Author diaries

Notes on Keening launch

Just to say thanks to all who turned up at the Tyneside Irish Centre for the launch of my Keening poems on Monday evening. We enjoyed a good turnout despite the misery of the cold, wet night.

Tony Corcoran, the organiser of the Tyneside Irish Festival, is a grand man, and as good a comic turn as I've seen in a long while. Joe and Tristram played us a gorgeous harp and fiddle. Kevin Cadwallender, me luvly publisher, made a fine fist of selling the books, and considering we were located in the centre of the Toon the drink was dead cheap. So all in all it was fun.

Oh yes, and I read a fair few of me (plastic) Irish poems. In fact I was talked into getting up twice. Of course I didn't want to - but hey, what can you do?

Posted by Kathleen on 23 October 2003 at 02:23 PM GMT [Link]

Manila

Women Playwrights International conference 2003 here I come!
I have just heard that I’ve received the funding from Arts Council England, NE to attend this conference, which is happening in Manila in the Phillipines in November.
I have three weeks to buy tickets, book accommodation and sort out family life so that I can attend with a clear conscience.
My play A Life In Shadows is being presented under the Gender and Sexuality heading. I get ten minutes to introduce it, 20 minutes to present some scenes and then the conference of women delegates from around the world discuss it for 30 minutes. How’s that for being in the spotlight ?
This play was originally commissioned by University of Northumbria for Year Two Drama students, and I had to take two texts: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and create a theatre piece from that stimulus.

In my research I realised how the two female heroines of both books mirrored their authors in life and habits, ie
Jane Eyre = Charlotte Bronte and and Antoinette = Jean Rhys
They seemed to me to represent two alternative approaches to the same personal obstacles : how does an independent and imaginative woman create in a world antithetical to both those things ?
Lecturers Sharon Paterson and Fiona MacPherson, and the students from the department, worked with me in a collaborative process, exploring themes of women’s creativity and independence, and how their suppression - racial, economic and patriarchal - can lead to ‘madness’ or to being labeled as such.
The play was created to be perfomed in and around Belsay Hall as a site specific piece. We were very lucky to have Canadian Designer Caroline Mercier who came up with the most wonderful costumes that echoed the themes - dresses that had elements of the restraining straightjacket about them, or bits of text written on them.
I’m not sure what delegates will make of it, but it will have resonances for many parts of the Asian and non-European world in its themes of British Colonialism and the conflicts and misunderstandings arising from different cultures.
Maybe the next time I blog it will be from the Phillipines ?

Posted by Ellen on 22 October 2003 at 11:48 AM GMT [Link]

Launch of Keening: a new poetry collection by Kathleen Kenny

Hi, Just a quick word to say that the launch of my second poetry collection takes place tomorrow evening (Monday, 20th October) from 8pm in the Tyneside Irish Centre, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne. Entry is free and it would be lovely to see lots of people there. The collection is being published by SAND press and is being promoted as part of the current Tyneside Irish Festival. So although you will have to pay for your own Guinness, once I've read a few poems from the book (which shouldn't take long) there will be some live Irish music to jollify the event.

Posted by Kathleen on 19 October 2003 at 06:32 PM GMT [Link]

Message from Newfoundland

After a hectic National Poetry Day which included reading my dust mites poem (now called Small Things I Have Slept With) and spending the afternoon in the ladies' loos at Newcastle Central Station, I'm now in Newfoundland, Canada.
David and I have been exploring the area around the capital, St John's. It is a beautiful, rugged landscape. There are strong connections with Ireland and today we visited the Jeanne Johnston, a replica tall ship from Ireland which is visiting St John's.
We spent our first two nights here at the Battery Hotel which overlooks the harbour. The view from our bedroom window was stunning and if you click here you should see the view from the webcam which was directly above our room.
I am enjoying reading the book River Thieves by St John's writer Michae Crummey.The week here is my birthday treat from David (ok, I know, I'm spoilt!) and he's bought me a book of Michael Crummey's poems and an anthology of Newfoundland, Labrador and Irish poetry - plus some Newfie poetry magnets. Newfoundland has its own dictionary and some brilliant words, so I think I'll have fun with that.
The place names are also amazing. Cupids, Heart's Content and Dildo are three of the places we visited yesterday.
The writing scene here seems pretty good too. Lots of book signings and readings, plus many shops supporting local writers by having big displays of their books. If only we had that at home!
I have been eating lots of local food. Our friend Dot Noseworthy served us traditional fish and brewis yesterday with scruncheons and her hospitality means that I have never been hungry.
I overheard one man in a shop saying that he had shot a moose and was going to be cooking moose lasagne. Not something I've tried on this trip, but maybe next time.

Posted by Fiona on 18 October 2003 at 11:47 PM GMT [Link]