Massive Attack : Splitting The Atom




I'm loving this beautiful cover image by Robert Del Naja (aka 3D from Massive Attack) for the Bristol group's upcoming Splitting The Atom EP. If you like your beats moody, spaced and treacle-dub-dark, a new release from the godfathers of Trip Hop is always an event. While the Bristol duo have a pretty established formula by now, they always seem to bring something new to the mix and their choice of guest vocalists is usually inspired.

This EP features Guy Garvey from Elbow, Tunde Adebimpe from TV On The Radio and ex-Tricky collaborator Martina Topley-Bird and serves as a taster for the new album, due early in 2010.

I like what I've heard so far and I lurv that image. Unsurprisingly, Del Naja has been painting longer than he's been a musician, having been wellknown as a graffiti artist before getting involved in music. The image reminds me a little of another graffito-done-good whose work I keep going back to, the tragic Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Alackaday : JG Ballard RIP



“Twenty years ago no one could have imagined the effects the Internet would have: entire relationships flourish, friendships prosper…there’s a vast new intimacy and accidental poetry, not to mention the weirdest porn. The entire human experience seems to unveil itself like the surface of a new planet.”

JG Ballard, 15 Nov 1930 – 19 April 2009, RIP

** UPDATE ** There's a nice review of the man and his work by Irish writer Patrick Chapman over at Eyewear.

Walker Books : The Story in the Picture



THE leading children's book publisher Walker Books and The Reading Centre at The Church of Ireland Collegeof Education come together to present The Story in the Picture, a day of conversations about making picture books, featuring Patrick Benson, Bruce Ingman and our very own Niamh Sharkey, accompanied by Deirdre McDermott and Lizzie Spratt from Walker Books.

The event takes place this Saturday 25th April 2009, from 9.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. at the Reading Centre at The Church of Ireland College of Education, 96 Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin 6.

This sounds like a really great opportunity to get below the skin of the processes involved in creating picture books.
The speakers are all seriously talented individuals, and very experienced in their field. While the emphasis might seem to be on illustration, it's bound to be of use to writers who are interested in this area too.

The cost is a very reasonable €35 (students €20) to include coffee/tea and lunch. Click here for a flyer about the event or contact vcoghlan@cice.ie or telephone 01 4970033 for further information.

The Heaney Factor : Snipe and Awe

I'll try to make this the last Heaney-themed post for a while - but there's a couple of interesting tidbits related to the man's work which have recently popped up online.

One of those pesky lit-scraps is blossoming nicely over at The Jacket, where poet Jeffrey Side takes issue with comments made by Heaney regarding perceptions of the 'avante-garde'. Sides sees this as revealing Heaney's sensitivities to criticism of his own poetic as being ' ...distinctly old-fashioned, a sort of neo-Georgian retrogressive "poetic" utterance.'

Needless to say, there are plenty of alternate points of view, resulting in a growing body of response to Side's article, with contributions from Jamie McKendrick, Todd Swift and our own, ever-fluent, Desmond Swords among others.

In counterpoint, Mark Thwaite has a short interview with Dennis O'Driscoll about Stepping Stones - his book of interviews with Heaney - over at The Book Depository (a great online bookstore, just in the middle of a major overhaul).

Doherty Does Dublin




So the Babyshambler himself turned up (whatever about on) and delighted his Dublin Liberteenies with a display of detached dissolution. Pete Doherty was in town last Friday, to visit TCD's Philosophical Society and made an appearance on the Late Late Show. Much discussion online about the resulting shenanigans (or lack thereof). Whatever about Doherty, Pat Kenny seems to have come off as wooden and misguided as ever - without the aid of any chemical handicaps whatsoever?

But there's an interesting article by Peter Murtagh in today's Irish Times which relates how his teenage son was enthralled by Doherty, to the point of digging (out) some Yeats, and even a bit of Wilde. It brought to mind those comments that Seamus Heaney made about Eminem a few years back.

Now, I share a reasonably common view that Doherty is a mediocre talent 'bigged up' by the UK celeb machine. He's obviously got charisma and ability - as well as a serious dependency problem. I just can't see him as some kind of cross between Bowie and Baudelaire for our hollow age.

Yet it seems he's capable of firing genuine enthusiasm and inspiration in his youthful admirers - hopefully encouraging literate curiousity rather than narcotic. Is this a good thing, I wonder? Or does it simply re-affirm certain (misconceptions?) and stereotypes of the poetic personality - and not just in teenagers?

EDIT: There's an edited transcript of Doherty's interview at TCD now online at the Irish Times. Not particularly inspirational or anything - but quite 'funny old rock'n'roll' in parts, whether intentional or otherwise, e.g;

"I’ve bought a book about the psychology of cats, trying to get inside their heads, but they just piss on the duvet. They don’t care."

if it's Tuesday, this must be the Internet?


Harsh Expletive! It’s been a Hell of a few weeks. Good Hell mostly, I guess. But some suspicously tart, gritty bits that may have been Bad Hell mixed in there too. Hence lack of posts. Hello. Good to be back!
 
Highlight of my absence was a trip to London with herself and the eldest offspring. Taking in Rothko, Meireles (soooo good!), Frieze Art Fair, Bacon and the Turner Prize exhibits was an uncommon treat, as we spend most of our days rooted (routed?) to the various local grooves of work, school, family in this here parish of the auld sod. No Celtic Tiger pondhoppers we. Bizarrely, we’ve travelled more since the poor creature started sneezing and looking decidedly dizzy than at any time while the nation soared on the hot air of its carnivore breath. Good! I like a slice of contrary every now and then. Here’s a toast to all the financial guano that’s been sprayed fanwards over the last while – may it nourish the roots of a whole new perspective. As if! But we can live in hope, can’t we? Yes we can.
 
A few things then, just to catch up;
 
Boyne Berries 4 was launched in Trim, Co Meath recently. A fine selection of work includes one of my own poems, Evening Recital. Personal favourites include Accident, by Mary Rose Callan,  Bayardelle, Scent of the Faculty, by Landa Wo, and Good Friday Planting by Shirley McClure (which you can read here).
 
Brian Friel's version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, continues its run at The Gate. Check out my review (of sorts) over at the Evening Herald’s HQ magazine.
 
Also, the second annual Poem-a-Day challenge is in full swing over on the forum at Poetry Ireland’s website throughout November. Why not pop over and join the outpouring of poesy? Last year, the challenge of writing and posting a poem every 24 hours did wonders for beating the crap out of my inner censor/slash/editor, who has since moved to Alaska in search of a new client, who needs the ermmm....restraint..
 
Finally, it’s wintertime (or daylight savings time, depending where you’re reading this). That came quickly!  So here’s a poem to mark the glooming;
 

Equilibrium
 
Grey days are here again
I dress in the half-light
Discovering at lunch
That I’m wearing odd socks
 
Still, the day’s half gone
And no harm done
I’ll relish each further step
Secretly out of kilter

© PJ Nolan 2008

Byrne and Eno : Its-a Happening (again)

.


Well whadyaknow - those erstwhile mavericks of the New Wave are now quite middle-aged. Hasn't stopped them getting back together to do the collaboration hustle. Good thing? Bad thing? Thing Thing!

I've quite a soft spot for their 1981 album 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'. Along wih whale sounds, The Cramps and The Goon Show, it brings me back to the hazy basement rooms of my studenthood. A hugely influential album, this new one (with its Miranda July-ish title) isn't really along those lines, but these two particularly crispy heads are always going to bring some sonic sparks to the equation - so check it, Brethren (Sisters too!) There's a free download of the warmly funky track Strange Overtones waiting for you!

Byrne and Eno : Its-a Happening (again)

.

Well whadyaknow - those erstwhile mavericks of the New Wave are now quite middle-aged. Hasn't stopped them getting back together to do the collaboration hustle. Good thing? Bad thing? Thing Thing!

I've quite a soft spot for their 1980 album 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'. Along wih whale sounds, The Cramps and The Goon Show, it brings me back to the hazy basement rooms of georgian houses, back when I first to entered studenthood. A hugely influential album, this new one (with its Miranda July-ish title) can't really be anything along those lines, but these two particularly crispy heads are always going to have some sonic sparks to bring to the equation, so check it! Here! The whole album is streaming for your listening pleasure and there's one track available as a free download (once you submit yopur email address to the cybermephisto).

Elsewhereabouthese(p)arts

Some interesting browses of recent days;

Over on the Guardian Arts blog, Billy Mills welcomed the arrival of Lughnasa in particular and Autumn in general with a call for posts of Autumn poems - which quickly led to the usual syndrome of blog commentators picking a tangent and engaging in hostilities thereon. This time its about obscenity or violence of language and imagery in Art, no less. Some tasty poems scattered in there though - and the thread is still growing!

***

Expat Hungarian poet & translator George Szirtes' blog is consistently thought-provoking, always worth a visit and a couple of recent posts, springing from his recent trip to his birthplace, Budapest, stood out. But there's no shortage of great stuff here, from his trademark dry humour to more sombre commentary. Just excellent!

***

Meanwhile, over on Polyolbion, Matt Merritt has a good review of Happenstance stablemate James W Wood's recent collection, Inextinguishable. It's a cracking collection, which I hope to review here myself soon. One distinguishing feature is the fact that it's illustrated - students of Edinburgh College of Art interpreted his work, to mixed effect. This is an area that interests me - but it's rare to see a really successful collaboration of this kind. In that regard, I feel this book isn't quite there. However, the poems themselves are fine! Some of the artwork is fine too, but together - I'm not so sure?

***

Finally, over at the Irish Times, I see Aidan Dunne had also previously reviewed the I Can / Can I ? exhibition which features on the post below. He's a bit more emphatic in his take, where I found myself a little less moved - more bemused really. To be fair, I think that's part of this particular exhibit's intention. Anyhoo, who cares what the feckin' critics think - get in there yourself!

Dispatches

Written back in late 2007, but seems appropriate to the current Irish climates;

***

Dispatches

This morning, the patio is a chessboard
Drained of fight, a low contrast
Truce of gritty concrete squares

Slick under furniture pieces disarrayed;
Mouldering victims of a thuggish midnight squall.
Brick red when first assembled, inclemency
Has shrunk their ersatz teak to oldbone grey.

I know they've reached the rotting stage.

The last time they were used, not one
But two seats rent that sunny afternoon,
Their rundles detonating under laden
Celtic tiger arses, ambushed.

***

This poem featured, along with a few others, in issue 2 of Polluto - the 'Apocalypses and Garden Furniture' issue. Now there's a theme and a half - and how bizarre that I actually had a poem which fit nicely!

Summer Reading 2 : Some Journals

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks since getting back from hols. Any headway I made in my summer reading has bottlenecked somewhat. However, before what passes for summer these days has flown, here are a few journals whose summer issues I've been stuck into;

The Stinging Fly

The Summer 2008 issue of The Stinging Fly lives up to its now well-established reputation. The regular 'First Passions' feature, where writers discuss their early reading influences, features Vona Groarke, whose recollections range from the first book she ever owned, aged five (or six) to the 'full force gale' of individual poems. There's the usual rigorous selection of innovative new prose - a Stinging Fly trademark by now - alongside a very healthy mix of original poetry. Featured poet Grace Wells exhibits an artful whimsy over seven poems. Reviews include Tom Mathews investigating Wendy Cope's newest collection and Yvonne Cullen absorbing Harry Clifton’s extremely well-received Secular Eden: Paris Notebooks 1994 -2004, among others. The highlight for me is an astonishing story by Desmond Hogan, a writer who has been in the news for less salubrious achievements of late. To simply call 'Old Swords' a story seems understated. This writing is a congealed amalgamation of reference and insight, with innocuous detail and character reminiscence layering and shifting to eventually conflagrate a human life, in all its tawdry hopes and limitations. Fascinating technique!

The Dublin Review

Another journal with impeccable editorial credentials here, the only bum note for this reader being a rather dry essay referencing Henry James - 'On Style and Freedom'. Worthy, no doubt - but perhaps a shade too academic for this slight intellect. Much more satisfactory were two (very) short stories by Kevin Casey, Maurice Walsh's squint into Salvadoran street gangs and a wonderfully evocative trip to Inishbofin in the company of Tim Robinson. Brian Dillon also provides a fascinating perusal of the various manifestations of Marcel Duchamp's 'ready-mades' - somewhat of a misnomer, as Duchamp, cute hoor that he was, held a 'flexible' approach to his own manifestos on what constituted an 'objet d'art'.

Crannóg 18

Bookending the covers with striking images by Jaber Lufti, the summer 2008 issue of Crannóg is crammed full of fine poems and some pretty good prose too! Standouts for me include poems by Fred Johnston, Deborah Moffat, Nicholas Messenger and Maureen Gallagher. My own poem 'A Piece' features here too, bringing the issue to a close on page 57. Thanks for the selection, people!

Pen Pusher 10

I've mentioned before that Pen Pusher is one of the more handsomely produced journals, and this issue is well up to the usual standard in all areas, with a cover illustration by Richard Short - who also contributes a story inside! It's hard to define the editorial policy at work here - but the result is a very classy selection of clean, crisp writing - to match the design perhaps? ;-) Peter Higgins writes on Elmore Leonard, that crime writer beloved by Hollywood. Elsewhere there's striking story 'My Stalker' from Pia Chatterjee, a little madness from Sir Charles Maxwell-House and a couple of somewhat surreal poems from Leah Armstead and Heather Phillipson. Still have to finish reading this one! BTW Pen Pusher have come up with an inspired way for supporters to sponsor their production costs by donating 2p per page - so for a quid you can sponsor a whole issue and get mentioned by name ....unlike us poor loyal subscribers then ;-)

Fiddledy Diddledy Deeeeelicious!

I had the pleasure of attending the opening event of TRADITION:DL (Dun Laoghaire festival of traditional music) last friday. We were treated to a rare solo performance by fiddle virtuoso Paddy Glackin. Glackin is the real deal - a dyed-in-the-wool virtuoso, whose range and deftness were given an airing on the full gamut of jigs, reels and slower airs. On the slower passages, the full range of the instrument's expression was brought to bear in the hands of an obvious master of his art. Some of the other 'tunes' brought out my inner contrarion. (Please bear with me here). Not having been brought up in one of those classic trad-filled environments, I sometimes find the emphasis on 'tunes' in trad a bit chafing. To my (admittedly untutored) ears - the difference between one 'tune' and another can often seem minimal. I must own up to a bit of a knee-jerk rebeliousness when po-faced tradsters talk reverently of newly composed 'tunes'. More often, the composition in question seems to to comprise of inverting a triplet here or transposition of a couple of notes there, when compared to the another 'tune'. Unlike Rhapsody in Blue, for example, much trad stuff is more of a repetitive motif for leppin' around to, no? OK, I'll put my hands up - my name is PJ and I'm a trad dullard! Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed Glackin - just found myself mulling those aspects of 'trad' that irk me during the interval.

After that came the highlight of the evening for me. Spiers & Boden are a couple of young men who are to the forefront of a New Folk revival that seems to be sweeping along nicely in the UK. Also members of Bellowhead and previously part of Eliza Carthy's entourage, these guys know their stuff, have the credentials to prove it, but also display an irreverant attitude and willingness to entertain that often seems lacking in our homegrown folkies. I know, I know - English Folk isn't 'pure' (like ours?). It's all based on dodgy 'revivalism' and nostalgia innit? F*ck that. This was a vibrant and energetic performance of new music that knows (and feeds) its roots. Admittedly, in embracing experimental influences, Carthy et al can sometimes verge on pop music with a folk tinge - but that's no bad thing. Why shouldn't folk music also be popular music? These guys deliver - buy the album - or better still catch them live!

Anyway - a great double bill to kick off this wee festival, more power to its elbow. I'd have loved to make it along to 'The Frost is All Over' on the Saturday night - Dermot Bolger's collaboration with Tony Mac Mahon - but didn't make it back from Belfast in time. Anybody who was there care to fill me in?

The future of poetry magazines

Interesting article over on the Guardian Arts blog. "A whole new generation of poetry magazines is emerging," claims Todd Swift, Oxfam poet in residence and editor of the online anthology, Nth Position. Some interesting debate in the comments too!

Blogspotting!

A quick runaround some of my current online haunts reveals:

A NICE OVERVIEW OF CÚIRT on Nuala Ní Chonchúir's blog.

A RUNDOWN OF THE WINNERS of the Hennessy New Irish Writing Awards ( including links to shortlisted work) over on the Emerging Writer blog.

A NICE MIX OF POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY on Mark Granier's Lightbox blog.

Patrick Chapman's fourth poetry collection A SHOPPING MALL ON MARS is out now!

UK poet Matt Merritt blogging about his new collection TROY TOWN.

All well worth a gander!

Penpusher 9 - The Bees' Nibs!

Whoooop! Just received my copy of Penpusher magazine, issue 9 in the post, and it's a thing of beauty! Beautiful layout & typography throughout, crisp black text and snappy two colour cover on high white uncoated stock with a nice bit of weight - all perfectbound into the definitive 'slim volume'. Full credit for immaculate design to Hape Mueller. In Googling for the designer's website (which I couldn't find!) I came across this bizarrely interesting tidbit, crediting Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson for the magazine's distinctive logo! What a small, funky world it can be.

Anyways, on first skim, the editorial control and overall content well merits the very high production standards and I'm chuffed indeed that my poem 'Salthill, Monkstown' features alongside some quality material in this issue. Thanks Penpushers, you've made me week!!!

Multitasking Creativity?


'A way with words and a gift for illustration rarely inhabit same brain.' Is the theme of an article by John Keenan over on the Guardian Arts Blog. Do you agree? I don't think so. The fact is that many writers, visual artists and indeed, musicians display talent to a high level across a number of these creative roles.
Dr. Seuss, Hunter S Thompson, Miranda July and Dorothy Molloy come to mind.

The initial surge of creative expression, however, traditionally needs to be focussed in order to achieve outstanding results in any given discipline. This may result from the closely academic principles applied in 'linear' career development of artistic 'job descriptions' to date.

It is quite possible that we may yet see a new generation of 'renaissance artists' emerge from the cross-fertilisation of disciplines resulting from convergence technologies.

Remember, until relatively recently, many lauded creators weren't always fulltime, professional artists. Many lived a professional life that required energies, skills and commitments separate to their artistic pursuits. One benefit of new technologies is that these could now be brought to bear to make progress more efficiently in a number of disciplines?

Zadie a picky Lady?





Still looking towards the UK, there's been quite a bit of a furore over the decision by the judging panel of this year's Willesden Herald International Short Story competition not to present any prize this year. According to a blog post by judge Zadie Smith "We could not find the greatness we'd hoped for," and which goes on to say "It's for this reason that we have decided not to give out the prize this year."

The announcement has led to mixed reactions - plenty of disappointed entrants and other critics of the decision. But there's also some degree of support for the perceived upholding of literary standards.

It does seem odd that out of 800 entries, none was deemed of sufficient quality to win - especially when a shortlist of 10 had been compiled - but I guess it can happen.

I didn't enter, and may not have the chance now, seeing as the organisers have decided to donate this years prize to comic relief and wind up the competition! A bit of a shame what with the 'no such thing as bad publicity' factor at work.

Ah well, It's a funny old world. (Funny peculiar, that is).

2007 Plough Prize Winners



Over in the UK the results of the 2007 Plough Prize were announced earlier this week. You can see the winning poems and some comments by the judge, UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, over on the website. The quality seems very high and this may reflect the fact that the competition offers a high level of respect to all poets who enter.

EVERY poem entered got a tickbox critique, and for a small extra fee, a full critique is also available. I like this! Most poetry competitions have a stated aim to support and encourage poets – but the offer of even limited critique is rarely on offer. Sending work (along with the usual ‘entry’ fee) only to have it disappear into a limbo, unless one of a handful of prizewinners, can at times be more dispiriting than encouraging!

I can understand the administrative issues involved in providing a critique service – but even offering the option for a small additional cost would be a welcome development in many cases. I hope to see this becoming more the norm over time.

Meantime enjoy the poems – I particularly enjoyed Still Life by Alex Porter. Thanks to Matt at Polyolbion for bringing this to my attention.

Happenstance – well happening!













I came across the poetry chapbook publisher Happenstance Press a little while back, through the unlikely channels of ...yes, it's true... another blog!

Matt Merritt is a fine UK poet, based near Leicester. A keen birder (twitcher, avian maven, what-have-you) his work is a real find. He writes with a naturalist’s eye on the beauty of rural environments, peopled with dignified species (including our own!). His painterly landscapes resonate with earthed rhythms in poems such as The Creek and Walking The Horseshoe. But the real pay-off, for me, is the keen regard he brings to human relationships, in precisely crafted pieces like Directors Cut, To Be Honest and Twitch. He keeps an excellent blog and is well published at this stage, with a collection due out this year. His chapbook Making the Most of The Light is published by and available from Happenstance Press.
Primarily a poetry publisher, Happenstance also runs a short story competition and you can order their pamphlet containing the first, second and third place stories along with one commended story, from their online shop. The stand-out piece for me was the story Going Out by Katy Darby. I won’t say where it came in the placings, but for a measly £3 + p&p you can find out yourself – money well spent! In the light of the apparently haphazard cuts in Arts Council England funding, small UK publishers like this need the support of punters more than ever. Why not do your bit and buy a title or two. Better still, take out a subscription to their regular journal Sphinx, which generally contains a variety of insightful articles on the vagaries of publishing poetry by folks at the coalface.

Of the titles I’ve bought so far, the standard of both content and design make spending a few quid well worth while. Check it out (and order Matt’s chapbook while you’re at it).

There are plenty of Irish poetry publishers who produce the goods in difficult and far-from-wealth-generating circumstances too – so don’t forget Lapwing Poetry, Salmon Poetry and Daedelus to name but a few. For the price of a mediocre bottle of wine you could give your spirit a kick that may still be intoxicating and inspiring many years from now!

Man Booker Woman!



Well now, there's a turn-up for the Booker! Congratulations to Anne Enright on her well-deserved win. Genuine surprise and joy is infectious and there's definitely a spring in the step round here this bright, clear autumn day.

You can view Enright's post-awards BBC interview here.

Much discussion, online and elsewhere, about the perceived merits or otherwise of the judges' decision. Quite a few fans of Nicola Barker's Darkmans seem particularly disappointed. However, I guess that's the nature of these competitions.

There's a somewhat churlish article over on the Guardian Arts blog, whose writer isn't a fan of the winner. And much of the criticism seems to be aimed at the 'familiar' nature of the subject matter. My own take is that it can be seen as all the braver to head back upstream into familiar territory (well-travelled for good reason) in order to attempt to prise core truths from abeyant material by.....wait for it....the writing?

You might also enjoy a short interview from before the announcement by Sinead Gleeson with Enright over on her Sigla blog.

I'm delighted by the judges' choice. I hope many, many more people read The Gathering as a result and increase their enjoyment of, and appetite for, fine writing.

Anyways, Well done Anne.

In the words of the poet "G'wan ye good thing!".