THE VOLCANIC ash and the cultural cavalry - the writers all over the country who stepped in enthusiastically to substitute for the writers whose flights were cancelled - grabbed the headlines at last month’s Cúirt.
Despite all this, the underlying work of Cúirt was continuing unabated, a work that expressed itself in the publication of three modest but nonetheless important, not to say vital, publications - ROPES, Faceless Monsters, and Wow!
ROPES is the Review of Post Graduate Studies and is published by the current MA in literature and publishing students in NUI Galway. This is its 18th issue and while there is a sense of the usual suspects among the contributors there are also some exciting and new faces emerging whose contributions add immeasurably to the energy of the journal.
In the preface, Daniel Carey explains the achievement of ROPES “has been to foster a creative conversation, bringing new writers in contact with established figures who have generously contributed their work”.
His explanation is borne out by the presence in this issue of Ken Bruen, Rita Anne Higgins, Nuala Ní Chonchuir, and Kevin Higgins along with new names like Ceara Conway whose poem has something of a breathless quality to it, David O’Doherty whose story has a wonderful satiric touch, and Kevin Boyle whose sensitive story bespeaks the warm humanity of his profession.
Faceless Monsters is the Atlantis Collective’s second anthology and edited by Nuala Ní Chonchuir. While most of the contributors also featured in the first anthology, again there are a few new faces which give the collection a fresh impetus.
A feature of this issue is the experimentation with ‘Flash fiction’. Some of these experiments work, others don’t, but they introduce an interesting element of “apprentices at work” to the book. Also evident here is a progression from the previous anthology, Alan Caden’s The Boatman echoes O Henry and Guy De Maupassant can be detected while Paul McMahon’s Row Me Up Some Whiskey Joe is a fine demonstration of a growing maturity
The Wow! anthology is a wonderful example of the long road that faces writers as they struggle to find their personal voice. Published online since 2004, this is the first issue in print recognising the importance and the permanence of the printed word.
There is an energy and humanity in these poems and stories that delights as well as informs. Sarah Clancy’s Hippy, Get A Job... has a sense of rhythm that gives the poem a driving force while Gerry Galvin’s For the Love of Daisy is as compassionate as it is suave. Overall the contributions resonate with an ironic, sometimes dark, sense of humour, and a welcome humanity.
Given the ethos of Cúirt, it seems a pity there is no Irish language contribution in any of these publications. Maybe there is an opening for a similar journal as Gaeilge.
While Cúirt may have had little to do directly with these publications, the festival creates the environment in which they can emerge and so provides Galway with a solid cultural future, a precious gift indeed. By far the best way to accept that gift would be to purchase the books and give all those responsible the support they so richly deserve.
