Apart from having my book published, last week I got the best news. Jewtown has been shortlisted for the Shine/Strong award. This award is for the best first collection of poetry by an Irish poet. There are three Irish poets shortlisted for this award and apart from me, they are Stephanie Conn (also of Doire […]
Category: Blog
Published Honest Ulsterman
I’m happy to have had 3 of my poems published in the Honest Ulsterman. The three poems were all written when Emrys was very tiny and possibly in the middle of the night. I decided not to send them off for at least a year or two to try and make sure that they weren’t […]
Two new books
I was delighted to get my hands on two new books this week. Cold Coffee at Emo Court by Arthur Broomfield, and Several Deer by Adam Crothers. The second book has been shortlisted for the Sine/Strong Award along with me and Stephanie Conn so I had to check out the competition! I’ve already read the first […]
On the Banks – poetry about Cork City
I was interested to see a new anthology of poems about Cork City that was published recently and edited by Alannah Hopkins with support from the Munster Literature Centre. It is a large anthology of poems about Cork City. It contains lots of well-known poems from history, (The Banks of the Lovely Lee), with several poems […]
Launch of Representations of Jews in Irish Literature
I had a fantastic evening in Waterford IT where I launched the exhibition of Representations of Jews in Irish Literature, which is touring Ireland and beyond. This was the first time I’ve done a poetry event without doing a reading, as such. I was asked to give a presentation on how I came to write Jewtown. I […]
Next on the list: Paula Meehan
My pile of books got bigger again today. I couldn’t resist buying Paula Meehan’s Geomantic. I am very attracted to the mathematical nature of these poems and can’t wait to dive in. Unfortunately, it has to go on a waiting list behind A Land Not Theirs by David Marcus, Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton […]
Shortlisted for Strokestown
One of my newer poems, Conception, has been shortlisted in the International Poetry Festival in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. The results will be announced at the festival at the end of April. As part of being shortlisted, I have been invited to read some of my poetry at the festival.
Launching Representations of Jews in Irish Literature Exhibition
I am thrilled and very nervous to be launching the Representations of Jews in Irish Literature Exhibition in Waterford IT on February 1st. This exhibition from the Ulster University is touring the country and its February leg is in Waterford, where once there was a small Jewish population, which left their mark. I’m going to be […]
Review: Jewish Renaissance
I was delighted to see Jewtown reviewed in the UK-based magazine, Jewish Renaissance, today. I was very pleased that the review was very positive about the collection. They also printed 3 of my poems from Jewtown: Tashlich, Chopped Herring and Weight. I also may have had the strangest headline written underneath a picture of me: “I thank […]
Reading at Staccato, January 11th
Happy New Year! I’m back on the road and off to Dublin to read at Staccato on Wednesday, 11th January. Staccato is run by writers, David Butler and Tanya Farrelly, and every month they bring together writers, poets, comedians and musicians to play in Toners in Baggot Street. It all starts off at 7:45pm and I’m […]