Things Being Various: My third collection of poetry is officially launched

Conditional Perfect is published by Doire Press

This blog has been in extended hibernation, but all that is about to change. The gloriously busy daily life of the past two years, during my enjoyable tenure as Programme Director of Cúirt International Festival of Literature, made the prospect of regular posts a little too challenging. As we usher in the Winter, this first day of October, with all the grace we can muster, it seems like a good time to take stock of all that's been happening of late, especially during the milestone month of September. So, I'm returning here with renewed vigour as there are multiple reasons for excitement and a few good excuses for celebration too!

On the poetry front, I was delighted when my poem – a monologue in the voice of 1792 harper, Denis Hempson – was shortlisted for the ‘Pastimes – Past Times’ Summer poetry competition organised by Strokestown International Poetry Festival as part of National Heritage Week. On Saturday, 17th August, we gathered in Strokestown Library to read our shortlisted poems in front of a warm, receptive audience (there were over 200 entries to the competition, which was judged by poet, James Harpur, with 14 of us shortlisted). Congratulations to Annette Skade, Rory Duffy and Siún Carden who won first, second and third prize respectively. You can read all of the shortlisted poems, including the three beautiful prize-winners, here.

The month of August also saw me refining and polishing the manuscript for my third poetry collection, Conditional Perfect, and eventually letting it go and submitting to my publishers at Doire Press. It's always a fraught time for any writer, but John and Lisa have been wonderful throughout and have made the process an easy and seamless one. I’m still in the afterglow of the book’s official launch, just three days ago in Galway City Museum with more on that and some pics to follow below shortly.

Elated, just after receiving the first copy of Conditional Perfect

As many of us parents and educators know, September heralds the beginning of the real year! We had all the usual flurry of excitement as my toddler began his ECCE year at his crèche and my older boy started in third class. (He also turned 9 in September - which I still can't believe - and our modest back lawn is now colonised by a trampoline!). No sooner were both my boys getting settled back to school when I also found myself returning to the educational sphere, to NUI Galway campus to teach undergraduate seminars in Creative Writing (to second-year English students) and ‘Landscape, Literature and Culture’ to visiting students from the U.S. I’m now into my third week and what a privilege it is to be back among bright young people who're eager to learn and full of curiosity, with so much of life ahead of them. One of the contemporary sonnets we looked at last week, which piqued the students' interest, was Marilyn Nelson's powerful 'How I Discovered Poetry'. The exchange students and I are exploring the Idea of the West, landscape-as-text and contrasting W.B. Yeats's symbolic use of the land with Patrick Kavanagh's earthy representations. We continue to be fascinated by polymath, Tim Robinson's mapping of Connemara and his unique methodologies.

I was honoured to be invited to officially launch Issue 12 of Skylight 47 at the House Hotel on Sunday, 8th September.

If you haven't already picked up a copy, it is well worth checking out for its wealth of diverse voices and its special 8-page supplement showcasing the work of emerging writers from throughout Galway city and county.

With my book, Conditional Perfect, still hot off the press it was a great pleasure to some of my new poems for the very first time with a lovely audience at the 42nd Clifden Arts Festival on Wednesday, 18th September. Reading along side poet, Richard Halperin, the wonderful Tony Curtis was our master of ceremonies and treated us to musical interludes during the event. Poets, Gerry Hanberry and Moyra Donaldson also read that afternoon and it was a memorable occasion. My sincere thanks again to Brendan Flynn, Des Lally and all at Clifden Arts Festival for inviting me to read and congrats on another stellar line-up this year.

Reading at Clifden Library as part of Clifden Arts Festival

Poet and musician, Tony Curtis at Clifden Arts Festival

Just a few days later, on Saturday, 21^st, I had the pleasure of reading in The Bookworm bookshop in Thurles as part of the Féile Flipside programme of cultural events. With true Tipperary hospitality, owner John Butler gave me a warm welcome, not to mention some delicious coffee. In the days leading up to the launch of Conditional Perfect, Charlie McBride of The Galway Advertiser met me for a coffee and a chat about the book which you can read in this week's edition of the newspaper online here.

Then, finally, last Saturday, with the book's poems proving to be popular with audiences and readers alike (two were also featured on the Poethead website and shared widely on Twitter and Facebook – thank you Christine Murray), it was high time to officially launch Conditional Perfect! And so we gathered at Galway City Museum at noon last Saturday, 28^th September to give the book its send-off into the world, with Galway poet and musician, Gerry Hanberry, kindly doing the honours. A huge thank you to Gerry for eloquently launching Conditional Perfect, to my gifted friend, Pat Jourdan for her beautiful art which graces the book's cover, to Brendan McGowan, Damien Donnellan and the staff of Galway City Museum, to John Walsh and Lisa Frank and to everyone who took the time to come out and support me on the day. Any slight nerves I had beforehand were quickly banished by the abundant good vibes and collective joyful wishes in the room. Conditional Perfect is now launched and will hopefully travel far and wide and bring pleasure to many many readers. Here are some endorsements for the collection:

‘Discursive, widely-travelled, at once cerebral and lyrical, Emily Cullen’s Conditional Perfect is an ambitious and beautiful work. Here are the streets of Grattan, Elgin and Canning in Melbourne, motherhood and its mysteries, the indictment of victims by defending barristers, the ancient harpists of Belfast; all creating one great embracing, forceful charge in poem after poem. Witty and sardonic too, her poems of mirrors and reflections bring us back to an instantly recognisable human ordinariness. This collection, a Cullen masterpiece, will certainly beguile the reader with its astonishing range and poise.’

— Thomas McCarthy, author of Prophecy (Carcanet)

‘Emily Cullen’s third collection takes the reader on journeys from Ireland to Australia and back, and to the 1792 Harpers’ Assembly in Belfast. Her poems are “freighted” in social realities, but always seek out the “poise” that comes with experience and empathy, the harmony—both literal and figurative—of an open mind and ear that are attuned to “the music of what happens”.’

— Lorna Shaughnessy, author of Anchored (Salmon Poetry)

‘Emily Cullen can wave a child off to school while encompassing the world’s fears, find the seamless continuum between politics and motherhood and surprise us with the music of her lines all at the same time. In these pages too you will meet the Belfast Harpers, among them blind Rose Mooney, from whom you’ll learn it’s the music that lasts beyond what anyone can see.’

— Kevin Brophy, author of Look at the Lake (Puncher & Wattmann)

You can order a copy from the Doire Press website here. And now, a few of those launch pics!