The second issue of gorse , a wonderful print journal of literature edited in Dublin by Susan Tomaselli, was published last week and includes a new long poem of mine. gorse publishes high quality work in the form of essays, fiction, interviews, poetry, variations of these and much else. It's distinguished by top production values with beautiful cover art, extended knowledge of and interest in a diversity of writing traditions and movements, an experimentalist thrust, cosmopolitanism and wit combined with seriousness of attention, and an interrogative outlook - a confluence of dimensions generally lacking from other Ireland-based journals. Issue 2 also includes work by Claire-Louise Bennett, Matthew Jakubowski, Rob Doyle, Colm O'Shea, SJ Fowler, Dylan Brennan and Lies Van Gasse among others. My poem has title 'Civilisation's Golden Dawn: A Slide Show' and is composed out of specifically-written captions to old family photos of trips to Greece, with fragmen...
Guest editors can charge magazines with an energy and relevance they had hitherto only potentially or theoretically possessed - and this could not be better illustrated than with this latest issue of The Stinging Fly, edited by Dave Lordan. The Stinging Fly has established a reputation as the "go-to" place for those in Ireland looking for new and exciting writing, but when it comes to poetry it has fallen a little short of doing something truly remarkable or breaking the mould. With this issue, Lordan, a singular presence in Ireland's contemporary poetry scene, has sought to rectify this - while his notes on its editing articulate refreshing views on writing, editing and criticism. I'm happy he has chosen to include my poem 'The Executioner's Confession' in his issue. Also included is work by several poets who for me have stood out over the last few years, among them Kimberly Campanello,...
I'm excited to be taking part in the Listowel - New York International Residency programme 2024-25, a unique two-part residency aiming to connect artists from the experimental theatre, dance, and performance scenes in Ireland and New York City. Led by St John's Theatre & Arts Centre in Listowel, Co Kerry, and supported by The Arts Council of Ireland, Kerry County Arts Office, and the Irish Arts Center in New York City, this initiative supports 7 selected artists - four from Ireland and three from New York - to spend two weeks (20 May - 2 June 2024) in Listowel, a small town in north Co Kerry known for its literary heritage, and one week in January 2025 at the Irish Arts Centre in New York. I'm participating in this cool generative opportunity alongside six other artists operating in experimental performance modes and active in a range of artforms and locations: Anthony Keigher, Emily Davis, Gabriel Graves, Amanda Horowitz, Jane Deasy, and Hayley Stahl. According to th...
Comments