How lax have I been, not being in here for a while? I had actually forgotten my username and password - that's how long it had been!
Well, some news to report - first the bad news: not able to continue being a non-smoker. Never mind there's always next year!
The good news - a random submission to SouthWord has passed and the poem they chose was the one I least expected to get anywhere. It just goes to show, you can't underestimate the power of someone else's subjectivity! When I have the hard copy in my hot lil' paws, I'll post it here.
On other fronts: study is going reasonably well: I haven't disappeared under a snowball of 20th and 19th century writing just yet. I am still relishing the prospect of getting to the end of this year intact, but already some of the things I am learning from the 20th Century literature course I am putting into play in reviews and in my own thinking. The aesthetics/instrumentalist debate has been very stimulating and I find myself erring on the centrist side (ha ha). That is to say that I can see the merit of both sides of the argument. But in studying this debate, I have realised more clearly somthing I had always thought but hadn't really internalised and then externalised as my own take: I like it when the writer doesn't hit me over the head with a hammer trying to get the message across. I like subtlety! So this has naturally sent me back to my own work and to others' as well, eking out those more cryptic pieces and having a second, third and fourth look. It' s like trying to piece together a puzzle, and I love puzzles!
On the work front - well, it's still there, but I have had such a rotten few weeks with headaches etc. that I very nearly gave up the ghost. There really isn't much you can say about filling in spreadsheets and fiddling with figures - apart from the fact that I find it enjoyable in a dentist's drill sort of way (you're glad when it's over). I'm looking into an application to Dun Laoighaire/Rathdown council's Writer in Residence post. Boy would that be a step in the right direction!
Recently read:
The Dublin Review - Issues 21/21 Both very different to what I expected, really interesting.
The Stinging Fly - This keeps on going from strength to strength read a review here:
The SHOp - Beautifully produced and did I mention I got one into Issue 19?
Anon - Just signed up for this and I really like the idea of blind submissions
Random piece of self-promotion: Review of Mercury, the Dime
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