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
New Wallace and Gromit Coming Soon
“Wallace And Gromit – A Matter Of Loaf And Death” will soon be released in the UK on DVD. Don’t know about the US. There’s a PC game to be released this month too.
Isolated… enemy closing in… send help…
Due to what the customer service guy called “line problems,” my internet connectivity at home is gone today. You’ll know when it’s back up, because I’ll post again.
Update, Monday p.m.: I’m online again.