Hiya! Fáilte chuig mo Bhlog!! Welcome to my Blog! For ages I've avoided writing a "Blog" - even the use of the word was anathema to me -it sounds so unlyrical, ugly, even - and so I (perhaps foolishly, perhaps, snobbishly) resisted until, finally, I realised it was akin to holding out, Canute-like, against the use of the word "cool" or the wearing of hugely baggy trousers by young people...And so, here I am, contrite, humbled, writing on my Blog page. Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

Poet James Harpur at WAS
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Mar 08 2010
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   We had another wonderful night in Outer Space, our performance venue at WAS, the other night when poet James Harpur was our guest. With six books of poetry behind him, prizes galore won and a string of residencies to his name, we knew we were in for a treat, but were absolutely enthralled by James' presentation of his work. The poems are marvellous: thoughtful, thought-provoking, erudite & witty, lyrical and beautifully written. In his introductions to the poems, James gave a master-class on presentation and in preparing your audience for your poems. Each - always articulate -was, in turn, witty, moving and elucidating. A wonderful experience. An exceptional poet. A lovely man.

   As always, the poetry was interspersed by musical interludes and Breeda Murphy, Tim Abbott and yours truly filled that role to the best of our ability. We were delighted, too, to welcome newcomers to Outer Space, Dorian, Paddy and Finnie Kelly and also Jo and Tessa Perry. They each - and separately - performed gorgeous, heart-tugging songs and and lyrical tunes, all original material. The talent in West Cork is truly stupendous. We were also privileged to hear poems from two of West Cork's less well-known poets, Frances and Kerry. Mary Jordan delighted us all with a sean nós song from her repertoire, Kev gave us a couple of classics, including the rare and (or because!) very difficult, James Joyce song, Humpitty Dumpitty (is that the name?). Punk legends, Good Dead Me were there, too and performed with their customary gusto and aplomb.

   Another fabulous, long-to-be-remembered night at WAS! Oh, we also launched our WAS Raffle: for a €10 ticket, you stand to Win a piece of Art of your choice at WAS to the value of a stunning €1,000!!!  Sure, you'd be mad not to enter! We'd like to thank everyone for coming and for contributing so much to another great night. It's really important to keep this kind of event going, there is a purity about doing it for its own sake.

To see photos of the night, click here.

Last changed: Aug 02 2010 at 7:32 PM

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