Troubles ~ Michael Farry.

Troubles ~ Michael Farry.

Michael Farry is a poet and historian from Sligo in the west of Ireland and his writing here combines both disciplines to provide an insight into a period that has left a certain legacy that is still not resolved today. His third collection of poems brings to life again the mind and times of those who shaped the place we live in now and is no small collection. He ranges across any number of different interests and brings his own particular insights or take, unearthing names or events that the ordinary reader would not be familiar with and all with the expertise and competent technique readers of  his other books would be more than a little versed or accustomed to. You might beg to differ on some of the points but you'd better have your homework done. The book ends on a humorous note (or not) The Modern Day Historian is Condemned in that it takes its inspiration or at least some of it from Seamus Heaney's poem The Flight Path. Times you can't win. The irony of it all is I suppose that one hundred years after the events recorded here the major parties concerned would go into government together. If you wish to purchase a copy: Link to the right. For those with an interest in the history of the time, a must. Scroll further back to The Trim Poetry Festival for Anne Tannam's launch of the book. Published by Revival Press/Limerick. Michael Farry lives in Trim, County Meath.

Culture Matters!

Working People’s Stories in Contemporary Ireland

Call for submissions

Culture Matters is taking an initiative in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis to compile a second anthology of working-class writing. We hope it will be one way for working people to creatively express their anxieties, experiences and thoughts about various aspects of their lives in these troubled times.

Our first anthology of working people’s poetry from contemporary Ireland, The Children of the Nation, was a success in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Ireland. This second volume will focus on short prose: flash fiction, short stories, anecdotes, epigrams, memoirs and other kinds of life writing (diary, letter/email, essays, blogs, and black and white images).

Relevant themes that come to mind include the Climate Emergency, the Coronavirus Crisis, Working Women, More Than Profit, and Community and Global Solidarity – but also quite simply your everyday experience as a working person in contemporary Ireland. We are unable to offer fees for publication, but will supply free and discounted copies to contributors.

Here are the stipulations:

·         One or two submissions per person, unpublished in print

·         Maximum of 2,500 words per submission

·         In English or Irish (if in Irish, our international readership will appreciate your English translation, please)

·         Black and white images should be jpegs of photos, drawings, cartoons etc., no bigger than 1MB.

·         A brief biography outlining your connection with the working class, 150 words max.

·         Deadline for submission: 31 July 2020.

·         Submissions to be sent to: irishstories2020@yahoo.com

You retain copyright on any submissions but your material may be published in print and online by Culture Matters.

Jenny Farrell

Associate Editor

Culture Matters

March 2020.