Monday, April 27, 2009

April gives way to May

Here we are at the end of this month already. I've been so busy doing odds & ends that I've practically missed the days whizzing by.

On Friday I'm heading to Scotland to bed down in Wigtown in preparation for the presentation on Saturday, at 12.30pm. The presentation will include addresses by Douglas Dunn and Kevin McNeil on how they went about the onerous task of choosing their winners. Then us winners will read our winning poems... and the rest I'm sure will be great. I'm nervous, but I'm looking forward to it... even got meself some new shoes - it's a woman thing :)

In the meantime I'm busy running admin errands for the launch of Drogheda Writes 2, the anthology that I've been busy editing for the last three months. Some interesting statistics: 50 contributors, 81 pieces of work - that all adds up to a lot of words: 35, 486 to be precise. And only 193 of them are mine.

The launch happens on Monday 11th May @ 8pm in The Venue, McHughs, Chord Road, Drogheda, for anyone local who wants to come and see what it's all about. Copies will be on sale for €10 on the night, and afterwards will be available for €12.

More soon about the lovely chapbooks that I received this morning from Throgmortons Bookshop in Warwick: 'On Warwick,' by Jane Holland, 'The Terrors, by Tom Chivers, 'Lady Godiva and Me,' by Liam Guilar and two back copies of 'Under the Radar.' All published by Nine Arches Press - and they look very readable. Guess what I'm bringing to Scotland.

11 comments:

Michael Farry said...

Good luck in Wigtown!

Angela France said...

Rooting for you in Wigtown!

Dave King said...

Best of luck in Wigton and for the launch.

apprentice said...

Have a blast and be sure to get pictures. If I hadn't been away so recently I'd drive down.

I'm sure the launch will go well too, and you've added more to it than just your words, blood, sweat and tears is in there too! :)

Unknown said...

Cheers Michael for the support :)

Angela, best of luck at Strokestown too :)))

Dave thanks a million for both wishes :)

A, you're right, plenty of sweat and tears, and not a little bit of blood split too... and that was just over the 193 words ;)

Liz said...

Woo-hoo, Barbara, have a ball in Wigtown. It is very exciting. Fill us in on your return.

And great news on the launch - it's all go...and isn't May the month of your trip away to that heaven of a residency?...it sure is all happening for you.

(P.S have you noticed that for a second time, we both got good news on the same day ...must have to do with our planets or stars or something! ; ))

Totalfeckineejit said...

Have a great time..the Wigtown poets sing this song dooda dooda :)

Totalfeckineejit said...

Ps. Guess what you're bringing to Scotland -Bagpipes ?

Unknown said...

LOL, TFE... isn't that a bit like bringing coals to Newcastle ;)

Liz, thank you and yes May is turning into an amazing month as I have a whole week away to write, write, write - and we did get our news on the same day too - serendipity works in mysterious ways ;)

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

Dear Barbara, all my best wishes for the launch in Wigtown.
I have a poetry collection by Douglas Dunn: "Dante's Drum-Kit", difficult but fascinating.
By the way, in my latest blog there's again something of mine about Ireland, I can't escape from its memories.
Best, Davide

Unknown said...

Thanks Davide. Your river flowing poem is quite dramatic.