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“Listening in: Radio Dramas in a Virtual Realm” by Margaret O’Brien
Many of us are discovering that the most amazing things can be achieved when people pool their talents and resources, even during a pandemic. Maybe especially during a pandemic. And this week’s post on Trasna, the ‘Radio Drama in a Virtual Realm’ project, is the result of just such a pooling of talent and a model of what can be achieved when many people put their generous shoulders to the wheel. On Monday, 29th, Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st March, 2021, as the culmination of a major creative collaboration, The Tudor Artisan Hub arts collective broadcast three original short radio plays, one each night. There is an intimacy to listening that is particular…
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‘Nora’, an excerpt, as read by its author Nuala O’Connor
This week on Trasna we are very pleased to present writer, Nuala O’Connor, reading an excerpt from her most recent novel, NORA. The eponymous Nora was, of course, Nora Barnacle, lover, wife and soulmate to writer James Joyce. In her novel O’Connor gives us Nora’s distinctive character, voice and original world view as the couple scrape a living in various parts of Europe. In sensuous and compelling prose O’Connor draws Nora as a staunchly nonliterary but original personality with her own distinctive voice. We see how Nora and Joyce dealt with his rising fame, his declining health, their family struggles. Their private tensions are set against the background of a Europe convulsed…
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‘Hope against Hope’ a Historical Novel by Sheena Wilkinson
Trasna is pleased to present a work of historical fiction, ‘Hope against Hope’ by Sheena Wilkinson. This is the third outstanding work of historical fiction by the multi-award-winning Sheena Wilkinson. It follows the fantastically successful ‘Star by Star’, which won the Children’s Books Ireland Honour Award for Fiction in 2018 and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Star was selected as a “future classic” by BookTrust and has so far sold around 25,000 copies – Little Island’s bestselling book ever! Hope against Hope is set in 1921. Ireland has been at war for two years. Communities are torn apart by bitter hatred – and now a hard border splits the island. In Belfast,…
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Tom Sigafoos ~ The Cursing Stone, a novel
We are pleased to present here the opening scenes from a new historical novel by writer Tom Sigafoos. “The Cursing Stone” is set on Tory Island, off the coast of County Donegal in northwest Ireland. The year is 1884 and the islanders are threatened with mass evictions. What are they willing to do to prevent them happening? Tom Sigafoos has previously appeared on Trasna with his wonderful essay, Dobhar Chú. The Cursing Stone – opening extract County Donegal, Ireland, 1884. Your island home is threatened with mass evictions. What would you be willing to do to stop them? The Cursing Stone a novel by Tom Sigafoos ———————————————————————– Dedicated to the people of Tory…
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Daniel Wade reads from Rapids
What better way for Trasna to honor the conclusion of National Poetry Month in the United States–and celebrate the First Anniversary of Trasna–than with the current work of Daniel Wade, a rising star in the world of poetry! An award-winning playwright and a novelist as well, Wade appeared in Trasna in November, 2020, with his insightful tribute to his mentor, Dermot Healy. Daniel Wade is hitting his stride this year: Rapids, his debut volume of poetry will be published (by Finishing Line Press) in August, 2021, and his novel, A Land Without Wolves, (from Temple Dark Book) will arrive in October, 2021. The following four selections, evoking the classic and…
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Selected Poems from Dr. Martina McGowan’s “i am the rage”
As Trasna celebrates National Poetry Month, we pause on the singular event of this past week, the guilty verdict in the killing of George Floyd, and reflect on the power of poets to be agents of change. This week, we proudly present the poetry of Dr. Martina McGowan from her debut collection, ‘i am the rage.’ We celebrate it for its beauty and truth: “I am the rage,/ roiling just beneath the surface/ I am the dream deferred/ Again.” Numb to the News The news has become so repetitious Almost boring Esoteric Unbelievable Unless you are of color Little girls with their molars coming in Sleeping on grandma’s sofa Dead Sleeping…
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Sandra Yannone reads from “Boats for Women”
As Trasna continues to celebrate National Poetry Month, we also note that this week marked the one-hundred and ninth anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The ship was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and its last port of call was Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland. Its loss was one of the most sensational events of the twentieth century, and it remains the third most written-about subject of all time. Here, poet Sandra Yannone, and self-proclaimed Titaniac, reads four of her poems from ‘Boats for Women.’ Published by Salmon Press in 2019, the opening poems in this collection are dedicated to the Titanic. Sailing Day, Southampton, 10 April…
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Kerry Hardie, with “Inishmaan” and other poems from, WHERE NOW BEGINS
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. This week we introduce four poems by Kerry Hardie, from her latest collection, Where Now Begins. Kerry generously allowed us to use lines from this collection on our January 8th post, in the week of the attack on the United States Capitol, when we paused our usual program. We are very pleased to share the following poems, together with audio recordings by the poet, that speak eloquently of things and people observed, of…
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Eileen Acheson reads “I Wonder” and Other Poems
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. So, we begin the month by introducing four poems by Eileen Acheson from her chapbook, I Wonder. In her lyrics, Acheson celebrates life: her personal experience embeds itself in Nature. She honors sod and rivers, branches and trees. Colors–purples, yellows, and brown–are her birthright. Her videos of the poems she reads for Trasna celebrate her world. In addition to writing, Acheson serves as Spoken Word curator for Clonmel Applefest and…
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Dairena Ní Chinnéide ~ “The Day the Blaskets were Nicked” and other poems
For the month of March we have been showcasing writers and writing who have engaged with the Irish language. On the final post for this month Trasna is pleased to share the work of poet, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, a bilingual poet from the West Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne. Ní Chinnéide here shares poems in both their original Irish and in English translations, and as a special treat, two of her poems in audio read by herself and accompanied by renowned guitarist, Steve Cooney. The two audio tracks are from an album of her poetry set to music, which will be digitally released later this year. This is therefore a special pre-release of…
