Fermanagh Writers’ third anthology of prose and poetry, Tavern Told Tales, was launched in Blakes of the Hollow, Enniskillen on 2nd October.
The Impartial Reporter captured the event in the next week’s edition.
Fermanagh Launch of Poetry Competition
Fermanagh Writers recently hosted the Fermanagh launch of Funeral Services NI’s annual poetry contest.
Looking Back At Our Year
After Fermanagh Writers’ AGM in March our Chair, Tony Brady, wrote to the Fermanagh newspapers to tell them about the election results, the group’s achievements during the past year and plans for the coming year. In the article he said:
At the recent AGM of Fermanagh Writers, Tony Brady was re-elected unopposed to work a second year as Chair of the management committee serving a membership of 31 members. He acknowledged the support of former committee Chair Tony Viney, retiring Vice Chair Ken Ramsey, continuing Secretary Dianne Trimble, Treasurer Peter Byrne and John Llewellyn James. He welcomed the election of new Vice-Chair John Monaghan together with new serving committee members Tammy Swift and Trish Bennett.
Tony recalled past achievements: the two published books by Fermanagh Writers, Tuesdays at Charlies and Tales of The Unexpected, have reached their publishing targets. The second book raised £2.000 in aid of the charity Bright Eyes Animal Sanctuary. With the funding support of The Northern Ireland Arts Council, a series of open workshops offering prose, poetry, script writing and approaches to getting published, were led by distinguished and accomplished literary figures last year. Fermanagh Writers participated in All Ireland Poetry Day and the Flive Enniskillen Arts Festival. Further afield, its members joined with Cavan Writers for the Babble Festival and hosted their poets and writers in a visit to The National Trust’s House in Florence Court.
Looking ahead as 2014 unfolds, Tony anticipates Fermanagh Writers will participate in established festivals and events, including FLive Festival, The Ballinamallard Festival and All Ireland Poetry Day. In addition, plans are forming to contribute to new initiatives: Row The Erne, The Islander Festival (Upper Lough Erne) and The Enniskillen World War 1 Centenary/Francis Ledwidge Museum, Slane, ROI, project.
Fermanagh Writers meets on Tuesday evenings, 7.30-9.30pm in the Crowe’s Nest, Enniskillen and is open to new members.
Impartial Reporter Covers Our Meeting With President McAleese
The Impartial Reporter noted our visit to Aras an Uachtarain with an article and photo of our group in their Thursday, 28th July edition of the paper.
Impartial Reporter Series Breezes To A Close
Mags O’Reilly’s poem, The Wind, published in the Impartial Reporter this week, concludes the newspaper’s series featuring FCWG members’ writing. The poem vividly captures this force of nature in all its moods.
Mags, a native of Fermanagh, attended Queen’s University, Belfast and spent her career teaching English and Religion in Enniskillen schools. She worked as a volunteer in a Romanian orphanage after she finished teaching. She has a deep concern for the disadvantaged and improving mental health provision.
Gordon Williams’ Team Tale
Gordon Williams’ heartwarming tale, Cut Final, evokes the power of team spirit in this week’s Impartial Reporter.
Gordon, a native of Manchester, moved to Fermanagh in 1984. He says he began writing 9 years ago and hasn’t stopped yet. His stories deftly convey the complexity of human experience and emotion, capturing both humour and sorrow equally well. He has also recently completed a novel.
Ian Butler Recalls Britain’s Irish Hero
A Fine Bright Day Today, Ian Butler’s rousing account of events during the Battle Of Britain and Irish pilot, Brendan Finucane’s contribution to the Allied victory is in this week’s Impartial Reporter.
Ian, vice-chairman of Fermanagh Creative Writing Group, arrived in Fermanagh in 2008. Originally from England, he is a former social worker who is recuperating from a stroke. He runs Handibooks, an online bookshop, and he is inspired to write by the beauty and tranquillity of the Fermanagh lakes.
Wayne’s Winter
Impartial Reporter readers will forget about summer this week as Wayne Hardman’s piece, Winter In Canada, sweeps them away from green fields and bubbling streams to Canada’s frozen back gardens, rivers and lakes and the joys of winter sport.
Retired ice hockey player Wayne, a native of Canada, is a sports broadcaster and journalist. He is a regular commentator for Belfast Giants, Team Ireland and Irish women’s ice hockey matches. In his spare time, when not helping his wife run Wove In Hove, he writes fiction and enjoys Fermanagh country life.
An Alien Viewpoint
In this week’s Impartial Reporter short story, A Take On Living In Enniskillen, Peter Byrne offers an insight into the complexity of living in the town to a perplexed tourist who has ancestral connections to Northern Ireland.
As a native of Dublin who has lived in Fermanagh for many years Peter has had ample opportunity to observe his adopted home. His natural storytelling ability makes it difficult to tell where the truth stops and fiction begins.
Ken Ramsey’s Cunning Plot
The cunning plot that forms the basis of Ken Ramsey’s short story, The Unheard Shot, will grip Impartial Reporter readers this week. Gamekeeper is pitted against poacher with a memorable conclusion.
Ken, a native of Enniskillen, runs a picture framing shop in the Buttermarket, Enniskillen.
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