The West Cork Literary Festival is one of my favourite writing festivals of the year. Rozz and I first went four years ago and went again the following year for a full week of workshops. I didn’t think back then that I would be featuring in any way at the festival a few years later. It was […]
Author: simon
Shelfie Time
I know it’s probably stupid but I get such a kick out of seeing my books on the shelves. This photo is my books in Bantry Bookshop. As I was taking the photograph, two women were looking at the book and talking about the area of Jewtown. I couldn’t resist introducing myself and they told […]
Beautiful Bantry
It’s been 3 years since I was last in Bantry for the West Cork Literary Festival and I’m looking forward to reading on Wednesday in Bantry Bookshop, the first of 3 Cork readings. I’ve combined the event with a short family break and the weather has decided to act like July and it’s beautiful. Rozz […]
How lovely are Hay?
I have limited experience so far from reading at literary festivals so I’m not sure if this is the norm but I got a lovely email from the Hay Festival organisers to thank me for reading at their festival. It wasn’t a template, group or generic email, it was a real email to me with a […]
The closest I’ll get to Michael Longley
One of my dreams when I got my publishing deal for Jewtown was to see my book on the shelf of a proper bookshop. Over the weekend that dream came true. Here is my book in Books Upstairs.
Wexford Reading kicks off a Weekend of Crazy
I had the busiest weekend I think I’ve had for a long time. It kicked off in the Fusion Café in Wexford Town. The fantastic monthly poetry event run by Denis Collins has been going for a few years and every month, there’s an open mic and featured poet that reads their work. This month […]
Books Ireland Review
Not so much of a review but 3 sentences to describe me. I’ll take it!
I’ll Drop You a Line
I’ll Drop you a Line is a memoir about David Marcus, one of Cork’s most famous Jewish people with roots in Jewtown. The memoir is written by his wife Ita Daly and costs €14.99 from Londubh books.
The Level Crossing
I’ve been looking through Pat Boran’s first issue of The Level Crossing, which I bought a couple of weeks ago. I’m about a quarter way through it and finding it very interesting. I was amazed to see that over 900 people had submitted a poem to the first issue of the magazine (including myself). It’s surely […]
Where most of the reaserch came from
Any time I’ve been interviewed, I’m always asked where did I get my research on the people who lived in Jewtown. There was very little there but one of the sources came from a really good book if one is interested in the history of the Jewish people in Ireland. Dermot Keogh’s History of the […]