Shortlist for The Irish Times Legends of the Fall competition annouced today

Ten writers have been shortlisted for the recent Irish Times competition. The names are available here  The winning story will be published in the paper's Weekend Review as the final story of its series on Saturday 28th September. Also, the ten shortlisted stories will be available to read from Monday 23rd September at irishtimes.com/books

Culture Night 2013 - Friday 20th September

It's here, tonight, Culture Night, and there are lots of events running around the country for free. I'm delighted to be reading in Cafe Blend Letterkenny with NWW and Kevin Higgins, Maureen Curran, Eamonn Bonner and Leo Boner. But there are lots of events in Donegal and elsewhere. See the Culture Night  website or your local press for details (for Letterkeny events also see an article at Donegal Now). It should be good night all over Ireland. Enjoy.

A North of Ireland magazine showcasing poetry - FourXFour Poetry Journal

This magazine of poetry is called FourXFour Poetry Journal and is edited by Colin Dardis, a poet himself. It is in its 4th issue with two further themed issues. There is a facebook page, and all digital magazines are available here on ISSUU. Have a look. In each issue, four poets are showcased who are mostly either living in, or are from, the North of Ireland. See Colin's own website here he's doing good work - thumbs up Colin!

North West Words and Culture Night

If you're in and around Letterkenny on Culture Night this Friday 20th September, why not drop into Cafe Blend from 8pm? Great food, drink and poetry - and maybe some very short stories too - hard to beat. I'll see you there. 

Text poetry workshop by Shelley Tracey

A big thank you to Shelley Tracey for her text poetry workshop in Derry last Saturday as part of the CultureTech festival. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and fun poetry experience. What more could I ask? Shelley has a website about text poetry here  Look out for future workshops - or, send a poem by mobile phone, and brighten someone's day. 

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..