Category Archives: Arts in general

On Censorship, Iranian Film & Saudi Blogging

Posted on March 2, 2015 by

(A version of this piece was broadcast on Arena on 18th Feb):  http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A20731200%3A1526%3A18%2D02%2D2015%3A Recently I saw an Iranian film by Mohammad Rasoulof: Manuscripts Don’t Burn. It tells a creepy, absorbing story about censorship and corruption impinging on the lives of dissident writers in … Continue reading →

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Events and Submissions

Posted on October 3, 2014 by

Apologies for the long silence – I was overtaken by events of my own, as it happens.  Here’s a quick posting of some upcoming events & openings for submissions.  I’ll be back soon with some thoughts on historical fiction in … Continue reading →

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DWF Venue #3: Axis Arts & Community Resource Centre, Ballymun

Posted on May 8, 2014 by

Interview with Mark O’Brien (Arts Centre Director) What (and where) is Axis? Axis is an Arts and Community Resource centre, situated on the main street of Ballymun What happens there? Axis houses a 211 seat theatre, dance studio, music rehearsal and … Continue reading →

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News & Links

Posted on November 27, 2013 by

Well.  Fallen, my new novel, has finally left the building.  It’s due out from Penguin Ireland in June 2014. Here’s a link to the catalogue listing: http://www.penguincatalogue.co.uk/hi/general/title.html?titleId=19349&imprintId=1158&catalogueId=256 On the subject of links, the online journal Spolia has posted an abridged version of … Continue reading →

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Dalkey Book Festival 2013 (Friday 14th – Sunday 16th June)

Posted on June 19, 2013 by

FRIDAY: Robert Fisk, in conversation with Pat Kenny (Church of the Assumption, Castle Street) It was raining hard in Dalkey on Friday evening, water splashing back from the pavement, people scudding along under umbrellas, not even peeking at passing celebrities.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts in general, Commentary, Dalkey Book Festival, On Writing, Readings, The Arts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Arts for change

Posted on June 21, 2010 by

At least two events this weekend demonstrated that the arts can be effective in bringing about change. The first Dalkey Book Festival was blessed with the most glorious weather a weekend has seen in these parts for a good long … Continue reading →

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Irish Writers’ Centre

Posted on June 18, 2010 by

The IWC held a meeting for members last night. Jack Harte talked about the progress that has been made in salvaging the Centre over the last year or so, largely due to staggering levels of committment from himself (he didn’t … Continue reading →

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Who needs an audience? (2)

Posted on April 20, 2010 by

Of course there were other issues raised during the Irish PEN debate that interested me. Here are a few of them: Declan Kiberd: How many artists in Ireland manage to support themselves without doing other kinds of paid work? Impossible … Continue reading →

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Who needs an audience?

Posted on April 19, 2010 by

At a debate on “The Arts and the Economy” last Thursday evening (15th April), hosted by Irish PEN, one of the speakers suggested that artists need to think about their audience. There was some bristling at this. A woman stood … Continue reading →

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