The Meath Writers' Circle/Online Meeting!

The Meath Writers' Circle/ Online Meeting!

The first meeting of 2021 for the above group on last Thursday night was a small enough affair due to technical difficulties of logging in etc. Though there were a number of phone calls as well. Anyway the magazine sales for the 2020 edition were considerable given the levels of restrictions with regard to movement and such and we've decided to go ahead with this year's edition, if it should prove possible at all. Interesting to see if it all works out. Be in touch!

Trim Poetry Competition Result 2021!

 Here is the result of the Trim Poetry Competition 2021. This has also been put up on the blog: https://trimpoetryfestival.blogspot.com/

Trim Poetry Festival Our judge, Jean O'Brien, is finalizing her selections of listed and winners in the 2021 Trim Poetry Competition. We hope to be able to announce a long list of twenty by 10 January and then the short list in a week or two after that. trimpoetryfestival.blogspot.com

 

Winner:

to make a doll                                                 Angus Strachan           England          

 

Runners-Up:

Echolocation                                                   Marian Oxley              England          

The Invisible House                                        Brian Kirk                   Dublin            

 

Congratulation to all of you who made the short list and thank you for your support. We had a total of 360 entries this year.

 

A special thanks to our judge, Jean O’Brien, for carrying out her task in such an efficient, professional manner.

 

We hope to have a virtual prize-giving reading at our virtual Trim Poetry Festival 2021.

 

We would ask the winner and the two runners up to provide, if possible, a video of a reading of their poem for inclusion in the Festival. We also invite those on the shortlist to do the same if they wish. The probable date for the virtual festival is Saturday 13 March.

 

Regards,

 

Frances & Michael

Boyne Writers.

 

Poet Amanda Gorman reads 'The Hill We Climb'

Poet Amanda Gorman reading "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday the 20th of January 2021. Amanda is an American poet and activist from Los Angeles, California and was born on March the 7th 1998. She is the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Info from Wikipedia.

What can you say - Getting into Kennedy - Martin Luther King territory there. Says she wants to be President some day. Wouldn't bet against it!  

Trim Poetry Competition Shortlist 2021!

 Trim Poetry Competition Shortlist 2021

This is the short list of ten in alphabetical order. 

The winner and two runners-up will be revealed on Sunday

 the 24th of January. 

Echolocation                                                  Marian Oxley              England          

hunter, gatherer                                              Mary Mulholland        England          

In the Republic of Nuns                                 Karen McDonnell       Clare               

Je ne regrette rien                                           Siobhán Flynn             Dublin            

Normal People                                                Frank Murphy             Meath             

The Conspiracy of Silence                             Ojo Taiye                    Nigeria                       

The Edge of the State                                     Trish Bennett              Fermanagh     

The High Garden                                            Caimin Rooney           Dublin            

The Invisible House                                        Brian Kirk                   Dublin           

to make a doll                                                 Angus Strachan           England

Long List

Census         Clare O'Reilly Kildare

Chalk Circle         Máirín O'Grady Dublin

Chang Cheng         Amy Barry Westmeath

Day Room Days         Lynda Tavakoli Down

Echolocation         Marian Oxley England

Excision                 Daragh Byrne Australia

Flints          Anna Forbes Scotland

hunter, gatherer         Mary Mulholland England  

In the Republic of Nuns   Karen McDonnell Clare

Je ne regrette rien         Siobhán Flynn Dublin

Jocelyn Bell Burnell Speaks ...  Derek Sellen England

Leaning In         Peggy McCarthy Waterford

Learning to Smoke and Other Things Bernie Crawford Galway

Love         Bernie Crawford Galway

Normal People         Frank Murphy Meath 

Ode to My Vocation Boswell Partridge USA

Plague Years         Peter Branson England

Poem for my Grand-daughter David Punter UK

River Bird, Know Your Place Ojo Taiye Nigeria

Rock Pool         George Hopewell England

Season of Brigid         Anne Casey Australia

Sing It         Peadar O'Donoghue Wicklow

the ABCDery of mother’s gardening Angus Strachan England

The Conspiracy of Silence Ojo Taiye Nigeria

The Edge of the State Trish Bennett Fermanagh

The High Garden         Caimin Rooney Dublin

The Invisible House  Brian Kirk Dublin

The New Math         Boswell Partridge USA

to make a doll           Angus Strachan England

Wishbone         Sighle Meehan Galway

The judge for this year's competition

is Jean O' Brien and the information

is from the Trim Poetry Festival Website.

(Link to the right)

And much more information there!

The festival attracted more than 350 entries

from all over the world,

so congrats to everyone. 

Information loaded by Michael Farry.

Boyne Writers Group.

Danny Diamond and Tom French at Cois Tine.

Came across this one a while back and meant to load. The quality is excellent and Tom French needs no introduction for those in the poetry world though his reference to Michael Longley a timely reminder to all. His books are published by the Gallery Press in Oldcastle, County Meath. Danny Diamond is a musician (fiddle player and then some) who has toured worldwide and comes from a renowned family of traditional musicians in the north of Ireland. http://www.danydiamond.ie

The video above was loaded by CavanArts. 

Kennedy's Greatest Speech: A Tiny Ripple of Hope

Loaded by Savanteum, this is a visual documentary of a speech given by Robert F. Kennedy to the National Union of South African Students at the University of Cape Town, South Africa on June 6th 1966 and following his assassination during his bid for the Presidency in 1968, delivered by his brother at the memorial service in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on June 8th 1968. 

Something to listen to for the New Year and given the events of the past year and the last few days we seem further away from those aspirations than ever. Visit the site on youtube to read the comments and for more info.

* Another one worth a look is the ~ Mindless Menace of Violence. (One kind leads to the other folks - FM)

Imelda May's Poem for the Late Late Show Busk for Simon | The Late Late ...

Ireland has produced many fine female vocalists and singer songwriters over the past generation but Imelda May falls into the special. Here she recites one of her poems on The Late Late Show on Friday, December 18th 2020 and proves she's a fine poet as well. Though to me singer songwriters, poets - same. Enjoy. Had a go at one of these a long time ago now; coming around by the Shelbourne onto Dawson Street where a man was lying on a piece of cardboard around Christmas time with shoppers stepping across him. So the mock concern for the vulnerable now in Covid times - spare me. A country that allows its own people to die on the streets and it's being going on for years! Anyway stay safe.