Author: Jenny Brien

From Russia with Calf

scan1In keeping with the time of year, many of our articles this issue have to do with heritage and tradition – memories and ghosts. Respect for tradition is not always inward-looking: it can lead to the most surprising connections, as in the case of how this drawing came to me.

It begins with a young Russian who was writing a story set in Ireland, and was seeking a suitable placename for the home town of her hero. The name that caught her eye was – Ballinamallard. Continue reading “From Russia with Calf”

Lough Erne Landscape Partnership

The Lough Erne Landscape Partnership is one of 90 such groups throughout the U.K. which have received Heritage Lottery funding to promote projects that will:

…protect, conserve, restore, raise awareness of and celebrate the built, natural and cultural heritage… 

Just over £2 million has been set aside for projects that will enhance the landscape of Lough Erne, or that have a direct connection with it.

Continue reading “Lough Erne Landscape Partnership”

Radio Days

When Fermanagh Writers were first contacted by Owen McFadden, a BBC radio producer working in Belfast, the original brief was for some of our older members to write reflections on their past experiences for a Sunday afternoon programme on BBC Radio Ulster called The Time of our Lives.

Continue reading “Radio Days”

Wilhelmina Geddes – A talk by Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe

Early this year a sumptuously illustrated and sharply written book was published, celebrating the life of a female artist who is more famous abroad than in her native Ireland. Admirers such as John Piper noted that she was a master of colour who should be compared to Braque, Rouault, Kandinsky and Matisse. She is so highly regarded by the international community that when names of great artists were given to craters discovered on the planet Mercury, she was honoured alongside Shakespeare, Beethoven and Picasso.

Continue reading “Wilhelmina Geddes – A talk by Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe”