May 11, 2011 | Latest
Just back from Toronto where on Saturday night (7th May) I spoke at the Brampton Irish Centre (Lar Na nGael) at the invitation of Alan McConnell, chair of Friends of Sinn Féin, about the enduring legacy of the hunger strike. The hall was packed and the event included...
Mar 31, 2011 | Latest
Finished a biography on Philip Larkin by Richard Bradford, ‘First Boredom, Then Fear – The Life of Philip Larkin’. From the intro: “The defensive strategy of the pro-Larkinists, that a writer’s prejudices are separable from and irrelevant to their literary...
Mar 14, 2011 | Latest
Got a call from Flair Campbell late on Saturday night to tell me that Brian Moore had died suddenly after a short illness. Brian was one of life’s gentlemen, intelligent, witty, dedicated, selfless and hugely talented as a singer and songwriter but also as the...
Mar 8, 2011 | Latest
Did an interview today with Sarah O’Neill whose thesis is a literary biography of Jennifer Johnston, and Jennifer was one of the writers who came into the H-Blocks whilst I was there to teach creative writing. 7th March. Did interview along with David Hume of the...
Feb 19, 2011 | Latest
Finished ‘Negotiating With The Dead’ by Margaret Atwood on the role of the writer. It was just about okay. Book to follow up on – ‘Doctor Glas’ by Hjalmar Soderberg 14th February. Interview with Brian Rowan re Gerry Adams standing in Louth, published in Belfast...
Feb 2, 2011 | Latest
Finished ‘The Post Office Girl’ by Stefan Zweig, a sad, desperate story set in the 1920s about a poor young woman whom life is passing by, suddenly lights up, then fades again. The novel was found after Viennese-born Zweig and his wife committed suicide in Rio de...
