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A Literary Journal

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  • Feature,  Ireland,  Literature,  Poetry,  USA

    A Celtic Sojourn

    For over twenty years famed Boston radio host Brian O’Donovan spread holiday cheer with his annual production of “A Christmas Celtic Sojourn.” From an oversized, red chair, O’Donovan presented to American audiences the Christmas traditions of Ireland through a mix of music, dance, poetry, and storytelling. Born and raised in Clonakilty, Cork, O’Donovan emigrated to Boston in 1980. Six years later, he joined GBH radio and began producing a weekly radio show featuring traditional Irish music – A Celtic Sojourn. The three-hour show became a Saturday afternoon staple to GBH listeners across New England; and it made O’Donovan a beloved public figure. In 2017, then-Mayor Marty Walsh declared 14 December Brian O’Donovan…

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    Some Days The Bird

    November 13, 2022

    “On America” and Other Poems

    January 14, 2022

    Patrick Kavanagh: a Reader’s Experience

    February 10, 2022
  • Archives,  Essay,  FALL23,  Feature,  Ireland,  Literature,  Poetry,  UK,  USA

    Fall 2023 Lands

    Featuring poetry & prose from across the world, this quarterly includes new work by Mary O’Donnell, Reyzl Grace, Mark Granier, Ellen Brickley, Mary Wilkinson, and Kathleen Williamson. Read the current issue here.

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    ‘Nora’, an excerpt, as read by its author Nuala O’Connor

    May 21, 2021

    Aguisín, (“Afterword”) a Reading by Aifric Mac Aodha

    March 12, 2021

    “On America” and Other Poems

    January 14, 2022
  • Australia,  Feature,  Ireland,  Literature,  News,  Poetry,  USA

    Some Days The Bird

    Back in September, when Trasna released its Fall 2022 issue, we were delighted to include among the work a unique collaboration between American poet Heather Bourbeau and Irish-Australian poet Anne Casey. Over the course of a full year, each poet had written a poem to the other in alternating weeks. What resulted was a wonderful collection of 52 poems in conversation with each other from across the globe and seasons. You can read about the genesis for this project in an Irish Times interview. With gratitude to Heather and Anne, we include below their readings of the two poems published here in Trasna, and invite you to order their collection…

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    First Quarterly Issue of Trasna Released

    March 14, 2022

    Summer 2022 Released

    June 20, 2022

    Summer 2023 is here!

    June 28, 2023
  • Essay,  Feature,  Ireland

    Playground of the Apocalypse

    by Shane O’Neill The strand is ravaged by the storm that had raged for two days, uprooting weeds and hurling rocks huge distances along the beach. Large chunks of sand have been torn away by the sea, leaving small dunes and bunkers for us to traverse unsteadily. The sky is still a heavy grey and we have to squint through the watery haze of falling rain and fight against the fierce winds. Black clouds are reflected in the tumultuous waters and barren black mountains tower over us. Tiny mussels are clamped to these monoliths, holding on tight against the forces of nature. In this deathscape, the natural elements blend into…

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    Spring 2023 Released

    March 20, 2023

    The everyday poetry of the half-wild North-Western Irish world

    March 17, 2022

    Summer 2022 Released

    June 20, 2022
  • Essay,  Feature,  Fiction,  Ireland,  Literature,  Review

    Patrick Kavanagh: a Reader’s Experience

    by Richard Hayes For generations of Irish readers—for this one certainly—the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh is inextricably associated with Soundings, the anthology of prescribed poetry for the Leaving Certificate English curriculum that was a staple of Irish secondary education from the end of the 1960s until the mid-1990s. Edited with sensitivity and skill by the late Augustine (“Gus”) Martin, then professor of English at University College Dublin, Soundings presented the poetry curriculum for the final exam with unashamed emphasis on the texts of the poems, without recourse to illustrations or photographs or that patronising commentary that seems to dominate textbooks now. Martin in his introduction to the book speaks of…

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    Winter/Spring issue 2025 is here!

    February 10, 2025

    Spring 2023 Released

    March 20, 2023

    Summer 2022 Released

    June 20, 2022
  • Feature,  Ireland,  Literature,  Poetry

    about:blank by Adam Wyeth

    about:blank by Adam Wyeth, is a piece of writing that both defies categorization and pays homage to the great literary innovators of the 20th and early-21st century.

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    Some Days The Bird

    November 13, 2022

    Beannachtaí Trasna

    January 9, 2022

    ‘Only Connect’ – An Anthology of Poetry Written During the Pandemic

    November 6, 2021
  • Archives,  Feature,  Poetry

    “On America” and Other Poems

    Trasna is pleased to announce that poet Dan Murphy will join its team of editors. This week we feature four of his poems. Whether it’s a “rusty gate in a field of rock,” or “the cream cheese on your cheek,” Murphy explores the expansive to the intimate.

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    ‘Nora’, an excerpt, as read by its author Nuala O’Connor

    May 21, 2021

    Dairena Ní Chinnéide ~ “The Day the Blaskets were Nicked” and other poems

    March 26, 2021

    Aguisín, (“Afterword”) a Reading by Aifric Mac Aodha

    March 12, 2021
  • Feature

    Beannachtaí Trasna

    In this first post on our new website we offer a blessing to all as we enter this new year of 2022. Here, Mawie Barrett, in her specially written Celtic Druid blessing weaves together connections from Ireland to Lowell and beyond.

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    A Celtic Sojourn

    December 20, 2023

    ‘Only Connect’ – An Anthology of Poetry Written During the Pandemic

    November 6, 2021

    “On America” and Other Poems

    January 14, 2022
  • Archives,  Feature

    ‘Only Connect’ – An Anthology of Poetry Written During the Pandemic

    This week on Trasna we feature a new publication by Beir Bua Press, ‘Only Connect,’ an anthology of poetry and prose written during the pandemic and shared weekly with a group of writers on Zoom sessions led by Margaret O’Brien

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    You May Also Like

    Aguisín, (“Afterword”) a Reading by Aifric Mac Aodha

    March 12, 2021

    Fall 2023 Lands

    October 6, 2023

    ‘Nora’, an excerpt, as read by its author Nuala O’Connor

    May 21, 2021
  • Archives,  Feature,  Fiction

    Daniel Wade reads from ‘A Land Without Wolves’

    Daniel Wade, award-winning playwright, poet, essayist, and novelist, is making his second appearance in Trasna this week. Following his memorable tribute to poet Dermot Healy, last year, Dublin-born Wade has been actively pursuing his writing career and is now celebrating the release of his historical novel, A Land Without Wolves.

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    Fall 2023 Lands

    October 6, 2023

    ‘Only Connect’ – An Anthology of Poetry Written During the Pandemic

    November 6, 2021

    Aguisín, (“Afterword”) a Reading by Aifric Mac Aodha

    March 12, 2021
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