“…A pioneering event…” Dublin poets share the “stage” with IAW&A members at the first Transatlantic Salon on April 15.
By Karen Daly
Photos by Cat Dwyer
Our enterprising IAW&A Salon producer, John Kearns, has not only taken the IAW&A salon on the road to Washington, DC, Fairfield, Connecticut and Philadelphia, he’s gone international!
On Tuesday, April 15, the first Transatlantic Salon featured IAW&A members at the Cell in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood sharing the “stage” with Dublin writers live-streaming from the Twisted Pepper Café on historic Middle Abbey Street.
John shared organizing and hosting duties with Sarah Lundberg, a publisher, writer and founding member of Seven Towers Agency. An organization that celebrates and promotes Irish and Irish-American writing, Seven Towers has goals similar to IAW&A’s Mission. They are an independent, non-profit publisher and organizer of monthly readings, open mics, podcasts, and local (Dublin) history events. Find them at seventowers.ie
Last year IAW&A held a celebration of Seven Towers’ seventh anniversary at our salon at the Cell, and this year, they joined us in person (well, on screen).
Dublin writers joined us via Google Hangouts
The Dublin group, poets all, included Eamonn Lynskey whose work has been widely published since it first appeared in the 1980s in The Irish Press. His most recent collection And Suddenly the Sun Again is published by Seven Towers and available on Amazon. Visit Eamonn’s blog at http://tvivf.wordpress.com.
Glasgow-born Liz McSkeane has written numerous poems, short stories and radio scripts, which have been published in newspapers, magazines and literary journals including The Irish Times, Poetry Ireland Review and broadcast on RTE Radio. Liz’s poems have been anthologized in The White Page and Slow Time: 100 Poems to Take You There. Snow at the Opera House is her full collection.
Well known in Dublin as a poet and accomplished visual artist, Alma Brayden is a member of the Dalkey Writers’ Workshop. Seven Towers published Alma’s first poetry collection, Prism.
Another widely published and praised Dublin poet, Kate O’Shea was shortlisted for the prestigious Patrick Kavanaugh Poetry Award.
A member of the Dalkey Writers’ Workshop, Phil Lynch started writing poetry while still at school and has been involved with poetry readings in Ireland and Belgium. His work has appeared in magazines and newspapers and has been featured on on national and local radio. Phil is a regular participant in spoken word and open mic events in Dublin. Phil will be joining us in person at the next IAW&A Salon at Bar Thalia on May 6th at 6 pm.
Impressive afternoon crowd at NYC’s Cell Theatre
The New York group presented poetry, fiction, and song.
Tom Phelan
Irish born, New York based Tom Phelan read a poignant excerpt from his World War I novel The Canal Bridge, in which a young Irish woman learns that her fiancé “has come back to Ballyrannel after walking home from the War.” Published in the U.S. this month by Arcade, and called by Books Ireland a “powerful and deeply affecting novel”The Canal Bridge tells the story of two Irish stretcher-bearers–and the lovers and families they leave behind.”
Nearly a quarter of a million young Irish men served in the British army and fought in the trenches. When Tom Phelan was growing up in County Laois, he knew many veterans of the Great War–five hundred men in his small town of Mountmellick had been in the war and at least fifty had died. Yet due to the political landscape of the time, their sacrifice went unrecognized. With The Canal Bridge, Tom hopes to help give them their honored place in Irish history. More at www.tomphelan.net.
Mark William Butler
Mark William Butler shared his unusual views on beer, volleyball and sex on the beach in his satirical short story, Cool and Clean and Crisp (aka Heaven Is A Beer Commercial), which originally appeared in Paramour Magazine and was later included in the Best American Erotica book series, edited by Susie Bright (Touchstone/Simon & Shuster). Mark’s piece was mentioned in a review by Publishers Weekly and later cited by Ms. Bright in her book, How to Write a Dirty Story. Mark is currently available to write more dirty stories on a work-for-hire basis – hourly rates – mention this blog and receive a 50% discount!
Drucilla Wall
Drucilla Wall, poet, professor and award winning writer, shared some of her poems. Drucilla is truly transatlantic, living in the Midwest, and spending summers in Wexford and Galway. Visit drucillawall.com.
John Kearns
John Kearns read a short excerpt from Worlds, a multi-generational Irish-American novel. Seamus Logan tells a story as he crosses the Atlantic from Ireland to America. Seamus describes how he rowed across Killary Bay from Mayo to Galway, from home to exile, from restraint to freedom, from night to day …
Tom Mahon
Tom Mahon read from American Mastery, his novel about a family in upstate New York. In this dramatic excerpt, the sons prepare to leave for Germany on business. Their father, who was wounded fighting the Germans in North Africa during WWII and resents the Germans, bullies his sons into not going. During the fight that ensues, the father, recovering from heart surgery, falls to floor clutching his chest. His sons and wife rush him to a hospital where he dies.
Gary Cahill
Crime fiction writer Gary Cahill (Mystery Writers of America–New York, International Thriller Writers) read from two short stories based on his life experience. The as-yet unpublished Rollover IRA is about a very hard man raising money for his cause on the streets of New York. In Ninety Miles, A Million Miles, childhood friendship is challenged by hatred and revenge during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This story is published online and in an e-book anthology by Plan B Magazine. Gary and his friend, engineer Tom Richter, are also currently creating and reading audio for the Plan B podcasts. www.plan-b-magazine.com/
Ryan Winter Cahill
As a parting gift to our friends in Dublin, Ryan Winter Cahill sang two songs. She chose “The Foggy Dew” by Canon Charles O’Neill in light of the anniversary of the Easter Rising. Demonstrating her range and talent, Ryan ended with the more lighthearted and lilting “Will I Ever Tell You?” from that all-American musical comedy, The Music Man. The Dubliners were as enchanted as we were with Ryan’s performance.
Sorry to report that we don’t have the expected video from the Salon, but you can be sure that nothing could spoil our transatlantic good will and mutual appreciation. We look forward to our next time, and thank John and Sarah and all the participants for a wonderful afternoon/evening. Congratulations!
By the way, should you be in Dublin, Sarah encourages you to visit the Twisted Pepper Café, which is hospitable to artists and writers.
Should you be in New York, join us at the Salon at Bar Thalia, on Tuesday, May 6, at 6pm. See you there!