I read a poem for Arena, RTÉ Radio One’s arts programme, on Friday. It’s dedicated to Jean McConville and the children of the Mother and Baby Home in Tuam. I read a prose translation in English that I did myself for the broadcast. You can listen to it here
Around this time last year there was a long article in the New Yorker about Jean McConville and her family entitled ‘Where the Bodies are Buried.’ Harrowing stuff.
Mo mhíle buíochas le gach éinne a tháinig go dtí an seoladh i gClub Áras na nGael, go speisialta le Diarmuid de Faoite a dhein píosa cainte
agus leis na ceoltóirí Séamus Ó Coileáin, Síobhra Nic Aogáin, Liam Ó hAisbéil agus Aisling Ní Churraighín. Dúirt Lillis Ó Laoire amhrán deas meidhreach ar an oíche freisin. Chuir Dough Bros píostaí deasa ar fáil agus caitheadh siar cúpla gloine fíona. Agus bhí an foilsitheoir (Coiscéim) an-sásta toisc gur díoladh neart leabhar!
Agus tá léamh eile beartaithe san Ardchathair ar an 31ú Márta le cúnamh na ndéithe…
Míle buíochas le Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí as píosa cainte a dhéanamh liom Déardaoin seo caite faoin leabhar nua, Tost agus Allagar. Is féidir éisteacht leis anseo. Comhghairdeas leo siúd a bhuaigh cóip den leabhar, Bríd Ní Dhochartaigh agus Máire Delaney. Súil agam go mbainfidh sibh taitneamh as!
Tomorrow is the day for the Galway launch of Tost agus Allagar. Diarmuid de Faoite will do job and there’ll be ceol, ól is cuideachta in Club Áras na nGael in Dominic Street. We’ll kick off at 7.30pm.
Diarmuid is currently touring his one-man show about the life of Pádraic Ó Conaire. I’m really looking forward to seeing it in the Town Hall Theatre in Galway on the 1st March, but you can catch him all over the country between now and April. Check it out!
A big buíochas ó chroí to Hilary Mhic Suibhne for launching Tost agus Allagar at CUNY Grad Center in New York. It was just great to hear her take on the poems and she did a wonderful job of presenting the themes of the book. Keep an eye out for the text of her launch speech in An Gael (with thanks to the editor, Séamas Ó Neachtain).
Tomás Ó hÍde (Thomas Ihde) of Lehman College was the Fear a’Tí for the occasion and was responsible for organising the event. It was fantastic to hear so many people speaking Irish in New York City. Nár laga Dia iad.
(Seoladh na Gaillimhe ar an 25ú Feabhra, 7.30 i gClub Áras na nGael…)
Getting geared up for a visit to New York next week… I’ll be reading at CUNY Grad Centre (365 5th Avenue) on Thursday 18th February at 7pm. Hilary Mhic Suibhne from NYU will be introducing me and I’ll be reading some poems from Tost agus Allagar with translations. This bilingual event is kindly hosted by Tomás Ó hÍde and Lehman College, where I taught Gaelic as a Fulbright FLTA in 2007/08.
I’ll also be participating in the conference ‘Litríocht na Gaeilge agus Stair na hÉireann’ which will be held in Lehman College on 19 & 20 February. The papers on Friday will be delivered in English while those on Saturday will be as Gaeilge. You can check out the programme here. I’m particularly looking forward to the Fundraiser Dinner on Friday night where Eileen Houlihan Zurell and Séamus Blake will be honoured for their contribution to Irish life in New York. More information and tickets available here.
Finally, here is a pic of the New York launch of Péacadh fadó fadó…
P
PS: Date for Galway launch – 25th February… More details to follow…
Very excited to see my book cover up on Coiscéim’s website. Many thanks to the artist, Chati Coronel, and Silverlens Galleries for the use of the image, ‘You are what you EAT YOUR IDOLS.’ Much praise is due to the exceptionally talented Eimear Ryan who designed the book (Eimear is a fiction writer – you can read her short story that was recently published in The Long Gaze Back and The Irish Times here.) Thanks also to Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Marcus Mac Conghail for their kind blurbs.
Stay tuned for news of launch(es)…
Here is a link to an article in the New York Times today about Manchu, the language of the Qing dynasty empire. A poem I wrote about efforts to revive Manchu will be included in my new collection, Tost agus Allagar, to be published next month.
You can read three poems from the forthcoming Tost agus Allagar in The Galway Review. Its Editor-in-Chief is Máire Holmes, who launched my first collection, Péacadh, in Club Áras na nGael back in 2008. Delighted to be included!
Mary O’Donell is the editor of the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Stony Thursday Book, the poetry journal founded by John Liddy and Jim Burke . I’m very happy to have a poem included in this edition which was launched recently in Limerick city. There is a staggering amount of good poems here. I particularly enjoyed hearing work by Macdara Woods, Maggie Breen, Seán Ó Coistealbha and Úna Ní Cheallaigh at the launch.
My own poem is called ‘Dán do Thadhg’ (translated by Gabriel Rosenstock as ‘Poem for Tadhg’), written for my astonishingly gorgeous nephew. Can’t resist including a pic of the rogue here at Halloween…
Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh 
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