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The 2020 ‘An Post’ Irish Book Award Winners
Every year, the Irish Book Awards celebrate “the extraordinary quality of Irish writing” and help bring those books judged to be the best to a wider readership. These annual awards are also intended to promote the Irish publishing and book-selling industries. The awards include an inspiring array of 18 categories within a variety of literary genres. Celebrated equally with the best novel and non-fiction book are the best sports book, cookbook, crime book and Irish language book. In addition, the awards also celebrate the best short story of the year and the best poem. The awards are unique in that they involve an entire literary community: publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, and perhaps…
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ELIZABETH BOWEN and MOLLY KEANE
by Thomas McCarthy The month of November, with its decreasing hours of daylight and lengthening nights, offers an opportunity to turn inwards. It is traditionally a month in Ireland when we remember those who have passed on, indeed the 1st and 2nd of November are known respectively as All Saints and All Souls days. On Trasna, our focus this month will be on Irish writers who have passed on and who are remembered by contemporary writers and scholars. Here, poet Thomas McCarthy explores the novels of Elizabeth Bowen and Molly Keane, in a piece that discusses literature and the world of the Anglo-Irish, and also the importance of friendship . …
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On You Go: A Remembrance of Dermot Healy
by Daniel Wade The month of November, with its decreasing hours of daylight and lengthening nights, offers an opportunity to turn inwards. It is traditionally a month in Ireland when we remember those who have passed on, indeed the 1st and 2nd of November are known respectively as All Saints and All Souls days. On Trasna, our focus this month will be on Irish writers who have passed on and who are remembered by contemporary writers and scholars. In this essay, poet and playwright Daniel Wade introduces readers to the poetry of Dermot Healy. On You Go: A Remembrance of Dermot Healy “What would the living do If they had…
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Introducing John McGahern
by Dr. Richard Hayes The month of November, with its decreasing hours of daylight and lengthening nights, offers an opportunity to turn inwards. It is traditionally a month in Ireland when we remember those who have passed on, indeed the 1st and 2nd of November are known respectively as All Saints and All Souls days. On Trasna, our focus this month will be on Irish writers who have passed on and who are remembered by contemporary writers and scholars. In this article, Dr. Richard Hayes considers the output of the writer John McGahern, (1934 – 2006), and argues that McGahern is the greatest novelist since Joyce, with an importance not…
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The belated discovery of a role model: Nessa O’Mahony on Eavan Boland
The month of November, with its decreasing hours of daylight and lengthening nights, offers an opportunity to turn inwards. It is traditionally a month in Ireland when we remember those who have passed on, indeed the 1st and 2nd of November are known respectively as All Saints and All Souls days. On Trasna our focus this month will be on Irish writers who have passed on and who are remembered by contemporary writers and scholars. Our first post this month is by poet Nessa O’Mahony who writes of the influence of the poet Eavan Boland (1944 – 2020) on her own development as a writer, which led to her subsequently…
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“Woodbines and Tall Tales” and “A Christmas Wake”
by Bernie Condon Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, better known to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature two poems by Bernie Condon, as well as her grandmother’s tale of the Banshee which inspired “Woodbines and Tall Tales.” The attached video was produced by Will McLellan of The Wood of O, and features Bernie retelling a family ghost story. Woodbines and Tall Tales My Grandmother smoked a woodbine Every night by the fire. “Tis the only little pleasure I have” She would splutter between puffs. Curled at…
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Rathcroghan, the Irish Otherworld, & the Home of Halloween
Daniel Curley Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, better known to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. In the medieval village of Tulsk, in County Roscommon is the Rathcroghan Visitor Center. The Center is located in the heart of a rich archeological landscape. This week we feature an essay by archeologist Daniel Curley who explains its connection to Halloween. Rathcroghan, the Irish Otherworld, & the Home of Halloween The Rathcroghan archaeological landscape, Co. Roscommon, Ireland is a collection of 240 identified archaeological sites contained within a 6.5km (725ha) area…
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Celebrating Samhain, by Orla O’Connell from “The Way of the Seabhean”
Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, known better to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature a blog piece by writer Orla O’Connell on The Way of the Seabhean, which she scribed for Amantha Murphy. But first some background from Orla: “My friend Amantha Murphy is an Irish seabhean- a female shaman, healer and visionary. She was schooled in the ways of wise women in Kerry, where her grandmother was a healer and midwife. In Ireland, the tradition of the healer woman has been passed…
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MARK GRANIER reads from Ghostlight: New & Selected Poems
Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, known better to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature award-winning poet, photographer, and filmmaker, Mark Granier. In addition to select readings from his latest collection, Ghostlight: New & Selected Poems, is his film: “Docklands,” which won the Doolin Writers’ Weekend Film-Poem Competition in 2019. Mark and filmmaker Fiachra MacAllister also produced the haunting video for Peter Sirr’s poem “About Ghosts: Whoever You Were,” which was recently featured on Trasna. Mark has published five books of poetry and has exhibited his photographs in…
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“Whatever you were” and Other Poems
Peter Sirr Throughout October, Trasna will focus on the Celtic festival of Samhain, known better to Americans as Halloween. The holiday originated in Ireland and celebrates that time of year when the veil between this world and the next grows thin, and life seems more mysterious. This week we feature Peter Sirr, a well-known poet, and now podcaster. He and his wife, poet Enda Wyley, are hosts of the lively program, Books for Breakfast, which airs every Thursday morning and includes a “Toaster Challenge” in which guests present a favorite book in the time it takes to make toast. In addition to select readings from his…
