HOW DO you take the work of a man of such great and varied talent as Little John Nee and distil it into a critique of 500 words? This man has busked with the Dice Man; became the iconic symbol of the early Galway Arts Festival parades; and was, for a period, Galway’s Pied Piper.
He authored the one man show, The Derry Boat, which remains one of the great classic plays relating to Irish emigration; he delighted, and continues to delight TG4 viewers with his comic series Postie; and has just been (rightly ) elected to Aosdána.
In true artistic manner, Little John goes a long way to provide the answer by producing and self-publishing a natty wee book, The Apocalypse Came On A Friday - Haikus by Little John Nee, and, like all of Little John’s work, there is a great deal more to this wee neat volume than at first meets the eye.
In a heartfelt dedication, he writes: “While writing a play I often use haiku to get to the essence of a scene or story, this becomes a daily practice, and over the years I have accumulated a heap of haiku. I made a present to my dear friend Keeva Holland a handwritten book of haiku I thought she might like. She suggested I published them. I suggested she illustrate them. She had just begun to do so when she passed away. Her last work was about love. Her compassion was one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed in my life. I hope you can squeeze a bit of goodness from this book. I dedicate this book to her."
Little John need not have worried. The book is brim full of love, compassion, and, the magic that is Little John himself. In the blurb Pat Boran writes: “Little John...reveals himself as a haiku poet of charm, courage and conviction. Entirely in tune with this venerable tradition of the illuminating moment, he nevertheless remains his own man, his wit and punky attitude only adding to the sense of a very fine poet coming into stride – and perhaps at any moment about to break into a dance or song," and again, “Little John has what many wish for – a wholly affecting, authentic, liberating humility and the great gift of taking seriously not himself but the words and the worlds they guide him through."
A truer word was never said. A personal favourite: “The road to Galway/And the Saturday market/O happy routine>" It is chock-a-block with such gems and there is no better way to celebrate the true artist than to buy this wee book and to allow Little John to bring you through the Sherwood Forests of your mind.
