Why are the Irish such good writers? Don’t even try to argue that they aren’t. The green of envy is not the shade we’re looking for.
In related news, Seamus Heaney wins the £40,000 David Cohen prize for literary achievement.
Here’s another Irish post. Now will you put that shelaligh down?
Here’s the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem with a great Irish song that you may have heard a piece of on Hugh Hewitt this evening.
I used to do that. Not Irish music, but standing behind mikes with several friends, some of whom were playing guitars, singing for the crowd. Not in a famous way, but it was a good time in my life. Couldn’t do it anymore. My voice is gone.
I’m not sure when or how I got interested in Irish music, but it grew on me, like a potato fungus. I believe my interest in the music is what provoked me to make the narrator of my Viking books an Irishman. It was, I think, one of the few excellent choices I’ve made in my career. Father Ailill brings the novels to life in a way that would be impossible without him.
Having spent so much time “in an Irishman’s skin,” often listening to Irish music while writing, I’ve actually had moments when I found myself thinking reflexively that I was Irish. Which I’m not. Except for the (strong) likelihood that some of my ancestors were Irish slaves brought home to Norway by Vikings.
For you real Irish, have a good day, and
“May those that love us, love us.
And those that love us not, may the Lord turn their hearts.
And if He turn not their hearts, may he turn their ankles,
So we’ll know them by their limping.”
The Irish in New York
The New York State Writer’s Institute has a YouTube playlist of Irish poets, authors, and playwrights talking about their books, writing, and Ireland. I’ve listened only through Fintan O’Toole’s segment so far. It’s pretty interesting. The volume varies a bit, so you may want earphones.
Good Company
Watching for Details
Dublin poet Eamon Grennan sends us this poem about poetry, which I will only excerpt here:
“I was watching a robin fly after a finch—the smaller
chirping with excitement, the bigger, its breast blazing, silent
in light-winged earnest chase—when, out of nowhere . . . “
Don’t Be Afraid
The wildly popular blogger S.D. Smith has a list of blogging fears which land close to home. “#7 That I’ll get too big for my britches because I do a weblog which any ten-year old could do.”
S.D., that’s why you need insightful linkage and essaying like what you find here. What is this bit of silliness? Fake book covers? Funny, but what if I decide to read those books? I could be led astray by The Shaq, and would you want that on your conscience? I hear that book has heresy in it.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
As one without a drop of Irish blood that I know of, let me wish our Irish readers a blessed St. Patrick’s Day.
After all, what was it that made Ireland great?
Vikings, of course.
No need to thank me. Just send a girl who looks like Maureen O’Sullivan.
You Will Always Live in Ireland
On planting memorial trees in Ireland: “It’s remembering a life, or an event in a life, that’s the idea,” says Mary Walsh, head guide at Muckross House, where donated trees are easily accessible to visitors. “We get them for births, marriages, but often it’s the memory of a life that’s being acknowledged.”
Walsh says the trees draw a surprising number of Irish Americans. “We get some out of the blue, they want to see the trees.”
Last Act in Palmyra, by Lindsey Davis
The historical mystery is a challenging genre, calling for a lot of research, as well as a judicious balance between authenticity and audience sympathy (which can be difficult to sustain due to differences in societal attitudes).
Male heroes written by female authors are another kind of challenge. Lindsey Davis takes on both in her Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, set in the 1st Century Roman Empire.
My opinion, based on reading Last Act in Palmyra, is that she succeeds pretty well in the first challenge, not so well in the second. Continue reading Last Act in Palmyra, by Lindsey Davis
Outlook for Publishing
- A new path for writers: going to readers first under the watchful eyes of publishers. Perhaps the big houses are ghettoed in failing neighborhoods. “Crowdsourcing” could be a better business model for printing books people want to read.
- The silver lining on the cloud of publishing complaints, like more and better things to read.
- The death and life of newspapers