Cecelia Ahern Maeve Friel Lawrie Sanchez - verbalon

Cecelia Ahern
A ‘memorable’
new book..
Maeve Friel
The kids’ author
casts
her
spell
Lawrie
Sanchez
The Norn
Iron
years
published by:
*
See Competition Page 23
Verbal Magazine Issue 15

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Verbal Magazine Issue 15
The West of Ireland has
long been feted as a holiday
destination for its scenery,
Fred Johnston, Director of
the Western Writers’ Centre
gives ‘Culture Vultures’
some other good reasons to
visit Galway this Summer -
or any other time of year...
The Galway-based Western Writers’
Centre (Ionad Scríbhneoiri Chaitlin
Maude) remains the only writers’ centre
west of the Shannon. When it kicked off
almost seven years ago, it flew that little
boast as its banner and it remains true.
At that time, the city of Galway didn’t
have much of a relationship with literary
events. True, the annual Cúirt festival
of literature, which I founded in 1986
as a strictly poetry festival, was run by
Galway Arts Centre. There were isolated
readings. There was the Galway Writers’
Group. But Galway was, I believed, ripe
for a writers’ centre – there was, for one
thing, a strong historical literary heritage,
with writers such as Páraic O Conaire,
Antonin Artaud, Máirtin Ó Direáin, Walter
Macken, Lady Augusta Gregory, W. M.
Synge, Frank Harris – a close friend of
Oscar Wilde – and others having been
associated with the city. The acclaimed
novelist and playwright John Arden lived
here with his wife, playwright and activist
Margaretta D’Arcy. But it seemed to me
that, in terms of literature, there was very
little activism. As a writer myself, I knew
one tended to act very much alone.
Dublin had its writers’ centre, Cork
had the Munster Literature Centre – it
seemed to me that a writers’ centre for
Galway, which already described itself as
a City of Culture (even when it lost the
title to Cork city) was an obvious venture
to undertake. Of course, it would receive
the full support of the city and the arts’
world here.
It didn’t. It gradually became clear that
most people didn’t know what a writers’
centre actually did, and were willing to
confuse it with a writers’ group. It was all
very disheartening.
In spite of this, the Centre has flourished.
Considerably increased Arts Council
funding has enabled us to undertake
more concerted and direct programming.
The Centre has already produced
two winter literature festivals, both
celebrating the poet, the late Caitlin
Maude, a native of Connemara. In
2005, with help from the Arts Council
of Northern Ireland, we produced a
weekend devoted to Northern Irish
writing, in English, Irish and Ulster Scots,
entitled ‘Invisible Silences’. Nothing like it
The West’s Awake
had been attempted here before. But the
Centre did it when no one else appeared
willing to. The stellar line-up included
Carlo Gebler, Glenn Patterson, Cathal
McCabe, and others.
The degree to which the inauguration of
the Western Writers’ Centre in Galway
has galvanised other organisations
into taking another look at their literary
priorities may be gauged gently from how
quickly a Hospital Arts Committee was
established by Galway Arts Centre on
the heels of the Western Writers’ Centre
producing the very first writers’ residency
at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway, whose
instructor was the poet and story writer
Nuala Ní Chonchúir, working with
long-stay patients and producing a
book. Recently, the Hospital Arts
Committee ran precisely the
same project with the
same category of
patients.
Earlier this year,
the Western
Writers’
Centre set
up the very
first literature
festival
at Gort,
Co. Galway,
entitled ‘The
Forge at Gort’,
and featuring
poetry, plays, music
and input from Gort’s
Brazilian community. The
festival was so well received that
promises have already been made of
further sponsorship for next year. The
Centre has accumulated a modest but,
we think, interesting library, a newsy
website which also carries book reviews
and new writing and, quite recently, the
free newsletter, ‘The Word Tree’, which
carries literary news and views all over
the Western seaboard of the Republic.
We organised a ‘Poetry on the Buses’
project, through which local writers had
their work displayed on Galway buses,
and a ‘Poetry Day’, in which free copies
of poems by well-known poets were
handed out on Galway streets.
A recent presentation to a cultural
committee of Galway City Council
outlined our future aims; we want to
develop the Centre into bigger and
more functional premises, to include a
commemorative museum-space devoted
to local writers and others from the
region, as well as administrative office
space and a small readings’ room. We
continue to organise readings, workshops
and outreach facilities, which include
editorial advice. We have expanded our
Board, which now includes well-known
poets such as Richard Tillinghast and
Frank Golden, the musician and teacher
Sylvia Crawford, and our Chair is the
Irish-language broadcaster, Aoife Nic
Fhearghusa. Links are being established
with groups as far south as Co Kerry
and up to Donegal. We are also talking
to a Limerick-based group who are
considering establishing a writers’
centre there.
The Western Writers’
Centre has again
worked to add
a firm literary
component
to the city of
Galway – but
Lady
a component
Gregory
which works
outside of
Galway city
and county and
into the greater
island. So naturally
we want to talk with
Northern Ireland’s
literary world, its groups
and organisations.
No one can confuse us with a ‘writers’
group’ any longer. Acknowledged and
respected throughout the island – and,
through the use of French, even in parts
of Europe – the Western Writers’ Centre
is here to stay. Come and see.
Fred Johnston is a novelist, critic and
poet, and Director of the Western
Writers’ Centre.
westernwriters@eircom.net,
www.twwc.ie
Tel: 00353 91 533594
Good Girls Going Bad…
Ellen
McCarthy
Poolbeg Press, famed for launching the careers of such
big names as Marian Keyes, Sheila O’Flanagan and Cathy
Kelly, is getting ready to show their darker side - and
they want to hear from new writers with an edge. Just
this month they have launched a new imprint, Poolbeg
Crimson, flagged up as ‘Fiction with an edge’ and
according to publisher Paula Campbell readers are in for
a real treat.
“I’d like to think of these books as our equivalent of a
good gritty Sunday night drama on ITV, you know the ones
starring the likes of Robson Green where you find out not
everything is what it appears.” The leap from traditional
women’s fiction to darker psychological dramas seemed a
natural one for Poolbeg, who have been in the publishing
business for more than 30 years.
“In recent years I was seeing more and more
psychological dramas coming through in submissions.
These were grittier stories, focusing on secrets and lies,
and skeletons in the closet. But they didn’t really fit
with our traditional fiction list - which was that bit more
lighthearted. There were some great stories - real page
turners - coming in so we made the decision to launch
Crimson alongside our regular fiction list.”
The decision is a clever one. Thrillers and crime fiction are
a growing trend among Irish readers, especially women.
The success of writers such as Jodi Picoult and Patricia
Cornwell had shown that women are happy to read grittier,
darker stories packed with mystery and intrigue.
“While we haven’t moved into the realms of publishing
‘Who dunnits?’ what we are focusing on with Crimson is
the darker side of life.”
The imprint’s debut is Guarding Maggie by Ellen McCarthy,
a tense thriller which will - according to Campbell - make
“the hairs on the back of your neck stand up”.
Immediately you notice the difference in this book from
the traditional Poolbeg page-turners. “Maggie is a woman
in her 60s who has been kept down all her life by her
family”, Campbell explains. “When she is 17 she has a
baby - who she is forced to give up just after birth and she
returns home where she lives with her brother Pascal.
It is only when a young man knocks on her door, years
later, that a series of horrific events is triggered and
Maggie finds herself at the mercy of a stalker.”
Guarding Maggie is to be followed this year by Daniel’s
Daughter - a story where a woman’s life is turned upside
down by the return of her real father and Sleep Softly
Baby, a gripping psychological drama where a mother
finds herself demonised after her child suffers a cot
death. Four further Crimson titles are lined up for 2009
- and Campbell said she welcomes submissions from
anyone writing with that certain edge.
“We are always on the look out for new authors and we
welcome anyone who is writing something that bit darker
to send their ideas to us. We want gritty family dramas,
with buckets of tension and a lot of heart.”
For details on submitting to Poolbeg visit www.poolbeg.
com. Guarding Maggie by Ellen McCarthy is now
available.

Editor:
Catherine McGrotty
Production & Design:
James Cunningham
Administration:
Bernie Kilroy
Sales Executive:
Brian Larkin
Publisher:
James Kerr
Website:
www.verbalartscentre.co.uk/
verbalmagazine
For editorial queries, contact
02871 266946
(04871 from ROI)
E-mail:
editor@verbalartscentre.co.uk
You can write to us at:
Verbal, The Verbal Arts Centre,
Stable Lane and Mall Wall,
Bishop Street Within,
Derry/Londonderry, BT48 6PU.
Email Letters:
letters@verbalartscentre.co.uk
You can advertise in
Verbal by contacting:
sales@verbalartscentre.co.uk
or by phoning us at:
02871 268606
(04871 from ROI)
Verbal is an independent
publication from the
Verbal Arts Centre, based
in Derry/Londonderry.
It is produced
in partnership with the
Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
* Cover Photo
by Joseph Robertson :
http://lab-zine.com
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FEATURES
Maeve Friel, author of the popular
‘Witch-in-Training’ series chats about
the pleasures and pitfalls of writing for
children.
Vijay Elangova discusses the parallels
between Indian and Irish culture and myth.
Patricia Byrne finds a very personal link
with the real-life tragedy that inspired an
Irish masterpiece.
The Literary Map of Derry - become a
literary tourist in your own town.
The undisputed king of Irish special
effects talks to Verbal about his memoir of
life in the Irish film industry.
REVIEWS
From Dublin to Bejing and around the
world with Adrian McKinty’s final Forsythe
saga.
The gentle memoir of Norma MacMaster
charms our reviewer.
Three Irish authors impress our reviewers
with three very different novels…
Bateman casts his net and hauls in a
fruitful catch…
Hollywood royalty? Cecelia Ahern goes
head to head with Ireland’s old ‘Hollywood
Mafia’.
Children’s reviews from the children of
Bellarena P.S, Limavady.
Books in Brief - the best of the rest. Our
quick capsule round-up of some new travel
related books.
NEWS
Poolbeg calls for submissions ‘with an
edge’ for their new imprint.
Day-Trippers - A round-up of some of the
most interesting family-friendly events this
summer.
NEW WRITING
First-time writer, Alexis Boddy, brings us
a short tale about how to really get away
from it all…
COMPETITION
Name the book and win a £50 voucher
courtesy of Waterstone’s!
Favourite book from childhood:
CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe.
Book I didn’t make it through:
War and Peace (Tolstoy), Ulysses (Joyce)
and many more!
Secret reading vice:
James Patterson
Most over-rated book:
Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code
Irish writer I always look for:
William Trevor
One book I’d love to have written:
I only wish I had the talent to write a
book – any book!
The book I go back to time and
again:
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Five for a rainy day:
Alice Sebold, Lovely Bones
Charlotte Bacon, Lost Geography
Ruth Rendell, Any of her novels, the most
recent that I read was Going Wrong
MM Kaye,The Far Pavilions
Sue Miller, Family Pictures
Irene Knox was appointed as Chief
Executive (Designate) of the proposed
Northern Ireland Library Authority in
August 2007. A Librarian by profession,
Irene previously worked for the South
Eastern Education and Library Board
(SEELB).
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Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Spellbinding
As children’s writer
Maeve Friel launches the final
instalment of her popular
‘Witch-in-Training’ series, she talks
with Claire McCauley about
childhood, her love of storytelling
and everything a girl needs
to know about witches.
Born in Derry in the 1950s, Friel’s early education began
in Waterside Girls’ School before moving on to Thornhill
College. However, it was her parents who were her most
formative influence.
‘Both my parents were teachers and were passionate
about books and music. I have vivid memories of my
mother reading poetry to us every night before bed. I’ve
always had a love for books, when a house is so full of
books I think you end up making up your own stories.’
In spite of a lifelong passion for literature, Friel admits to
an initial trepidation in undertaking a career in writing.
‘I had been writing for a long time but never submitted
anything. I had always made excuses like I didn’t have
enough time but it was a lack of confidence. It wasn’t until
I was in my 30s when I moved to Oxford with my husband
and a cardboard box filled with unfinished stories that I
thought I might give this a go.’
Friel’s first break came when she wrote a number of short
stories for the Sunday Tribune, one of which won the
Hennessy award. ‘This was a confidence boost and, after
it, I decided lack of time was no longer an excuse. I had to
carve out the time if I wanted to make it work’, she says.
Despite a hugely successful career in children’s
writing, it was not an area she consciously chose to
work in.
‘I can’t remember what attracted me to
writing for children but it’s so important
that there are good books written
for them. In many ways they live very
circumscribed lives but through
expanding their imagination
you can promote tolerance
and respect and give them
alternative views.
Personally I write for children
simply for the sheer joy of
it. People think it’s easier
than writing for adults but
you face the same problems.
It still requires all the essential
elements of a good book, a good
plot, a believable setting and
you have to set your characters
realistic objectives and obstacles.’
The accessibility of Friel’s stories
has resulted in their translation into
multiple languages, however, it is
her desire to inspire children to think
independently that has made them
truly universal.
‘I hope that any child
can identify with
the characters in
my books. It is
so important
to entertain
children
through
literature. I
don’t want to
be didactic. I
want to instil
the sheer joy of reading and open up their imagination,
enabling them to make up their own minds; showing them
rather than telling them.’
Friel’s central characters are predominately positive,
exciting and adventurous young girls, an image she
actively promotes and identifies with.
‘I don’t know if many people know but the colours the
witches wear in the books are actually the colours of the
suffragettes. All the witches have full time jobs as well
as witchcraft. I feel it’s important to show these young
witches living productive lives.
Two of my characters Tiger Lily and Jessica, the Witch-in
Training, are avid readers with an adventurous streak,
I’ve never really thought about it but there’s a lot of me in
these characters, perhaps it’s given me a chance to delve
into the little girl within me.’
After leaving Derry, at the onset of the Troubles, to attend
university in Dublin, Friel travelled extensively but now
divides her time between Dublin and Spain. While the
freedom this cultivated had an impact on her writing style,
she retains a discipline in her approach.
‘For children, where you grow up is terribly important in
forming you. I haven’t lived in Derry since I left but the 18
years I spent there have definitely shaped me. However,
travelling has given me a sense of space, for example, in
the Tiger Lily series while there is no mention of a specific
place, there’s a strong sense of space.
When I write, I aim to be disciplined. I sit down and work
every day for several hours. Some days, when things are
going wrong, it feels like the last place in the world I want
to be but it’s really important to carry on.’
Friel has actively embraced an interactive online presence
containing colourful links to word searches and reader
book reviews adding another dimension to the joy of
reading.
‘It is really important for me to actively embrace all forms
of new technology and use it to make my books fun,
exciting and interactive so the Witch-in-Training series
are being made into e-books. Is the internet the death of
reading? In my opinion it is most definitely not. Children
read on the internet as well.’
Friel feels that literature can play a significant role in the
lives of children. ‘For some it plays no role at all, but this
is the same for some adults who have a need for stories
which is met through soap operas or films. For others it
plays a huge role, their eyes light up with enthusiasm and
they become animated about books. As a mother I read
to my children and, as a new grandparent, I intend to, and
have already begun bombarding them with books.’
Despite being an award winning writer she is not motivated
by acclaim but by her passion for writing.
‘I’m not driven by awards but by the desire to tell stories
and to keep coming up with new ideas. When advising
other writers I would give the advice my editor gives me
“just write the next sentence”. It’s a solitary job all you can
do is sit at your desk and do it!’
As for the future, Friel’s prolific output will continue to
enthral her devoted readership but may spell the end for a
much loved little witch.
‘At the moment I’m writing a thriller; it’s a bit of
an exciting departure. I’ve been asked to write
a new Tiger Lily book, which is due out in
autumn 2009, however, The Last Task will
be the finale in the
Witch-in Training series. I was asked to
write four, I’ve now written eight! It’s time
for a change. I think I’m a bit ‘witched
out’ to be honest!’

Boom-Boom!
Gerry Johnston’s memoir details his 43 year
career as a special effects director in the Irish
film industry. Verbal caught up with the man who
gave WWII veterans flashbacks, for a chat…
Gerry Johnston is possibly the only
man in Ireland who is pleased about
the fact that he trained up most of his
competition. ‘When I started out there
was almost nobody Irish, and certainly no
one based in Ireland, doing visual effects
in films. That’s definitely changed for the
better,’ he says.
Johnston’s 40 year film career is detailed
in Lights, Camera, Dynamite: The
Adventures of a Special Effects Director,
published by Liberties Press this year.
Over the space of his illustrious career,
Johnston has worked with some of the
most revered names and on some of the
greatest movies of the past four decades.
He has worked with David Lean, Steven
Spielberg, Sergio Leone, Stanley Kubrick
and John Boorman and his credits
include Ryan’s Daughter, Braveheart
and Saving Private Ryan - all the more
impressive considering he refused to
leave Ireland to carve out a career in
special effects.
Gerry Johnston’s memoir is a
personalised chronicle of the Irish film
industry. ‘Boom-Boom’ Johnston is the
director of Special Effects Ireland, based
in Ardmore studios in County Wicklow.
‘I got my first film job in the early 1960s
based on a tip from my father. The film
was called The Blue Max. I met up with
a couple of Special Effects directors and
after an informal chat they told me they’d
be in touch. I never expected to hear from
them again but sure enough a week later
there was a big black limo waiting outside
my house on a Monday morning.’
The arc of Gerry’s career mirrors that of
the Irish film industry itself and is one of
the reasons that this memoir is essential
reading for any Irish film buff. Alongside
a personalised history of Irish film, Gerry
covers (in frightening detail) how effects
were created in the 60s and onwards,
interspersed with enough stories about
the luminaries he has worked alongside
to keep the most gossip-hungry reader
happy.
‘It was basically on-the-job training when I
started,’ he says. ‘I used to keep detailed
notes and diaries of all the processes.
Everything from creating atmospheric
effects to fires to pyrotechnics. As useful
as CGI is these days I still believe that it
has it’s place. When used to compliment
the physical stuff it can be excellent.’
Johnston should know. As one of the
main architects of the acclaimed opening
battle scene in Saving Private Ryan,
his creation consistently takes the top
spot in polls to find the greatest movie
battle scene. ‘Spielberg was great to
work with. Very easy to get along with, he
knows exactly what he wants. That was
certainly a special shoot. The adrenaline
of everyone involved, at the end of that
scene, was incredible. It was so realistic
to watch that even the crew were crying.’
Johnston’s memoir does an impressive
job of packing 43 years of an extremely
eventful life into less than 300 pages.
From death defying escapes to the highs
and lows of his beloved industry, all told
in the very ordinary, self-deprecating
voice of the man himself, there’s so
much here it’s difficult to know what
to highlight. ‘I didn’t write the book for
specialists, I wrote it for the ordinary
punter,’ says Gerry. You heard the man.
Go out and buy it!
Catch our review of Lights, Camera,
Dynamite: The Adventures of a Special
Effects Director, in next month’s Verbal.
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
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Verbal Magazine Issue 15
The Ancient Affinity
In the first part of a three part essay, Indian journalist, writer, and recent immigrant to
Northern Ireland, K. S. Vijay Elangova, discusses the parallels and differences between his
native Indian and adopted Irish cultures...
The Celtic and Vedic people share
more parallels than any of the
ancient cultures on earth. There is
an innate bondage running between
them. There is a remarkable
likeness in their myths, gods,
goddesses and fairytales. The
foremost of these parallels can
be drawn to the Druids and the
Brahmins, who were the priestphilosophers
of their respective
cultures. They were much sought
after for their wisdom by the kings
and the warriors. They were the
seers and teachers and they were
free to wander anywhere. According
to Caesar, ‘The public had a great
esteem for the Druids’.
There is also an etymological
connection to the word ‘Druid’. It
is believed by some that the word
could have originated in the East
and Middle East. Pliny the Elder
refers the first syllable of the word
‘Druid’ to the Greek word for the
Oak as ‘drus’ whose root is ‘dr’
which can be traced to many Aryan
languages. The second syllable ‘vid’
is thought to have come from the
Sanskrit term ‘vid’ meaning Tree
of Knowledge. It is also the root
for the word ‘Vedas’ in Sanskrit.
The oak tree was closely related
to knowledge and wisdom in Celtic
myths.
The Druids wore simple white robes
just like the Brahmins. The only
difference was the hood which the
Druids may have worn for the cold.
The Brahmins bathing in the rivers
at sun rise is a mirror image of the
Druids taking baths in rivers. The
Greek historian Tacitus wrote on the
surprising similarity of the bathing
of the Druids as “so emblematic of
the Brahmins”. Taking the morning
bath in rivers is one of the daily
chores of the Brahmins up to this
day.
The Brahmins and Druids were
placed alike in their social status of
their mutual cultures. They formed
the intellectual and spiritual elite of
their societies. Indian Kings (Rajas
in Sanskrit) consulted the Brahmins
on important matters of the
country as did Celtic kings (Righs
in Old Irish: sounding the same as
the Sanskrit term) have counsel
with the Druids. Vedic and Celtic
societies shared almost similar
structures in hierarchy. There
were three divisions for the Celtic
hierarchy: the Druids, the ruling
and warrior division and producers
who included hunters, merchants
and later farmers. The same was
found in the Vedic society in India
for several thousands of years.
The ‘caste system’ is distinguished
by four divisions. The Brahmins were the
uppermost and highly respected class. The
military or warrior class (kshatriyas) came
second, the merchants and farmers (vaishiyas)
third and the labour class (the shudras) last.
The ‘varna’ or class system existed throughout
the Vedic ages and until when the Indian
Constitution in 1947 (CE), Article 17, abolished
the practice of untouchability in any form.
There were many parallels on state and law
matters which could be found in the laws of
Manu in the Vedic system and in the old Irish
system, the laws of Fenechus. In the early
Vedic age, the Brahmins did not belong to
a hereditary class. A child from any division
could be initiated into Brahminism after a
12-year preparation. This was also possible in
Celtic culture - a child from any class could be
initiated into Druidism and received 19 years
of education based on the lunar cycle calendar
known as the Meton cycle.
Druids and Brahmins were the ones, because
of their prolonged and extensive education,
who could perform any rites and sacrifices.
It can be found in Diodorus Siculus’s
writings. “Do not sacrifice or ask
favours from the gods without
a Druid present”. The
Celtic people had a great
respect for Druids and
their teachings. They
were consulted by the
young and the old on
almost all matters.
Rebirth was also
widely believed by
the Celtic people, as
recorded in the Roman
and Greek myths and
writings. There were also
references in Rig Veda to
reincarnation or rebirth, “For thou at
first producest for the holy Gods the noblest
of all portions, immortality: Thereafter as a
gift to men, O Savitar, thou openest existence,
life succeeding life” (book 4, 54:2)”. The
Upanishads clearly discuss the rebirth. The
term ‘atman’ (soul) in Vedic literature is similar
to the Celtic word for soul ‘anam’.
The biggest difference between the two
religious cultures was probably the fact that
women were not initiated into priesthood
in Brahminism, whereas the women were
included in the Druidic religious order. The
Vedic culture was patriarchal. There were
many women Druids in the Celtic order. It is a
known fact that the Celtic women also fought
in battle and are recorded as being “strong
and fierce as men”. Due to the demise of
Druids, we have lost a repository of great
knowledge and wisdom since they were part
of the oral tradition like the teaching of the
Brahmins in the Vedic ages which were only
passed on from one memory to another.
The pantheon of Gods and Goddesses
The Celts had a huge pantheon of Gods and
Goddesses of which we have the knowledge
of around 300 names, mostly found inscribed
on altars and objects. Many of these gods
and goddesses are local variations of the
pan-Celtic ones. This draws an interesting
parallel to the Vedic gods and goddesses. The
Vedic pantheon also had local titles which
corresponded to their pan-Vedic names.
Another interesting parallel is the Celtic term
for God, ‘Deuos’ and the Vedic word for God
‘Devos’. Both words mean ‘Shining Ones’.
Another notable parallel is the Goddess Danu.
She appears both in the Vedic and Celtic
mythologies. She is a Goddess of River in the
Celtic myth. She appears in the Vedic myth
as the mother of seven Danavas, meaning
‘the dark ones of the sea’. The battle seems
to have been contiguous to both mythologies
– a macrocosmic war between the light and
dark, good and evil. Many rivers in Europe owe
their names to Goddess Danu, including the
Danube, (ancient Danuvius) the longest river
in Europe. Both the Vedic and Celtic people
worshipped rivers and people from both
cultures placed their offerings on rivers. In the
Puranas (myths) of India the River Goddess
Ganga fell from heaven from the head of Lord
Shiva. (He released her to the earth
afterwards.) Just like Danu
and Ganga, Sarasvathi and
Cauvery were a Goddess
and a river.
Dolmen structures
also draw a close
parallel between
Celts and Indians. A
Dolmen is a hollow
chamber containing
thin, high stones and
a flat stone on top as
a roof. They are found
throughout Europe and
India. They have a small hole
at their back which could mean
both birth and death. Researchers
have speculated that these structures were
created by a tribe of Megalithic people before
the Celtic tribes, who might have had contacts
with India. It’s one explanation why these
structures are found in both the cultures.
Another common factor between the Celtic
and Vedic cultures was fairies. There were
evil fairies and fairies that did good. While the
Celtic fairies were called Sidhes, the fairies in
Vedic culture were called Yaksas. Both Sidhe
and Yaksa knew magic and fought battles.
These affinities show that there were striking
parallels between both the cultures in Vedic
times. The Celtic and Vedic people could be
one and the same, migrating originally from
central Europe and sharing similar beliefs,
practising similar rituals and worshipping
similar pantheons of gods and goddesses.
K.S. Vijay Elangova is an Indian journalist,
writer, poet and translator who has written
and translated nine books in English. They
include Moments and Memories and Adyias:
Renaissance of a People. He is currently writing
a book of poems on Derry to be published shortly,
and a novel.

Celtic Tiger Tales
This Champagne Mojito Is The
Last Thing I Own /
South Dublin – How to get by on,
like, 10,000 Euro a day
by Ross O’Carroll Kelly
(Penguin Ireland)
A fictional guide to Dublin vies
with the story of the author’s
fictional life, with hilarious
consequences, says
Lorraine Fox.
The premise of This Champagne Mojito is the
Last Thing I Own is it revolves around events
that have occurred in O’Carroll Kelly’s life.
The fictional rugby jock’s life story makes for
compelling reading and it is the type of book that
you will go back to if you want to have a good
laugh.
The story starts with O’Carroll Kelly’s father
being put in prison by one of the many tribunals
that took place in the Republic in recent years
and finishing with the writer’s life crashing down
around him. His cosseted existence is seriously
cramped after an affair with the nanny ends in
him leaving his wife and child and having to go
and live and work in the northside of Dublin, a
place that he and his snobby, pretentious friends
look down their noses at. Well worth a read.
In comparison, the book South Dublin – How
to get by on, like, 10,000 euro a day is a travel
guide but not a travel guide in the classical sense
of the word, it is a hilariously funny look at South
Dublin and all the places that someone with
money should visit. Once again our fictional hero
concentrates on the areas where the snobby
and pretentious people of South Dublin tend to
congregate - as in Dalkey, Foxrock, Killiney, etc.
Within the confines of the book, O’Carroll-Kelly
gives a detailed breakdown of the areas, notable
persons who he does and doesn’t rate, lists of
places to visit including bars and restaurants.
This book also states where not to go in Dublin -
i.e. the rest of it.
This book is written in the same tongue in cheek
manner of his other books, which means that the
language is quite juvenile and the ‘Thesauross’
highlights this aspect. Overall I would
recommend both books because the writer
pokes a wickedly funny finger at the sometimes
pompous inhabitants of Dublin - in particular
South Dublin.
The Bloomsday Dead
by Adrian McKinty
(Serpent’s Tail Press)
A fitting conclusion to
the Forsythe trilogy,
says Gerard Brennan
approvingly.
Beijing for Beginners
An Irishman in The
People’s Republic
by Gary Finnegan
(Liffey Press)
Released in time
to catch the
pre-Olympics mania
for all things
Chinese, this is
more than a mere
travel guide, says
Patricia Byrne...
Death Blooms…
The Bloomsday Dead is the final part
of McKinty’s Dead trilogy featuring the
un-effing-killable protagonist, Michael
Forsythe. And as per usual, McKinty has
given this crime story a keen literary edge.
It’s no coincidence that it is named after
the festival date that celebrates Leopold
Bloom’s journey in James Joyce’s Ulysses.
A keen Joyce fan will find many clever
parallels. But first and foremost, this is a
gut-punching gangster story.
The novel’s opening finds Michael Forsythe
living it down in Lima, Peru. He’s on the
run from the New York Irish Mob through
the FBI Witness Protection Programme. His
past sins against the mob include a bunch
of spoilers for Dead I Well May Be, the first
book of the trilogy, so forgive me for not
going into further detail. Just know that this
book takes us from Lima to Belfast with
some flashbacks to Forsythe’s time in New
York. Again I’m impressed by McKinty’s
skill at painting his surroundings vividly
by showing, rather than info-dumping, a
knowledge that he’s obviously gleaned
through personal experience. Google and
read up a thing or two about Adrian McKinty
and you’re not long figuring out he’s a
wandering soul, as is his protagonist from
the Dead trilogy (though for slightly differing
reasons – I hope). However, Forsythe’s
love/hate relationship with Belfast is made
all the more real, I suspect, by the fact
that McKinty has not lost touch with his
Northern Irish roots.
In this final part of the trilogy, Michael
Forsythe’s role has matured, as has his
characterisation. He’s no longer the white-
China in your Hands
With impeccable timing, Gary Finnegan’s
lively account of his time in Beijing is
published just weeks away from the start of
the 2008 Olympic Games in China. His witty
and entertaining read also comes at a time
when we are emotionally engaged with this
vast country and its people, following the
recent disaster of the Sichuan earthquake,
when over 70,000 people lost their lives.
Gary Finnegan’s fascination with China’s One
Child Policy takes on an added poignancy as
the news media carry photographs of shrines
erected by Chinese parents for an only child,
killed in the earthquake.
This is the first book from the pen of the
award-winning journalist and magazine
editor. There are suggestions of a personal
quest around his sojourn in China, like when
friends ask: Why China? Why Beijing? and he
responds that he wants “to feel like a citizen
of the world”, wants to see if he can survive
in any city of a now globalised world. The
question, Why China? Why Beijing? is one
that Gary Finnegan will return to many times
during his 18 month stay in this vast country,
which is home to one in every five people on
earth.
His quirky take on Beijing is partly brought
about by the fact that he opts to stay mainly
on the city’s west side, where there are few
foreigners, and where he is nick-named
Big Nose by some of the locals. His first
impression of the city is of pollution and
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
hot fury that scorched the pages of part
one. That’s still part of his make-up, but
he’s also developed a world-weariness that
is put across expertly. And revenge is not
his sole driving-force in this final part. He
has taken on the part of an investigator. A
badass, heavy-handed and morally complex
investigator - but all the more interesting
because of that. So many times in this
downward character arc I was convinced
the guy had to give up the ghost and lie
down for the next 200, then 100, then
50 then ten pages of the book. Michael
Forsythe struggles towards the denouement
scrapping, spitting and cursing, always
considering surrender but finding it beyond
his nature. A fascinating thing to witness.
The ending, I can’t really talk about (I’m
anti-spoiler, remember?), though at one
point Forsythe compares it to a Spanish
Soap Opera, which is hard to argue
against. As the reader wrestles to suspend
his disbelief and allow the impact of the
surprise twist, so does the protagonist. A
risky way to play it but I personally think
it works. And it makes for some real
emotional writing from the expert in heartwrenching
that is Adrian McKinty.
And so, this illegitimate spawn of a book,
with Tony Soprano morality and James
Joyce literary weight, ends the Michael
Forsythe trilogy. I’m sad to see the thug go,
but hey, everything has to end some time.
And we’ve Adrian McKinty’s Fifty Grand to
look forward to in the not-so-distant future.
unbearable smog, and we learn that traffic
police there have a life expectancy of just
43 years from inhaling exhaust fumes daily.
He is disgusted by the Chinese routine of
spitting in public, describing “the sound of
people hacking up thick phlegm spits”. Also
intriguing for him is the seeming inability of
the Chinese to stand in an orderly queue.
The style of Beijing for Beginners is
conversational and often irreverent, even
when we are taken at break-neck speed
through chunks of Chinese history, as in
the story of Puyi, China’s last emperor, and
his journey from child emperor to Japanese
puppet, to exile, to prisoner, to committed
communist. But there comes a point in Gary
Finnegan’s journey where awe replaces
irreverence, as he and his girlfriend crunch
biscuits, with their backs to the Great Wall
and their faces turned towards the sun. This
is the high point of his trip.
Towards the end of the book, the author
reflects on how he has fallen for Beijing, “its
quirks and its contrariness, its unfocused
ambition and functional disorder”, in spite
of the irritants of smog, censorship, sweet
bread, spitting and queue-skippers. Gary
Finnegan’s achievement is that, in his own
journey into the heart of China, he has
drawn us – the readers – into that quest
on a journey that is as entertaining as it is
informative.
7

8
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Towards the end of his remarkable literary
career, Seán Ó Faoláin published a collection
of stories entitled The Talking Trees, of which
the title story had strong claims, from a
structural point of view, to be the most perfect
story ever written. But while it is technically a
brilliant piece of writing, the content leaves the
reader cold as the story itself lacks vivacity.
In her short story Pimiento, one of the many
jewels in the recently published collection,
Storm Over Belfast, Mary O’Donnell may
not have quite the technical proficiency of Ó
Faoláin, but when it comes to heart, soul and
human compassion, she leaves Cork’s great
‘Man of Letters’ far behind.
In Pimiento we meet Ellen, who finds herself in
something of a social and personal quandary
whether or not she should attend the funeral
of Aidan Mackey - the local doctor, a solid
member of the community and also her ex
lover of eight years. In the struggle to make
her mind up, she stands before her wardrobe
deliberating on what she should wear for the
occasion and, with infinite delicacy, O’Donnell
uses this essentially female process to explore
the depths of Ella’s torment as epitomised
by the sentence: “When she thought of her
The Semantics of Murder
by Aifric Campbell
(Serpent’s Tail)
This psychological
thriller marks an
impressive debut from
the Dubliner, says
Gerard Brennan.
A Stormy Interlude
Storm Over Belfast
by Mary O’Donnell
(New Island)
Des Kenny applauds this remarkable collection from a local talent.
childhood, she saw it as a sky-tinted stream,
incredibly peaceful in comparison to the
scarified inner life she now knew”.
As O’Donnell digs deeper, Ella’s confusion,
self-pity and anger grow until an unwelcome
interruption by her present would-be lover,
Tom, forces her to a decision: “Quickly, she
grabbed a red silk skirt and top and flung them
on the bed. ‘My pimiento rig-out’ she muttered.
‘I’ll wear it for the funeral. One final blast!’“.
This act of defiance unleashes her frustration
and anger, the first victim of which is the
hapless Tom and the second victim her
own equilibrium, as she arrives at the
funeral vengeful and isolated. Then, with an
extraordinary gentle and skilful competence,
O’Donnell brings Ella face to face with a warm
touch of humanity from a most unexpected
quarter that “reached into her and at a touch
released the wedge that had tormented her
for so long”. The final sentence is a touch of
genius: “She wished she had worn anything
other than red”.
The depth of human understanding present
here is repeated in many of the other nineteen
stories in this refreshing collection. The main
Killing Me Softly
Aifric Campbell’s biographical information on the
first page of her debut novel reveals more than
a few interesting facts about her. “As a convent
schoolgirl in Dublin, her greyhound won the Irish
Derby and a hymn she co-wrote won a national TV
song contest.” Other impressive facts include her
completion of a Linguistics degree, lecturing in
semantics at the University of Göteborg, a 13 year
career in investment banking and her decision to
drop that in favour of studying psychotherapy and
creative writing at the University of East Anglia.
An impressive CV, no?
And for this simple reader, a somewhat intimidating
introduction to her novel. I expected a highbrow
literary affair with lots of subtle nuances, subtext,
dense prose, long-long paragraphs and a distinct
lack of dialogue and action. And that’s what I got.
But here’s the thing... I truly enjoyed it.
Campbell’s protagonist, Jay Hamilton, is on
the surface, a confident, suave and impressive
individual. Having moved from Los Angeles to
Kensington in London, he has set up shop as
a highly-regarded (at least, among his peers)
psychoanalyst. His upper class clients unwittingly
feed his muse as he moonlights as J. Merritt, a
successful author dealing in stories heavily steeped
in mental analysis. And his literary career is not his
only secret. Robert, Jay’s much older brother, was
allegedly killed by rent boys and Jay was first on
the scene. Much of Jay’s internal dialogue deals
with how he coped with the trauma of his fatherfigure-brother’s
death and a terrible relationship
with his mother. His old pains are relived when an
investigative biographer, Dana Flynn, tracks down
Jay to question him about Robert, a mathematical
genius and the subject of her work-in-progress.
Jay is a fascinating character, and though not
protagonists find themselves in situations
similar to Ella’s but while our heroines and
some heroes are on the edge and often
isolated, they manage to come to terms with
their own demons and move on.
Not all of the stories are totally successful, but
this is to be expected. Perhaps The Story of
Maria’s Son is more apt for a class in creative
writing as it does not quite marry with the main
tenor of the collection. It is, thankfully, the only
blot here.
One of the most delightful aspects of the book
is the sassiness of the writing, underlined,
as it is, by a subtle eroticism that glimmers
through the pages. This adds piquancy to the
language, and O’Donnell explores the new
possibilities this allows her to the full. The
result is a wonderfully lively and engaging text
that is often humorous and impish, sometimes
ironic but always compelling.
Storm Over Belfast is a sparky collection of
stories that are as innovative as they are
compassionate. It is a difficult book to put
down.
entirely sympathetic, Campbell does a great job
of building him up and then slowly revealing his
flaws and insecurities. To a point she hides his
real personality behind his unsavoury opinions
of his clients as he relives memorable sessions
with the oddest cases. But the real Jay is revealed
through his thoughts of his dead brother as the
story progresses. Campbell also has a mastery
of descriptive language. The book is mostly set in
London and LA and when Campbell takes us to
either of these locations there is no mistaking her
familiarity with them. The characters’ surroundings
couldn’t have been better illustrated without the
aid of cinematography and a popup book. And the
supporting cast is vividly painted through Jay’s
eyes, each one with their own physical quirks and
characteristics.
I felt that the big reveal in the third act was a bit
predictable, but I don’t think Campbell’s intention
was to shock us with a huge twist in the tale.
Instead, and I phrase this vaguely to avoid spoilers,
she eased the reader in to the big secret and made
it easier to swallow.
The plot also concerns a short story inspired by one
of Jay’s most interesting clients. Jay tries to nail
Cora’s character and succeeds. But it is his expert
prediction of Cora’s ultimate outcome that leads
him to question his ethics as a psychoanalyst. And
so, the reader can’t help but feel intrigued by J.
Merritt’s short story, Cora. Campbell made the bold
decision to include the actual story as an appendix
to the novel. And it was a great read. Very different
in style to the novel, employing an omniscient point
of view and a much more pared down style of prose,
I found it the perfect epilogue to the story of Jay
Hamilton and his self-examination of sibling rivalry.
Strike Out
One for fans of rosetinted
rusticity, says
Desima Connolly.
The Lightning Tree
by PJ Curtis
(Brandon)
Imagine yourself in a small
room with a stranger who
determinedly recounts their
life story, in which, to be blunt,
nothing much happens. In The
Lightning Tree, we are granted
an audience with Mariah, who
relates her quiet life from loyal
daughter to grieving lover to
publican in a small Irish 19th
century community. Potentially
interesting narrative strands of
her family as natural healers
and her gift of second sight,
occasionally seeing the ‘pale
ones’, drown amongst the
daily banality of domestic
chores, musings and seasonal
observations. We continuously
drift from autumn to winter, to
summer to autumn and back
again.
Lightly interwoven against
enormously culturally significant
themes including ‘the great
hunger’, deportation and
emigration, Curtis depicts
a time when isolated rural
communities embraced a
synchronised knowledge,
respect and awareness of
the natural world that is now
largely lost. Though the novel
conveys the author’s continued
passion for environmental
issues and his love of the Burren
landscape, the first-person
intimacy maintained throughout
the book combined with a lack
of narrative energy conveys a
claustrophobic repetitiveness
that quickly numbed my
enthusiasm.
The Lightning Tree will, however,
appeal to readers who enjoy a
lightweight yarn and yearn for
the rustic simplicity of a
rose-tinted era.

Day-Trippers
Carnival of Colours
International Children’s Festival, St. Columb’s
Park, Derry - 23rd - 29th June
One of the most exciting events ever to take
place in the Northwest. In Your Space in
collaboration with The Serious Road Trip will
transform St. Columb’s park into a magical
playground for children and adults alike. Two
Big Top tents will host family shows, cabaret
shows, a special cinema night, night-time
fire performances as well as a week long
programme of circus training for children and
adults which will run daily from Monday till
Friday.
Party in the Park:
Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th will see
the Park transformed into a carnival of
colours, performance and light. In addition
to the shows in the big top at 2pm each day,
performers will be positioned through the
park and along its maze of pathways so that
families can journey through the Park and
experience the magic and spectacle of Clown
Shows, Stilt walkers, Face painting, Balloon
modellers, Percussion Corner, Tarot Card
readings and Fokelore story telling.
Contact: 028 7131 3955, info@inyourspace.
euweb, www.inyourspace.eu.
For further information on The Serious Road
Trip go to www.tsrt-chf.org
Our Lives
Tower Museum, Derry - Opening Saturday
24th May
An added incentive for many people in
the city to visit the award-winning Tower
Museum will be a fascinating new exhibition
entitled Our Lives. The exhibition is based
on the everyday lives of people in the North
West region during the late 1940s and early
1950s, during the post-war era and has been
developed in partnership with the
Causeway Museum Service. A range of
exhibits has been assembled in
order to present a realistic picture of life
during this period.
Margaret Edwards, Education Officer for the
Heritage and Museum Service explains that
this is an exhibition that will be enjoyed by
all generations. ‘It is one thing to describe
periods in history but an exhibition like this
is really brings it to life as well as being very
entertaining.’ The exhibition will run until the
end of July providing families with the perfect
day out over the summer holidays.
Tower Museum opens Monday to Saturday
from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am
to 2 pm.
For further information on this or any other
exhibition at the Tower Museum please
contact reception telephone 028 7137 2411
or simply log on to www.derrycity.gov.uk/
museums
Workhouse
The Workhouse Museum is the first Northern
Irish Museum to host a unique photographic
exhibition, entitled Impressions of Irish
History.
John Bradshaw has worked on this
photography project for two years. The object
of the project was to create a set of new
monochrome images covering 10000 years of
Irish history. Printed to fine art standard using
traditional darkroom methods, the images
cover a wide range of places, people, and
objects from the Ice Age to the present day.
The exhibition has already received
outstanding reviews while on display in Cork
Public Museum and South Tipperary Museum,
Clonmel, with the Workhouse Museum being
the first venue in Northern Ireland.
The exhibition will be open until the end of
August. Workhouse Museum opening times
are as follows: Monday-Thursday, Saturday:
10am-5pm. Admission Free.
For further information contact the
Workhouse Museum on 028 71318328 or
the Archivist on 028 71377331.
As I See It
The National Autistic Society Northern Ireland
at the Harbour Museum June 24th - 4th July
As I See It features a series of portraits.
Portraits of ten people with autism from
across the UK, two of the people are from
Northern Ireland. Alongside the portraits
are photographs taken by these individuals,
which provide a fascinating insight into the
experiences of people living with autism.
The exhibition is part of a campaign by The
National Autistic Society of Northern Ireland
called ‘think differently about autism’- which
aims not only to raise awareness and
understanding of autism, but to also change
people’s perception of this disability.
The exhibition is here for a short period, until
the 4th July before it moves onto its next
venue.
The Harbour Museum opens Monday to Friday
from 10 am to 5 pm.
Foyle Valley Railway
The Foyle Valley Railway Museum is set to
reopen as a visitor attraction for the summer
months of July - September.
The Museum will be open from July, Tuesday
to Saturday. Admission will be free.
The Foyle Valley Railway Centre hosts an
exciting and fascinating collection of railway
artefacts and helps us to celebrate the
outstanding railway history of the city.
Foyle Valley Railway Museum opens Tuesday -
Saturday 10pm - 5pm.
John Hewitt
John Hewitt International Summer School,
Market Place Theatre, Armagh, 28th July - 1st
August.
The week-long annual Summer School was
established in 1987 and is the Society’s
main event commemorating John Hewitt. The
School adopts a specific theme each year and
provides a safe, neutral and unthreatening
space to explore these themes. The School
annually includes more than 35 distinct,
though related cultural events across a range
of artforms including creative writing, drama
and the visual arts. The School is proud to
secure contributions from leading writers,
poets, artists and musicians from across
Ireland, Britain and beyond. The Summer
School is held in Armagh each July and
attracts up to 200 people annually.
The residential nature of the Summer School
provides opportunities for people from all
communities to live, work and socialise
together throughout the week, encouraging
interdependence. In order to maximise
participation, the School works in partnership
with local councils, arts organisations,
community organisations and businesses to
provide bursaries to individuals who might
otherwise be excluded to attend the School.
For bookings or more information on this
year’s events - www.johnhewittsociety.org or
call 028 3752 1821.
Art Attack
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Venice at golden thread Gallery, Great Patrick
Street, Belfast, 30th May - 23rd July.
Venice at gtGallery brings together work from
the Ireland and Northern Ireland exhibitions
at last year’s 52nd Venice Biennale. The
exhibition features video installations by Willie
Doherty and Gerard Byrne.
Born in Derry in 1959, Willie Doherty
continues to live in the city. Doherty first
came to prominence in the 1980s when he
exhibited a series of photographic works
overwritten with text, including The Walls,
Fog: Ice and Sever/Isolate. Doherty has been
shortlisted twice (1994 and 2003) for the
Turner Prize. The work shown here is Ghost
Story newly commissioned by curator Hugh
Mulholland for the Venice Biennale and
supported by the Arts Council of Northern
Ireland and the British Council.
Gerard Byrne, born in 1969, lives and works
in Dublin. The work is a meditation on fame,
artifice, acting and the complicity between
the interviewer and the interviewee. The
work, produced by Ali Curran, was shot on
location at the New York Theatre Workshop
with acclaimed cinematographer Chris Doyle.
ZAN-*T185…was commissioned by for Culture
Ireland specifically for the Venice Biennale.
Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm. Saturday 1pm-
4pm. Admission Free.
The Golden Thread Gallery, Switch Room, 84-
94 Great Patrick Street, Belfast, BT1 2LU.
Tel: [028] 9033 0920 Email: info@gtgallery.
org.uk Web: www.gtgallery.org.uk
9

10
10
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
John Millington Synge visited Achill Island,
County Mayo for the first time in 1904, the
same year that he completed the writing of The
Playboy of the Western World. Undoubtedly,
Synge had already heard of the notorious
son of Achill, James Lynchehaun, whose
exploits had received widespread newspaper
coverage over the previous decade. It was
only a year since the British authorities had
failed in their attempt in an Indianapolis
court to have Lynchehaun extradited from the
United States to Ireland to serve out his prison
sentence. What Synge would have picked up
on his visit to Achill was the considerable folk
material which was already growing up about
the infamous criminal. What is also known,
from Synge himself, is that the shaping of
The Playboy character of Christy Mahon was
influenced by two cases: firstly, the story of
the Connemara man who killed his father and
secondly, the story of James Lynchehaun of
Achill.
At the same time as Synge was completing
his writing of The Playboy, a Franciscan monk
by the name of Brother Paul Carney, was
compiling his account of the notorious Achill
man; a hand-written, unpublished account,
which he named A Short Sketch of the Life and
Actions of the far-famed James Lynchehaun.
This account was not fully completed until
1918, the year that Lynchehaun was reputed
to have made one of his clandestine trips
back to Ireland. Brother Paul was born close
to Knock, County Mayo in 1844 and joined the
Franciscan Order in 1869, when he was posted
to Achill where he taught and befriended
the young Lynchehaun. Brother Paul has
spent close to 25 years in Achill by the time
Lynchehaun committed the brutal crime of
1894, when he attacked and seriously injured
an English landlady, Mrs. Agnes McDonnell,
and burned down her residence, The Valley
House, in Achill. Convicted of the crime in the
courts, Lynchehaun would escape from prison
twice – in 1895 and 1902 – before fleeing to
the United States.
While Brother Paul bases his story on the
essential facts of Lynchehaun’s life, he often
embellishes the narrative with anecdotes,
yarns and gossip that had grown up around
Achill. James Lynchehaun had become a
teacher after finishing his schooling but lost
his post due to the falsification of school
records. He later emigrated to England, where
he joined the Metropolitan Police, only to
be dismissed from this post for drinking on
Orpheus Rising
by Colin Bateman
(Headline)
Fishy Tale
Bateman’s latest offering sees a big change
in direction from the likes of his Dan Starkey
series. Orpheus Rising still has that cool,
dry wit that the Bangor man employs with
casual ease, but it’s less frequent and
more understated in this novel. And for this
particular story, it seems to be the perfect
amount of humour. I think that Bateman
had a story to tell and although it was very
different than anything he’s tried before,
he’s listened to his instincts and told it the
way he thought best. I have to say, it worked
a treat.
I coasted through this book with utter ease
and loved every sentence. It seems as if
he’s really upped his game since I Predict
a Riot. The writing is much denser than his
usual minimalistic style, but I didn’t feel
The Priest
and the Playboy…
In the course of researching her family history, Patricia Byrne
uncovered a manuscript linking a brutal crime on Achill Island
and J.M. Synge’s Irish masterpiece The Playboy of the Western
World…
duty. It was after his return to Achill that hostilities
developed between him and Mrs. Agnes McDonnell,
leading to the 1894 attack on The Yellow House. In
Brother Paul’s account of the crime, one is left with
the impression that Paul is making allowances for
the perpetrator, who he describes as being under
the influence of alcohol: ‘He (Lynchehaun) went
to a shebeen house where he indulged freely in
very bad spirits. Thus had drink inflamed
the evil spirits within him and spurned
him to the perpetration of his
evil designs.’ Some of Paul’s
most colourful writing is in his
descriptions of Lynchehaun’s
activities following his escape
from Maryborough Prison in
1902: ‘His food for nine days
consisted almost completely
of turnips, and oats which he
rubbed between his hands and
shelled with his teeth.’
Shortly after his transfer from Achill,
and during the years that Lynchehaun
was imprisoned or on the run, Brother Paul
travelled extensively throughout the USA, the UK
and Ireland as he raised money for various Church
causes, including the construction of a new church
in Castlebar, County Mayo. He describes his awe and
wonder on arriving in New York – the first time he
had travelled outside of Ireland: ‘The scenery was
charming and enchanting to a greenhorn from Achill
Island who had never went a mile from cow dung
before.’ He recounts how, after he returned from
his first fund-raising trip to the United States, the
Archbishop of Tuam asked him what the qualities of
a good ‘quester’ or fundraiser were and he replied
to the Archbishop: ‘they need to be as cute as
serpents, as meek as doves and as patient as Job!’
It is clear from his writing that Paul kept in touch
with James Lynchehaun throughout this period.
Gerard Brennan finds that a departure into new literary territory has paid dividends for
Bateman.
bogged down by description or superfluous
detail. Each word counted. And so the result
is a huge story that still manages to weigh in
at a smidge under 400 hardback pages.
This is the poignant tale of Michael Ryan,
an Irish writer who found the love of his life
under dramatic circumstances (involving
a shark and grisly amputation) and lost
her soon after to a violent death (even
more violent than the shark thing). Without
spoiling the plot for potential readers, I’ll
tell you that we accompany Michael on his
return to the Florida town of Brevard, ten
years after he found happiness and had it
ripped from him, to face up to the ghosts of
his past.
I was very surprised by the supernatural
content in Orpheus Rising. Again, I’m wary
While Synge drew on the Lynchehaun story for The
Playboy, Brother Paul for his part, was disparaging
of Synge. Referring to The Playboy, he wrote: ‘The
writer of these pages who knows the Mayo life
more intimately than Mr Synge, can state that his
efforts to represent Mayo peasant women as the
willing harbourers of murderers are founded on
calumny gone raving mad.’ Writing about
The Abbey Theatre riots of 1907,
Paul said: ‘Remarkable scenes
were witnessed during the last
week of January in the Abbey
Theatre, Dublin, where the
managers of the so-called
Irish and national institution
attempted to produce a
drama entitled The Playboy
of the Western World.’ It is
clear that Paul did not hold
Synge or the National Theatre
in high regard.
It’s unclear what happened to James
Lynchehaun after 1918. Some claim that
he was admitted to the Workhouse in Castlebar
in 1936 for a period and that he died in Scotland the
following year. Brother Paul’s fund-raising activities
ended around 1910 and he died at Roundstone
Monastery on 24 October, 1928, aged 85, a few
months after the death of his sister, Bridget Murphy.
Bridget was my great grandmother and it was in the
process of researching family stories that I was led
to Paul’s hand-written manuscript, A Short Sketch
of the Life and Actions of the far-famed James
Lynchehaun. Here we find a vivid chronicle, in the
mode of the oral storyteller, where Paul captured
the folklore surrounding the notorious character of
James Lynchehaun, a folklore that had a significant
influence on John Millington Synge and The Playboy
character of Christy Mahon.
of spoilers and there’s not a lot you can go
into without robbing the book of some of
its impact, so I’ll not go into how or why he
uses it. Just trust me when I say, he does
it with the aptitude of the likes of Stephen
King or John Connolly, and I hope it’s an
area he revisits in future work. He sets up a
powerful world and sticks rigidly to his own
rules, making the transition into suspension
of disbelief an easy one for the reader, as a
result.
His next book will see a return to form,
with Mystery Man, a detective story set in
the real No Alibis bookshop in Belfast, but
featuring a fictional owner. But maybe in the
book after next he’ll bend the boundaries
of his chosen genre? I hope so. He does it
very well.

Emeralds in Tinseltown:
The Irish in Hollywood
by Steve Brennan and
Bernadette O’Neill
(Appletree Press)
Desima Connolly
is enthralled by the
stories of some of the
Irish stars of yesteryear.
Emerald City
American culture’s fascination with all
things Irish is well known and irrefutably
due to the massive influx of immigrants
that permeated every faction of society,
including the arts. Written by husband
and wife Steve Brennan and Bernadette
O’Neill, Emeralds in Tinseltown takes the
reader on an enjoyable and beautifully
illustrated whirlwind tour of the Irish
influence in Hollywood.
They begin by declaring an Irish stamp
on landmarks now synonymous with
Hollywood. From the naming of the
aspirational Mulholland Drive in honour
of Belfast-born William Mulholland who
nurtured the drought-ridden townscape
that was soon to be the homeland of the
international movie industry, to Irish-
American John Roche who envisaged
a large white lettered sign reading
Hollywoodland perched symbolically on
the hills above Los Angeles.
There is a touching poignancy in
entertaining profiles of now forgotten,
innovative directors of the silent era
and first pioneer adventures, including
Herbert Brenon, Rex Ingram and William
Desmond Taylor. Combined with factual
and anecdotal portraits of a host of Irish
Thanks for the Memories
by Cecelia Ahern
(Harper Collins)
Sarah Lapsley finds this modern fable a little too farfetched
for her taste.
I do not know where she gets the ideas from,
it’s as if Cecelia Ahern writes fairytales for
adults. But she gets away with it, adults read
them. Furthermore they are now watching
them on the big and small screen, with the
adaptation of her successful first novel, P.S
I Love You, now out on video. In her latest
tale Ahern is promoting the rather unnerving
notion that when a person gives blood
they also give some of their memories and
knowledge to the transfusion recipient.
Justin Hitchcock, a lecturer in art, is charmed
into giving blood against his better judgement.
Joyce Conway, the unfortunate recipient of the
blood (the result of a fall that causes her to
miscarry a longed-for child), knows something
has happened to her when she wakes up in
hospital. She can speak languages she has
not learnt, she has memories of cities she has
never visited; unsettling her friends, family
and ex-husband.
There is much ‘will they - won’t they’ jostling
as Joyce tries to prove to her loyal but
understandably doubtful friends that she has
in fact gained her new-found knowledge from
a blood transfusion. An unbelievable number
of coincidences eventually lead Joyce to the
blood donor and the ending will not shock
anyone familiar with this genre.
Blood Type
Interspersed with this far fetched tale of love
‘through the veins’ is a touching relationship
between Joyce and her widowed dad; with
whom she moves in, following her marriage
break-up. This relationship - along with her
relations with her close gal pals - adds some
believability to the book. In fact, I think within
these relationships and Joyce’s experiences
at work, Ahern may have had a book in its own
right without introducing the implausible love
story.
In fairness, Ahern manages to make her fable
credible by the way in which she constructs
the tale. I wouldn’t say this was a page turner,
but it’s an easy read, perhaps a good holiday
read, not too hard to follow.
Not exactly what I expected from a book called
Thanks for the Memories, however Ahern
could never be accused of writing a book
without a twist. The first few of these were
tolerable; however her more recent tales of
adult imaginary friends and places where
missing things and people go, along with this
offering of eerie happenings around blood
transfusions are too fanciful for my palate. I
don’t think it will do much to increase much
needed donations at local blood banks.
players such as directors John Ford, John
Huston and the ‘Irish Mafia’ (whose most
famous members included Jimmy Cagney,
Pat O’Brian and Spencer Tracy) to modern
‘hellraisers’ Richard Harris and Peter
O’Toole, we are introduced to actors and
filmmakers of character, determination
and individuality who challenged the
might of the dominant studios, forging
contractual rights along the way.
The myth of the patriotic, romanticised
Irish rebel is woven throughout the
book, and has proven to be a lucrative
business for many emeralds. The thirst for
imported Irish talent was immense, from
the Kalem Film Company, dispatched
to Ireland in 1910 to produce films
appealing to immigrant audiences back
home such as ‘Rory O’More’ and ‘Ireland
the Oppressed’, to the influx of soughtafter
Abbey Theatre actors (including
Barry Fitzgerald, Sally Algood and Una
O’Connor) in the 1940s.
Other Hollywood players that fitted the
mould included George Brent, Greer
Garson, George Murphy, Maureen
O’Sullivan and Maureen O’Hara to
name but a few. Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly,
Anthony Quinn, and Gregory Peck are
also featured, however the definition of
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
true emeralds becomes a little blurred
when the Irish roots of those gems lie
generations back.
Brennan and O’Neill finish by
congratulating the contemporary Irish film
industry, sustained by the establishment
of RTÉ in 1961, the founding of the
Ardmore Film Studios in County Wicklow,
and the Section 35 tax incentive scheme
which collaboratively produced such
home-grown successes as ‘My Left
Foot’, ‘The Field’ and ‘In the Name of the
Father’.
Returning to the symbolism of those
infamous Hollywood landmarks, perhaps
they now project a more jaded image,
conjuring associations of ‘bankability’,
indulgence, superficiality and less so now,
glamour. Sprawling across two centuries
of filmmaking, Emeralds in Tinseltown
depicts the ‘Old Hollywood’, where studios
ran the game, and actors fought hard,
often from immigrant backgrounds, to
achieve their success. Though of course,
there was always scandal and decadence,
you cannot help but yearn for the gritty
substance of personality and narrative
that the book reminds us once existed.
11

12
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Books and Bricks - A Literary Map of Derry
They say travel broadens the mind, but sometimes
we miss the cultural and historic gems that exist
right under our noses. For those of you watching your
carbon footprint, Verbal brings you a map of ‘Literary
Derry’.
1 St Columb’s Park: (Latin) scene of
20,000 people at a ceremony during
Archbishop Colton’s Visitation 10-14 October
1397.
2 Waterside: The scene of Walter Hegarty’s
novel The Price of Chips 1973.
3 The Railway Line: Seamus Deane’s poem
“Return” describes homecoming by train to
Derry. Poet and professor, he later edited the
major, 5-volume Field Day Anthology of Irish
Literature (1991 and 2002).
4 Ebrington Barracks: Francis Ledwidge
and his patron Lord Dunsany both passed
through Ebrington Barracks in WWI. There
in September 1917, Dunsany wrote the
introduction to Ledwidge’s second volume of
poetry Songs of Peace. Ledwidge was killed
in France before it was published.
5 Bridge Street: Site of Derry’s first bridge in
1790. When it was replaced in 1863, it was the
subject of a philosophical little poem “Derry’s Old
Wooden Bridge”, in The Poetical Works of Robert
Young of Londonderry 1863.
6 Quayside: Sholto Cooke’s book The Maiden
City on the Western Ocean tells Derry’s 19th
century sailing ship history.
Quayside: In Thomas Mellon’s book Thomas
Mellon and his Times (Pittsburg 1885) he
describes sailing from Derry in 1818 aged 5.
Commemorated in the Ulster American Folk Park,
he founded a major American family famous for
banking, art and philanthropy.
Quayside: Micí Mac Gabhann’s autobiography
Rotha Mór and tSaoil (in English The Hard Road
to Klondyke), describes getting the ‘Glasgow boat’
with other west Donegal people going to work in
Scotland.
Quayside: Patrick McGill, novelist, whose story
“The Rat Pit” (1915) describes migrant workers
travelling from Derry to Glasgow.
Quayside: Emigrants to the US sailed by small
tender from Derry to Moville to trans-ship to, e.g.
the Allen liners from Liverpool. (“On the grand
Allen liners we’re sailing in style; but we’re sailing
away from the Emerald Isle” by Percy French
former pupil at Foyle College, Lawrence Hill).
7 Riverbank at Harbour Square: Adamnan’s
“Vita Columbae” (“Life of Columba”) in 6th
century Latin, records a traveller “in portu
Derriensis” (in the port of Derry) getting a lift on
a boat sailing to Britain, from where he walked
north to Iona in the late 500s.
8 Central Library, Foyle Street: The Central
Library has 80,000 books and DVDs.
9
The Gainsborough Bar, Corner Guildhall
Square, Foyle Street: In his biography My Story,

Paddy the Cope (1939), tells how he
worked to established Templecrone Coop
in Dungloe. On one occasion he was
sent to Derry Jail. He and his two RIC
constable escorts went into this bar and
sat drinking and talking. Eventually
“the bartender told the police they
were taking too much drink, and the jail
would be closed at ten o’clock ...!” (A
Justice of the Peace, Patrick Gallagher
was freed the following day).
10 Guildhall: In the mid-1980s some
20,000 local people came to see
Ireland’s oldest document, the Cathach
Cholmchille, psalms said to have been
copied by St Columb himself.
Guildhall Square: The setting of Collette
Bryce’s great poem The Full Indian
Rope Trick about youth escaping into
adulthood. It won the UK’s 2003
National Poetry Prize. (If ever a poem
and a Square deserved a statue!
Guildhall: The setting of Brian Friel’s
play “The Freedom of the City”. Others
of his plays, e/.g. “Translations”,
premiered in the Guildhall.
11 The City Walls: Opening scene of
the “Lovely Willie” ballad: “Where the
high walls of Derry look dismal and
grey…”
The City Walls: The Walls of Derry
written by C.D. Milligan (1948) is the
authoritative history of the construction
and subsequent history of the Walls of
Derry..
12
Shipquay Street, BLUE PLAQUE:
Bottom left building, (former Belfast
Banking Co, where his father was the
Manager): Joyce Cary was born on the
first floor on 7 Dec 1888. Author of
novels and short stories, many based
on his time in West Africa.
(Shipquay Street: Top left block):
Hempton’s Bookshop: In 1847
Hemptons published Robert Simpson’s
Annals of Derry.
13
Diamond: Original office of the
Londonderry Jourrnal and Donegal
and Tyrone Advertiser (now the Derry
Journal) founded by George Douglas in
June 1772.
(Diamond-upper corner of Butcher St):
William Edmundson, quaker, describes
in his diary being jailed here in 1659 by
the Mayor.
Diamond: Scene of a hanging in East
of Eden novel by John Steinbeck,
1962 Nobel Literature laureate. (His
grandfather Samuel Hamilton, also
described in the novel, was born in
Ballykelly).
(The Diamond): The War memorial and
its “winged virgin Victory standing on
her one toe in the Diamond” described
in Benedict Kiely’s novel: The Captain
with the Whiskers 1960; and the roofs
“climbing upwards ever upwards”.
(The Diamond): Former premises of
“Bible and Simmons” the ancestral
family business of Jimmy Simmons,
poet and singer (1933-2001).
14 (Bishop Street Within: BLUE
PLAQUE): Home of Kathleen Coyle,
novelist, feminist (1886-1952).
15 (13 Pump Street): Original home of
Londonderry Sentinel newspaper (19
September 1829).
16
(London Street): The site of Talbot’s
Theatre opened in 1789, which staged
many popular dramas over the next 40
years until the Theatre Royal opened
nearby. (It later housed the historic
Church of Ireland Diocesan Library).
17 (Society Street car park) In 1886
George Farquhar became a boarder
at the Free School here (now Foyle &
Londonderry College). From 1698
until his early death in 1707 he was a
leading playwright in London where he
is buried in “The Actors’ Church”, St
Paul’s, Covent Garden.
(Apprentice Boys’ Memorial Hall,
Society Street): “Charlotte Elizabeth”
nom de plume of Mrs Tonna, honorary
Apprentice Boy (the only ever female),
who in 1839 wrote: Derry: A Tale of the
Revolution of 1688.
(St Augustine’s Church): Rev John SB
Monsell, poet and hymn-writer was
curate here 1836-38.
18
(Freemasons’ Hall, former Bishop’s
Palace): From 1867 until her death in
1895, the home of Mrs Cecil Frances
Alexander, hymn-writer. (There is a
Green Hill Far Away; Once in Royal
David’s City; All things Bright and
Beautiful).
19 (The Deanery, Bishop St Within):
Rev George Berkeley, was Dean of Derry
1724-1734, but never lived here. A
philosopher (“To be is to be perceived”),
he lived for a time in the US. Berkeley
University and city are named after him.
He left his library to Yale and Harvard
Universities.
20 (St Columb’s Cathedral): Sam
Starrett’s play about Michiah Browning
[Premonitions] in the Cathedral where
Browning married and where he was
buried after breaking the Boom and
ending the Siege.
(St Columb’s Cathedral): John Newton,
slave trader, sheltered his ship in Lough
Swilly after a storm. He travelled to
Derry and worshipped at St Columb’s
Cathedral. He later renounced the
slave trade, became a clergyman and
is famous as the author of the hymn
Amazing Grace.
(St Columb’s Cathedral): The Mitred
Earl by Brian Fothergill (1974) is a
biography of one of Derry’s more
unusual, and admired, personalities,
Frederick Augustus Hervey, Earl of
Bristol and Bishop of Derry from 1768
to1803.
21
(Bishop Street Without: Derry Jail):
On 3 November 1798 (“12 Brumaire
Year 6” of the French Revolutionary
Calendar), Theobald Wolfe Tone wrote
letter from his cell to Lord Cavan
the local army commander claiming
Prisoner of War rights as a French army
officer.
(Bishop Street Without: Derry Jail): After
the transportation to Australia in 1834
of the “Tolpuddle Martyrs”, George Kerr,
a Belfast trade unionist, was jailed in
Derry for helping to form a trade union
branch in Derry. He later published
a pamphlet about the incident:
“Exposition of Legislative Tyranny and
Defence of the Trade Unions”.
22 Long Tower Church: This church
claims, not without dispute, to be the
site of the original monastery founded
by St Columb in 546 AD. This history
was published by the Derry Journal
in 1946: “The Story of the Long Tower
Church 546-1946”. A curate here,
Rev William Doherty published Derry
Columbkille in 1899.
The most poignant book in all this list is,
of course, the lost Book of Derry - the
Leabhar Dhoire - the ancient Irish
chronicle of the city’s history which is
known to have been compiled by the
monastery, but like dozens of other
ancient manuscripts has disappeared.
What a tale it might tell!
Lumen Christi College buildings (former
St Columb’s College: attended by
Seamus Heaney (at least two of whose
poems describe his time there), Brian
Friel and John Hume, all of whom have
had books written about them. (The
only second-level school in the world
to have been attended by 2 Nobel
Laureates) The late poet Paul Wilkins,
who taught here, is commemorated by
a plaque in the old Library.
(Miller Street): Charlie Gallagher author
of Acorns and Oakleaves: A Derry
Childhood, a fond memoir of Derry life
before and after World War 2.
23 Bogside:
Just as happened after the 17th century
Siege, the “Troubles” of the last 40
years have produced a host of writings,
records, poetry, fiction and memoirs by
participants and observers, including,
among many, many others:
- Shadows on our Skin (1977) by
multi-award winning novelist Jennifer
Johnston.
- The Road to Bloody Sunday (1983)
by Dr Raymond McClean.
- War in an Irish Town (1984) by
Eamonn McCann: journalist and author.
- Peggy Deery: a Derry Family at War
(1997) by Nell McCafferty: journalist
and author .
- Eyewitness Bloody Sunday (1997)
by Don Mullan.
- Paddy Bogside (2001) by Paddy
Doherty.
24
(Stable Lane): The Verbal Arts
Centre (9-4.30pm: Mon-Fri): The
unique centre founded in 1992 by Sam
Burnside and friends “for the promotion
of the language arts”.
Text kindly supplied by Colm
Cavanagh - Honorary Secretary of
the Foyle Civic Trust.
From next month Verbal will be
starting a new series ‘Literary Ulster’
- with the help of the Ulster History
Circle, highlighting places of literary
interest all over the province.
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
13

14
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Book Worms…
This month’s younger
readers section is brought to
you by the children from
Bellarena P.S. in Limavady.
Knuffle Bunny Too
by Mo Willems
(Walker)
We liked this book a lot. It had good pictures
and Trixie was a good character. She had a
fight with her friend Sonya because they had
the same bunny and the teacher took the
bunnies away until hometime. Everything
was ok until Trixie woke up in the middle
of the night and remembered she had the
wrong bunny! She made her Dad get up and
go in his pyjamas to swap with Sonya’s Dad.
This story was funny and it would be a good
story to read at bedtime. It would be a good
story for children our age and even younger
too.
Piglet and Papa
by Margaret Wild and Stephen
Michael King
(HNA Books)
This book had nice pictures and it was the
easiest to read without much help. It was a
little bit boring because it was easy to guess
what would happen. We liked the bit where
Piglet bit Papa’s tail, that was funny. We
think this book would be better for younger
children and it would be a nice story for a
Daddy to read to a little son or daughter
before they go to bed.
Little Beauty
by Anthony Browne
(Walker)
We liked this book best of all of them. Beauty
is the name of the kitten who is best friends
with the gorilla. The gorilla was very sad until
the kitten came along. The keepers tell him
not to eat the kitten but he loves the kitten.
They do everything together, even go to the
toilet! The gorilla gets very angry one night
and breaks the television and the keepers
tell him they are going to take the kitten
away. How does the kitten stop them? You’ll
have to read it and find out. This book had
the funniest pictures. We liked the pictures
of the gorilla on the toilet and the two of
them swinging off the lights the best.
Reviews by Jack Mark,
Connor McGill, Aaron Brown,
Adam McLaughlin, Samantha
Ranchman and Gemma
Simpson
What Dino Saw
by Victor Kelleher and Tom
Jellett
(Catnip)
This story is about a girl who finds a giant
egg beside the river. When she puts it in
the hot boiler cupboard it breaks open and
a dinosaur comes out! I thought this story
was really good. My favourite part was the
way Dino ate EVERYTHING. The pictures
were funny but not in colour but still good.
This book was not hard to read on your own
and you would not need very much help. It
was a good story and I would recommend it
to boys and girls who like funny stories and
dinosaurs!
By Henrik Paul McGill
Strange Hiding Place
by Graham Marks
(Catnip)
This story is about Dev. On holiday in France,
Dev discovers he has some DNA in him that
might save the world. The DNA was put in
him by aliens from the planet Priam IV. Now
they need to get it back before the Vad-
Raatch get to him and destroy him. This book
is really exciting and it keeps you guessing
about what is going to happen next. It could
be a bit confusing at the start because the
story just takes off without any background
or explaining lots of stuff, but it gets clearer
the more you read. This is definitely a book
for boys!
By Daniel Gilfillan
White Lies
by Cathy Hopkins
(Piccadilly Press)
Cat has a big problem. She doesn’t want
to tell lies but she doesn’t want to hurt her
best friend’s feelings either. I enjoyed this
book but I don’t think it would be something
boys would like to read. Girls aged 11 - 13
will like it a lot. Cat is a really good character
and the dialogue in the book was realistic. I
didn’t have time to finish the book but I will
definitely read on to find out what happens
in the story.
By Natalie Smith
Martha in the Middle
by Jan Fearnley
(Walker)
Martha is a little mouse who is always stuck
in the middle. She is very jealous when the
new baby mouse comes along and she runs
away because she thinks that no one notices
her anymore. She meets a frog at the bottom
of the garden and he shows her how being in
the middle is a good thing. The bees always
take their honey from the middle of the flower.
This was a nice story with good pictures and
a meaning. I would recommend this story for
younger children. It was easy to read without
very much help and it has lots of colourful
pictures.
By Leah Gilfillan.

Toffee and Pie
by Pippa Goodhart and Paul
Howard
(Walker)
This story was about two horses and
their owners who make friends. John
and his family move around all over the
place so he can’t read or write very well
but he is really good at drawing horses
and Tom likes his drawings so much
that John feels better about it. John
really likes going to school with Tom
because they can meet up after and
ride their horses. It is really sad when
John’s family has to move on again but
you think that maybe they will come
back. I thought this story was brilliant
because I love horses too. It was easy to
read without very much help and I would
definitely recommend it to boys and girls
aged eight and older.
By Rebecca Ranchman
There is no stopping Kate
Thompson. Following on from
last year’s success with The
Last of the High Kings, she
is back with her fourteenth
book for teenagers. This time,
with Creature of the Night,
Thompson recreates a vision of
Dublin that is laden with urban
grit but at once recognisable.
Bobby’s Ma is moving him and
his half-brother out of Dublin to
Clare. Moving him away from his
mates, Fluke, Beetle and Psycho
Mick, and away from trouble. On
the bus down he doesn’t waste
any time in planning his escape
back to Dublin. But Bobby
discovers that life in the country
is worse than he had imagined
when his new neighbours, the
Dooley’s, warn him to leave milk
out for the faeries.
The ensuing culture shock
establishes a series of
Dark Creatures
Creature of the Night
by Kate Thompson
(Bodley Head)
Another terrifying triumph from the award
winning children’s author, says David
Maybury.
escapades that ensnares
Bobby, his family and the
Dooley’s in a gripping story of
debt, drugs and murder. There
is nothing gracious or whimsical
about Creature of the Night and
the bleak, austere world that
Bobby and his family are trying
to leave behind is exposed with
vivid reality.
Having already won most
major children’s books awards,
Creature of the Night will likely
ensure that Kate Thompson’s
name will feature on most
shortlists next year. A mix of
stark realities and folklore,
Creature of the Night is a
compelling book that you won’t
be able to put down.
Fun at the Forum
Millennium Forum Summer
School, Derry, 27th – 31st July.
The Millennium Forum’s
limelight is set to focus on
young people aged 14 - 21
this summer as it continues
to provide opportunities for
upcoming theatre talent to get
onstage.
The fourth annual, ‘Five
Fantastic Days in July’ which
returns during July will offer
youth aged 16+ to get creative
with some of the best theatre
practitioners in the business.
Over five days students
will be engaged in drama,
movement, street theatre,
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
stage sound and lighting
workshops, offering them a
comprehensive introduction
to stage craft and technical
theatre. The School
culminates in a Showcase at
the Millennium Forum on the
final night.
An unprecedented number
of 14 – 19 year olds from
throughout the North West
auditioned for the 60-strong
cast. These budding actors are
set to undertake two months
of rehearsals in preparation
for their public performances,
14th – 16th August. For more
information Tel: 028 7126
4455.
15

16
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
The Green
Room
Alexis Boddy is a 25
year-old literature
student with writing
aspirations. She has
been penning short
stories for years
but has only
recently worked
up the courage
to attempt
publication.
She lives in
London with
her fiance and
their three dogs.
They call it the green room. It’s a minuscule
moment that every surfer is consumed
with. It’s a place you take with you. It’s that
moment when the crest of the wave falls
and curls around you like turquoise fire. Your
whole world becomes green.
I wake up at five am these days. I used to
sleep in before. He would cook me breakfast
and bring it to me on a red plastic tray. I’d
listen to the heavy London traffic outside
and wriggle down in bed, cocooning myself
in the soft white sheets. He would do the
crossword and ask for my help. He dominated
everything I was. I haven’t seen him in six
months. He was arrogant on that last day,
masking his superiority with apologies and
acrid humility.
The Pacific mornings are sticky and vivid.
Everything seems more open here, like a fully
inflated lung. I peel off my t-shirt and stand
naked by the open window, looking out across
the beach. It’s still fairly dark outside but I
can see some indistinct figures massaging
their surfboards with wax, huddled over in the
half-light, staring at the black ocean.
I feel the wind lift the sweat off my back and
I shiver. Today is the day. The sun is coming
up and I can hear more people arriving. I
can smell the petrol from their cars and
hear them untying roof racks. I walk across
the apartment and grab my bikini. It’s still
damp and the thudding, dank aroma hits the
back of my throat. The material is cold and it
snaps against my skin, clinging like a brightly
coloured barnacle. I shiver again and watch
the blonde hairs on my arm lift upwards.
I scrape my hair back off my face. Most of it
is encrusted with salt but I don’t care. I had
it all cut off when I moved here, it seems
ridiculous to have long hair now. I can’t
remember the last time I smelled shampoo or
conditioner or anything other than the sea. It
possesses me now. It is an obsession worth
the obsession.
I stuff a banana in my mouth and down the
rest of the orange juice, straight from the
carton. I like to eat standing up, something
about it feels invigorating, like I never have to
stop for anything any more. I swing my arms
in giant circles and feel the blood begin to
pump through me. I grab my board roughly
and head for the beach.
The kid is waiting outside for me. I call him
a kid but he must be around twenty-one.
He’s beautiful. He reminds me of a Greek
sculpture, like Adonis or Apollo. His hair falls
down in blonde ringlets and he peeps at me
through the yellow spirals with dark blue eyes.
His eyes match the air. At this time of day,
everything looks submerged, like the detritus
at the bottom of a fish tank.
‘Blue morning, blue mountain’ he says,
smiling at me.
I say nothing and walk onto the sand. I
sometimes think I scare him. The sand is
slow and cumbersome, we kneel in it and
wax our boards in silence. The sand makes
me uncomfortable. I sometimes worry that
I’ll drown on the beach before I drown in the
water. I watch the sea, try to gauge its mood.
And then we’re off, running towards the
water. I’m going as fast as I can but I feel
like I’m sinking in all this yellow dust. The kid
is much faster than me and I focus on him.
I watch his back muscles as he runs, they
ripple from side to side like fleshy waves and
I suddenly run faster, like I’m chasing him.
He looks back at me and yells something
incoherent. My calf muscles burn as we
run, I feel like they might rupture before I
even reach the water. I try not to think, I try
to switch my brain off but it’s buzzing with
energy and heat and the sea.
We finally reach the water and it feels cool
against my feet. I want to drop to my knees
and let the waves lap over me but I know I
have to keep moving. The sand is squishy
between my toes and I think of pedicures in
beauty salons.
I throw my board in front of me and leap on
to it. Paddle, paddle, paddle, way out to the
back. Up and down, rise and fall. Paddle,
paddle, paddle, don’t stop. I push the
board under a wave and everything is quiet.
The silence is palpable, it permeates my
whole body and when I surface the noise is
astounding. I fill my lungs with air and paddle
onwards.
We reach the back. There’s a line of people
straddling boards, waiting for their perfect
wave. We all sit in awed silence.
Then I see my wave coming, third
one from the front and I can see
it all so clearly, in a moment of
clairvoyant elation. I can see
the wave come over me. I
can reach out and touch
the shimmering walls
of the green room,
the water droplets
dance across
my fingers like
tiny fireflies. I feel like I’m encrusted in a
giant emerald, held for millions of years. I
can see it all and it’s about to
happen. It’s about to happen now.

Hiring Fairs and Market
Places
by May Blair
(Appletree)
This meticulous social history was obviously
a labour of love, says Cathal Coyle.
A valuable picture of what farming was like
in the past, Hiring Fairs and Market Places
is meticulous in recording a way of life that
gradually disappeared during the twentieth
century with the advent of new technologies.
It captures the atmosphere of the weekly
marketplace in towns and villages across
Ulster and the hiring fair which became a
central feature of them.
The study is confined to the six counties of
Northern Ireland and each county is surveyed
in its own separate chapter. The book is
supplemented by the songs and poems which
were sung and recited by the entertainers at
the fairs and by those who attended them.
The text also includes over 100 photographs,
many of which are from family albums and
private collections and have never appeared
in the public domain before. These sources
are complemented by oral anecdotes and
recollections from fair participants and
relatives, with John Martin of Augher talking
about his father particularly poignant:
‘And the first money ever he got, he got 31
shillings for four pigs in Fintona fair and he
told me he was shaking hands with himself.
And he got a pound a month out of the
creamery. If he got 22s 6d you’d think he’d
got a tall hat.’
From describing the sale of livestock at
the marketplace, the author also looks at
fairs from a social perspective. The fair
was a source of entertainment for those
who attended it and visitors could have
seen ballad singers, dancers, fortunetellers
and sideshows of every description.
The sheer detail of the marketplace is so
Survivor
Martha Long’s emotive
memoir about her childhood
in 1950s Dublin depicts a
life lived on the edge,
chequered with poverty,
abuse but most of all –
courage. Claire Savage
spoke with the irrepressible
woman who once uttered
the heart-rending words:
“Ma, He Sold Me for a Few
Cigarettes.”
She Moved
Through the Fair
comprehensive within the book:
‘Flax was sold in Irish Street and linen in
Dobbin Street. When the linen market
declined, Dobbin Street became the market
place for poultry, eggs and butter. The
weighbridge and the markets for pork,
grain, grass seed, hay and straw were at the
Shambles in Mill Street.’
A significant feature of the fair was the
twice-yearly hiring, when farmers looked for
workers and workers looked for employment.
The traditional dates for hiring were the
12th of May and the 12th of November,
though in reality hiring took place on the
fair day nearest these dates. Many of the
descriptions of hiring are first-hand accounts
by the people who were hired.
A compelling characteristic of the hiring in
West Tyrone towns such as Drumquin and
Strabane was that it mainly involved young
boys and girls who had left rural Donegal to
seek their fortune. The primary incentive for
the girls was to work for the farmers for a year
or two and eventually get a job in Herdman’s
Mill which entitled them to a mill house.
Hired men endured a harsh number of
months from August to November when their
primary function was to help with the harvest
and potato digging.
While Hiring Fairs and Market Places is a
welcome chronicle of Ulster farming, this
labour of love (May Blair spent almost 20
years conducting the research for it) is also a
contribution to the historical study of social
and economic conditions in the north of
Ireland over the past two centuries.
‘It’s certainly not ‘misery-lit’ – that is most
definite.’ Long begins.
From the outset it is clear that Long wants her
experiences to evoke positivity in her readers,
not misery.
‘The book is a celebration of how
humans can endure and fight to
survive,’ she says.
‘Through sheer blood, sweat and
tears you can arise above adversity
and rise triumphant above the
odds.’
Written in a bid to exorcise the
spirit of the young girl who still
haunted her years later, Long
describes a life which began in
Dublin’s tenement slums and
appeared to get progressively
worse. She was forced to beg for
food, shelter in churches and hostels and fend
for herself in a cruel and unrelenting world.
With her mother unmarried, poverty-stricken
and abused by her partner, young Martha
became the subject to a similar fate. Her
mother’s drunken partner – Jackser – abused
In The Reapers John Connolly turns his
focus from the troubled, and troublemagnet,
some-time PI Charlie Parker in
order to follow the absorbing characters of
Louis and Angel instead. It might seem like
a risky move – six highly successful books
with Charlie Parker as the protagonist
suggest a formula to follow – but there’s
a breadth and depth to the world that
Connolly has created that makes you want
to see what lies just around the corner.
And just around the corner from Charlie
Parker is Louis – his associate, his friendof-sorts
and his dark mirror image. A
reflection that draws ever closer as Parker
is forced further from the reassurance
of his one-time role as a cop and Louis
struggles to reconcile his burgeoning sense
of decency (not exactly conscience, not
Louis) with his essential nature. I’ve no
doubt that many, if not all, of Connolly’s
readers were delighted to learn more about
the principled killer.
The Reapers is Louis’s book. There are
no wrongs to right here or victims to be
saved. Both sides of the conflict are just,
both sides are grotesque. Years ago
Louis murdered a man’s son and now the
man wants revenge; years ago Louis put
down a monster and now the monster’s
equally monstrous parent seeks to destroy
him. It’s Beowulf with designer suits and
automatic weaponry.
It’s also a beautiful book. Not the cover,
but inside. John Connolly is a man in
her sexually from the age of eight and
subsequently prostituted her to his friends,
sometimes for as little as the price of a
packet of cigarettes. Yet despite all this, Long
retained her strong spirit and refused to be
broken by the events in her life.
She said: ‘It was horrendous, but
that is not the point. We can only
deal with what we have and make
the best of it. In most memoirs
people look back but this actually
evolves. It starts off when the
child is very young. She doesn’t
tell you about her life – you follow
her.’
Long narrated the memoir in the
voice of her young self, yet refers
to ‘Martha’ within conversation in the third
person. This, she said, removes her from
what went before.
‘I’ve won – I’m somebody else now.’
The book was initially meant as a personal
and historical document for Long’s three
Reap What
You Sow…
The Reapers
by John Connolly
(Hodder & Stoughton)
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
A new addition to the series that bravely takes it in a new
direction, says Tammy Moore.
love with language and it shows in his
work. It’s not just that he has a knack for
the beautiful, evocative turn of phrase,
although it does, but the craft he puts into
creating a moment and making it breathe.
His descriptive prose is almost tactile,
building lush mindscapes, and is a striking
contrast to the wry, noir of his dialogue.
The plot of the novel is quite straightforward.
Early on, we knew who the
antagonist was, his nature if not his name,
and why he wanted to bring Louis down.
Once the antagonist made his first move
it didn’t take long for Louis to find out that
information too, but then it would have
been contrived otherwise considering
Louis’s past and the contacts he has.
Besides, the mystery that we’re solving in
the novel isn’t who wants Louis dead, but
who Louis is: where he came from, what
made him who he is now. The addition
of the scarred assassin Bliss to the hired
killers sent to murder Louis, for example, is
important not because of what he might do
to Louis now, but because of what he was
to him in the past.
That said, the few twists that do pepper the
plot are all the more gripping for their rarity.
The Reapers is a vividly-realised, gripping
book that I would highly recommend. Newcomers
to the series should, if possible,
start at the beginning but The Reapers can
function as a stand-alone novel too.
children, as she wanted them to have a sense
of their own identity. But once she started
writing, Long found the words would not stop
coming. She therefore decided to revisit the
painful past she had buried away for so many
years and let the little girl speak.
Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes recounts
the early years of young Martha’s life, with
a continuation of her harrowing journey due
for publication in September 2008 – Ma, I’m
Locked Up in the Madhouse.
Through determination and perseverance,
Long has educated herself and sculpted out a
new life over the years.
She said: ‘Now, I am no longer striving to
arrive. I know who I am and I am accepting of
myself. I am no longer searching for love and
I have my children.’
As for young Martha, ‘I am very proud of her
too,’ she says.
17

18
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Busman’s Holiday
Aspiring writer, Tammy Moore, tells us how she combined her holiday
with her passion for Sci-fi writing and urges more writers to give
conventions a go…
Last month I washed my hands in
the same sink as Tamora Pierce. If
you grew up loving the Song of the
Lioness series as much as I did,
then you’ll understand why that’s
cool. I also bumped into L. Timmel
Ducham, author of Alanya to Alanya,
in the corridor and watched Ellen
Klages, author of The Green, Glass
Sea, strip down to her tights and
(long enough to satisfy modesty)
t-shirt to encourage people to bid in
the fund-raising auction. We were all
at WISCON 32. The world’s leading
feminist oriented science-fiction and
fantasy convention, run annually
during America’s four-day Memorial
week in Madison, Wisconsin. Over
the weekend publishers, editors,
readers, scholars and artists gather
from across the world to discuss
feminism in SF and Fantasy, as well
as other issues such as body image,
gender and politics. The annual
Tiptree Award, awarded to a sciencefiction
or fantasy author whose work
explores the ideas of gender, is also
celebrated at WISCON. It’s all very
worthy and extremely scholarly.
Except when it’s not - such as when
the auctioneer gets high bids for a
collection of Lassie videos and the
promise that L. Timmel Duchamp
will sign them (Her nickname is
Timmy, you see) or a roomful of
SF fans and readers spend ten
minutes discussing whether the
cross-dressing chihuahuas in our
newly-created world were dressed as
cat-overlords, wearing tutus or both.
There’s also the party floor where
there are book launches, readings
and fancy dress parties throughout
the weekend. This was my first year
at WISCON and I had an amazing
time. No matter what your interests
were there was a panel for you. I
missed the start of the convention,
the Gathering, where massages,
face-painting and clothes-swaps were
all taking place. However over the
next few days I attended discussions
and readings on heroines in Urban
Fantasy, incorporating myths
and fairytales into your work,
world-building (the cross-dressing
chihuahuas) and how to write
convincing country characters -
apparently a pile of composting corn
can get hot enough to burn you.
There was also a dealer’s room with
jewellery, t-shirts and hundreds of
books from both big-name publishers
and small, independent presses.
Published authors gathered in
groups to discuss their writing and
careers and there was a writers’
workshop for those who were hoping
to get published. Oh, and there
was a farmers’ market on Saturday
morning. There were quite a few
cheese stalls and, apparently, the
way to tell good cheese curd is if it
squeaks. It was also unbelievably
cool to be sitting with people who
refer to Samuel R. Delany as ‘Chip’
- like he’s just a regular person or
something.
Now, WISCON
is aimed at a
fairly specific
audience. If
you aren’t
interested
in fantasy or
feminism,
preferably
both, then it
probably isn’t
worth your time
going to Wisconsin
to attend. It’s quite a
long plane-flight. There are lots
of other conventions though, all over
the world, that cater to all genres and
interests.
Fantasycon in Nottingham, the
19th - 21st September 2008;
The World Horror Convention in
Winnipeg, April 30 - 3 May 2009;
Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime
Writing Festival in Harrogate, 17th
-20th July 2008;
Romance Writers of America
Conference, Washington, 15th -
18th July 2009.
If you look, there is probably a
convention out there for you, and if
you’re an aspiring writer then you
should be looking. If nothing else
conventions provide an amazing
opportunity to immerse yourself in
a creative atmosphere with likeminded
people for a weekend. The
chance to talk with other writers,
about writing and submitting work to
various venues, can help, encourage
and inspire to a surprising degree.
Conventions provide opportunities
to network with successful writers,
publishers and agents. An agent
won’t sign you just because you had
a nice chat over a pint, but it won’t
hurt to put in your letter ‘I met you
at the convention - and thought you
might be interested in this.’ The
important thing is to remember
that the agent/publisher/writer is
there to enjoy themselves too, so be
courteous: don’t be pushy, talk about
things other than your book and
don’t accost them in lifts or the hotel.
I did hear that at one convention
a writer followed a small press
publisher into the men’s room to talk
to him. That publisher took it well,
but most people aren’t, as you can
imagine, going to enjoy that. A
lot of conventions also have
pitching sessions where
writers get to present
their manuscripts to
either an agent or a
publisher. Not only
do you get to put your
idea to a publisher/
agent in person you
get feedback from
them on what works
and what doesn’t and
what they’d have actually
liked to see. Things that
can be incorporated into the next
submission package you send out.
If you are interested in going to a
convention it’s worth applying for
an Arts Council Travel Grant. The
amount you can get varies depending
on where you’re going and when
you’re travelling: to go to the West
Coast USA you can get up to £600,
to go to England you can get £150.
It might not cover the entire cost of
the convention but it can make it
affordable. The application form for
the Travel Grant is also much simpler
than a lot of people think. The major
thing to bear in mind when making
the application, in my experience, is
to have a specific goal for attending
- to pitch to a specific editor because
you know they’ve bought books
like yours before, for example -
and explain how this will help you
develop as a writer - networking with
agents and publishers. Apply well in
advance and don’t commit yourself
to travel, unless your attendance
isn’t dependent on the Travel Grant,
until you hear back from the ACNI.
That way if you get the grant you can
go and if you don’t you haven’t lost
anything.
The Waters and the Wild…
For those who have ever wondered what
lurks beyond your back door – wondered
who, or indeed what may be only a
whisper away - Bob Curran delivers the
goods in story form. Claire Savage speaks
with Northern Ireland’s saviour of our dark
and macabre tales…
Growing up in the remote
Mourne mountains, Bob Curran
experienced a culture steeped
in superstition and tradition – a
culture that he sees fading fast.
‘For me growing up, the ‘Other
World’ was always very close.
Things are more Americanised
now and people know less about
their own culture’, he says.
Curran’s latest book – Irish Tales
from the Otherworld: Ghosts,
Fairies & Evil Spirits – delivers
carefully collected folklore and
supernatural tales in a style that
lures the reader from page to
page. No stranger to the book’s
subject (Curran has published
myriad mythically themed
books), he draws on boyhood
memories of dark stories told
around night-time fires, as well
as those gathered during his
travels throughout the Irish
countryside.
Brought up by his grandparents,
Curran recalls his love of ghost
stories being piqued by his
grandfather’s tale of a weeping
woman trapped behind the walls
of a countryside ruin – a story
that terrified him as a child.
Working as a gravedigger and
digging up ancient plots for new
burials has also obviously had
lingering effects on Curran.
‘What frightened and influenced
me and my love for the macabre
was when I dug up a coffin and
discovered part of the lining was
torn inside. Fingertip marks
were on the coffin lid…this
person had been buried alive’,
he says.
Widely travelled, Curran
returned home a few years ago
to discover that the host of old
stories he had heard as a boy
were quite literally dying out, as
the older generation passed on.
He decided to record as many as
he could and so the idea for Irish
Tales was born.
‘I began to travel about and
gradually stories emerged.
People often brought me into
their homes to tell them’, he
says, ‘to me the book is a
celebration of tradition that is
vanishing like snow in a ditch’.
Consequently, Curran identified
three things he wanted to
achieve with the book. Namely,
to record the stories before
they disappeared; to celebrate
them and thirdly to dissipate
the stereotypes of ‘Darby O’Gill’
style stories. He is keen to point
out that for him and indeed
those he grew up with, fairies
were to be feared and were not
the innocent characters often
portrayed in books and films…
Curran is set to publish new
titles in America, Mexico, Brazil
and Hungary soon. He works
within the Community Relations
Council in Northern Ireland and
is involved with local history
projects as well as teaching
at the University of Ulster in
Coleraine. However, he does
not rule out the possibility of
a follow-up to ‘Irish Tales’ –
already in top 50 best-selling list.
‘I’m never done planning but
I’m putting together a few other
things. One of these involves
taking a bit of a break!’

David Healy: The Story
So Far
by Ivan Martin
(Appletree Press)
Lawrie Sanchez: The
Northern Ireland Years
by Heather Jan Brunt
(Appletree Press)
Luggage
by Peter Hollywood
(Lagan Press)
This debut novel is a
master class in
sustaining tension,
says Catherine
McGrotty.
Kicking Off
Cathal Coyle gives his verdict on two new sports books, with Northern Ireland
star David Healy and former manager Lawrie Sanchez in the spotlight.
Written by local journalist and broadcaster Ivan
Martin, David Healy: The Story So Far is an
aesthetically pleasing paperback. It’s essentially
a photographic story of Healy’s football career
thus far with a few impressive images of the
player pictured with football icons such as
George Best and Sir Alex Ferguson.
The best photographs involve the Fulham and
Northern Ireland star in full flow on the football
pitch, with arguably the finest being his fierce
shot which led to the winner in the famous 1-0
win over England in September 2005. This was
the seminal moment in Healy’s career and a
post-match handshake with England captain
David Beckham is captured to underline the
significance of the victory. It represented a
happy reunion for Healy, having played in the
Manchester United team along with Beckham a
few years previously.
A notable feature of the book is a section
devoted to; players, managers and pundits
such as former Northern Ireland stalwarts Billy
Hamilton and Gerry Armstrong paying their
tributes to Norn Iron’s number nine. Armstrong,
a hero of the 1982 World Cup states:
“Healy is simply one of the best finishers
Northern Ireland has ever produced.”
The book succeeds in tracing Healy’s
remarkable journey from his home town of
Killyleagh to Fulham via clubs such as Leeds,
Preston and Manchester United. Healy has an
outstanding record for a striker at international
level with an average of a goal every two games,
and has produced many of these against highly
ranked teams such as England and Spain.
There is also mention of the considerable
influence George Best provided to Healy as
Burden of History
Weighing in at just over 100
pages, this first novel from
the Belfast-based short story
writer shows that he hasn’t
lost his aptitude for economy
with words. Despite its slim
size, this is a novel that packs
a real punch. Hollywood’s
prose is adept at creating
atmosphere - from the muggy
heat of a French summer to
the air of menace simmering
just below the surface of the
novel. The ‘Luggage’ of the
title refers to more than the
physical burden of this family
holiday. A chance encounter
with a known killer on the
ferry out casts a pall over
Thomas’s family holiday and
even in France he struggles
to shake off the burden of
Northern Ireland’s dark past.
Hollywood’s language is laden
with images and symbols that
keep the reader simmering
under with unease throughout
the story. It’s a master class in
barely concealed tension and
to his credit that he manages
to keep you firmly tied up with
Thomas’s emotions throughout
the book. This is not a thriller
in the conventional sense of
the word; Hollywood’s French
literary influences are present
in the preoccupation with
ideas and emotion over action.
It is perhaps a blessing that
the novel is so short - any
longer and the tightly-wound
tension might have slackened
or snapped. As it is, you come
away from Luggage uneasily
aware that the ‘monsters’
of most fiction are really far
less crippling than the real
‘baggage’ that our history of
violence has burdened us with.
Watch out for our interview
with Peter Hollywood in next
month’s Verbal.
someone who made the same journey from
Northern Ireland to Old Trafford as a young
apprentice footballer.
This is undoubtedly a book that any local soccer
aficionado will appreciate. Continuing with the
theme of international football, this time former
Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez is the
subject under the spotlight in Lawrie Sanchez -
the Northern Ireland Years. Sanchez of course
was largely credited for turning around the
fortunes of the Northern Ireland football team
during his three year spell in charge, but decided
to move on when the megabucks of Fulham
owner Mohammed Al Fayed and long-held
ambition of managing in the English Premiership
lured him away.
It must be stressed this isn’t an autobiography
of Sanchez, but instead an intense scrutiny
of his appointment, subsequent successes
with the Northern Ireland team and
swift departure in April 2007. The
author Heather Jan Brunt acted as
communications consultant to Sanchez
during his managerial tenure so it is
written with a close perspective on the
exciting times that unfolded at Windsor
Park. It possesses many notable
similarities to the style of Martin’s tome
on Healy, presenting a montage of
magnificent photographs that capture
the essence of a successful era for
Northern Irish football.
Interesting revelations in the course
of the book include the fact that
the former Wimbledon defender
wasn’t the favoured candidate for
the Northern Ireland manager.
The Irish Football Association apparently
The triptych illustration on the cover
of Norma MacMaster’s memoir neatly
summarises its contents. It shows
an Orange ‘walk’, a Corpus Christi
procession with religious banners and
little girls in white First Communion
frocks and veils, and a main street
crowded with market day wagons. All of
these were part of the childhood of the
author, a gilded time, unimaginable to
anyone under 20.
She was born in Bailieborough, County
Cavan, to parents both of whom
eventually qualified as pharmacists
and they reared a family frugally, aware
of their differences from the majority of
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
couldn’t agree terms with its preferred choice
Jimmy Nicholl, and the rest is history. Even
though he won three caps as a player for his
adopted country, Sanchez was always perceived
as an ‘outsider’ so he approached the job with a
great deal to prove to sceptical fans.
His three objectives: to score a goal, to win, to
move up the rankings were all achieved with
great aplomb, with Northern Ireland moving
up 90 places in the FIFA rankings during his
remarkable years at the helm. Each friendly
and competitive game is clinically dissected
with supporters, journalists and players all
contributing their views and memories in the
main narrative. Despite Northern Ireland’s
failure to qualify for a major tournament,
Sanchez did succeed in restoring a great
deal of pride for the Windsor Park
faithful - winning over the sceptics in the
process.
Brunt has produced a
tremendous chronicle of the
Lawrie Sanchez years as
Northern Ireland boss for
football fans to enjoy. It deals
sensitively with the difficult
relationship that Sanchez
endured with the local media,
and when Sanchez temporarily
resigned after defeating Spain
he admitted to being sickened by
the ‘boom-and-bust’ reporting by
journalists:
“I felt there was a lack of respect
for myself and the team. I just
threw my coat into the crowd, my
thoughts were, ‘Well that’s it, let
someone else deal with it’”
Golden Days
Over My Shoulder
by Norma MacMaster
(The Columba Press)
Charming and beautifully written, says Sean
McMahon of this memoir.
Catholics but with no sense of fear or
real alienation. Born in 1936 she felt
as a child none of the seepage of the
bad blood of the northern Troubles. Her
narrative style is deceptively simple,
whether describing the excitements of
Christmas or the different but equally
strong pleasure of summer holidays on
Laytown’s six-mile beach.
She writes so pleasingly that there is
much more we want to know: her life
in Canada, barely adumbrated here,
her call - though Presbyterian - to be a
priest of the Church of Ireland. Perhaps
another charming book is on the way.
19

20
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Hip Hotels
by Herbert Ypma
(Thames & Hudson)
The achingly chic Hip Hotels series is the
bible for the bright young thing for whom
the destination is more important than the
journey. The pictures are to die for and the
series covers a myriad of options; from Hip
Hotels: USA to Hip Hotels: Budget, there’s
guaranteed to be something here to suit just
about everyone. Whether your passion is skiing
or the beach, there’s a Hip Hotels guide tailor
made. The hotels included range from the
sumptuous to the quirky.
As much coffee-table book as guidebook, each
guide includes 256 glorious, full colour pages.
CD
Lonely Planet Ireland
Various Authors
(Lonely Planet Publications)
Lonely Planet has always been my
guide of choice when traveling and this
guide reminded me why. The maps are
comprehensive and the range of tastes
catered for with their recommendations
is second to none. I would be slightly
worried about a foreign visitor using this
as it wasn’t great on transport and the
prices quoted seemed slightly out of date.
Saying that, when it comes to history
and sites of interest, no other guide
offers such a comprehensive overview.
There’s an excellent blend of facts with
practical information - without either being
overwhelming.
SL
The 10 Best of Everything:
An Ultimate guide for Travellers
by Nathaniel Lande and
Andrew Lande
(National Geographic)
This is the perfect starting point for the traveller
who is looking for trip ideas. From the ten best
islands to the best things to do in the world’s
great cities on a Sunday afternoon - a host
of ‘experts’ give their top tips. You might not
agree with everything, but it will certainly spark
discussion. With hundreds of colour illustrations
and a wide range of detailed information this
guide is guaranteed to waken the wanderlust in
anyone. It’s too bulky to be easily taken with you,
but I suspect such a good general guide to the
world was never meant to be portable. Rather,
this is the place to start when planning your next
trip abroad.
RE
A Hedonist’s Guide to Life
edited by Fleur Britten
(Filmer Ltd)
The increasingly popular Hedonist’s Guides
were launched in 2004 and now cover cities
from Argentina to Russia. The Guide to Life
differs from it’s stablemates (which are much
less shocking than their title would lead you
to believe) in that it is less a guidebook, more
a ‘loo book’.
A collection of 75 essays from media figures
and hedonistic luminaries such as Howard
Marks and Dom Joly. This ‘guide’ is bursting
with advice on everything from eating lobster
in a war zone to infiltrating a cult. Basically
everything a real hedonist should aspire
to do before snuffing it. How much of it is
applicable to your caravan site in Donegal or
week in Benidorm, I’m not entirely sure…
ME
The Rough Guide to
Accessible Britain:
Great Days Out for Disabled Visitors
Various Authors
(Rough Guides)
You know what you’re getting with Rough
Guides - the colour coded sections divided
into categories including ‘Heritage’, ‘Family
Fun’ and ‘Sport and Extreme Challenges’
are instantly familiar, but this slim tome is
a Rough Guide with a difference. Designed
specifically for disabled people. At roughly a
tenth of the size of the regular Rough Guide
to Britain - it still offers a good variety of
ideas for disabled day-trippers. Alongside the
usual stuff, it provides access information
which has obviously been written by someone
who knows the frustration experienced
by wheelchair users on uneven paths! It
focuses on mobility issues but there are
also suggestions for the hearing and visually
impaired.
JD
South Belfast: History & Guide
by N Weatherall & G Templeton
(Nonsuch)
This guide to the history of South Belfast
is perfect for the casual reader - be that a
tourist or an interested native. Weatherall
and Templeton have included plenty of
photographs and the information here is
clearly presented and not over-whelming.
Each chapter deals with a different area or
topic of interest. From the history of South
Belfast’s street names, to the Botanic
Gardens, to ‘Literary South Belfast’ - the
chapter I most enjoyed myself. Whether
you think you know South Belfast inside out
or not, I guarantee you’ll find at least one
nugget within this book to make it worth the
cover price.
SL
The Irish B&B Cookbook
by Ann Mulligan
(Mercier Press)
Mulligan trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery
School on her retirement and turned down
a teaching position offered to her by Darina
Allen, to fulfill her dream of opening a
Waterford B&B with her husband. If the food
in this book is an accurate reflection of what
the couple serve to visitors at An Bohreen,
the place must be booked solid. American
native Ann has taken traditional Irish food
and infused it with hints of Asian, French and
Southern American influences. The recipes
are well laid out (though I’d have loved some
pictures) and some are really unusual - in the
best way possible. Mouthwatering stuff.
XP
Wexford: A Town and its
Landscape
by Billy Colfer
(Cork University Press)
This is a seriously impressive guide to the
history, origins and growth of Wexford since its
establishment by Viking settlers in the early
tenth century. Beautifully laid out with tons
of glossy pictures illustrating the landscape
and history. More than a conventional history,
what sets this book apart is a concentration
on understanding how the landscape has,
and continues to, evolve. Wide-ranging and
in-depth, this is one for the serious student
of Wexford or anyone with an interest in how
towns and cities come about.
MR

Take 10 for 10th Anniversary
To mark the occasion of the West Cork Literary Festival’s 10th
anniversary (Bantry 6-12 July 2008), 10 of the visiting authors
have been asked the same 10 questions. The featured writer
here is ARTHUR MATHEWS, who will be appearing at the
Festival on Saturday 12 July at 14.30 in St Brendan’s Church.
1. What books do you have beside your bed?
The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald. Touristic Guidings To
Glorious Nation of Kazakstan by Borat. The Ball Is Round by
David Goldblatt
2. Most over-rated book?
The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins. (I found it a struggle).
But I could name more!
3. A book that changed your life?
Zany Afternoons. A collection of articles (accompanied by his
brilliant illustrations) by Bruce McCall culled from The New
Yorker, National Lampoon etc.
4. A book you didn’t finish?
Anna Karenin.
5. A book you’ve re-read?
I’d rather read something new.
6. Your favourite author?
Blake Morrison.
7. Best thing about being an author?
Being able to communicate with other people in an articulate
manner through one’s work rather than inadequate stumbling
speech.
8. Worst thing about being an author?
Being pestered by constantly blaring alarm bells from houses
in Dublin suburbia.
9. What do you have strong opinions on, but
know nothing about?
Sunderland Football Club. (Hysteria Surrounding) Global
Warming.
10. A hero?
(The younger) Morrissey, Richard Dawkins.
Arthur Mathews has created and/or written for, (often with
Graham Linehan), Paris, Father Ted, Hippies, Big Train, The All
New Alexei Sayle Show, Brass Eye, Harry Enfield and Chums,
The Fast Show, Black Books, and The Eejits. He has written
several books and the long running musical I Keano.
Full Festival programme: www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie
Bookings: info@westcorkliteraryfestival.ie
Phone: + 353(0)27-61157
Since the introduction of the
first Graphic Novel (The Death
of Captain Marvel for those who
are keeping score), there has
been much promised and little
delivered in terms of innovation
and new scope in the relatively
young medium. Sure we’ve had
Watchmen, and The Dark Knight
Returns, and American Splendour,
and all that good stuff, but those
are essentially just reprints of
comics. Alan Moore has made a
few rumblings (in particular his
recent League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
showed much flair), but what
else has there been? For sure
there have been great stories told
(Fax From Sarajevo), and sure
there are real world lessons to be
expounded on (Maus), but when
was the last time some played with
the format? Where is the comic’s
version of Catch 22 or Ulysses?
Bob Byrne is a Dublin based writer
and artist who started out with his
own self published books Mbleh
and The Shiznit. He has recently
gained more mainstream attention
with his twisted tales in 2000ad,
and with his latest self published
work Mister Amperduke, he has
done something very special.
Mister Amperduke is the simple
tale of a sort of dog/man and his
struggle assisting a Robocop style
hero in protecting his tiny, sentient
Lego utopia from being destroyed
by an out of control Cloverfield
style monster. Nothing unusual
Life in Lego
Mister Amperduke
by Bob Byrne
(Clamnuts Comics)
Innovative and exciting - now this is what
Graphic Novels are about, says Ciaran
Flanagan.
there. What is, however, unusual
is the fact that not one single word
of dialogue is used throughout
the book. Two thousand panels
and over 150 odd pages. And
this is where the strength of Mr
Amperduke lies. The (admittedly
bizarre) plot is conveyed through
the artwork alone and it’s done
mostly through facial expression.
Please bear in mind how
extraordinary a feat this is, given
that we’re not talking about super
realistic . We’re talking about black
and white pictures of a dog and
the living Lego men he keeps in his
basement. But these characters
are real. They live and breathe.
You care about what happens to
them. And they’re expressive. So
expressive, that it’s as if the story
is being acted out by an army of 2d
John Belushi’s.
If you could imagine a silent movie
that was part Truman Show,
part Godzilla, part philosophical
quandary and part morality play,
then you might begin to see the
sort of thing I’m talking about.
Bob Byrne is carving quite a
reputation for himself in the small
press and independent comic’s
field, and in Mister Amperduke
he has delivered something really
special. It’s impressive to see
an Irish artist (especially one
so young) pushing the envelope
in such a fashion. Good luck
following this one Bob.
Bestsellers
Top 10 Bestsellers
(week ending 22nd June)
1. Devil May Care
Sebastian Faulks
Upcoming in the next
edition...
The first in a new series,
‘Literary Ulster’, brought to you
in conjunction with the Ulster
History Circle.
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
2. The Forgotten Garden
Kate Morton
3. The Reluctant
Fundamentalist
Mohsin Hamid
4. This Charming Man
Marian Keyes
5. Horrid Henry Robs the
Bank
Francesca Simon;
Tony Ross (Illus)
6. The Woman in the Fifth
Douglas Kennedy
7. Chasing Harry Winston
Lauren Weisberger
8. Netherland
Joseph O’Neill
9. Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
10. De Niro’s Game
Hage Rawi
Back to School - the best books
to help give your children a head
start.
Plus, we chat to Peter Hollywood
about his new novel Luggage,
published by Lagan Press.
21

22
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
Round Ireland with
a Fridge
by Tony Hawks
With the holiday season coming up I’d bet that Rough
Guide and Lonely Planet are doing their usual, brisk
holiday business. The travel guide has become a
staple of the sightseer’s holiday experience – telling
us where to stay, what to eat, what to see and
when. As useful as I’ve found such guides when
I’m holidaying, they do lack a certain ‘je ne sais
quoi’. They don’t really give you a real flavour of your
destination – nor are they guaranteed to keep you
entertained on an eight hour long-haul flight to god
knows where. No, my favourite travel ‘guide’ ever
written, it could be argued, is less of a guide and
more of a ‘how not to do it’.
When a drunken Tony Hawks
(not the skateboarder – a
different Hawks altogether)
made a bet with a friend
that he could ‘hitchhike
round the circumference of
Ireland, with a fridge, in one
calendar month’
you could have
guessed that
this month in
1997 would be
an eventful one.
With the fridge
costing him more
than the £100 he stood
to win, one has to wonder why the
British comedian actually bothered, but anyone
who has read his memoir of his adventure will
be glad he did. Round Ireland with a Fridge can
only be described as a rip-roaring romp, with
a cast of characters and situations that are
literally laugh out loud funny. Even better, it’s all
absolutely, 100% true. Hawks’s love-affair with
the Irish people (and theirs with him) begins
when well known Irish radio personality, Gerry
Ryan, champions his ‘cause’. Hawks finds
himself notorious, if not famous, for his daily
radio phone chats updating listeners on RTE
with his progress. Such instant fame and his
readiness to be charmed and charming ease
Readerswrite the book that changed my life...
Hitch-hikers Guide
Sick to the back teeth of the usual holidays
and run of the mill guidebooks? Charlotte
Roberts offers an alternative. Why not hitch
hike around Ireland with a large kitchen
appliance?
his path considerably. There is no doubt that without
Ryan’s help Hawks might have simply been seen as
a loony with a fridge and found his task much more
difficult. However, one has to forgive his ‘cheating’
when you are faced with the joys of reading about
the adventure that ensued. Hawks is taken to the
collective Irish bosom and has no trouble finding lifts,
beds, food and even pints. The characters he meets
and his descriptions of their foibles make for very
entertaining reading.
During his month of hitching, Tony and the fridge
meet the king of Tory Island, go surfing (seriously
– with a fridge, it’s hilarious), enter a bachelor
festival, and become intimate with the inside
of more than a few pubs. The fridge, which
usually receives more attention than
Tony himself, is even blessed by
a nun. The nun definitely has
a hotline to upstairs as
Hawks and his unusual
traveling companion
appear to have some
unseasonably good
weather – given the
usual Irish climate.
Which is lucky,
considering that at one
point Hawks is forced to
sleep in a doghouse.
If you’re looking for some
deep insight into the
history and culture of
Ireland – this is not the book for you. Hawks
sees the inside of more pubs than museums
and seems quite happy with that. However, what
this book does provide is a wry and affectionate
look at the people of this Island, one that no
ordinary travel guide can match. You’ll laugh,
you’ll cry, you’ll never look at household
appliances in the same light again.
Young people turn away from
bookshops
One of the statistics revealed at
The Bookseller’s Reading The
Future conference this month
was that only half of young people
aged 18-24 years old think people
will still be using bookshops in 20
years’ time.
Conference delegates heard from
William Higham of agency Next
Big Thing, which conducted the
research. Higham reported that
56% of 18-24s think people will still
be using bookshops in 20 years’
time. Looking deeper into 18-24
year olds’ reading habits, he found
that 28% were favourable towards
the idea of e-readers, compared to
9% of 65+ year olds, and 40% liked
the idea of downloadable chapters
of books, compared to 7% of 65+
year olds.
These findings present difficulties
for book publishers who are
trying to come to terms with the
increasing levels of flux in their
industry. New technology offers
a number of options should
they follow the iTunes model of
providing content and making
money out of the hardware, like
Amazon with the Kindle, or the
Google model which is all about
content? This tension between
a technology/content focus or a
content only focus seems unlikely
to be resolved in the near future.
The public are deciding with
their feet/wallets
Despite this unresolved
technology/content tension UK
Buyers are bidding for the Amazon
Kindle on eBay, in the hope of
shipping them to the UK, such is
the device’s success in the US.
Although the US versions will not
be fully operational in Britain, the
Kindle is rapidly taking on the
must-have aura of Apple’s iPod.
The Kindle, which is expected
to go on sale in the UK later this
year, has surprised US publishers
and authors by how rapidly it has
moved into the mainstream.
Is this the future for book
selling?
Part 1
The international bookseller
Borders has teamed up with former
Disney man Michael Eisner’s
independent media studio, Vuguru,
to distribute a new web series on
its website.
“Robin Cook’s Foreign Body: The
Prequel” will run as 50 two-minute
episodes on the newly launched
Borders.com. The series is a
prequel to Robin Cook’s latest,
Foreign Body, which is published
in the US in August. The first two
episodes of the prequel went
live on the 17th June at www.
BordersMedia.com/foreignbody.
New episodes will be posted
daily, culminating with the last
instalment on 4th August.
Part 2
James Patterson is extending his
brand into graphic novels, with
Daniel X: Alien Hunter which will be
published by Century in October.
Patterson, who already authors
crime and romance titles, and the
Maximum Ride series for children,
is writing the graphic novel in
collaboration with artist Leopoldo
Gout from New York production
company Curious Pictures.
The book will follow on from the
launch of Patterson’s Dan X
brand in July, when the novel The
Dangerous Days of Daniel X is
published. The story is about a
boy dedicated to hunting down
aliens, in particular the one who
murdered his parents, and it will be
available in both an adult edition
from Century and in an edition for
younger readers from Doubleday
Children’s Books. The graphic
novel will come in one edition only.
Patterson will go on to produce one
Dan X novel a year, but only one
single graphic novel is planned at
present.
James Patterson is truly more than
an author of books he has his
own company, James Patterson
Entertainment, dedicated to
growing the Patterson brand, the
ethos being that James Patterson
is entertainment that just happens
to be books. The graphic novel
is just one of many projects in
development, which include TV
series (such as ‘The Women’s
Murder Club’) and films based
on the popular Alex Cross and
Maximum Ride series.
Part 3
Author Paulo Coelho has teamed
up with MySpace to create his first
feature film, “The Experimental
Witch”. Using MySpace’s “mashup”
video concept, Coelho will
transform his latest book, The
Witch of Portobello, into a feature
film using original videos and
music created and submitted by
MySpace users.
Filmmakers are invited to submit
short films inspired by the main
characters in the book and post
them on Coelho’s MySpace profile.
Coelho will select up to 15 videos
and 16 songs to be included in the
final film.
Submissions will begin on 16th
June and close on 25th July and
winners will be announced on
Coelho’s birthday, 24th August
2008. Good luck to everyone who
enters.

Illustration by David Campbell: david.campbell@verbalartscentre.co.uk / www.thereflexes.blogspot.com
Book
Giveaway!
Titan Books have given us 10 copies of
the Torchwood Yearbook, the full-colour
official tie-in to the much-loved and toprated
show, to give away this month.
Be the first to own the Yearbook -
which is published by Titan Books in
August. The first ten entries to send
their name and address to editor@
verbalartscentre.co.uk, marking their
email ‘Torchwood’ will receive a free
copy of the book. Good Luck!
Sponsored by
This month’s illustration is based on arguably
the most influential Irish novel of all time.
What is the name of the book? And who is
the author, whose life is commemorated
annually on June 16th in Dublin?
To win a £50 book token courtesy of
Waterstone’s fill in the answers on the
coupon on the right, cut it out and send
it to:
Verbal Competition:
c/o Alyson Wilson, Waterstone’s, 44-
46 Fountain Street, Belfast BT1 5EE
The first correct coupon drawn out of
the hat will receive a £50 book token
courtesy of Waterstone’s. Entries must
be in by Monday, July 14th .
CONGRATULATIONS!
Last month’s winner was Frances
MacSorley, Belfast.
Book Title:
Answer:
Name:
Address:
Tel No:
Email:
Verbal Magazine Issue 15
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