Some upcoming magazine and ezine deadlines for September and October

What better way to motivate yourself to write this autumn than a glimpse of a few  upcoming deadlines? Here are a few magazine and ezines with submission periods now open. They are also lovely to read.

Hugh Doherty, History Man

Hugh Doherty called to the house yesterday, bringing a gift of the third book in the History Links project, 'Forging Friendships'. Although I have many books waiting in the 'to read' pile, this went instantly to the top and I finished it in one sitting.

I am so grateful to Hugh, because I enjoyed the book enormously and recommend it to anyone with an interest in Donegal and the North-West, and the way of life lived here during the mid-20th century.

In short, evocative chapters, the people who lived through these times remember, recall and recreate their past..their work, their education, their beliefs, their adventures. It is full of lovely photographs as well. Hugh himself contributes a chapter about the gardening work he did at Drumhalla House, Rathmullan when Lady Margaret Stewart owned the property. My aunt worked there for the previous owner, General Bush. (I wrote 'Shadows of the Big House' about this for RTE's Sunday Miscellany; see the section of this blog that links to our work online.)

Donegal is full of stories. As writers and readers, we are privileged to listen to each other and celebrate lives such as these. Hugh was attentive to my 93-year-old father's story, spending a happy afternoon at home with us last year. He was a patient and appreciative listener. It is a comforting memory, as my father died only months later. Hugh celebrates and cherishes the history of his own family, known to all around here as the Bankers, on his website http://www.dohertybanker.com/ It is well worth a look if you have connections with the Rathmullan area, as he covers a lot of historical and geographical ground.

You can read more about the History Links project on their website here

Roald Dahl Day

Today is Roald Dahl Day everybody! One of the very first books I read was The Twits. I loved The BFG and as for The Witches...well, I still watch out for people who may spit blue ink...What is your favourite Roald Dahl story?

Frank McGuinness: well known Donegal writer publishes his first novel

The well known Donegal playwright, Frank McGuinness, has published his first novel with Brandon press, see here  He is currently writer in residence in UCD. His novel is called Arimathea and  is available from Brandon (imprint of O'Brien Press).

Jon McGregor, The Letters Page & Four Postcards That Ended Up In Donegal..

All good things come to an end, and the last of Jon McGregor's letters in our hand-written, interview-by-post has reached destination Donegal. We've been highlighting his second novel, 'So Many Ways To Begin', because of its Donegal setting, and hopefully readers locally and afar will be inspired to read this rather wonderful novel: resonant with themes of emigration, identity and the changing nature of work, crammed with memorable characters and complex relationships, subtly conveyed and beautifully written.

There is good reason for conducting the interview by post, apart from giving me a break from bills and junk mail. In postcard number 4, I disingenuously asked Jon about his latest project, and he replied:

" 'The Letters Page' is a new literary journal in letters, published by the University of Nottingham, exploring the idea of letter writing as a literary practice and a personal writing form. Our first issue, including letters from Colum McCann, Magnus Mills and one Ann Hull...."

I'm stopping there because the link he gives to the brand-new web page doesn't seem to be up yet. I'll tell you instead that he prefaced the reply above with the phrase, "Ha! Funny you should ask..." thus exposing my artifice, as all good writers should.

If you look here there is information about the first issue and how to subscribe to the newsletter. It will also tell you how to submit a letter of your own, for publication in the next edition. I hear that Kevin Barry is doing so. Why don't you write to The Letters Page? I did, and look what happened.

Submissions have to be handwritten on A4 paper. If you think that's tough, look at the picture below and marvel at the amount of writing Jon fitted onto these post-it notes...

I would like to thank Jon McGregor for all his good-natured and courteous tolerance..

Jon McGregor takes a week to get from Nottingham to Donegal...

......I mean, of course, his letter, postmarked 3rd September, which has just been delivered. Although Jon has been here too, you know. He doesn't just pluck these novels out of the air. He researches. He couldn't have written 'So Many Ways To Begin' without travelling the highways and byways of Donegal, and a fine job he made of it.

It is a book with a strong sense of place. As well as Donegal, he skilfully portrays Coventry and Aberdeen. The book also has a wide historical and social sweep, but it is the characters who dominate. In postcard no.3, I asked Jon how he maintained the balance between characters and relationship, and the portrayal of historical and social change.

He responded by emphasising that this was always going to be a domestic novel. The main character, David, is adopted. He works as a museum curator. We track his life as son, husband, and father.
'The bigger, historical themes/concepts seemed to nudge in later,' he writes.
I love this phrase, for the heart of the book is never overwhelmed by the ambition of its themes. As Jon concludes, '..the personal is the political; the domestic is the grand narrative.'
In 'So Many Ways To Begin', he nudges us gently into acknowledging the truth and depth of this.

Sincere thanks to Jon McGregor for his cooperation with this interview by post. There is one more postcard to go. A full version of the interview will be printed in North West Words magazine.

Burning Bush 2 - poet interviews and praise for NWW

Burning Bush 2, the online poetry magazine, has a series of interviews with contributing poets on their website. The interviews are available here and you can also read the latest issues of the magazine online. So far they have questions and answers from Kevin Higgins, Susan Millar DuMars, Afric McGlinchey, Kimberly Campanello, Brian Kirk, Patrick Chapman, and Steven Murray. In each instance, they have asked the poet to recommend one regular poetry event, both Kevin and Susan have recommended North West Words at Cafe Blend, Letterkenny. So, well done Eamonn Bonner and the NWW team for the thumbs up - well deserved.

Poetry Project - Finale Competition Deadline

The Poetry Project has been running all year, sending out poetry and accompanying videos to inboxes. The project is almost over, but they have a competition to complete, deadline 16th September 2013. One poem from these competition entries will be chosen as the final poem of the project. See here for  details. The poem entered must be in response to one of the videos from the project, available now at the website here

Being open to criticism and the role of drafts

Something strikes me more and more, year on year, as a writer and a teacher and a student. That is, the importance of being open and positive about reader critique of your writing, and the role of drafting and proofreading in your own work. Both are vital to good writing, I think. Good writing takes time, work, and many drafts, it is not generated spontaneously. And, it is often enriched by accepting reader feedback of strengths and weaknesses from experienced readers.  

Here are two links that reminded me of this recently:

The Gathering Poem - a national call for poetry

This is a new one on me - kind of like the poetic equivalent of a conga dance! I'm working on a project at the minute that involves collaborative writing, so I find this interesting - a poem that is to be created by Irish poets in Ireland, or abroad. All Irish are welcome to submit.