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Thursday, August 30, 2012

CULTURE NIGHT @ Kenny's, Liosbán Retail Park with Over The Edge


CULTURE NIGHT
Over The Edge Open-Mic
@ Kennys Bookshop and Art Galleries Ltd,
Liosbán Retail Park, Tuam Rd
FRIDAY, SEPT. 21st
From 6pm onwards

PRIZES Book vouchers
(one €100 & two €50)
for the best readers

PLUS
THE LAUNCH of
a new poetry collection by Máire Holmes

Skylight Poets @ Clifden Arts Week: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st, 2pm

CLIFDEN ARTS WEEK READING BY THE SKYLIGHT POETS
probably the best poetry workshop in the West
Date: Friday, September 21, 2012 2:00 pm

Venue: Clifden Library, Market Street, Clifden, Co Galway, Ireland
For details phone:095 21092

The Skylight Poets are a group of poets who meet with poet and facilitator Kevin Higgins to workshop their writing in Galway Arts Centre on Thursday afternoons. The room they use is at the top of no 47 Dominick Street, the attic with skylight windows, hence the name of the group. Participants in the workshop have won a variety of prizes for their work, including the Hennessy Award for Emerging Poetry, The Cúirt New Writing Prize & The Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam. Several have published poetry collections with publishers such as Salmon, Doire Press and Lapwing.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Autumn Creative Writing Classes (Beginners & Intermediate) at Galway Technical Institute


Creative Writing for Beginners with Kevin Higgins takes place one evening per week (Monday) from 7-9pm. (10 weeks) It commences on Monday, September 24th, 2012. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. Kevin Higgins will provide writing exercises for, and give gentle critical feedback to, those interested in trying their hand at writing poems, stories or memoir.


Kevin Higgins

Intermediate Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars takes place one evening per week (Tuesday) from 7-9pm (10 weeks) It commences on Tuesday, September 25th, 2012. Advance booking is essential. Places cost €120. This class is suitable for those who’ve participated in creative writing classes before or begun to have work published in magazines. Flexible exercises and work-shopping of assignments, together with the study of the works of published writers, will help each class member to find their own writing voice.


Susan Millar DuMars

To book a place in either class contact GTI, Father Griffin Road, Galway Telephone 091-581342, e-mail adultedinfo@cgvec.ie, see http://www.gti.ie  or call to G.T.I. on Monday, September 17th, 6.30-8.30pm when you can pay using credit/debit card or by Postal Order made payable to ‘City of Galway VEC’. 

This Autumn GMIT presents Creative Writing for Beginners with Susan Millar DuMars TAKING BOOKINGS NOW

This Autumn GMIT is offering a course in Creative Writing for Beginners with Susan Millar DuMars. The course takes place at GMIT Dublin Road Campus one evening per week (Wednesday) for 7 weeks from 7–9p.m. It commences on Wednesday, September 26th, 2012. Advance booking is essential. Taking bookings now. The course fee is €95.

During the seven weeks Susan Millar DuMars will give support, instruction and feedback to students who are interested in writing either fiction (short stories, novels) or poetry. The class will work on techniques for forming ideas and getting started; engaging the reader’s senses; using figures of speech effectively; being alert to the importance of the sound of words, the rhythm of writing; how to manage the truth in a fictitious piece; the different forms of poetry; awareness of character and point of view in fiction; editing and polishing work. Whether the student seeks publication, self-expression, a rewarding hobby (or possibly all three), this course is a wonderful place to start.

For further details or to book a place contact GMIT, Dublin Road, Galway. Telephone 091 742145, email lifelonglearning@gmit.ie  or see http://www.gmit.ie/lifelong-learning/lifelong-learning-programmes/humanities/creative-writing-for-beginners.html 

Course Tutor:
Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in April 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, American Girls, with Lapwing in 2007. She published a book of short stories in 2010: Lights in the Distance, published by Doire Press. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary. Her next collection of poetry, The God Thing, will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2013. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003.

Daytime Creative Writing with Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Arts Centre THIS SEPTEMBER

This September, Galway Arts Centre presents a daytime class for all those beginner and continuing creative writing students out there, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. Susan Millar DuMars writes both poetry and fiction. A collection of her stories, Lights In The Distance, was published in December 2010 by Doire Press; she has published two collection of poetry, Big Pink Umbrella (2008) and Dreams For Breakfast both with Salmon Poetry. Her next collection of poetry, The God Thing, will be published by Salmon Poetry in early 2013. She is also co-organiser of the Over The Edge reading series which specifically promotes new writers.

The class is suitable for both beginning and continuing creative writing students, working in either poetry or fiction. Students will spend their week responding to writing exercises designed to inspire, rather than inhibit. In class, they will receive gentle feedback on their work from their classmates and from the teacher. The class takes place on Monday afternoons, 2-3.30pm, commencing on Monday, September 24th.

The cost to participants is 110 Euro with a 100 Euro concession price. Booking is essential as places are limited. For booking please contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, phone 091 565886 or email info@galwayartscentre.ie

SEPTEMBER Writers At Work: A Course With Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Arts Centre

 Have you got pages in a drawer you’ve been wanting to show someone?
 This course is for writers who are at work on a project. 
This could be a novel, short story, collection of stories, sequence of poems,
 or even a play or film script.

Participants’ only homework each week will be to read two fifteen page extracts from other students’ manuscripts and be prepared for a 20-30 minute discussion on same. Providing generous and specific feedback on others’ work helps us to be inspired risk takers in our own writing. Each participant will experience at least one such session of feedback on their own work. An in-class writing exercise at the start of each class will serve to further shake off mental cobwebs, and perhaps lead us into new writing.
This is an ideal course for the hardworking but isolated writer.

The course is takes place on Tuesdays (2-4pm) starting on Tuesday SEPTEMBER 25th and runs for ten weeks. Places must be booked in advance. The cost to participants is €120 with a concession rate. To register contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway. Telephone 091-565886. Email: info@galwayartscentre.ie


Facilitator Susan Millar DuMars’ debut poetry collection, Big Pink Umbrella, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2008. Her next collection, Dreams for Breakfast, appeared in 2010. Her work features in Landing Places, Dedalus’ 2010 anthology of immigrant poetry written in Ireland; and also in The Best Of Irish Poetry 2010. A fiction writer as well, she published a collection of short stories, Lights In The Distance, with Doire Press in 2010. She has been the recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary for her stories. Susan teaches creative writing to adults and to groups with special needs. She lives in Galway, where she and her husband have run the Over the Edge readings series since 2003. Susan is currently at work on her third poetry collection, The God Thing, to be published early next year by Salmon.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Salmon Poetry: Thomas Lynch & Michael Heffernan GALWAY LAUNCH

Salmon Poetry invites you
to the launch
of
Thomas Lynch's
The Sin-eater
Thomas Lynch
 &
Michael Heffernan's
The Breaking of the Day

Michael Heffernan

this Saturday, September 8th,

at Charlie Byrne's, Middle Street, Galway 6.30pm.

ALL WELCOME

Seamus Scanlon launches 'As Close As You'll Ever Be'

Seamus Scanlon
Seamus Scanlon's short story collection As Close As You’ll Ever Be, published by Cairn Press, is launched at the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City this evening September 6th at 6pm.

Seamus is originally from Galway City and was the 2010 Over The Edge New Writer Of The Year. We offer Seamus our heartfelt congratulations.

You can buy the book here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0985319712/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me&seller

ABOUT THE BOOK: “Blood and memory reign in a collection of stories concerning the social and political aspects of an Irish killer from the 1970s to the present. Rooted in Ireland's history of internal violence, an inescapable brutality that drags like a shadow for natives and exiles alike, the 'war of Ireland' ensues in Seamus Scanlon's short story collection, As Close As You'll Ever Be. From Dublin to New York, Scanlon's stories cover the vicious exploits of boy soldiers and IRA initiations, a son returning home to help his mother, a man mourning the boyhood loss of a cousin, or a childhood memory of first flight and escape. Operating under different circumstances of violence and crime, the characters are propelled in a ruthless conflagration between the binds of heritage and the burden of remembrance. As Close As You'll Ever Be simultaneously evokes the desolation of crime and memory, with the rapid plot and dark humor of hardboiled noir, while remaining aloft and literary in nature. Readers will cringe when a character laughs, laugh when a character shivers in the darkness, all while taken away by Seamus Scanlon's poetic narrative style.”

Friday, August 24, 2012

2012 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year LONG-LIST ANNOUNCED

There were a record 457 entries for this year's Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition: 199 poetry entries and 258 in the fiction category.

The Long-list is as follows:

John Chambers, Dublin

Jean Tuomey, Mayo

Sandra Harris, Dublin

Stephanie Brennan, Galway

Orla McGuinness, Clare

Ron Carey, Dublin

Marie Altzinger, Dublin

Alyn Fenn, Cork

Evan Costigan, Kildare

Ciarán O’Rourke, Dublin

Christopher Meehan, Galway

J. Roycroft, Dublin

Patrick Hewitt

Kevin Murtagh, Kildare

Marie Dolores, Galway

James O’Toole, Galway

Phil McNulty, Southport, Merseyside

Breege Wardein, Galway

Alma Brayden , Dublin
 
Marie Cadden, Galway

Diarmuid de Faoite, Galway

Fiona Smith, Cork

Rachel Coventry, Galway

Angela Carr, Dublin

Lisa Allen, Galway

Tom Lavelle, Galway

Claire M. Kennedy - Galway

Sighle Meehan , Galway

Liam Duffy, Galway

Liz Quirke, Galway

Erin Fornoff, Dublin

Martin Casey , Mayo

Bernadette Ashe, Galway

Eoin Barton, Galway

Maresa Sheehan, Carlow

Paula Cunningham , Belfast

Barrett Warner, Maryland, USA

Alice Walsh, Dublin

Valerie Sirr, Dublin

Lesley Cassidy, Galway

Colm Reynor, Dublin

Chris Connolly, Dublin

Kiefer Ramberg, Galway

David Meth, Cork

Dearbhaile Houston, Galway

Clodagh O’Brien, Mayo

Fiona Scoble, Galway

Stephanie Flaherty-Klapp, Dublin

Rejini Samuel, Galway

Michael Casey, Dublin

Aidan Hynes, Dublin

Yvonne McEvaddy, Galway

Laura McKenna, Cork

Christopher Rippingale, Mayo

Mary Angland, Cork

Chris Walker, Cork

John Clisham-Sharry, Galway

Simon Fay, Kildare

Micheál Ó’Síocháin, Cork

Marcella O’Connor, Kerry

Margaret Cahill, Limerick

Alex Hijmans, Brazil

Lisa Sedgwick, Galway

Kevin Hora, Roscommon

Alison Wells, Wicklow

Richard Gibney, Dublin

Rich O’Chet, Kilkenny

Alan M. Shine, Galway

Jennifer Davidson, Dublin

Pat McDonnell, Galway

Valerie Ryan, Kildare

Steve Wade, Dublin,

Marie MacSweeney, Louth

David O’Dwyer, Dublin

Sean Kenny, Dublin

Eileen Keane, Kildare

Sheila Armstrong, Sligo

Kathleen Murray, Dublin

Niecy O’Keeffe, Cork

Ruth Quinlan, Galway

Nollaig Rowan, Dublin

Louise Hegarty, Cork

Brian Leeson, Belfast

Gerard O’Brien, Galway

Barbara Leahy, Cork
 Over The Edge would like to thank our competition sponsors:
Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,
ISupply Quay Street,
Ward’s Hotel,
Senator Lorraine Higgins,
Derek Nolan T.D.,
Trevor Sherlock
& The Creole Restaurant, Dominick Street

 THE SHORTLIST WILL BE ANNOUNCED
@ the August Over The Edge: Open Reading
in Galway City Library,
next Thursday (August 30th) 6.30-8pm

Thursday, August 09, 2012

North Beach Poetry Nights hosts The Connacht Heat of the All-Ireland Poetry Slam

North Beach Poetry Nights hosts

The Connacht Heat of the All-Ireland Poetry Slam

on Monday 10th September in The Crane Bar, Sea Road, Galway

at 6.30 pm 6.30 pm 6.30 pm 6.30 pm 6.30 pm 6.30 pm 6.30 pm

Poets wishing to enter the Slam on the night need 2 max. three minutes poems,
both performed without a script.

So get memorizing now.

There are slots for 16 performers, so get your name in now by email (johnmawalsh@gmail.com) if you want to participate.

Remember: you must be from or resident in Connacht.

The All-Ireland Slam will be at O'Bheal in Cork on Friday 30 November.

Door: 5/3 Euro

Info: john @091/593290

Abandoned Darlings fundraiser reading

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Over The Edge says Free Pussy Riot

Over The Edge has always taken a strong stand in favour of artistic freedom. It is not about the point of view being expressed, but about the right of the artist to express it, which in our view is an absolute right.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT re: 2012 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year competition


The longlist for the 2012 Over The Edge New Writer of the Year competition will be announced at Charlie Byrne's Bookshop on Friday, August 24th at 6.30pm.

On the evening there will be a short poetry reading by Nicola Griffin and John Corless.


Nicola Griffin was the winner in the poetry section of our 2010 competition. Nicola's debut collection of poems will be published next year by Salmon Poetry.


The longlist will be posted here on the Over The Edge website later that same evening.

This year's competition has been a huge success, attracting a record 454 entries. This is a more than 20% increase on last year.

Over The Edge would like to thank our sponsors for this year's New Writer of The Year competion:

Major Sponsor: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,

other sponsors:
Derek Nolan T.D.

Senator Lorraine Higgins

Ward's Hotel, Salthill

ISupply, Quay Street,

The Creole Restaurant, Dominick Street

& Trevor Sherlock

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

August 'Over The Edge: Open Reading' with Leeanne Quinn, Pat Finnegan & Adedotun Adekeye


Leeanne Quinn

The first ‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ after the summer break takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 30th, 6.30-8.00pm. The Featured Readers are Leeanne Quinn, Pat Finnegan & Adedotun Adekeye. The reading is sponsored by Poetry Ireland. There will as usual be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. The evening will also see the announcement of the short list for this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition, which received a record number of entries.

Adedotun Adekeye is a Nigerian who has been living in Galway for over four years with his family. He is a polyglot and a trained translator. He is currently working on two books: one of collection of poetry, the other a prose work. He has participated in poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre with Kevin Higgins and has also taken the ‘Writers-at-Work’ course, facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars. This is his first major reading of his work.

Pat Finnegan is Professor Emeritus, NUI Galway, and a retired Consultant Physician. His book The case of the Craughwell Prisoners during the Land War in Co. Galway, 1879–85 tells the story of how, at the height of the Land War in 1881, a dispute over land led to the shooting dead of a young man called Peter Doherty near Craughwell, County Galway and resulted in the conviction of two innocent men, Patrick Finnegan (the author’s grandfather) and Michael Muldowney. This beautifully written book features a forensic analysis of the trials that resulted in such a grave miscarriage of justice.

Leeanne Quinn was born in Drogheda in 1978. She studied at University College Dublin, University College Cork, and has a PhD in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin. In 2008 she was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. In 2010 she was the recipient of an Arts Council Bursary Award. Her poems have been published in a variety of journals and magazines including The Irish Times, The SHOp, Crannóg and The Stinging Fly, and anthologised in The Bee-Loud Glade: a living anthology of Irish Poetry (Dedalus, 2011) and Airborne: Poetry from Ireland (Dedalus, 2012). Before You, her debut collection of poetry, was published by Dedalus Press in February 2012. She lives in Dublin.

As usual there will be an open-mic after the Featured Readers have finished. New readers are always most welcome. The MC for the evening will be Kevin Higgins. For further details phone 087-6431748.

Over The Edge acknowledges the ongoing generous financial support of Galway City Council & The Arts Council. We also warmly acknowledge Poetry Ireland’s sponsorship of this reading.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

2012 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition to be judged by John Corless

This year's competition judge John Corless


Major Sponsor: Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop,
http://www.charliebyrne.com/

other sponsors to date:

Derek Nolan T.D.
http://www.labour.ie/dereknolan/
Senator Lorraine Higgins
http://www.lorrainehiggins.com/
Ward's Hotel, Salthill
ISupply, Quay Street,
The Creole Restaurant, Dominick Street
& Trevor Sherlock
IMPORTANT UPDATE : WRITERS WHO LIVE OUTSIDE THE EURO ZONE AREA 
CAN PAY THE ENTRY FEE BY SENDING US A CHEQUE [payable to Over The Edge]
 FOR THE EQUIVALENT AMOUNT IN THEIR COUNTRY'S CURRENCY 
i.e. U.S. Dollars, Sterling, Australian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Indian Rupee etc 
You can calculate the amount by using the currency converter here http://www.xe.com/ucc/  

In 2012 Over The Edge is continuing its exciting annual creative writing competition. The competition is open to both poets and fiction writers. The total prize money is €1,000. The best fiction entry will win €300. The best poetry entry will win €300. One of these will then be chosen as the overall winner and will receive an additional €400, giving the overall winner total prize money of €700 and the title Over The Edge New Writer of The Year 2012. The 2012 Over The Edge New Writer of The Year will be a Featured Reader at an Over The Edge: Open Reading to be scheduled in Galway City Library in Winter 2012/13. Salmon Poetry will read, without commitment to publish, a manuscript submitted to them by the winner in the poetry category. Doire Press will read, without commitment to publish a collection of short stories submitted to them by the winner in the fiction category. The winning poems and the winning story will both be published in a special Over The Edge Tenth Birthday anthology which will be published during 2013.

Entries should be sent to Over The Edge, New Writer of the Year competition, 3 Carbry Road, Newcastle, Galway, Ireland with an accompanying SAE. Entries will be judged anonymously, so do not put your name on your poem(s) or story. Put your contact details on a separate sheet.

Criteria: fiction of up to three thousand words, three poems of up to forty lines, or one poem of up to one hundred lines. Multiple entries are acceptable but each must be accompanied by a fee. The fee for one entry is €10. The fee for multiple entries is €7.50 per entry e.g. two entries will cost €15, three entries €22.50 and so on. Fee payable by cheque or money order to Over The Edge. To take part you must be at least sixteen years old by September 1st 2012 and not have a book published or accepted for publication in the genre in which you enter. Chapbooks excepted. Entries must not have been previously published or be currently entered in any other competition. The competition is open to writers worldwide.

The closing date is Wednesday, August 8th, 2012. A longlist will be announced at a special event in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop at 6.30pm on Friday, August 24th, 2012. A shortlist will be announced at the Over The Edge: Open Reading in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 30th, 2012. The winners will be announced at the Over The Edge reading in Galway City Library on Thursday, September 27th, 2012.

This year’s competition judge is John Corless. John Corless lives near Claremorris, in County Mayo, and is a vastly experienced creative writing tutor. He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Lancaster and is currently researching a PhD. Many satisfied students have taken John’s creative writing courses at GMIT Castlebar, over the past number of years. Some have gone on to win prizes and had their work published. John has also facilitated workshops with active retired groups in Ballindine and Ballinrobe also in County Mayo – both groups launching anthologies of their work. John has facilitated workshops as part of the Luisne project, and has mentored students in the UK, USA and Uganda. He has also given workshops at a number of festivals and summer schools and has worked in national and secondary schools, facilitating both creative writing and drama workshops. He has performed his work all over the country, including at the Electric Picnic, the Force 12 Festival, The Munster Literary Festival, Over The Edge, and The Whitehouse Poetry Revival. He regularly features on RTE and local radio stations. He writes poetry, drama and fiction. His work has been published internationally and he has won many prizes for his writing. John’s debut poetry collection, Are you ready? (Salmon Poetry) was published in 2009 and has sold out two print runs making it a poetry best seller. John’s poetry is a mix of political and satirical; one critic described it as Paul Durcan meets The Sawdoctors. Another said: "... he shines the tell tale torchlight of his killer wit into all the most embarrassing areas of contemporary Irish life. No-one is safe..."

N.B. ENTRIES POSTMARKED AUGUST 8TH
WILL BE ACCEPTEDFor further details contact Over The Edge on 087-6431748,

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Crannóg magazine subscription drive

Crannóg
Our friends at Crannóg magazine have launched a subscription drive
"AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL OUR READERS

WE'RE THIRTY-ONE - BUT TEN YEARS OLD!

Crannóg magazine is ten years old this autumn. It is also the thirty-first issue.

It is now read and subscribed to on every continent.

VALUE
Our cover price is €6.00.* Each issue contains 8 or more short stories and
about 25 poems from Irish and International authors.
Good value? Well it's about 18 cent for each piece of work!

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU
Those who appreciate good literature will love Crannóg.
We also recommend that writers be familiar with Crannóg to get a flavour
of its content before submitting.

We will give you an annual subscription to Crannóg, that's three issues,
- over 24 short stories and 75 poems each year delivered to your door! -
In return we ask for €19.50 * which you can easily pay through Paypal
(you don't even need a Paypal account).
And that's it for the year.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
To take out a subscription just click here http://www.crannogmagazine.com/buy.htm 
and then click the SUBSCRIBE button.
Make sure to click the relevant button for your area.
Or send a cheque to Crannóg magazine, 6 San Antonio Park, Salthill, Galway, Ireland

With kind regards

Tony O'Dwyer
pp Crannóg Editorial Board
PS Thank you if you are already one of our valued subscribers.
We hope you will continue to subscribe and enjoy Crannóg.

* This translates as approximately £5.00 or $9.00.
* Outside Ireland €24.50 incl international postage."

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

PROBABLY THE BIGGEST OPEN-MIC EVENT OF THE YEAR Westside Arts Festival/Over The Edge Summer Open-mic


Over The Edge in association with Westside Arts Festival presents the 2012 Over The Edge Summer Open-mic at Westside Library, Seamus Quirke Road on Wednesday, July 18th, 7pm

Everyone who has a poem or story to share is most welcome to take part. So, if you have some writing you’d like to read to an audience. This is your opportunity to do so.

The MCs for the evening will be Kevin Higgins & Susan Millar DuMars. All are welcome to attend.

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Galway City Council.

Over The Edge funding maintained in annual Galway City Council Arts Grants

Over The Edge was delighted to learn earlier today that, at last night's meeting of Galway City Council (Monday, July 9th) we were awarded the same level of funding as we received last year. This means that our funding remains at 2008 levels, despite the four intervening years of global financial crisis and budget cutbacks. This represents a big vote of confidence by Galway City Council in the vibrant creative writing and poetry community which Over The Edge has worked to create. It puts us in an excellent position as we look forward to celebrating our tenth anniversary next year.

We would like to thank Galway City Council's Arts Officer James Harrold and all the members of Galway City Council for their ongoing support.

This good news come on foot of the positive mention Over The Edge got recently in a Dáil debate on the future of Ireland's cultural institutions. http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/06/27/00032.asp