Uncategorized
The River Mill – Writing Retreat
I recently spent a wonderful week at the River Mill, a new writing retreat in County Down. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a little piece of heaven. If you are in need of peace and quiet to get some writing done – look no further. Paul Maddern is a generous host and a fantastic cook!
Belfast Book Launch of ‘Island’
Heartfelt thanks for all the support. It was a wonderful launch in a room full of lovely people.
Writers Chat with Shauna Gilligan
Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, Lumb Bank
A brilliant week working with tutors Bill Herbert, Tara Bergin and a fantastic group of poets, in the most beautiful surroundings.
Belfast Book Festival 2017
Strong/Shine Awards 2017
Sunday 26th March was a gorgeous spring day and Dun Laoghaire was bustling. The LexIcon was brimming with poetry lovers grabbing a quick bite or coffee between events. The Mountains to Sea Dun Laoghaire Book Festival 2017 provided a jam-packed, inspiring programme. I was there for the Shine/Strong Poetry Award Reading in The Studio. A month or so earlier I was thrilled to learn that ‘The Woman on the Other Side’ had made the shortlist of three for the best first collection by an Irish poet in the past year. I was reading alongside the other shortlisted poets Simon Lewis, a fellow Doire Press poet, and Adam Crothers of Carcanet Press. It was lovely to meet Poetry Now Curator Alice Lyons and this year’s judge Vincent Woods.
The shine/strong award is awarded in memory of Rupert and Eithne Strong and supported by Shine, the national organisation dedicated to upholding the rights and addressing the needs of those affected by mental ill health. It was an honour to be shortlisted and to read at the event.
I was up first and enjoyed reading to an attentive audience. I then got to sit back and enjoy the fantastic poetry that followed. Adam Crothers read from his collection ‘Several Deer’ and Simon Lewis read from ‘Jewtown’ – two brilliant collections and superb readings.
It was encouraging to see so many familiar faces in the audience and to receive such a warm welcome and I was delighted that my publishers John and Lisa of Doire Press had made the journey to be there and support Simon and me.
Following insightful and generous comments by judge Vincent Woods on each of the three shortlisted collections, Adam Crothers was awarded the Shine/Strong Award for 2017. Hearty congratulations to Adam!
With thanks to John Walsh and Simon Lewis for the pictures.
Local Launch of Copeland’s Daughter @Carnegie Library, Bangor
John Hewitt International Summer School 2016
On 14th July I received a phone call offering me a bursary for the John Hewitt International Summer School. I accepted immediately – knowing of the fantastic programmes on offer year after year and just how inspiring a week at the JHISS can be.
I first experienced this immersion in the festival of culture and creativity in 2009. I had, shall we say, been dabbling with words. I had been writing intermittently, had a few poems published and had joined a writers’ group, where I heard about the JHISS. I applied and was delighted to be awarded a full bursary. I didn’t know a single person attending and had not heard of most of the poets and novelists – a reflection on me, not them!
It was an intense but exhilarating week. To hear others read their work and discuss literature with such passion was inspiring. To receive direction and encouragement at the writing workshop (in my case, from Joyce Sutphen) and to witness other people taking their writing seriously encouraged me to do the same. It was also a revelation to discover that writers were indeed normal people.
On my return, I immediately applied to the Masters Programme at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University, Belfast. Between 2010 and 2013, I completed a part-time MA in Creative Writing under the tuition of Ciaran Carson, Medbh McGuckian and Sinead Morrissey. Returning to JHISS in 2012 was every bit as stimulating and inspiring as my previous experience.
I therefore jumped at the chance to return once more, and it seemed fitting that it was this year. Having published a poetry collection, ‘The Woman on the Other Side’ (Doire Press) and a pamphlet, ‘Copeland’s Daughter’ (Smith/Doorstep) this year, and having spent the last few months on a reading tour and facilitating poetry workshops, I was more than happy to sit back and enjoy the varied voices of the poets and novelists and to participate in, rather than lead the workshops. A welcome rest bite before I head overseas to read at festivals from September onwards.
Aside from the thrill of having my book on David’s No Alibis book stall alongside such fantastic writers and that of seeing someone sitting in the sun reading a copy, it was wonderful to meet up with so many people I’ve come to know over the last few years. To anticipate the readings of poets I know and know of, to be introduced to new voices, to hear of writer’s experiences and responses to questions of a writing life, to be stretched and reinvigorated were all things to be welcomed. It was also a privilege to lend some of my own experience to others starting out.
The standard of the wide-ranging events remains extremely high and I would encourage anyone attending for the first time to attend as many as possible. It’s a packed programme and almost impossible to attend every single event but sticking with events or the genre you are most interested in is, in my opinion, limiting. The various discussions and readings feed into your own creativity and perspective and can ignite and inspire all sorts of wonderful thoughts and ideas.
Of course, the poetry readings were a high point for me. To finally get the opportunity to hear Paul Durcan was a thrill. Knowing someone’s work on the page is one thing but it is always special to hear poets read that work and this was the case with Rita Ann Higgins, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Grace Wells and Tom French. To become more familiar with the work of Catriona O’Reilly and Andrew McMillan and be introduced to the work of Matthew Francis and Jane Yeh was brilliant. Listening to the fantastic work of T.S. Eliot prize winning poets Sinead Morrissey and Sarah Howe, and then receiving an email from your publisher saying they have just submitted your book for the very same prize is somewhat surreal and disconcerting!
I promised myself I would not go mad at the book stall and tried very hard to resist but ultimately failed. My suitcase is a lot heavier than when I arrived and I can’t wait to get stuck into my bag of delights. Having escaped the realities of life for a week, the time inevitably comes to return home and I’m delighted to say that, for me, means getting back to the business of writing.
Find out more at http://johnhewittsociety.org/
‘Copeland’s Daughter’ launched at Dove Cottage
I had been working on poems inspired by my family connections to the Copeland Islands, with a view to a second collection, when I came across details of the Poetry Business pamphlet competition. In September, I submitted 23 poems and promptly forgot all about it.
I continued to work on new poems and was kept busy with preparations for the publication and launch of my first collection, ‘The Woman on the Other Side’. When I received a phone call in April to say ‘Copeland’s Daughter’ had been selected by Billy Collins as one of four winners in the PB pamphlet competition I was shocked but absolutely thrilled.
The poems would be published as a pamphlet and I would get to read at the launch and prize-giving at the Jerwood Centre at Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage. I didn’t waste any time agreeing to a trip to the Lake District in June.
My husband and I decided to make it a short break and spent three nights in beautiful surroundings. We arrived and left in pouring rain but thankfully got dry and even some sunny weather in between.
We arrived early to have a tour of Dove Cottage. Our American guide gave us lots of interesting information about Wordsworth’s time living in the cottage. It was great to see his writing chair (and find out that he hated working at a desk) and his couch!
For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood…
It was great to meet Peter and Ann Sansom and I was thrilled when Peter handed over a copy of ‘Copeland’s Daughter’. It is a beautifully produced little pamphlet. Inside the Jerwood Visitor Centre, opened in 2005 by Seamus Heaney, I was delighted to meet Wordsworth Trust’s Michael McGregor and the other winning poets, John Foggins and Mary King.
Peter Sansom gave a generous introduction before I read a selection of poems from the pamphlet. Mary King read beautifully from ‘Homing’. John Foggins and John Eppel have opted to publish full length collections and their books will be out in the autumn. I loved Jo Foggin’s poems and look forward to getting my hands on the new book. John Eppel lives in Zimbabwe so his friend and fellow poet Rowland Molony read on his behalf. Michael then presented us with our prizes before we had a chance to chat with some members of the audience.
It was a memorable day with lovely people in beautiful surroundings. I look forward to getting to know the work of these poets over the next few weeks and will be staying in touch with them. Thanks again to Peter and Ann and all at the Poetry Business, to the Wordsworth Trust and, of course, to the competition judge, Billy Collins.
Photos by Johnny Conn
Stephanie Conn Poetry 