Sep 24, 2010 | Features
Finished ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ which I found tedious and long-winded. Derivative ‘Silence Of The Lambs’. Cannot understand the sensation around Stieg Larrson’s trilogy; and although my brother-in-law bought me all three as a present in August I doubt if I...
Sep 20, 2010 | Features
Wrote a feature for today’s edition of the Andersonstown News in response to the attacks by some journalists on Martin McGuinness and the issue of memory. It appears in the paper as ‘Conjuring Truth From The Tricks Of Memory’. Here it is: “Can you talk about your...
Sep 12, 2010 | Features
Finished ‘The Paris Review Interviews Vol. III’. In her introduction Margaret Attwood gives some tips: “read your manuscript with a ruler; you catch the typos better that way. Make a birth chart for your characters; then you’ll always know how old they are. These...
Aug 23, 2010 | Features
I wrote a piece about Béal na mBláth commemoration in West Cork yesterday which was addressed by Fianna Fail minister Brian Lenihan. The piece was published in today’s edition of the Andersonstown News: To the right of de Valera’s headstone in Glasnevin Cemetery...
Aug 16, 2010 | Features
Wrote a feature for Monday’s edition of the Andersonstown News. Title of article: ‘Writers Block While The Writer’s Blocked’ Brendan Behan once said, “I only take a drink on two occasions: when I’m thirsty and when I’m not”. Sounds hilarious until you consider that he...
Aug 13, 2010 | Features
Finished this second volume in late July. Am trying to finish all four before Christmas. [The four-box set was a Christmas present last year!] In his introduction Orhan Parmuk writes: “The Paris Review interviews were not tied to a particular book or work that the...
