Having spent the first 15 years of my life in Magherafelt I was delighted to learn of the upcoming On Home Ground Poetry Festival which will take place in the town in September. I will subsequently leave the north coast to return to my home soil on September 20 and am looking forward to immersing […]

Everybody knows it’s almost time as sound men make their final checks and wheel the baby grand  sleek, black – poised to centre stage, amid background bubbling of expectant, festival-soaked chatter flavoured with paint and crochet, chips, cheap beer and marinated words   A hat and a pint of Guinness and cheers as the stage […]

The weekend just past saw Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady come alive with the sounds and sights of the 2013 Stendhal Festival , which saw myriad musicians, artists and entertainers take to a variety of platforms for two heady days of fun. The family festival has become increasingly popular with each passing year, this being […]

‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ – Samuel Beckett Rather fittingly, this quote began the second of the creative writing classes I took last autumn at Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart with writer Damian Gorman. I say fittingly, as I just recently booked a ticket to hear Winona Ryder read […]

Day Four The JHISS was brought right up to date on day four of the Summer School when Dr Paul Nolan, research director on the NI Peace Monitoring Report, took to the stage to discuss ‘Aspects of the Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report’. Peace, he said, meant different things to different people: a sense of […]

Day Two As a Coleraine Borough Council bursary holder at this year’s JHISS, I was pleased to see many from the borough in attendance throughout the week, although not too surprised, given that the personal library and literary archive of the poet can be found within the John Hewitt Collection at Coleraine’s University of Ulster. […]

Having missed posting last week and, given the wealth of infomation I have to convey from the JHISS, today brings the second blog of the week and I have decided to summarise my creative writing workshop experience at the Summer School! As a bursary holder at the JHISS, I had the option of attending one […]

Last week saw the 26th John Hewitt International Summer School take place in Armagh and I, along with myriad other writers, soaked up the vast array of talent brought together for everyone to enjoy in five delightful days. As I wrote in my report to the JHS this weekend, the word ‘school’ is not to […]

Having finally completed the tedious submission process for my novel, the last week and a half has been spent busily covering various editions at the newspaper where I work, so next week’s imminent journey to Armagh for the 26th John Hewitt Summer School is now even more eagerly anticipated! Amongst those who will be speaking […]

Hot on the heels of last week’s wonderful news regarding the John Hewitt Summer School bursary, I was delighted to receive another invitation for coffee with Ulster Scots bard, Wilson Burgess, in Coleraine. It’s always a pleasure to chat with fellow writers and, as I said before, Wilson is very encouraging in this respect! Whilst […]