I have no words to tell you
about the squalor and the smell.
No letter I could ever write
can describe this man-made hell. Continue reading “The Truths I Couldn’t Tell”
Author: John Monaghan
A Wonderful Experience
During the First World War the staff members of Belfast Public Libraries who enlisted in regiments of the British Army remained employees of the library on half pay if they corresponded regularly with the Chief Librarian, Mr Elliott, and his assistant, Mr Goldsbrough. Continue reading “A Wonderful Experience”
A Fresh Portrait
Of the many great events on offer at Fermanagh’s Flive festival, one spectacle in particular stood alone in the limelight. Young Stephen– an energetic, one-man dramatisation of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Adapted for stage by Prin Ó Duigneáin, Paddy McEneaney stars as Stephen Dedalus, Joyce’s own semi-fictional avatar.
Election Perfection for Debut Author
With the U.S elections nearing their conclusion and Brexit talks in full swing, there is no better time for some political satire, to invite conversation and perhaps lighten the mood on this troubling political climate. Continue reading “Election Perfection for Debut Author”
From Russia with Calf
In 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.
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.
Row the Erne
In 2014 the Row the Erne Project began with the building of a 33ft, 10 man, traditional Irish boat called a Curach. This is the kind of boat in which Irish people traded with Britain and Western Europe for more than 3,000 years, bringing back not only goods but also new ideas, technologies and fashions.
Continue reading “Row the Erne”
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”
Michael Brown – Image and Sound
Michael Brown has been a resident of Fermanagh for twenty years, recording documentary films and interpreting landscape through paintings, photography and print making, working from his studio near Ballinamallard.