I love travelling, writing, sparkling things, happy dogs and grumpy owners, garlic mayo, my family and my friends who understand me and me them.
My name is Rozz Lewis and I live in Carlow.
You can contact me at rozzlewis@gmail.com or @rozzlewis on twitter
My blog is made up of personal ramblings and any resemblance to you or anything you know is unintentional.
Rozz.ie
Open Public Meeting to discuss a National Strategy on Literature
Irish Writers’ Centre, Monday, July 2nd at 8pm
The Literature Sector is facing enormous change and enormous uncertainty at this time. If the whole sector does not rise to this challenge, we may find that the infrastructure and conditions that nurtured the art in the past have been seriously eroded. The Literature Sector includes writers, readers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, administrators whose organisations deliver vital services, everyone who has a stake in this complex process of delivering the written word, with its inter-related, inter-dependent factors.
This is a caucus-style meeting with an open agenda, and has been called by Jack Harte, Chairman of the Irish Writers’ Centre, and member of the Steering Committee of the National Campaign for the Arts, whose discussion document, Towards a National Strategy on Literature was circulated to politicians before the last election, and is worth reading before the meeting. It is envisaged that such Caucus meetings will be called at regular intervals, convened and hosted by other organisations and in countrywide locations, in order to hone a comprehensive approach to the problems that face the sector.
Items for discussion will be prepared beforehand, but items of importance to anyone in the audience can be raised from the floor.
Louise O’Reilly, National Coordinator of the National Campaign for the Arts, will attend and give a resume of the active campaign being conducted on behalf of the whole Arts community. It is essential that the Literature Sector becomes more involved in the National Campaign, and we will have some discussion on this too.
(Source:Irish Writers Centre)
Carlow Writers’ Co-operative group is based in the town of Carlow. We meet every 2 weeks in the Teach Dolmen, in a very atmospheric bar upstairs. We all bring a piece or two of work with a copy for each member to read along. Afterwards, feedback is encouraged and we have some lively but helpful debates!
We take a break from the meetings over the summer months and this year we culminated the writing year with a reading of our work for the Eigse Arts Festival. Carlow County Libraries had approached us and asked us to work with a scriptwriter, Ken Bourke. We met him each week for 6 weeks and he stimulated us to write about objects like metal, fire and water. Towards the end, we began to prepare for the reading. Most of the writing group had not read their work in public but each and everyone did a fabulous job! On the night, we had a wine reception and a visit from the local paper’s journalist.
I’ve put together a couple of tips for those of you who want to try this in their own writing group. i hope they help you and make you read and write the best you can!
- Perform-A reading is a performance, so to speak. Remember, your audience are using their auditory learning style now so vary your tone and pace.
- Practice-practice reading your piece in front of a mirror and with a live person.
- Prepare-visit the venue beforehand, checking for sound and how it will carry to the back of the room. We made sure that the writing group were all interspersed throughout the audience. We were very fortunate that we had a full food buffet and wine, tea, etc. even a mug of tea and chocolate digestives are a treat to you and the audience.
- Dress-A gentle reminder to each of the writing group reminded us that this was a professional and important event. The audience deserve the best and most attractive reader! Make an effort, dress up and glitz up!
- Programme-It’s a good idea to write a simple letter and list of readers taking part. This gives the audience something to focus on as it’s hard to listen for an hour! Make sure you mention your sponsors!
- Introductions and breaks-Have a couple of lines to introduce your piece/s. Don’t just launch into them as the audience will have no context. If you are reading 2 or more pieces, stop for a few seconds to signify the end of the first piece.Then, introduce the next piece.
- Applause! Wait for applause. Some of the audience started clapping after one of our writer’s first story, which was unexpected! Take it in and enjoy it!
- Look up and smile-Look up at your audience at various points throughout the reading. Connect with them, this will keep their attention.
- Facilitator-Try to get someone to open up the evening, we had the Head librarian introduce us and Ken introduced each of the writers in between. This makes it really professional and keeps your audience focussed.
- Your writing-This is the most important thing, in my opinion. Make sure your writing has been checked and edited. You want to read and look the best you can but you also want to write the best piece you can. That is the aim of the reading. Get your best stuff out there!
I felt very down after my reading was over. It had been such a great experience to be involved in and I felt proud of all of us for reading our most personal creative writing. So, we are aiming for another reading and anthology next year! We will possibly learn more the next time. I’d love to hear from you if you have given a reading and have some tips to share.
Rozz Lewis
Today, the Irish Writers’ Centre will begin their attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “Most authors reading consecutively from their own work”. If you haven’t seen it, check out the programme here. The Irish Writers’ Centre will be open to all those wishing to attend, but if you can’t be part of the physical audience, you can still be part of the virtual one. The LIVE STREAM of Read For The World that will begin at 10am (Irish time) today, June 15th. If it doesn’t work, use this link: http://dub.qtelmedia.com/writersEvent/. Thanks to liveoneveryscreen.com for their help and broadcast support. If you have any questions or queries, please call us at the Centre on (01) 8721302
This post was scheduled using future tweets, a handy way to schedule your posts before a set time. http://futuretweets.com/
Essentials of Writing Fiction workshopwith Claire Keegan & Viv McDade
This workshop will run in The Millrace Hotel, Bunclody
On July 14 & 15, 2012.
It will incorporate lectures and discussions, audio clips and movie scenes, group and individual writing exercises. Participants will read sample texts which illustrate specific characteristics of well and poorly written fiction. Short examples, handouts and reading recommendations will be provided.
Participants will be asked to write an opening page before they come to the workshop. This page will not be reviewed: its purpose is to give you an understanding of some of the difficulties in getting started and to provide a piece of ‘raw material’ to which you can apply (both during and after the workshop) some of what you have learned.
The workshop will begin at 10h00 and conclude at approximately 16h00 on both days. A booking can be made by sending an e-mail (with Essentials of Fiction Workshop in the subject field) and your telephone number to ckworkshops@yahoo.co.uk The €250.00 workshop fee covers tuition & tea/coffee only.
Your tutors:
Claire Keegan grew up in Wicklow and studied English and Politics at Loyola University, New Orleans. Her debut collection of stories, Antarctica, was a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year and won The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. The second collection, Walk the Blue Fields, was published to huge critical acclaim and was chosen by Richard Ford as his book of the year in 2007. Foster won the Davy Byrnes Award, was published in The New Yorker and shortlisted for the Kerry Fiction Prize for Irish Fiction, 2011. Claire has also earned an outstanding reputation as a teacher of creative writing. She lives in rural Ireland.
Viv McDade was born in Ireland, grew up in Zimbabwe and lived in South Africa and The Netherlands before returning to Ireland. An English and Psychology Honours graduate, she was Head of English Department at Hillside Teacher Training College in Zimbabwe, before moving into management and consultant roles in South African and European organisations. After her return to Ireland she completed an M.Phil in Creative Writing at Trinity College. Her stories have been read on radio and published in literary journals and anthologies, including the 2011 Faber Book of New Irish Short Stories, edited by Joseph O’Connor. In April 2012 she received the Hennessey Emerging Fiction award for 2011. She lives in Dublin and is working on a collection of short stories.
Getting ready for open-air concert in potato square, carlow tonight for eigse opening!
Eigse carlow are doing some cool stuff this year…we’ve got these amazing pop up shops all over the town. Buzz’s Bar is turning into an art gallery today. A big opening at 7 featuring art, wine, music and random celebs….
Eigse carlow arts festival opens today with a bit of roller skating in Visual, Carlow. Everything can be done in principle is an art commission by Brian Duggan… Where you can enter a world that is private and public… Thats what I’m told! Eigse opens tonight with a huge party in the park, open air concert, art exhibition, wine reception and nice food(again, so I’m told!)
Come hear me read a couple of stories and my first attempt at poetry!
Our group, the Carlow Cooperative Writers’ Group have been working hard! In association and supported by the Carlow Library and Eigse Carlow Festival, we have nearly completed a series of workshops with Ken Bourke.
On Tuesday, 12th June at 6:30 in Carlow Library, we will read 2 of our pieces to an audience(we hope!)
Afterwards, we take the literary chat to the very literary Carlovian pub, Teach Dolmen. There will be a great range of genres, content, style amongst the flash fiction, short stories and poetry.
Oh, and the very lovely Mr. Lewis will be reading his stuff too!
Yipee!
The Moth magazine and big poetry competition
Ballymaloe cookery school is sponsoring international poetry comp with magazine, the Moth. Win €5000 plus 2 b and b in Ballymaloe. Check out www.themothmagazine.com
New things to read!
I asked the nice book lady in Hodges Figgis bookshop where I might find the Irish Short Story section. I shouldn’t have as I became overwhelmed by all the books I can buy! I narrowed it down to 2. Eilis ni Dhuibhne’s “The shelter of neighbours” and Mary Costello “The China Factory”
I had consumed Kevin Barry’s 2 short story collections and needed some new Irish fiction to keep me going.
“the shelter of neighbours” is Eilis Ni Dhuibhne’s 6th short story collection, I am a complete-ish newbie to all of this. Having finished an English and classics degree in UCD and having typical student priorities, I know I have missed out on some brilliant stuff so…I’m taking my time now!
Eilis’ first story is called “The man who has no story” the title being a reference to an old Irish folk tale of a man who…didn’t have a story! Anyway, this short story is about a teacher, Finn of creative writing who doesn’t have a a story, doesn’t have a marriage, happy life but deserves it. Well, I think he does. He wants to write but can’t. His life is a blur of dreams, a narky wife with a back problem, an adult son who sleeps all day and…rats invade his house. The ending is crafted well, Finn drives by a sign on the road and it just leaves us with a bit of hope…
