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Fermanagh Women In Belfast

June 24, 2017 fcwg Uncategorized Belfast Book Festival, Dianne Ascroft, Fermanagh writers, Trish Bennett, Women Aloud NI

Trish Bennett at Belfast Book Festival

Last Saturday members of Fermanagh Writers headed off to Belfast to take part in Women Aloud NI’s event at the Belfast Book Festival.
Writers from Women Aloud NI were appearing ‘en masse’ at the Belfast Book Festival . Comprising a rapid-fire readathon and a simultaneous mass reading, this event provided a wonderful opportunity to get a sense of the extraordinary diversity and richness of the women’s writing scene in the North. It was also an introduction to some of Northern Ireland’s finest emerging and established female writers.

Approximately 40 women writers read from their work both individually and together. The list of readers included:

Jane Talbot, Felicity McCall, DJ McCune, Anne McMaster, Belinda

Dianne Ascroft at Belfast Book Festival

Bennetts, Ellie Rose McKee, Sarah McMahon, Trish Bennett, Eibhlinn McAleer, Kelly Creighton, Tara West, Jo Zebedee, Maura Johnston, Nuala McAllister, Pauline Burgess, Helen Hastings, Vicky McFarland, Jenny Methven, Ev McLaughlin, Gaynor Kane, Annemarie Mullan, Lesley Allen, Helen Nicholl, Eimear O’Callaghan, Dominique Hoffman, Catriona King, Hilary McCollum, Caroline Johnstone, Dianne Ascroft, Valerie Christie, Lunatari Stargazer, Mary Montague, Elizabeth McGeown, Olive Broderick, Wilma Kenny, Stephanie Conn, Emma McKervey, Shirley-Anne McMillan, JS Comiskey, Rosemary Morrison, Seanín Hughes ….. and more! Trish Bennett and Dianne Ascroft were the writers who represented Fermanagh Writers.

The buzz and the cameraderie was fantastic and it’s a day which the Fermanagh women will remember for a long time.

Women Aloud members reading at Belfast Book Festival

Getting Ready to Celebrate Francis Ledwidge

June 15, 2017 fcwg Uncategorized Fermanagh writers, Francis Ledwidge, Irish war poet, Ledwidge Museum

Fermanagh Writers is participating in the centenary celebrations for Irish poet, Francis Ledwidge in Enniskillen on 20th July. In preparation for the event members of our group visited the cottage where he was born and raised outside Slane on Monday.The cottage is now a museum dedicated to the poet.

A view from the kitchen into Francis’s boyhood bedroom.
Pauric Dolan playing in a tune in the kitchen beside the dresser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our visit to the museum we stopped into the Connyngham Hotel where Ledwidge spent many hours with his friends before he enlisted in the British army during the First World War.

Jenny Brien with museum committee member, Colm Yore.
At the Connyngham Hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we spent the afternoon with one of the Ledwidge Museum committee members, Colm Yore, who told us a bit more about Ledwidge’s life.

Christina Campbell and Jenny Brien with Colm Yore (right)

 

Fermanagh Writers members with Colm Yore (second from left)

Our last stop before we headed home was Slane Abbey where we visited the grave of Ledwidge’s childhood sweetheart.

In the grounds of Slane Abbey

 

Fermanagh Writers Women off to the Irish Writers Centre

March 13, 2017 fcwg Uncategorized International Women's Day, Irish Writer's Centre, Women Aloud NI, women writers

Last Saturday, 11th March, three members of Fermanagh Writers hauled themselves out of bed early and trundled off on the bus to Dublin.

Kate O'Shea
Kate O’Shea
Trish Bennett
Trish Bennett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Irish Writers Centre in Dublin and Women Aloud NI teamed up to bring women writers from around the island of Ireland together to celebrate International Women’s Day with a readathon which ran from 11am until 3.30pm. Approximately 80 writers participated, sharing their stories and poems, in three minute bursts.

 

 

Dianne Ascroft
Dianne Ascroft

Writers attending the event also donated copies of their books to the Irish Writers Centre’s library. The Fermanagh Writers women brought a copy of our most recent collection of our writing, Tavern Told Tales, to add to the library.

 

 

 

Kate presenting Tavern Told Tales to the Irish Writers Centre
Kate presenting Tavern Told Tales to the Irish Writers Centre

 

 

The day concluded with a mass readathon by all the participants in the Garden of Remembrance opposite the Irish Writers Centre.

 

 

IWCTK

 

IWCgroupTK

Women Aloud Fermanagh

March 13, 2017 fcwg Uncategorized Fermanagh Women's Aid, International Women's Day, Women Aloud Fermanagh, Women Aloud NI, women writers

WANI17group
The writers who performed at Women Aloud Fermanagh

Last Wednesday, 8th March, the women members of Fermanagh Writers group, joined women writers across Northern Ireland to celebrate International Women’s Day.

WANI17Trish
Trish Bennett
Mary McElroy
Mary McElroy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women Aloud NI is a project which aims to raise the profile of the women’s writing scene in Northern Ireland, organising events in every county in the province on International Women’s Day. This is the second year that Fermanagh Writers has hosted the Fermanagh event.

Jenny Brien
                 Jenny Brien
Omagh Writers member, Pheme Glass
Omagh Writers member, Pheme Glass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fermanagh Women’s Aid manager, Mary McCann, opened the evening with a brief introduction to the work of the organisation.

May Morris
              May Morris
Ruth Leonard
              Ruth Leonard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then women from Fermanagh, the border counties and Omagh Writers shared their stories and poetry with an attentive audience upstairs in Blakes of the Hollow pub.

Grainne Breen
              Grainne Breen
Teresa Godfrey
            Teresa Godfrey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we did last year, as well as celebrating International Women’s Day, Fermanagh Writers took the opportunity to raise money for a local charity, charging a small admission fee, which included a copy of our latest publication, Tavern Told Tales. Half the admission price will be donated to Fermanagh Women’s Aid.

Kate O'Shea
Kate O’Shea
Dianne Trimble
Dianne Trimble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate O’Shea, the Master of Ceremonies kept the evening running smoothly and Caimin O’Shea provided the technical expertise so that the performers would be heard loud and clear.

Sandra Hale
Sandra Hale

Thanks to Blakes of the Hollow for lallowing us access to a great venue for our performance.

Fermanagh Writers on the air!

May 22, 2016 fcwg Events, News, Our Writing, Uncategorized

arbuckle

After a recent call to arms from BBC radio, Members of Fermanagh Writers will be showcasing their talents on air in the coming weeks. BBC radio ulster issued the call, for original content by local writers over a certain age (we won’t disclose). Several members of Fermanagh Writers have applied and been contacted to record their works for later broadcast. Bob Baird, Kate O’shea, Catherine Vallely and Wayne Hardman will all be showcasing.

The broadcasts will take place on the Sunday Time Of Our Lives programme, presented by Colm Arbuckle, sharing the lives, stories and talents of local folks.

The first of these will be Bob Baird reading some of his memoirs and an interview with Catherine Vallely, broadcasting today (sunday 22nd) between 2-3pm on BBC radio ulster and radio Foyle.

Next week has Kate O’shea and Wayne & Louise Hardman. Wayne will be discussing his unique upbringing with a team of eleven baseball playing surrogate mothers, whilst his wife Louise will be discussing her craft of unique handmade textile scarves. Kate O’shea will be performing her original spoken word poetry,Sunday 29th May.

If you miss any of the broadcasts they will be available to stream online via the iplayer radio > here.

Tune in and keep your ears open!

Celebrating Shakespeare

April 28, 2016 fcwg Events, News, Uncategorized

FullSizeRender (2)Members of Fermanagh Writers met on Saturday 23rd of April to celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare. Taking place in Blakes of the Hollow’s room no.6 we recited some of our favourite quotes and some of the more memorable soliloquies over a quiet drink.

It was a great opportunity to share and discuss opinions, theories and ideas on the bard himself. Topics on offer included the legitimacy of his identity and authorship, the fact that it has been disputed by many whether the works attributes to Shakespeare were actually written by him.

IMG_3702
Bob Baird reading Shakespeare inspired poetry.

questions were then raised concerning how he attained the wealth of knowledge that went into said works if indeed the authorship was truly his, with discussion about life in those times and the position of one close to court.

We then discussed the effect of his works on the theatre and its effect on them in turn. A notable example being the common expectation of a balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet where indeed there was no balcony, inspired by the interpretations of theatre productions.

FullSizeRenderOther topics included the facts (and fiction) of the historical reality behind his works, the politics of his time,the language of Shakespeare and the use of iambic pentameter and his relationship to royalty and connections to alchemy and secret societies.

We were then treated to performances of original works of poetry and prose inspired by Shakespeare, all in all it was an entertaining and informative way to pass the afternoon.

Performing Poetry With Colm Keegan

April 15, 2016 fcwg Uncategorized

Our Chair, John Monaghan reflects on Colm Keegan’s workshop with the group last Saturday:

Colm Keegan
Colm Keegan

Colm Keegan has an enthusiasm for poetry so strong that his energy just pulls you along effortlessly on the creative journey. He started the day by asking each participant to name one favourite word and then he passed a well-worn laminated card to each of us with some inspirational lines from well-known people. Our Corncrake magazine editor has got permission from Colm to reproduce the card in the first issue.

Keegan 5He then suggested that for the day we should focus on things that:

make us Angry: make us Love:  or on Precious Moments in order to produce a poem.

He got each of us to speak about one thing that makes us angry. There was a fair amount of anger released and general discussion before we had a break for lunch.

Keegan 3Afterwards he got us to spend about twenty minutes writing a poem with a view to performing it before the group.

He gave us lots of tips on how to perform effectively on stage. Among those were:  ‘be your favourite version of yourself on stage,’ to ‘own your poem,’ ‘don’t be contrived,’ and ‘silence is a friend, use it,’ and ‘above all, make eye contact with the audience.’

Keegan 4He gave lots more advice and then we all performed our poems to the group. He asked us to email the poems to him when we have them typed up.

The day fizzed with energy so dynamic that it created its own Synergy (the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts).

I’m sure that everyone who was there went away with the enthusiasm to create some new work.

Keegan 2

Keegan 1

Being: A New Poetry Collection

April 15, 2016 fcwg Uncategorized

Congratulations to our Assistant Secretary, Ruth Leonard, on the release of her first poetry collection, Being.

Being cover

A New Ghost Story By One Of Our Members

March 24, 2016 fcwg Uncategorized

Visitor-FINAL-3DCongratulations to our member, Dianne Ascroft, on the release of her Short Read, An Unbidden Visitor, last week. On her blog she talks about the inspiration for the Irish ghost story. You can find the post here.

Poetry Workshop With Paula Meehan

March 18, 2016 fcwg Uncategorized Ireland Professor of Poetry, Irish poet, Paula Meehan, poetry workshop, women poets

Tony Brady, our Chair Reflects on Paula Meehan’s Poetry Workshop:

Meehan 9
Paula Meehan

Last Saturday thirty people participated in Paula Meehan’s Poetry Workshop which was hosted by Fermanagh Writers in Fermanagh House. By an amazing co-incidence, Paula began with a reference to a Russian poet that Carlo Gebler had opened his series of private classes with Fermanagh Writers last Autumn.  The image was Mandelstam’s breathing onto a pane of glass in the train transferring him from one gulag to another and tracing words that remained on its surface after the mist of breath had evaporated. The poet was “disappeared” in transit to feed the myth that he was consumed by wolves. Words then as expressed in poetry, endure and are liberating.

Paula with Teresa Kane
Paula with Teresa Kane

Paula suggested that before words began to form language, sounds were the medium of communication, and taking as her theme Seamus Heaney’s – Hearth Word Hoard – encouraged participants to recall the primal sounds that shaped expression in pre-speech development. She reminded us of the pre-birth medium of water and evolution evidence of prehensile tails

Caimin O'Shea and Bob Baird
Caimin O’Shea and Bob Baird

(primates) in humans, and arms as vestigial flippers (fishes).
Paula suggested we make a mental map of sounds over time spans. The pre-natal child is aware of sound: a pulsing in rhythm with its mother’s heart beat, a drumming “When memory fails imagination spurs the recall of birthplace sounds.”  At my age, I could not remember my pre-birth or post-natal sounds, but recalled the sounds of when attending and assisting at the birthing of my 3 children: screams, moans, laughter, whispers, buzzing, exhortations, blips from machines, shouts, urging voices, distant ambulance sirens, deep breathing, hiss of gas, silences, new born babies’ cries.

 

Ken Ramsey
Ken Ramsey

Later life situations are loaded with their own unique language: jargon, religious rituals, music, hymns, distinct zones like churches evoking liturgy and prayers.  Children learn without being taught by repetitive chanting of familiar passed down chants in playtime. Hearth sounds assist re-creation through poetry: light, flames, crackles, splitting, spitting, sharp sudden retorts of bursting coal, turf, wood. Unusual words cropped up: brattle, scroig, scrug.  The word Quoof used by poet Paul Muldoon turns out to be a hot water bottle.
Regrettably, I had to leave early as caring duties called me away. I just had time to hear an extemporised poem by Ken Ramsey

Meehan 5
Mary McElroy

Our treasurer, John James adds a few words:
Excellent summation of the workshop, Tony. Thank you for that. One or two points I would add.  The amazing turnout for poetry on a rare sunny afternoon in Fermanagh, after a winter of torrential rain, gale-force wind and the persistent chill in the air that stole the very breath that elixir of life from our chests.

We also had a considerable force of nature in Paula Meehan. She proved herself a true daughter of Gaia, by weaving a spell over us in the soft yet strong, lilting voice, that took us back many years – for some, too many to mention, to our childhoods. Memories of joy, memories of pain, memories of happiness, memories of loss and sadness too.  She opened doors that will never be shut again, no bad thing.

Our gratitude to Paula for a wonderful afternoon.

Paula with Trish Bennett
Paula with Trish Bennett

 

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