Jean O’Brien This week Trasna is pleased to feature a new poem by Jean O’Brien, “Rupture,” and present two other readings. Jean is an award-winning poet residing in Dublin. She was a founding member of the celebrated Dublin Writers’ Workshop, and has taught in numerous other creative writing programs. She is the author of five books of poetry: The Shadow Keeper (1997); Dangerous Dresser (2005); Lovely Legs (2009); Merman (2012), and her most recent collection, Fish On A Bicycle, New & Selected Poems. Her work explores the personal, historical, and contemporary. Collectively, these poems are a reminder that objects can speak to us in ways deeper than language; that history, no matter how ancient, lives with us still; and that poetry, that most beautiful language, can reveal…

Joe Whelan In today’s Trasna we have three poems by Clonmel writer, storyteller and farmer, Joe Whelan. In the poems below Joe brings the reader full circle, from his Uncle Davie in “My Uncle’s Coat”, and the farm at Harney’s Cross where he spent happy childhood summers, on to the experience of the young, naïve man in “Nally’s Men”, who came to work in construction in New York City in the 1980s. Finally, in “The Sheep Shearers”, we are returned to Harney’s Cross, to the farm now inherited by Joe near the Comeragh Mountains in County Waterford and the essential summer task of shearing sheep, one that demands many helping hands and knowledge…

by Mark Roper This month Trasna is featuring writers participating in Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme. Every year, 22 emerging writers are selected for the program in the areas of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, children’s/YA fiction, and poetry. Each are paired with mentors. Featured this week is poet Mark Roper, who acted as a mentor in the 2019 Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme. Here is how he understands his role as a mentor to writers: Mentoring I have worked as a teacher of creative writing for some 30 years. I worked mainly with adult education classes, but I have worked in many different settings, with many different age groups. Indeed my joke was…

by Billy Fenton This month Trasna is featuring writers participating in Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme. Every year, 22 emerging writers are selected for the program in the areas of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, children’s/YA fiction, and poetry. Each are paired with mentors. Featured this week is poet Billy Fenton. On participating in Words Ireland, he writes: “I had the privilege of working with Mark Roper over the last eight months, under the Words Ireland National Mentoring programme. As well as enhancing my craft, he gently pushed me to listen more intently to my internal voice, the one that I sometimes don’t want to hear.” BILLY FENTON on Trasna and the thematic connections with his…

by Martina Dalton June 5, 2020 This month Trasna is featuring writers participating in Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme. Every year, 22 emerging writers are selected for the program in the areas of literary fiction, creative non-fiction, children’s/YA fiction, and poetry. Each are paired with mentors. Featured this week is poet Martina Dalton. On participating in Words Ireland, she writes: “I was very honoured to receive a mentorship with the Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme in 2019. The mentoring partnership with poet Enda Wyley, gave me the confidence to make bolder, braver decisions. The support was invaluable.” Martina Dalton’s exquisite poetry portrays the balance of nature and emotion until the tranquility erupts with the insight of…