Nuala O'Connor is my final guest for the Women Writers of the West online book club

In the final two weeks of the 'Women Writers of the West' online book club we will be discussing Nuala O'Connor's Becoming Belle - a gorgeous novel based on the life of Isabel Bilton - the entertainer in Victorian London who lived on Garbally estate, Co. Galway after she married her Viscount of the Clancarty earls.

It's a wonderfully rich read, full of period detail and depicting a vibrant life. I got my copy in Charlie Byrnes and you should be able to get your hands on a copy from any of the book shops.

Nuala will also give us a sneak preview into her latest highly acclaimed novel, NORA - about Galway's own Nora Barnacle - in the final session too. Don't miss the chance for more book-lover's camaraderie in an atmosphere that is equal parts fun, sociable and informative! Register for your free place here. #womenwritersofthewest #galwaypubliclibraries In other, somewhat related, news all four sessions of the previous online book club I facilitated for Galway Public Librares - 'Journeys in Words - From Galway to Dublin' - exploring the short fiction of Maeve Brennan and Liam O'Flaherty are now up on the Galway Public Libraries Youtube channel and can be enjoyed at your leisure. In the final session I had the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Maurice Casey about the life, times and politics of Liam O'Flaherty as well as about the translations of his work in soviet Russia. Casey has fascinating new research on O'Flaherty and you can enjoy our discussion at the link below. Thank you to all our special guests during the course of the 'Journeys in Words' book club and to everyone who participated and contributed to the success of this immensely enjoyable textual voyage.

On International Women's Day - reflecting on the recovery of women's voices

Not only has the historical record often underestimated the contribution of women to society, but art can also be guilty of this travesty, consciously or unconsciously. The title poem of my debut poetry collection, "No Vague Utopia", is a short monologue in the voice of Eva Gore-Booth who is politely, but adroitly, addressing W.B. Yeats beyond the grave (since he was so taken with communication from the spirit world!). Eva (1870-1926) was a poet, dramatist, suffragist, committed social worker and labour activist who was especially vocal about the conditions for women workers in the cotton factories in England.

Yet, in his poem "In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz" Yeats writes about Eva: "I know not what the younger dreams - / Some vague Utopia...". His wistful and understandably human nostalgia for by-gone days still glosses over Eva's achievement as she is memorialised as a vague dreamer, now wizened and gaunt.

Should Con and Eva have frozen in time by the great windows of Lissadell, eternally youthful and gazelle-like in their silk kimonos just to placate Yeats's aesthetic reverie? My poem is a gentle riposte to Yeats as Eva seeks to make the point that her life and vision did not amount to 'some vague utopia.' No Vague Utopia was published by Ainnir Publishing in 2003 and I hope you enjoy this poem. Happy International Women's Day and here's to the ongoing recovery of all those important female voices muted by history, patriarchy, art....!

Between a rock and a soft place

A bit of a magpie, I’ve always been fascinated by gemstones; by their colours, textures and especially their exotic names. Some time ago, during my years as a doctoral researcher, I found myself working in a jewellery shop; the owner knew me from coming in to hover and purchase small gifts and offered me a part-time job. I was smitten with a large slab of labradorite at the time. Set in silver, its discreet iridescent flash of blue lit up its swampy grey as if declaring: don't judge by surface appearances! Look deeper to find the energy. I took the job. Though I’ve never been fully ‘on board’ with New Age theories about the healing vibrations of crystals, I was in love with everything else about them. Carrying secret stories about how the earth evolved over millions of years, they are full of the hidden music of its DNA. It was inevitable that a poem would gradually crystalise and here it is! I’m delighted to discover that it was last Friday’s ‘Poetry Break’ on Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s youtube channel and you can enjoy it here