Midland Arts and Culture Magazine | SPRING 2013

Midland Arts and Culture Magazine | SPRING 2013
A new look for Ireland’s oldest literary website
www.virtualwriter.net
Someone once said that the
invention of the internet
caused the “death of distance.”
If that is true and, many believe
that it is, it may yet turn out
to be the greatest single shot
in the arm to creative writing
and literature since Johannes
Gutenberg invented the
movable print press.
A sense of personal and creative isolation
during the creative process and the extreme
difficulty of bringing ones work to the
largest audience are the two greatest
challenges facing the aspiring writer.
The internet provides a solution to both
of these difficulties as – a writer may
maintain a continuous process of
communication with fellow writers by
virtue of e-mail and skype, he or she
can receive practical technical support
and assistance through on-line workshops,
mentoring and lectures and finally they
can display their finished work to the
whole world, at least in theory, by
displaying on internet websites.
It is for these reasons the Longford
County Arts Office decided 13 years
ago to construct what is now Ireland’s
oldest dedicated literary website
www.virtualwriter.net which has
received a major overhaul and
set to go live at the end of February.
Creative writing is probably Longford’s
most popular creative activity with five
flourishing writers groups in a county with
a population of little more than thirty
thousand people; it has produced a
continuous stream of emerging
professional writers over recent years.
However Longford is a small primarily
rural county with a dispersed population
so the challenges Longford writers
share with other writers were somewhat
amplified by these factors and this led
the County Arts Office to construct a
dedicated literary website.
The purpose of the site was twofold: to
provide a platform for Longford writers
to exhibit their work and to use the site
in a pro-active way to provide on-line
professional development information
and creative mentoring.
About www.virtualwriter.net
www.virtualwriter.net is a valuable
resource for aspiring writers and for
anyone with an interest in literature. It
accepts submissions in poetry, fiction,
creative non-fiction and book reviews
and includes information on literary festivals,
competitions and workshops. Over the
13 years it has been in existence, the
website has published writing from such
diverse countries as the United States,
Australia, Russia and India as well as the
work of Irish writers. However, as it is a
Longford-based initiative, the Editor is
particularly interested in showcasing
writing from the Midlands area.
www.virtualwriter.net has been completely
overhauled and is now in it’s third incarnation.
It is a valuable asset and the Arts Office
hopes to see it used as the basis for the
development of a distinct community of
midland writers. As a result, it is asking
for writers to submit their work and any
suggestions they might have about how
to improve the inventory of supports
provided to the emerging writers
through multi-media packages. M
Critics laud debut novel
The Herbalist as “a must read”
The much anticipated
novel, The Herbalist by
Niamh Boyce, described
as “a must read” by the
Irish Independent will be
hitting our shelves
in June.
Describing her novel as reminiscent of
Joanne Harris’ 1999 novel Chocolat
the Irish Independent said: “already
creating buzz in the industry... this is
certain to be a must-read for those
who want a break from vampire fiction
and S&M.”
The Herbalist is a vivid and atmospheric
story set in a midlands town over a
summer in late 1930s. An Indian man
appears in the market square, sets up
a stall and declares himself a herbalist.
The people of the town flock to the
exotic visitor, who seems to have a
cure for everything that ails them. But
the visitor also helps get rid of some
of the town’s more sordid little secrets
and as the summer progresses life
becomes complicated and dangerous
for the herbalist and his devotees.
The book is a rich multi-layered story
of life in 1930s Ireland told through
the eyes of four women, each of whose
lives is changed irrevocably by the
herbalist.
Patricia Deevy, Editorial Director with
Penguin Ireland, which will be
publishing the book, said:
“Niamh vividly conjures both the warmth
and the darkness of life in a provincial
Irish town during those years before
the Emergency. In particular, she
handles the now familiar shadow side
of Irish life – the rigid social stratification,
the fear of sex, the double standards
– in a wholly fresh and confident way.
Her characters are fascinating women
and she has written a thought-provoking,
moving and viscerally engaging novel
that marks her out as a remarkable
and original new talent.”
Niamh works as a librarian in Ballylinan,
County Laois and won the Hennessy
XO New Irish Writer of the Year award
in 2012 for her poem Kitty. She has
also been short listed for the Francis
McManus Short Story competition
2011, the Hennessy Literary Awards
2010, the Molly Keane Award 2010
and the WOW Award 2010.
Writing workshops
Sponsored by Laois Arts
Office & Library Service
A series of creative writing
workshops with Niamh will run in
Ballylinan Library this March from
10.30 -12.00 on Friday mornings.
With a relaxed atmosphere and
gentle pace, absolute beginners are
welcome. You can book a place from
Friday March 1 by calling
059 8625007 or dropping
into the library.
Places limited.
M
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