Clogh Writer's Group
Call for Poetry Submissions
The Stony Thursday Book is calling for submissions from local, national and international poets for the next issue which will be published in Limerick, Ireland, as part of Cuisle, Limerick City International Poetry Festival* in October 2007. The Stony Thursday Book was founded by Limerick poets John Liddy and Jim Burke in 1975, and has also been edited by Mark Whelan, Kevin Byrne, Patrick Bourke and Knute Skinner. This year the editor will be one of the founders, John Liddy. The Stony Thursday Book is one of the longest-running literary journals in Ireland and celebrated its 30th Anniversary Edition in 2005. Poetry submissions are now being accepted for issue No. 6 which will be published in October 2007. Closing date for submissions is August 3rd 2007.
How to submit: Send no more than 6 poems. When submitting poems, write your name and address on each page and Send poems to : The Arts Service, Limerick City Council, City Hall, Merchant’s Quay, Limerick
Please mark your envelope : The Stony Thursday Book
Further information from : The Arts Service, Limerick City Council Email : artsoffice@limerickcity.ie Telephone : 061 407363 or 061 407421
*Cuisle, Limerick City International Poetry Festival will take place in Limerick from 17th – 20th OctoberCLOGH WRITERS AWARDS 2006
The 2006 Annual Clogh Writers Poetry Competition, the 10th was the best supported to date with an entry of almost 600 poems. The adjudicator was Peter Denman , Professor of English Literature at Maynooth University and former editor of Poetry Ireland Review. On Saturday last the results were announced and awards presented at a function in Clogh Family Resource Centre As well as visiting and participating poets a good number of members of the public came along to hear the top 22 poems being read and commented on by the adjudicator. This is a unique event which brings a massive injection of literary culture to the local community and is a huge credit to the Clogh Writers Group and in particular their co-ordinator Michael Massey.
Mary Rose Callan reading her winning poem.
The winning poems and their authors were:
1st. Unseen by Mary Rose Callan (Dublin) 2nd If I Was Your Wife by Karen O’Connor (Tralee), 3rd Going Solo by Jack Cuddihy (Kilkenny).
Commended Poems in random order : Hunters (Ivy Bannister,Donnybrook), Going Home (Paul Dillon, Greystones), Alchemy (Michael Casey, Sandycove), Shore Life (Irene A. Mosvold, Louisville, Kentucky), His Despairing Friends (Eamon Lynskey ,Lusk, Co.Dublin), On my Father’s Leaving ( Richard Cahill (Tipperary), 40+ (Evelyn Walsh, Swords), My Visit to Clonmacnoise (Maria Wallace, (Dublin), On Target (Margaret Galvin,Wexford), Bridge Way (Rose Moran, Co.Longford), Rachel in the Garden (Mary Turley-McGrath (Co.Donegal), Conchubhair (Stephen Shields, Athenry), The Lake at the Grand House (Jim Moore, New Ross), River Walk Haiku (Eithne Kavanagh, Rathmines), Glass Slippers (Martin Vaughan, Glassnevin), Mother of Pearls (Marie Gahin, Greenhills, Dublin), The Missing Child, a Ballad (Helena Kelliher, Killeagh, Co.Cork), Dish Cloths for Breakfast (Maria Casey, (Danesfort), Wings (Paddy Glavin (Sutton, Co.Dublin)
This year there were two Kilkenny poets in the top 22 with Jack Cuddihy taking 3rd prize and Maria Casey from Danesfort getting a certificate of Commendation.
A terrific surprise was a poem read by Martha Kelly called the Jarrow Fan which had only arrived by email to John Coffey a few hours earlier from Sydney, Australia. It had been composed a hundred years ago by Martha’s grandfather, Daniel P. Langton of the Jarrow Yard. This poem will be published in full on the history page shortly.
All 22 poems mentioned were read out, most by their authors. They covered a variety of styles and subjects, some serious, others light and one particularly funny – His despairing Friends – which was not just read, but performed by it’s author, Eamon Lynskey. There were several tributes to the chief organiser, Michael Massey who has been in charge for all 10 years of the competition and made it into a prestigious and successful event. Having been introduced to the audience, Professor Denman began his short address with the quotation “Poetry is an investigation, not an expression of what you know”. He also brought a calculated giggle from the attendance with another quote “ Reading Poetry to strangers is like a form of lapdance”. Local poet Willy Joe Meally presented the awards on behalf of his cousin and sponsor Fonsie, of Mealy Auctioneers, who was unable to attend. Financial support was also received from the Arts Office of Kilkenny County Council.
Under Clogh Bridge in Winter
Clogh Writers' group was formed in 1994. A number of people in the community were writing and were seeking a forum for their work. Michael Massey, a teacher in the local school took on the role of coordinator and had facilitated the group since its inception.
Since then Clogh Writers have produced 2 books and a broadsheet of their work. The books are called: I Only Wanted Andy Brennan and The Echo Of Familiar Voices. The broadsheet is called: From The Heart.
Last year some members of the group collaborated with Community Music Teacher, Kate Badcock, putting some of their poems to music.
Clogh Writers have organised 6 Annual Nationwide Poetry competitions. A different established writer has been invited to adjudicate the competition each year. Entries for this competition have been as high as 400. The winners and a number of highly commended poets are invited to Clogh for a presentation and a reading of the successful poems.
Clogh Writers have also read from their own work in different locations besides Clogh itself. The group, or members of the group, have read in Castlecomer, Portlaoise, Clonmel, Belmullet, Limerick and Dublin.
Members of the Group have also been successful in Poetry Competitions and in having their work published in literary journals. Willie Joe Mealy was published in Poetry Ireland and was a prize winner in the Shinrone Poetry Competition. Frances Cotter was a prize-winner in Listowel and has read on RTÉ Radio. Sylvia Cole won the Sense of Place Poetry Competition organised by the Wexford Arts Centre. Violet Madden, Willie Joe Mealy, Kathleen Phelan and Michael Massey had poems published in The Kilkenny Broadsheet. Martha Kelly had had work published in Riposte and Figments. Michael Massey has had a large body of his work published in a number of journals: Poetry Ireland Review, the Shop, Books Ireland, The Stinging Fly, Flaming Arrow, Black Mountain Review. A collection of his poetry was published last autumn by Rectory Press.
Michael has just produced his second Poetry Collection - Nothing to Fear - published by Lapwing, Belfast, whose publisher Dennis Greig described as " a lovely set of poems which, like brambles, cut to the quick at times... powerful, deftly deceptive in execution... "
The cover of The Hilltop Teahouse,which is the name of the ruin located on the right hand side, just off the Kilkenny-Waterford road beyond Danesfort.
Clogh Writers Group have also brought a number of well-established writers to Clogh to read and to facilitate writing workshops : Michael Coady, Menna Elfyn, Patrick Deeley, Desmond Egan, Rita Kelly, Mark Roper, Sean Clarkin, Pat Boran, Deirdre Brennan and Patrick Moran. Clogh Writers Group now in its 9th year meet each Wednesday night in the Clogh Family Resource Centre for two hours. During these sessions the members discuss each others' work, offering suggestions, advising each other in a safe and mutually-accepting atmosphere. They also analyse work by established writers and work on writing exercises set by facilitator, Michael Massey.
Over the years the personnel of the group has changed though some of the original members are still present: Willie Joe Mealy, Jane Mealy, Sean Mansfield, Martha Kelly and Michael Massey. The current members of the group, some who travel from as far away as Kilkenny, are: Martha Kelly, Willie Joe Mealy, Jane Mealy, Violet Madden, Jo Kelly, Sean Mansfield, Jim Browne, Sylvia Cole, Kathleen Phelan, Frances Cotter, Roseann Behan and coordinator, Michael Massey.