Release. Good Luck!

Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards 2020.

Details of this year's competition is as above and entry form and other info is on their Facebook page. Also information on the competition's page of the Poetry Ireland website. Best of luck!