I was 22 years old when I first read Doris Lessing. It was her first book, The Grass is Singing, set in Rhodesia in the 1940’s amongst hardscrabble farmers struggling against their own alienation and inexperience to make a living. Knowing something about her background even back then when it was more fashionable to read … Continue reading Doris Lessing and the Search for Self.
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Notes for a 21st Century Artistic Manifesto
The Place of Literature.Art is the imitation of life by means of signs, symbols and plastic objects. Literature is the imitation of life using symbols and signs to tell stories. To understand what life means we use art as a skeleton key into what has always been the greatest of mysteries and challenges. Here in … Continue reading Notes for a 21st Century Artistic Manifesto
Rock and Roll Club at Limerick Library
Its hard to describe how excited I was to be asked by Mike Maguire, executive librarian of Limerick City library to talk about my favourite rock and roll music, something I am incredibly passionate about. I keep thinking of what tunes to pick and what tunes to exclude, how I will talk about it and … Continue reading Rock and Roll Club at Limerick Library
Literary Style
What is literary style? Literary style is what you see before you when you open the first page of a book, particularly a literary work. Literary style (or ‘writing style’ or ‘literary voice’ or the ‘writer’s voice’) is the way a writer uses words in sentences. 2. Why do writers employ a literary style? Style … Continue reading Literary Style
On Being Who We Really Are
I hate sharing personal information. I feel deeply uncomfortable doing so. But it is important. So here goes. I happen to be a writer. This is not by choice. I tried everything not to be a writer. In my early youth I tried a career in religion, which gives one access to lots and lots … Continue reading On Being Who We Really Are
Facebook and Wasting Time.
Facebook is like the Hotel California. You can never leave. Rather than leaving or deleting, a number of events made me ‘discontinue’ my Facebook account. 1. The politicization of Facebook. Facebook was originally designed as a social media platform, somewhere folks of all stripes can connect. Mark Zukerberg also saw huge potential down the line … Continue reading Facebook and Wasting Time.
Be My Frankenstein
Being a rather impressionable little boy, that is, when I was a little boy, I recall one of the most terrifying creatures of my childhood was Frankenstein, not Victor Frankenstein mind, but the Monster, or The Creature, also known as Adam, something I was reminded of by a friend. For now I am not talking … Continue reading Be My Frankenstein
The Extremely Cool Marcel Proust
There are few extraordinarily gifted people people out there who can also be described as really good people. They exist of course, but Marcel Proust, a true artistic genius, was one of them. Kind, sensitive, thoughtful to a fault, a good and faithful friend and an extraordinarily generous man with his time and … Continue reading The Extremely Cool Marcel Proust
The writer indulges in writing activity
or What happens when you are wrongly diagnosed as bipolar or whatever: and what it means, if anything... Bad Therapy Have you ever been the patient of a really bad psychotherapist? Lets be honest, there are more than a few of them out there. I actually seriously toyed with the idea of becoming one at … Continue reading The writer indulges in writing activity
Hitman
SCIARIO (Or 'Hitman') Director: Denis Villeneuve Writer: Taylor Sheridan Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro Plot: An idealistic FBI agent (Blunt) is enlisted by an elected government task force (Brolin, Del Toro) to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. *Please note: The storyline … Continue reading Hitman
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