tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42994142313081637872024-03-12T20:15:06.373-07:00Things Being VariousA Blog Belonging to Emily CullenEmily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-63184738034687652752023-08-18T16:17:00.041-07:002023-08-21T05:45:42.174-07:00Exciting news update: Poetry jukeboxes, author interviews, mentoring and upcoming festival appearanceHow are you keeping? And how are you enjoying these damp but bright late-Summer weeks as the return to school looms on the horizon? I didn't intend to leave a six-month gap between posts, so I'm mildly shocked to discover my last one was back in February! How the months have flown with many rich and diverse developments in poetry, creative writing and life in general (I had a milestone birthday, my son, Lee made his Confirmation and finished his primary schooling...). Rather than attempting to shape an article that links these disparate events and attempts to find some cohesive thread, I'm going to highlight my literary-related news in pithy bullet points below, which I hope you enjoy reading!
• I’m currently working on my fourth collection of poetry. In the meantime, I’m delighted to share that some new poems of mine have featured in a variety of journals between February – August 2023 including: <i><a href="https://humag.co/poetry/planck-star">The Honest Ulsterman</a></a></i> February 2023, <i>Crannóg 58</i>, <i>Skylight 47</i> Issue 17, <i>Cyphers 95</i> and <i>Poetry Ireland Review 140
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<i>• I'm excited that my poem, "Bridget's Hope" can now be heard in <b>Galway's Poetry Jukebox</b> as part of the 'Poetry as Commemoration' initiative. The poem, which follows the thoughts of Cumann na mBan activist, 'Bridget', who is based in Athenry as the Truce is declared in July, 1921, was commissioned by Galway Public Libraries as part of their Decade of Centenaries programme. The Poetry Jukebox (see pic below) is a free sound installation, located outside Galway City Museum at the Spanish Arch, that features the work of eleven poets: Nithy Kasa, Attracta Fahy, my colleague at UL, Eoin Devereux, Dominic J Sweeney, Frances Browner, Aodan McArdle, Roisin Leggett Bohan, Michael Farry, Nuala Roche, Diarmuid Cawley and myself. You just choose the poem you wish to hear and crank the handle. Fabulous! </i>
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Thank you to Catherine Wilson, Creative Producer of Poetry as Commemoration and to all involved in this unique project. Galway's Poetry Jukebox can be enjoyed for the next twelve weeks, from mid-August onward. To learn more about the Poetry as Commemoration project and its Poetry Jukebox visit www.poetryascommemoration.ie
• Next week, I’m delighted to be returning to my home county, 'Lovely Leitrim', to read as part of the <b>2023 Drumshanbo Written Word festival</b> at 8:00pm on Thursday, 24 August in the Mayflower Ballroom, Drumshanbo. I'll be reading alongside fellow Leitrim poets, Roisin Kelly and Mary Guckian and we'll also be chatting to author and journalist, Ronan McGreevy. Tickets cost €12 and are available from drumshanbowrittenword.ie
• It was fun to catch up with multi award-winning UK poet, Roger Robinson over the Summer and to hear all about his most recent poetry projects. My interview with Roger was published in the June 2023 issue of <i>The Honest Ulsterman<b></b></i> and you can read it online <a href="https://humag.co/features/roger-robinson">here</a>
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• As part of Glór Art Centre's 'Artist to Artist Mentoring Scheme 2023', I was delighted to be selected to Mentor highly talented, emerging poet, Deirdre Devally. Thank you to Glór Arts Centre in Ennis, Co. Clare for their valuable work in supporting artists. I am holding four mentoring sessions with Deirdre between June and August 2023 and very much enjoying this journey with her.
• I also mentored the lovely, gifted poet and artist, Aine Rose O'Connell during January & March 2023 as part of a training initiative by Age & Opportunity to support artists and that was an immensely enjoyable experience. I thoroughly enjoy mentoring other poets and it is always an honour when writers choose to work with me.
• Back in April, for Poetry Day Ireland 2023, I hosted a special reading by the MA in Creative Writing students, members of UL Creative Writing team - Donal Ryan & Eoin Devereux -with guest poet, Anton Floyd (pictured below) at 1:00pm - 2:15pm in the Bourn Vincent Gallery, above the University Concert Hall, at the University of Limerick. This was a free event but all donations on the day went to the United Nations Refugee agency Ireland (UNHCR-Ireland).
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• To mark the launch of his best-selling Irish novel, <i>My Father's House</i>, I had the great pleasure of interviewing author and Professor of Creative Writing, Joseph O'Connor in a special event at 4:00pm in the Bourn Vincent Gallery, Foundation Building, University of Limerick on Wednesday, 19 April 2023. As everyone knows, Joe is not only a truly inspiring author, but also a thoroughly engaging speaker who is also much loved by all his colleagues and students at UL. We continue to keep Joe and his family in our thoughts at this sad time after the recent tragic loss of his sister, Sinead O’Connor. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
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Spring is well and truly in the air, it's glorious to be settled into the new semester at the <b>University of Limerick</b>, and I'm looking forward to my first public reading of 2023, at this year's ever-fresh <b>Limerick Literary Festival</b>. I'll be sharing some recent poems, as well as a variety of older poems from my three collections, at <b>11:00am</b> in <b>Dooradoyle Library</b> this <b>Friday, 24th February</b>. Admission is <b>free</b> and all are very welcome. The festival line-up is reliably fantastic and I'm honoured to be featuring in the first event on this year's programme. Check out the <b><a href="https://limerickliteraryfestival.com/programme-2023/">full stellar programme </a><a href="https://limerickliteraryfestival.com/programme-2023/"></a></b> and we look forward to seeing you on Friday morning at Dooradoyle Library! Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-87693146279357651332022-10-31T05:10:00.020-07:002022-10-31T05:55:58.428-07:00Three new poems just published & reflection on a busy OctoberOctober has been frantically full, from start to finish, but also highly enjoyable. I'm typing this on the last day of the month - Halloween - as I get ready to submit student marks and before we carve our massive pumpkin after lunch. We still have a few final spooky decorations to festoon in the sitting room too. I can hardly believe it's a full month since renowned traditional Irish fiddler, <b><a href="https://eileenobrienfiddle.com">Eileen O'Brien</a><a href="https://eileenobrienfiddle.com"></a></b> and I performed our commissioned work, '<b>Sionann: a suite</b>' for its world premiere at the 2022 <b>Dromineer Literary Festival</b> in Nenagh Castle on Saturday, 1st October. I didn't get a spare moment to write about our project at the time, so it is a pleasure to reflect back on that occasion now and I'm delighted to share a few photos from the event, taken by talented photographer, Odhran Duchie.
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Having both grown up on the banks of the river Shannon, in Dromineer and Carrick-on-Shannon respectively, Eileen and I created a suite in four movements and words that integrates an air, planxty, slip jig and reel as the river gracefully rises and flows toward Lough Derg and its estuary. Filled with fluvial resonances, 'The Shannon Suite' is our lyrical exploration of our topographic heritage. We set my poem '<b>I am Sionann<a href="http://dnlf.ie/festival-gallery-2022/nggallery/festival-gallery-2022/words-and-music-world-premiere"></a></b>' (available to read <b><a href="http://dnlf.ie/festival-gallery-2022/nggallery/festival-gallery-2022/words-and-music-world-premiere">here</a></b>) to an original score and performed it live on harp and fiddle. During our recital, we also celebrated the 230th anniversary of the famous 'last gathering of the harpers' at the 1792 Belfast Harp Festival, which continues to inspire my writing (listen to my piece for RTE Radio 1's <b>Sunday Miscellany</b> during August <b><a href="https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22132847/">here</a></b>). It was at this historic event that Edward Bunting transcribed many well known airs, preserving much Irish music for posterity. Eileen and I played a mix of traditional airs that were performed by the 1792 harpers and passed on to Bunting to notate, including 'Carolan's Concerto', collected from Arthur O'Neill. We were thrilled with the audience response to our performance and our new suite - we got a standing ovation and many compliments after. You can enjoy more photos from the event and from many of the other memorable events of the festival at their gallery <a href="http://dnlf.ie/festival-gallery-2022/">here</a>. Congratulations to Chairperson, Geraldine McNulty, to Geraldine Cronin and to all the festival team on another super banquet of words and music and thank you again for bringing Eileen and I together for this highly enjoyable collaboration.
During October, three more new poems of mine were published. Firstly my sonnet, '<b>Your Old Letters</b>' features in <b><a href="https://www.dedaluspress.com/product/romance-options/">Romance Options</a><i></i></b>, the sparkling new anthology of love poems edited by <b>Joe Woods</b> and <b>Leanne Quinn</b> and published by <b>Dedalus Press</b>.
More recently, during the past week, my poem '<a href="https://www.themilkhouse.org/i-am-hawthorn-by-emily-cullen/"><b>I am Hawthorn</b></a>' was featured on <b>The Milk House<i></i></b>, edited by <b>Ryan Dennis</b>.
Lastly, my sonnet '<b>Anxiety of Influence</b>' has just come out in Issue 7 of the ever-fresh <i>Drawn to the Light<b></b></i>, edited and published by the indefatigable <b>Orla Fay</b> and freely available to download <a href="https://drawntothelightpress.com/issues/">here</a>. Happy Halloween, happy reading and I hope you enjoy the poems!Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-83420835858600468672022-10-23T15:41:00.014-07:002022-10-24T01:07:25.335-07:00Circling the Square - paying tribute to the late Dennis O'DriscollWhat a memorable day we had yesterday, honouring <b><a href="https://dennisodriscoll.net">Dennis O'Driscoll</a></b> at 'Circling the Square', the inaugural Thurles Poetry Festival. It is 10 years since we lost this great poet and Thurles native and credit is due to local poet, <b><a href="https://larrydohertypoetry.ie">Larry Doherty</a></b> for his vision and tireless efforts to curate such a special day of readings and music with a staggering line up of participants.(Pictured below: Emily Cullen, Eleanor Hooker, John Noonan & Declan O'Driscoll)
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Dennis O'Driscoll (1954-2012) was an Irish poet, essayist, critic and editor. Regarded as one of the best European poets of his time, Dennis left a legacy of nine poetry collections, three chapbooks and two books of essays and reviews. Among his awards were a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E.M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2006 O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry from the Center for Irish Studies (Minnesota). A member of Aosdána, the Irish academy of artists, he worked for almost forty years in Ireland’s Revenue and Customs service. He died suddenly on Christmas Eve, 2012, aged 58.
Lovingly referred to as “the Irish Larkin,” the majority of his poems were characterised by the use of economic language and the recurring motifs of mortality and the fragility of everyday life. Read his striking poem "Someone" <a href="https://poets.org/poem/someone">here</a>. His was truly a singular voice, full of 'forgiving humanity' and it was an honour to be part of this exciting new festival and to hear such an array of esteemed poets and musicians, including <b><a href="https://www.eleanorhooker.com">Eleanor Hooker</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Coady_%28poet%29">Michael Coady</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Haverty">Anne Haverty</a>, <a href="http://www.whitehousepoets.com/the-open-poet/mike-durack.html">Michael Durack</a>, <a href="https://www.themilkhouse.org/two-poems-by-john-noonan/">John Noonan</a>, <a href="https://www.themilkhouse.org/poems-by-ger-duffy/">Ger Duffy</a>, <a href="https://richardhowe.com/2021/10/21/reshaping-the-light-by-breda-joyce/">Breda Joyce</a></b> and many more. We each shared 2 poems from Dennis's <i>oeuvre</i> which reminded us of his distinct, timeless vision. A special highlight for me was hearing the poet's brother, <b>Declan O’Driscoll</b> share anecdotes about Dennis and read his well-known poem about his hometown, simply entitled “Thurles”. If you're not already familiar with this poem, I urge you to seek it out for its subtle power, unsentimental tone and its fresh lines such as ‘…but I know where the colander is kept…’ which evoke those minute, idiosyncratic details of home. Indeed, why not immerse yourself in the world of Dennis O'Driscoll and treat yourself to his <i><b><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784105112">Collected Poems</a></b></i>, published by Carcanet Press in 2017.
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-68533063805378266432022-05-24T03:59:00.064-07:002023-02-22T09:31:01.509-08:00UL Creative Writing Festival - a banquet of writers and word-musicIt's Tuesday morning already and I’m still lingering in the lilt of language, in the spell of imagination cast by so many writers during the past, full weekend. It’s no exaggeration to say I’m trying to sustain the euphony of the <b>UL Creative Writing Festival</b> where we were treated to note-perfect readings by novelists, <b>Kevin Barry, Lisa McInerney, Roddy Doyle, Kit de Waal, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, <b>Sheila Killian</b>, Danielle McLaughlin, Louise Kennedy, Donal Ryan</b> and <b>Sebastian Barry</b> – not to mention poets, <b>Seán Hewitt, Kayssie K, Jane Clarke, Rachael Hegarty and Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi</b>. I was honoured to be reading myself, along side Jane Clarke and Kayssie K on Saturday afternoon. Indeed, I wore a few hats: as poetry curator, introducing our guest poets, as a staff member of the teaching team on the MA in Creative Writing and as a reader and festival participant. Additional gems at the festival were the richly atmospheric, moving stories read by young authors from local secondary schools that collaborated with our MA students on the <b>Creative Writers in the Community</b> module, led by <b>Prof. Eoin Devereux</b>, and the official launch of the brand new issue of UL's own <b><a href="https://theoghamstoneul.com">The Ogham Stone</a></b> - a trove of poetry, prose and creative non-fiction. Don't hesitate to pick up your copy!
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The camaraderie, love of written word and mutual support that flows between my Creative Writing colleagues and the MA students (and, dare I say, myself) danced luminously and infectiously around the <b><a href="https://www.irishworldacademy.ie">Irish World Academy of Music</a></b>; audiences sensed the magical atmosphere that exists on the <b><a href="https://www.ul.ie/gps/course/creative-writing-ma">MA in Creative Writing programme</a><a href="https://www.ul.ie/gps/course/creative-writing-ma"></a></b> where great teaching goes hand-in-hand with true mentorship. The Festival - completely sold out for the weekend - was a roaring success with a closing event, on Sunday afternoon, which saw two maestros, <b>Sebastian Barry</b> and <b>Donal Ryan</b>, reading from their stunning works-in-progress (a first for the former, who usually shares only his published work with audiences) and introduced so warmly and memorably by another literary giant, gent and Festival Director, <b>Joseph O'Connor</b>. The queue for the book-signing table after was a mile long and many festival attendees retreated to the nearby campus 'Pavilion' restaurant just to stay in the orbit of word-music a little longer, to prolong the enchantment of the weekend. Sincere thanks to my brilliant, truly lovely colleagues and to the wonderful student volunteers for all their hard work, to the poets and writers who performed and spoke so generously and honestly about the writing life, sharing nuggets of wisdom we will remember, to Gráinne O'Brien of O'Mahony's Booksellers, and to everyone who contributed to this masterful Festival in any way, big or small. Here's to it all happening again in 2023! Below are a few photos captured over the course of the weekend, featuring 1) Kevin Barry and Lisa McInerney, 2) Rachael Hegarty, myself and Jane Clarke, 3) Donal Ryan, Kit de Waal, Roddy Doyle and Joseph O'Connor, 4) Rachael Hegarty, Seán Hewitt & Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi and lastly, 5) Jane Clarke, myself and Kayssie Kandiwa. You can also enjoy reading (or listening to) the vivid, witty and powerful story Kevin Barry read, "The Pub with No Beer", in April's edition of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/11/the-pub-with-no-beer/amp"><b>The New Yorker</b> here</a>)
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcrFtj7RyRJtxg--XT3Q_B8doNT0nD8HVbATxTO-ohTVbXcAMtWbALXP0QJDcQOB0iPGF5kFAvkhFeoVQpVN1uUDcSo1Q7osfvWfoglohs5927xQ4S-dcTfa1EcAgAoMmVgZkCo4zwzCBfLROJa7MsFn1v3W6COevHp2l74MxFqO-juu73qZlGbfQrw/s2048/ReadingAtULCWFest.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcrFtj7RyRJtxg--XT3Q_B8doNT0nD8HVbATxTO-ohTVbXcAMtWbALXP0QJDcQOB0iPGF5kFAvkhFeoVQpVN1uUDcSo1Q7osfvWfoglohs5927xQ4S-dcTfa1EcAgAoMmVgZkCo4zwzCBfLROJa7MsFn1v3W6COevHp2l74MxFqO-juu73qZlGbfQrw/s400/ReadingAtULCWFest.jpeg"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-64897015907219091072022-05-17T07:17:00.011-07:002022-05-18T13:24:05.599-07:00Reading at the Eco Showboat Pavilion, Dromineer tomorrow The <b><a href="https://twitter.com/EcoShowboat?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Eco Showboat</a></b> will dock at Dromineer harbour, Co. Tipperary tomorrow (Wednesday, 18 May) as part of Tipperary Bealtaine Festival. The brainchild of artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly of the innovative School of Looking, the duo have been working on the transformation of a century-old heritage barge into a zero-carbon vessel suitable for Eco Showboat expeditions on our inland waterways. A floating art studio and science lab, the solar-powered Eco Showboat aims to connect communities in building a zero-carbon future.
I'm delighted to be reading with <b><a href="https://www.dedaluspress.com/authors/hooker-eleanor/">Eleanor Hooker</a></b> tomorrow at the Poetry Pavilion alongside the Eco Showboat. A packed programme of free events is promised with registration in advance essential. See the <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/eco-showboat-at-bealtaine-tickets-308518315587?fbclid=IwAR2a_Lt9r3K6svuU94EdZ8BRhRFhytmTVsoefAq5nM38j8SRTJV2wVPp2gQ"><b>event page here</b></a> for all details. Hope you can join us!
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Here's a poem of mine, on the theme of ecological awareness, that was published last year in the <b><a href="https://www.doirepress.com/books/poetry/irish-poetry/empty-house">Empty House: Poetry and Prose on the Climate Crisis</a><i></i></b> anthology (edited by Alice Kinsella and Nessa O'Mahony, Doire Press, 2021). "Adam's Apple" was inspired by the contrast between our Western myth of origins, which positions us as masters lording it over the Earth, and those of some First Nations peoples, whose beliefs have always been in much closer harmony with our planet. And how striking that one of our most famous economists in history was baptized 'Adam' Smith!
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<b>Literary Events - April 2022:
Poetry Readings </b>
• Wednesday, 27 April: Limerick Writers’ Centre ‘April is Poetry Month’ reading at 7:00pm, Sexton’s Bar, 91 Henry St, Limerick – reading with Eoin Devereux & Michael Durack.
• Poetry Day Ireland - Thursday, 28 April: Launch of The Limerick Broadsheet – ‘April is the Cruellest Month’ – curated by Eoin Devereux and featuring work by Donal Ryan, Denise Chaila, Emily Cullen, Kerrie O’Brien, Willzee, John Liddy, Martin Dyar, Jo Slade, Imelda Maguire, Kieran Beville and Eoin Devereux at 1:00pm, The Atrium, University Concert Hall Building, University of Limerick.
• Poetry Day Ireland - Thursday, 28 April: Featured poet for Lime Square Poets at 8:00pm online. See event details here: https://www.limesquarepoets.com/event-details/lime-square-poets-featuring-emily-cullen
• Saturday, 30 April: Inishboffin Arts Festival - times tbc
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<b>Event Facilitation / Public Interviews with Authors</b>
• Friday, 1 April: Interview with authors, Nuala O’Connor (Nora) and Raymond Burke (Joyce County) for the ‘Nora Barnacle and James Joyce – The Galway Story’ event (One Dublin One Book) at 6:30pm in St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway
• Saturday, 9 April: Introduction of, and interview with, poet Roger Robinson at 8:30pm in the Town Hall Theatre for Cúirt International Festival of LiteratureEmily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-89458871516897245782022-04-22T02:00:00.004-07:002022-04-22T02:03:33.283-07:00Enjoying my exciting role at ULHappy Poetry Month! I'm delighted to report that my post as Meskell UL-Fifty Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick’s Creative Writing programme is gloriously busy and immensely enjoyable. The role is quite specific: I teach on aspects of poetic technique on the MA in Creative Writing, supervise MA students, offer feedback on their writing and contribute to various literary and outreach projects on the campus. My colleagues have all been so warm and welcoming since I started on 31st January and, because my passion for teaching poetry and mentoring younger writers is part of my own poetry practice, the combination of the creative and the academic is an ideal fit. It became apparent to me, early on, that there is a significant need for this kind of work at UL, both to mentor and support new creative writers, specifically poets, and to play a role in positioning poetry as an integral part of the University.
In response to requests from the students about particular areas of interest, I enjoyed leading a series of poetry seminars for all MA students on aspects of prosody and poetic technique that focused on: tone, voice, diction, building tension and surprise, line breaks, punctuation, revision, ending poems and preparing a manuscript for publication. These 2-hour seminars were part-lecture, part-practical workshop and included in-class freewriting and the provision of feedback on poems in progress.
I was recently interviewed about my role and about the importance of poetry by Jim Miley of the Association of Irish Universities and you can view our brief conversation here
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I am also delighted to be part of a series of five women poets invited to read for the Limerick Literary Festival in honour of the wonderful Kate O’Brien and to celebrate ‘April is Poetry Month’ in Limerick. Here is my poem entitled “Time”
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My next post will give more information about events I am taking part in for Poetry Month.
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-17103601514902316982021-12-16T15:27:00.007-08:002021-12-16T16:58:21.120-08:00Exciting announcement: appointed Poet in Residence at the University of LimerickI am thrilled to share the news that I have been appointed Lecturer / Poet in Residence at the University of Limerick. My role will involve teaching Creative Writing, supervising postgraduate work, organising some literary events and personal creative writing projects. I cannot wait to start in the new Spring semester, 2022.
I view the teaching of Creative Writing and mentorship of other writers as integral to my creative practice and literary citizenship and so this is a dream post for me. The inspirational poet-teacher, Theodore Roethke once observed that "teaching is an act of love, a spiritual cohabitation, one of the few sacred relationships left in a crass secular world" and I completely agree with him. I am truly looking forward to working with the Creative Writing students at UL and with the sensational team at the School of English, Irish & Communication. My appointment was announced in The Irish Times today.
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To read the full article, please click on <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/niall-bourke-wins-mclaverty-award-irish-writers-centre-novel-fair-winners-revealed-1.4757052?fbclid=IwAR2aCs7CSoI-OhuAQjCsKp0o2FmVytJBY57eCf8mvSum5G7yrqGi0OcqW-c">this link</a>.
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-30386348616908026672021-11-23T09:26:00.006-08:002021-11-23T09:46:02.739-08:00Twitter thread reveals identity of a museThanks to a conversation on Twitter today, which was brought to my attention since my own Twitter account is currently inactive, I now have a very good idea of the identity of my muse on the bicycle with the hula hoop that day in Salthill who inspired "Poise" from my collection, <i><a href="https://www.doirepress.com/writers/emily-cullen">Conditional Perfect</a></i> (Doire Press, 2019)... She, la petite Francaise, it must surely be... This doesn't happen every day and I'm grateful to the wonderful Martina Callanan of <a href="https://www.galwaycycling.org">Galway Cycling Campaign</a>, for shedding light on the mystery. May those spokes keep turning!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QFjsI71zxHpXWisi_4d29JPLdLaNzpFxgB88MBnx6dcBh-fqcMr6NkARMAirkfb2DW41PqB0Nr7-xBgkk9aMmWhLYVJ1HENOFCtZPG6v88X_zFWEOaGc7iqajW4KSwVmLTNtNHUPpGXc/s1200/Hula+Hoop+bike.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QFjsI71zxHpXWisi_4d29JPLdLaNzpFxgB88MBnx6dcBh-fqcMr6NkARMAirkfb2DW41PqB0Nr7-xBgkk9aMmWhLYVJ1HENOFCtZPG6v88X_zFWEOaGc7iqajW4KSwVmLTNtNHUPpGXc/s600/Hula+Hoop+bike.jpeg"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-6908007377409630582021-10-05T06:09:00.002-07:002021-10-05T06:11:00.471-07:00Final places left on The Craft of Poetry Writing online course - starting ThursdayThere are a couple of places left on my new 'Craft of Poetry Writing' course which begins at 7pm this Thursday, 7 October. The course delivery is online, via Zoom and each session runs until 8:30pm. To bag your place, click on the short courses <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/short-courses-online-nui-galway-autumn-2021-tickets-164970444039">Eventbrite page here</a>.
(A recent cyber attack on the NUI Galway website wreaked a bit of havoc and the previous links for registration are currently undergoing maintenance).
I can't wait to embark on another creative adventure with a new group of budding and emerging poets. If you think someone you know may be interested, please spread the word.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrYqMnh02QP562taOiGFCvEw0Md7n_f4Y3E7HswkZx8TuGzhyphenhyphenxKP_w4Z3Oex_NiRPwAyuxAEYZgONJhOHYnOBqc_AIM_jErHppcfy68z4MowitL_CPJ2vX4VwTVZWj7UEtCxwGpOPO96R/s1280/Course-promo.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrYqMnh02QP562taOiGFCvEw0Md7n_f4Y3E7HswkZx8TuGzhyphenhyphenxKP_w4Z3Oex_NiRPwAyuxAEYZgONJhOHYnOBqc_AIM_jErHppcfy68z4MowitL_CPJ2vX4VwTVZWj7UEtCxwGpOPO96R/s600/Course-promo.png"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-67127671497756759762021-09-29T05:53:00.028-07:002021-09-29T09:36:13.245-07:00Autumn Poetry Course at the Centre for Adult Learning at NUI Galway and Recent Poetry ProjectsIt's that time of year again when our thoughts turn to new opportunities for lifelong learning, developing skills or delving deeper into our favourite pastimes and activities. I'm delighted to share that I will be teaching 'The Craft of Poetry' again for the Centre for Adult Education, NUI Galway. This 8-week course starts at 7pm on Thursday, 7 October and booking will close over the next few days. There are a few final places left, so don't delay if you are thinking of registering!
During the spring semester I was fortunate to facilitate this course for a really talented, vibrant group of people - a mix of beginners and improvers - and we had immense fun each week, exploring great contemporary poetry, sharing new drafts and honing our craft together. That course was a great success and it was wonderful to learn that the participants have kept the group going in their own time and are actively sending work out for publication, and even winning prizes already. Ger Duffy, I'm thinking of you - heartiest congratulations again! So to say that I am looking forward to working with a new group of emerging poets as we embark on this course is an understatement! If you would like to know more about 'The Craft of Poetry Writing', you can read the description below and view the course booklet <a href="http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/adult-and-continuing-education-courses/shortcourses/downloads/Short-Courses-Flyer-Oct-2021.pdf">here for more information</a>:
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At the start of the Summer, I was one of five Galway-based poets invited to participate in an exciting project on the theme of climate change; the initiative involved the creation of poetry with schoolchildren to build a 'Wall of Words' for a 'Climate of Hope.' It was a pleasure to collaborate with Miss Evans and her lively, engaged groups in third and fourth class at Castlegar National School in May and June and a privilege to inspire and empower budding poets to express their voices on this crucial topic. The pupils composed an eye-opening variety of wish poems, list poems and animal poems - both as a group and individually - that reflected on the impact of climate change on our planet and envisioned steps we can take to nurture a brighter future. Focusing on our connection to nature and on positive climate action, the project clearly aided the students in developing their understanding of how human choices can affect their environment. All of the childrens' poems were displayed in the Eyre Square Centre for Cruinniú na nÓg on Saturday, 12 June and have been up for all to view and enjoy since then. Sincere thanks to Creative Ireland Galway City, Galway Public Libraries, Clarice Evans at Castlegar National School and the children of third and fourth class for a memorable experience which enriched our understanding, through poetry and art, of the long-term causes and effects of global warming, rising sea levels, extreme weather events and the thinning ozone layer. In accordance with the project goals, our 'Climate of Hope' succeeeded in "enhancing the creative and imaginative lives of young people on a topic of vital importance for our planet and one that will make a lasting impact on the collaborators and spectators it connects with - at a time when connection is more important than ever." We had lots of great fun along the way and I was advised by some of the pupils to set myself up as 'the poetry person' on TikTok! You never know, I may well heed their suggestions yet...
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Emily Cullen, poet-in-residence with Clarice Evans, teacher of 3rd and 4th class, Castlegar National School at the 'Wall of Words' in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre
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Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-10188823971284873892021-06-07T02:55:00.002-07:002021-06-07T02:55:24.598-07:00Summer Poetry Course - new start date<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa5c0FkHT_Vr_uXzVjZyXpYwew9uI8DYog3wKhs7l-DiAAkb5a_yxPv_DRRIjNY1nJfZiE2g4xIOIv7SBvLDE3B09LbbVsbdy7sWjfVukMDACoLQq_2t8lbj3gX5qU8JU-bus4H2YpShU/s1386/Flyer.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="984" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIa5c0FkHT_Vr_uXzVjZyXpYwew9uI8DYog3wKhs7l-DiAAkb5a_yxPv_DRRIjNY1nJfZiE2g4xIOIv7SBvLDE3B09LbbVsbdy7sWjfVukMDACoLQq_2t8lbj3gX5qU8JU-bus4H2YpShU/s600/Flyer.png"/></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOMRHx3LiDr3Ek80oAkMEpQiG-0vBJnn1UQetkXtGwvKWi97h6qfw6UJ3mUleWI-bX6Cz8H2uJMzgAY0eUX1F_lIGo-Kh-1yquWODRFEUuB0ytxsqPcmHvxI2lc6nFj0_aBHqa76M8MUO/s1382/Testimonials.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOMRHx3LiDr3Ek80oAkMEpQiG-0vBJnn1UQetkXtGwvKWi97h6qfw6UJ3mUleWI-bX6Cz8H2uJMzgAY0eUX1F_lIGo-Kh-1yquWODRFEUuB0ytxsqPcmHvxI2lc6nFj0_aBHqa76M8MUO/s600/Testimonials.png"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-54895609611207391312021-06-01T09:50:00.005-07:002021-06-01T10:43:15.267-07:00Summer online poetry course… starting soon“Poetry is the music of being human,” wrote Carol Ann Duffy, memorably. She also observed that “you can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” Would you like to devote more time to attuning to the music of your humanity this Summer? Would you like to uncover and shape the poetry that is latent in your everyday world? James Tate rightly observed that “poetry is everywhere, it just needs editing.” I am delighted to announce that I will be facilitating another online poetry course focused on the craft of poetry starting in mid-June and running for six weeks. While the course is aimed at emerging poets or those who have some experience writing poetry and may have recently started to publish their poems, more advanced writers will also find stimulation and encouragement.
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As someone who thoroughly enjoys teaching courses on Creative Writing (I have taught undergraduate students and adult learners at the University of Melbourne, NUI Galway and online from home) during the past few years, I agree with poet, Theodore Roethke's observation that "teaching is an act of love, a spiritual cohabitation, one of the few sacred relationships left in a crass secular world." For this online course, you will enjoy creating new work within a warm and supportive atmosphere. We will begin at 7pm on Wednesday, 9 June with duration of about an hour - 1 hour 15 mins. To find out more and book your place, please contact me now on: emilycullendavison@gmail.com.Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-12422249963002274172021-04-22T09:22:00.013-07:002021-05-08T03:59:04.268-07:00Take 5 for poetry each day during Poetry Month!Another gorgeous initiative from Galway Public Libraries - Take 5 for poetry - started at 11am today with Galway's own Gerry Hanberry reading his stunning poem, "On Nimmo's Pier".
I'm delighted to be part of this 'Community of Reciters' and my own poem, "Through the Cracks", will be going out at 1pm on Saturday, 24 April and again as part of the feast of poetry on National Poetry day, Thursday, 29 April.
Tune in on Galway Public Libraries Facebook and Instagram whenever you can to get your "espresso shot of thought", (to quote poet Daljit Nagra on what a poem is). The daily poetry slot times are 11am, 1pm and 4pm and the full schedule is below.
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<b>Thursday 22nd April</b>
11.00am Gerry Hanberry
4.00pm Joan Finnegan
<b>Friday 23rd April</b>
11.00am Elaine Feeney
4.00pm Danny McDonnell
<b>Saturday 24th April</b>
11.00am Kevin Higgins
1.00pm Emily Cullen
4.00pm Bernie McGuire
<b>Sunday 25th April</b>
11.00am Susan Miller duMars
1.00pm Luke Morgan
4.00pm Joan Hardiman
<b>Monday 26th April</b>
11.00am Moya Roddy
4.00pm Carmel Dempsey
<b>Tuesday 27th April</b>
11.00am Pete Mullineaux
4.00pm Mary Donoghue
<b>Wednesday 28th April</b>
11.00am Nuala O’Connor
1.00pm Mary Mannion
4.00pm Teresa Dempsey
<b>Thursday 29th April – Poetry Ireland Day schedule</b>
9.00am Kevin Higgins 9.30am Joan Hardiman 10.00am Emily Cullen
10.30am Jimi McDonnell 11.00am Gerry Hanberry 11.30am Mary Mannion
12.00pm Moya Roddy 12.30pm Teresa Dempsey 1.00pm Louis de Paor
1.30pm Bernie McGuire 2.00pm Elaine Feeney 2.30pm Carmel Dempsey
3.00pm Pete Mullineaux 3.30pm Joan Finnegan 4.00pm Susan Miller duMars
4.30pm Mary Donoghue 5.00pm Luke Morgan 5.30pm Nuala O’Connor.
Here is my poem for Poetry Day: "Through the Cracks" from my third collection, <i><a href="https://www.doirepress.com/writers/emily-cullen">Conditional Perfect</a></i>.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="DgZSOVmAzqI" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DgZSOVmAzqI"></iframe></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-84998362434101547902021-04-07T17:12:00.024-07:002021-10-07T03:54:18.029-07:00Poetry news update – three new poems coming soonHappy Poetry Month! It has certainly been a strange time of flux for the creative impulse during the past year. Like many others, I worried, during the first lockdown, that my pull towards poetry would be compromised - even suspended indefinitely. With the all-consuming pandemic anxiety, fear of the unknown and our national sense of grief for the casualties of covid-19, making new art was no longer a priority; it became something I genuinely jostled with. In the depths of the prevailing stasis, however, I found that my hunger for reading poetry had in no way subsided. And little by little, my appetite to create my own new work reawakened, so that when <a href="https://humag.co/poetry/henrietta-s-confession">“Henrietta’s Confession”</a> was published in the June 2020 issue of <i>The Honest Ulsterman</i>, I actually did a happy dance. Subsequently, when I was invited by <b>Galway Contemporary Music Project</b> to compose <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DyDQDQzvNc">a poem in response to Debussy’s string quartet</a>, I was truly excited to take up the ekphrastic challenge. I’ve written a short <a href="http://emilyecullen.blogspot.com/2020/11/some-recent-projects-and-publications.html">article about this experience</a> elsewhere on this blog. By that stage, I was making my peace with lockdowns, recognising that, in spite of all, the seasons remained constant around me and life went on, albeit in a radically altered world. I also published a poem for a dear new friend, Cassie, whom I met immediately prior to the first lockdown, and about our friendship which flourished, in spite of the challenges of social distancing, and <a href="http://pendemic.ie/phase-three-friendship-a-poem-for-cassie-by-emily-cullen/">this poem</a> appeared on that wonderful nurturing blog, <i>Pendemic</i>. Lastly, I wrote an essay on the value of literary citizenship which appeared in issue 13 of <i>Skylight 47</i>, a journal I greatly admire. Unsurprisingly, there were dodgy, existential covid-anxiety poems along the road too, but on the whole, I kept the pen moving, without forcing the words forth on stickier days. And so, when the year turned, and we had survived, all things poetic seemed to be looking up considerably. Since early February of this year, I’ve been teaching ‘The Craft of Poetry’ to a dedicated, vibrant group of poets for the Centre for Adult Education at NUI Galway and that conversation with a community of writers has been wholly energising. And I’m also delighted to share with you that three newly composed poems will be coming out shortly. Firstly, my poem “Ode to Blue Cheese” will feature in issue 14 of <i>Skylight 47</i>, due to be launched in early May. I certainly indulged my love of cheese varieties during the three consecutive lockdowns, and sometimes we just have to eulogise the little things that keep us going, don't we? Hopefully that ode supremo, <a href="https://www.theexaminedlife.org/library/odes-to-common-things/">Pablo Neruda </a>(1904-1973), would have approved!
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Another new poem of mine, “Adam’s Apple” features in a brand new anthology about climate change that has just come out from the wonderful Doire Press: <i><b>Empty House: poems and prose on the climate crisis</b></i> and which is due to be launched on Earth Day, 22 April. See invitation to this online launch below and please do join us!
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This poem was inspired by the observation that creation myths in First Nation cultures tend to be much closer to the natural world, and in much greater harmony to it, than our own Western myth of origins, which positions us as masters lording it over earth and the food chain. Last but not least, I was recently commissioned by Strokestown Poetry Festival to compose a poem on the theme of ‘new beginnings’ as the country slowly starts to re-open and as more and more people are safely vacinated against covid-19. My poem, “Summering” takes inspiration from that famous quote, once uttered by Seamus Heaney, which gave solace to many through the various stages of the pandemic: “If we winter this one out, we can Summer anywhere.” But that’s about all I can divulge at this stage as a recording of the poem will be going out on the <b><a href="https://www.strokestownpoetry.org">Strokestown Poetry Festival</b> website</a> during the festival between 1-2 May. Stay tuned for further updates soon. In the meantime, thanks so much for checking in, stay safe and enjoy Poetry Month to the full!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEYTX1fmniKNCZVr85ZSLHIxqdzhFICjG_azBWi3VuNXA-EC5vkL7rEvtoYyWgQt5mVRJQ-sMArQI8zuYP54Ay6eSxCH2o4sybAncnz_hS1SYJDMugtTMoVKOM2OXhma3omh_bHVcCXcl/s793/StrokestownPoetryAnthology2021+copy.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="561" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEYTX1fmniKNCZVr85ZSLHIxqdzhFICjG_azBWi3VuNXA-EC5vkL7rEvtoYyWgQt5mVRJQ-sMArQI8zuYP54Ay6eSxCH2o4sybAncnz_hS1SYJDMugtTMoVKOM2OXhma3omh_bHVcCXcl/s600/StrokestownPoetryAnthology2021+copy.png"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-73021049337958553562021-03-13T05:45:00.005-08:002021-03-13T05:47:35.127-08:00Nuala O'Connor is my final guest for the Women Writers of the West online book clubIn the final two weeks of the 'Women Writers of the West' online book club we will be discussing Nuala O'Connor's <i>Becoming Belle<b><b></b></b></i> - 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.
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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.
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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 <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/women-writers-of-the-west-online-book-club-tickets-139085308903?aff=erelexpmlt&fbclid=IwAR3_EAY7HhfaFbq6A1zr0EEOzk90VqEUto_6onv4Qa0iwL7dGBKFeBjAk0Q">here</a>. #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.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="IKaj9Ht0jIQ" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IKaj9Ht0jIQ"></iframe></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-60412613295934157332021-03-08T04:44:00.029-08:002021-03-08T06:32:01.399-08:00On International Women's Day - reflecting on the recovery of women's voicesNot 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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Gore-Booth">Eva Gore-Booth</a> 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.
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Yet, in his poem <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57605/in-memory-of-eva-gore-booth-and-con-markievicz">"In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markievicz"</a> 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.
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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 <i>not</i> amount to 'some vague utopia.'
<i>No Vague Utopia</i> 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....!
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Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-43964952184761627382021-03-03T03:44:00.007-08:002021-03-03T03:50:53.409-08:00Between a rock and a soft placeA 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: <i>don't judge by surface appearances! Look deeper to find the energy.</i> 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
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="a5KzTx4uvgk" width="600" height="498" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a5KzTx4uvgk"></iframe></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-20191954614653526772021-02-25T10:14:00.001-08:002021-02-25T10:15:12.884-08:00Happy Ireland Reads Day!I was invited by Galway Public Libraries to read one of my poems for #IrelandReads Day today, and I'm delighted to share this one with you, "Envoi in Chalk". It features in my collection, <i>Conditional Perfect<b></b></i>, published by the wonderful Doire Press.
Here is a <a href="https://www.doirepress.com/writers/a_f/emily_cullen/%20">link to the book</a> if you'd like to get or gift a copy. Happy reading everyone! #SqueezeInARead #IrelandReads #LoveGalwayLibraries
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="zBTx55nYZOk" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zBTx55nYZOk"></iframe></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-87837996321523761672021-02-22T04:05:00.006-08:002021-02-22T06:00:11.313-08:00Week 2 - Women Writers of the West online book club - a few more spots availableDue to high demand, a few extra tickets have just been made available for our second 'Women Writers of the West' online book club session tomorrow evening. The session sold out early on but some new places have been added. We got off to a great start last week with plenty of lively group discussions about <b>Elaine Feeney</b>'s novel, <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1084515/elaine-feeney.html">AS YOU WERE</a> and ending with an enjoyable and insightful chat with the author herself. Each session is unique so don't worry if you missed the first one. We are finishing our discussion of Elaine's book tomorrow and topping it off with another fun and informative chat with the writer, who will be sharing writing tips and talking about new work-in-progress. In weeks 3 & 4 we are moving on to <b>Mary Costello's</b> <a href="https://canongate.co.uk/books/2211-academy-street/">ACADEMY STREET</a>. Don't miss the chance for some book-lover's camaraderie sprinkled with writing tips and insights from the author herself. See you in cyberspace tomorrow from 7 - 8! Event page is linked <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/women-writers-of-the-west-online-book-club-tickets-139085302885">here</a>.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4N67k_duKwrqdjUbpIoohyphenhyphenXvHossil1Dt_faEkd8Nw871Jss1lWzKSf6aOnjZNMHnN2oswVG99kxEwIqATFchRqded326BKaFaXZJvCX_mtIxPY2jQSNS0l_kFqtj47V78xwUK3O-tDZ7/s1920/3.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4N67k_duKwrqdjUbpIoohyphenhyphenXvHossil1Dt_faEkd8Nw871Jss1lWzKSf6aOnjZNMHnN2oswVG99kxEwIqATFchRqded326BKaFaXZJvCX_mtIxPY2jQSNS0l_kFqtj47V78xwUK3O-tDZ7/s600/3.jpg"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-49644012478974846522021-02-05T03:32:00.014-08:002021-02-22T06:01:50.284-08:00Announcing the Women Writers of the West online book club - starting soon!It gives me great pleasure to announce that the new online book club, 'Women Writers of the West,' organised by Galway Public Libraries with the support of Creative Ireland, will be kicking off in just under two weeks time, featuring three wonderful writers, <b>Elaine Feeney</b>, <b>Mary Costello</b> and <b>Nuala O'Connor</b> and facilitated by yours truly!
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The 'Women Writers of the West' book club, which aims to shine a spotlight on the especially vibrant space of contemporary women’s writing in the West of Ireland, will feature special guest appearances each week from each of the authors during the second half of the book club sessions.
Tickets are always free but places are limited and you can register for your spot by clicking on the event page below. We will be reading <i><b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/18/as-you-were-by-elaine-feeney-review-darkly-comic-fiction-debut">As You Were</a></b></i>(Harvill Secker, 2020), <i><b><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/oct/25/academy-street-mary-costello-review">Academy Street</a></b></i>(Canongate Books, 2015) and <i><b><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/becoming-belle-review-19th-century-pin-up-richly-fictionalised-1.3613839">Becoming Belle</a></b></i>(Piatkus, 2019) so don't hesitate to grab your copies now and get reading!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqftaoRY381Gh3H3kdO_Cp2xJQWnRpcZfI6sULalDg36OjyxkMEmuuqowP3fXI2sNUWXeqAjx7DLjyAJgWtaicAGOhv8psfwzOdlhtbCYTDrgttfld3-G6XL-fDHDkWqot6fNpIuqUBykA/s1920/Bookclub-Scedule.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="600" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqftaoRY381Gh3H3kdO_Cp2xJQWnRpcZfI6sULalDg36OjyxkMEmuuqowP3fXI2sNUWXeqAjx7DLjyAJgWtaicAGOhv8psfwzOdlhtbCYTDrgttfld3-G6XL-fDHDkWqot6fNpIuqUBykA/s600/Bookclub-Scedule.jpg"/></a></div>Join us for another exciting voyage as we enter the diverse, vivid worlds of three memorable characters: Sinéad Hynes, Tess Lohan and Isabel Bilton.
The event page, with full information, is linked <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/women-writers-of-the-west-online-bookclub-tickets-139085268783"><b>here</b></a>.
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-80616705617183007812021-01-19T15:59:00.067-08:002021-01-20T09:28:54.777-08:00Reflection on the 'Journeys in Words' online bookclubIt’s a week since the 'Journeys in Words' online bookclub reached its final destination (ending last Tuesday night) and I’m still thinking about the two writers we explored and, specifically, about the animal world <b>Liam O’Flaherty</b> evokes so keenly. At the weekend, Kevin, myself and our two boys walked to Mutton Island for some fresh air and exercise. It was a cool, clear Saturday afternoon and, gazing at the ocean, I kept thinking of the conger eel’s struggle, firstly to placate his hunger by catching mackerel and secondly, to writhe free of the fishermens' net. In my mind’s eye, I could see that net lowering into the Atlantic and scaling it. This is surely the mark of a great writer; someone whose words stay with you, linger in your head, mingling vision and imagination with your present reality. A <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a34165311/crows-are-self-aware-like-humans/">recent study</a>, highlighted again in an article last week, has shown that crows are self-aware and I'm reminded of that seagull O'Flaherty poises on a ledge, goaded by his mother into finally taking his ‘first flight’. Jennifer Ackerman notes in <i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/25/genius-of-birds-jennifer-ackerman-review">The Genius of Birds</a></i>, that our expression "bird brain" is long redundant. Both science and the stories of O'Flaherty remind us of the need to keep refreshing our knowledge about the animal kingdom lest we continue to underestimate our fellow earthly creatures.
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While the focus of our book club was the short story form, the late <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/conflicting-cultures-and-two-languages-shaped-o-flaherty-as-man-and-artist-1.80693">Eileen Battersby</a> aptly reminded us that it "remains too easy to confine a reading of O'Flaherty's highly cinematic art to 150 often superb, short stories - many of them fables which present him as an intense primitive, preoccupied with the brutal inevitably of nature in its dealings with animal and man, while missing out on the political and socio-cultural dimension of his vision. O'Flaherty never forgot the landscape and lifestyle of his island home but, through his travels soon became quite cosmopolitan.” And we certainly broadened our bookclub discussions beyond O'Flaherty the naturalist to consider his nomadic spirit, his political activism (the 99th anniversary of his seizure of the Rotunda on 21 January, 1922 is just a few days away) and, more generally, his entire corpus – (O’Flaherty was remarkably prolific, producing a novel per year throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s).
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Having studied for the priesthood early in his life, he underwent a loss of religious certainties and ideological affiliation, and was faced with the necessity of dealing with these crises in his art. I’m struck by the fact that he was a man of action and rebel who travelled the world with an open mind, gradually losing faith in religion, communism and republicanism (roughly in that order) only to realise that what he truly wanted was to get back to that native ‘rock’ in his imagination, to that 'otherwhere' of oral storytelling which we glimpse in <i>The Ecstacy of Angus</i>. In the example of O’Flaherty – who was by no means a ‘saint’ – we can recognise that the journey of artistic integrity is not dictated by financial gain, a quest for fame or by what’s in vogue. Like Patrick Kavanagh, another Irish writer who protested the grand delusions of the Irish Literary Revival, and whose trajectory can be mapped in his early pastoral writings, his urban pieces, his disenchanted anti-pastoral writings (<i>The Great Hunger</i>) and, ultimately, his return to a celebration of the everyday in his canal bank poems, it is the honest seeker who doesn’t compromise to satisfy external tastes or stakeholders whose work will ultimately stand up to scrutiny because it is not a travesty; it derives from an authentic, questing humanity.
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A famous quote of O’Flaherty’s that is all over the web and hints at the breadth of the man’s thinking can be read directly above. As well as suffering from the wrath of the censorship board, (he was one of the most censored writers in Ireland in the 1930s) O’Flaherty has, perhaps, also been unfairly disparaged by critics for his refusal to work within a completely realist mode in his novels. (He has been most widely praised for <i>The Informer</i>, <i>Skerrett</i> and <i>Famine</i>). I think this quotation hints at the expansiveness of his vision – something which has proven challenging for academics, who would too easily wish to pin down O’Flaherty and find that they cannot. As Dermot Heaney writes in his paper “The O’Flaherty Novel: a problem of critical approach”: “One cannot help feeling that many critics would prefer a lesser, more easily definable author, a tidier writer.” (1995, <i>Etudes Irlandaises</i>)
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Unlike O’Flaherty, who deals with open expanses of nature and external turmoil, <b><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/maeve-brennan-a-writer-who-was-at-home-in-neither-ireland-nor-america-1.3996762">Maeve Brennan</a></b> is a master of fraught interior spaces. In fact, the former externalises inner tumult in the great outdoors and the latter does something similar, but very much indoors, under a roof. Brennan’s detailed descriptions of confined domestic settings are often objective correlatives for the sense of claustrophobia her protagonists feel. A mixture of memoir and a study of two unhappy marriages, featuring the Derdons and the Bagots, <i><b><a href="https://stingingfly.org/books/the-springs-of-affection/">The Springs of Affection</a></b></i> has justly earned its classic status, finding republication in 2016 with Stinging Fly Press. Her attunement to the Ranelagh suburbs of the 1920s (her childhood home was at 48, Cherryfield Avenue) affords fascinating glimpses into the formation of the young writer’s mind and worldview and also of a unique and rarified era. Like Eilís Dillon, (the subject of our first book club at Galway Public Libraries during the month of October) Brennan was the child of Irish revolutionaries, Robert Brennan and Una Bolger. (Lucy McDiarmid has written a <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/how-the-parents-of-ireland-s-authors-survived-their-past-1.3718607">fascinating article</a> that highlights the friendship between Dillon’s and Brennan’s parents). Domestic space plays a crucial role in these vignettes as her characters are increasingly marked by their perception of confinement.
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There’s a highly cinematic quality in Brennan’s story cycles too - like O’Flaherty, but in a different vocabulary – compounded by the fact that certain details are repeated & small narratives retold in sharper relief as the stories progress. Brennan can capture the minutiae of interior space exceedingly well. Indeed, a special kind of gift is required to find the narrative in ‘a panel of filigreed brass that runs all around the hearth’ (“The Sofa”) to isolate it and to say to the reader: ‘this, too, is important.’ It is true to say that the 'domestic,' as a subject for fiction, is often glossed over and subtly dismissed by critics. Maeve Brennan stunningly demonstrates, however, that this sphere is often the seat of our emotional and psychological well-being.
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In terms of what these two writers, O’Flaherty and Brennan, might share in common: one could argue that they were both 'outsiders' – while enjoying ‘insider’ status for brief periods, especially in the case of Maeve Brennan who was very much what we might now term an ‘influencer’. To be a staff writer at <i>The New Yorker</i> during the 1950s and ‘60s was to occupy one of the most influential seats in American culture and Brennan contributed book reviews, fashion notes, essays, and short stories. Between 1954 and 1981 she wrote a series of sketches about daily life in Times Square and the Village for “The Talk of the Town.” But, as her biographer, Angela Bourke and others note, as an Irish-American woman at this period, Maeve was also very much an outsider.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFxmxW41wOk2VljlU2-bouvskzyLWtEP1u_O4afsD0P7o492TPPVJJRDbVDJY8tAUhk4vzSwLeT_NpljUeZ1ormHa3KCJo0lzNEIxROSg-YDmvYcvCKXbMTem5SxjTF5DT-uoFKBqNzcx/s1172/Brennan-book.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFxmxW41wOk2VljlU2-bouvskzyLWtEP1u_O4afsD0P7o492TPPVJJRDbVDJY8tAUhk4vzSwLeT_NpljUeZ1ormHa3KCJo0lzNEIxROSg-YDmvYcvCKXbMTem5SxjTF5DT-uoFKBqNzcx/s400/Brennan-book.jpg"/></a></div>
Liam O’Flaherty retained, and perhaps basked in, his own outsider status during his life – and was also full of contradictions: an Irish republican who fought in World War I, a Gaeilgeoir from Inis Mór who spoke with a cut glass English accent, etc. In many ways he revelled in being a liminal figure and themes of alienation and loneliness loom large in his fiction. Both writers were perceptive observers of the societies in which they lived and the contrasts between the polite milieu of suburban Ranelagh with the more rugged, elemental world conjured by O’Flaherty has made for a rewarding reading experience over the course of this book club. As noted above, both were from Republican backgrounds – O’Flaherty’s father was a Fenian - and both suffered from debilitating breakdowns at various points in their careers - more lastingly and, perhaps, tragically in Brennan's case. Arguably, both were reacting against romanticism in its many variants in their unique ways; O’Flaherty against the Literary Revivalist representation of the ‘perfect peasant’ and Brennan against the highly gendered Hollywood delusion of domestic bliss. Lastly, and in purely superficial terms, both writers were uncommonly good-looking and charismatic, and that is probably where the commonalities end and the rich contrasts take over. Juxtaposing two such varied voices made for a highly enjoyable reading experience with a piquant twist of the unpredictable. Taking this journey through words with two consummate masters of the short story form has been thrilling and I would like to sincerely thank our four guest speakers over the four sessions; experts on Brennan, O’Flaherty and the Irish short story form: <b><a href="http://publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/A014/patcoughlan">Prof. Patricia Coughlan</a></b> (UCC), <b><a href="https://elkedhoker.weebly.com">Prof. Elke D’hoker</a></b> (University of Leuven), <b><a href="https://www.obrien.ie/seamus-cashman">Seamus Cashman</a></b>(founder of Wolfhound Press) and <b><a href="https://mauricejcasey.com">Dr. Maurice Casey</a></b>(historian at EPIC Museum). I also want to thank all of our participants – we had regular members in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Achill Island and even one member in Greece! And, last but not least, thank you to my colleagues at Galway Public Libraries: Josephine Vahey, Sharleen McAndrew and Niamh O'Donovan as well as Teresa Lavina and Gavin of <a href="https://www.novaproductions.ie">Nova Productions</a>. It now gives me great pleasure to announce here that <a href="https://www.facebook.com/librariesgalway">Galway Public Libraries</a> and yours truly, with the support of <a href="https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/event/online-book-club-journeys-in-words/">Creative Ireland</a>, will be bringing you another online book club soon – commencing in mid-February – and focusing this time, on contemporary Irish writers. More information to follow soon! Watch this space!
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-23711201179799802082021-01-08T09:35:00.005-08:002021-01-08T09:56:46.361-08:00New online course, The Craft of Poetry Writing, starting in February<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcyFehrJpLLcC5B1vKitT3Oq6tDDTVK2o-Y8t6BAM3BiF6qvbiiAFWMJMmSjPnV1tI0RUpNfg6koSaKorqo2Kb_DOFGbMIj805S4I0DVvBSia1klyVx9WBbdCRrbO8_ValU7LbMZETVyM/s1118/Craft+of+Poetry+Writing.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="796" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcyFehrJpLLcC5B1vKitT3Oq6tDDTVK2o-Y8t6BAM3BiF6qvbiiAFWMJMmSjPnV1tI0RUpNfg6koSaKorqo2Kb_DOFGbMIj805S4I0DVvBSia1klyVx9WBbdCRrbO8_ValU7LbMZETVyM/s600/Craft+of+Poetry+Writing.png"/></a></div>
February is an opportune month to awaken the senses to new sights, sounds and possibilities for your poetry practice as we leave behind the dark days of Winter in the hope of brighter, breezier and indeed, safer times just around the corner. I’m delighted to announce that I will be teaching an 8-week online course, ‘The Craft of Poetry Writing’ for the Centre for Adult Learning and Professional Development at NUI Galway throughout February and March. The course will run on Thursday evenings from <b>7pm to 8:30pm</b> beginning on <b>Thursday, 4 February</b>. Part lecture, part workshop, we will explore a different aspect of poetry and prosody each week with themes including: voice, ekphrasis, poetic forms, line breaks and revision, among others. You will receive valuable feedback on your poems in a safe and encouraging space, as well as plenty of creative prompts to inspire new work.
The course is excellent value at just €100 and you will come away with some fresh insights and a range of newly composed pieces. For full details on ‘The Craft of Poetry Writing’ and for the link to the short online courses booket visit www.nuigalway.ie/shortcourses. Places are limited so don't hesitate to book your spot as soon as possible.
Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4299414231308163787.post-56045208641709982492021-01-02T11:27:00.007-08:002021-01-20T06:41:56.107-08:00Journeys in Words book club resumes - on the stories of Liam O'FlahertyInis Mór born writer, Liam O'Flaherty fascinates me. A man of action & rebel who travelled the world twice over, fought in WWI and on the Republican side in the Civil War, raised the red flag of revolution over the Rotunda in 1922, visited soviet Russia, produced nearly a novel per year during the 1920s and into the 1930s, ranged from romantic realist to caustic social satirist. His memoirs, especially <i>Shame the Devil</i> (1937), make for an electrifying read. Witness its striking opening provocation: “Man is a born liar. Otherwise he would not have invented the proverb: “Tell the truth and shame the devil.” He is truly one of our great Irish writers and I love that he and his work can't easily be 'pinned down' by the critical establishment.
Over the next two Tuesdays I have the pleasure of exploring his short stories in the free online book club I'm facilitating for Galway Public Libraries, <b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/journeys-in-words-from-galway-to-dublin-online-book-club-tickets-131188001845">Journeys in Words - From Galway to Dublin</a></b>, which resumes at <b>7pm on Tuesday, 5 January</b> with our final session on <b>Tuesday, 12 January</b>. This Tuesday we will be joined by poet and publisher, <b><a href="https://www.obrien.ie/seamus-cashman">Seamus Cashman</a></b> who played an important role in the recovery of Liam's work in the 1970s and 80s at Wolfhound Press, and who was also the author's friend. There are still a few places left and this book club is for the general public - for everyone who likes reading. Click on <b><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/journeys-in-words-from-galway-to-dublin-online-book-club-tickets-131188001845?fbclid=IwAR1yADMZfcUTLU3a6_1nN5jEjAP7MmGjbISfhmHP5gsQDUNoTGpJCLyVtSg">this link</a></b> to bag one of the few remaining places! <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5rN4BNHOZ11mmn9GgGb-pEiGy7UbXXhGV6-ZHOxdn5uoUE6wSeSaxe7DttarbUtFeYv_kQ1AK4-WaZKIF9Ll5y0m1x-tZP3HPC3Nnowfq2Kz-KfTd8PD3gQr85Xh2YUIc5wiVJvKzEmo/s299/liam-oflaherty.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP5rN4BNHOZ11mmn9GgGb-pEiGy7UbXXhGV6-ZHOxdn5uoUE6wSeSaxe7DttarbUtFeYv_kQ1AK4-WaZKIF9Ll5y0m1x-tZP3HPC3Nnowfq2Kz-KfTd8PD3gQr85Xh2YUIc5wiVJvKzEmo/s600/liam-oflaherty.jpg"/></a></div>Emily E Cullenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18269518291662379006noreply@blogger.com0