Those who Travel have Stories to Tell . . .
I went to Dun Laoghaire recently, especially to go to the Murder One Crime Writing Festival Readings in the beautiful Lexicon Building DLR. On Saturday 19th October, I got up early at 5.50 AM to get the 6.45 train from Gorey. Stepping off the train, I noticed how much the town has changed since I went to college and work there, well over a decade ago.
I noticed this lovely painting on a wall, and as I am a writer, it called to me, so I shared it with my fellow writer friends. “Those who travel have stories to tell.” I didn’t travel far, but I did leave Gorey. I joke about being jinxed with public transport (see later) and then my fibro and other conditions, travelling takes a lot out of me.
In the Lexicon for Murder One, I bumped into Inkers Catherine and Vanessa AKA Sam Blake. I also bumped into author, fellow Pen Pals in the Pod member and Inker Rose Cullen. We took our seats, and we could sit anywhere. It was like a cinema/stage (only the popcorn was missing).
We both enjoyed ‘Readings in the Studio’ introduced by Sam Blake. Readings were by R.B Egan author ‘The Landlord’, the lovely James Murphy writer of ‘How to be Dead’, Lucy O’Callaghan the inker of ‘Obsession’ and ‘In Plain Sight’ by Joseph Birchall. Afterwards Rosie and I had coffee in Insomnia before the next event, ‘Behind Closed Doors’, was to start. This talk was hosted by interviewer Professor John Deane O’Keefe and his interviewees were Gill Perdue novelist of ‘The Night I Killed Him’ (it wasn’t her husband he was in the audience and makes a nice cup of coffee we were told), Mary Watson who penned ‘The Cleaner’ and ‘The Dark Hours’ writer Amy Jordan. As a bookworm I want to read them all 7 of these books now, and as a writer, I learnt so many new and valuable things.
Then I bid Rose and Dun Laoghaire adieu, (Rose did lots more of the festival), and I got off at Dublin, Connolly, before taking a Luas and a walk to the Irish Writers Centre. It is such a lovely building too, an old Georgian house built in the 1700’s. If you haven’t been you must go! Fiona O’Rourke was there with Paul to greet me at the door and it was as always lovely to see them both. Paul made me a cup of tea before I went upstairs and met Frustrated Writers members Tom, Sam and Sean (from Bray – I also hail from there). It was the final talks of their annual ‘Observe, a Flea’ event, and the topics that day were about the craft of editing, the curation of a journal and the state of Irish literature in general. ‘The Pig’s Back’ co-editor Emily Cooper (the other is Dean Fee) up in Donegal and Lisa McInerney, editor of ‘The Stinging Fly’, were speaking with Sam Furlong the new chairperson, and just retired chairperson of the Frustrated Writers Group Tom Roseingrave. Members Tom Jordan and Abbey Connolly read an extract from their own works. I was sorry that I didn’t introduce myself, as I was heading back to Gorey.
Ironically, I went STRAIGHT to Bus Aras for my bus, which was delayed, and THEN IT BROKE DOWN in Stillorgan. We waited over an hour and forty minutes, just for another bus to come. They didn’t send a bus, so we just hopped on the next working bus to stop for us. I hope Anto, the man beside me got home safely. I had to go to the shop once I got back to Gorey, so at 9.15 PM I finally arrived home, where my daughter had a hot bubble bath waiting for me. This is the part where earlier I said that I am jinxed when it comes to public transport. Despite that it was a lovely day and as a writer the tips, and information were really helpful, so thank you all!
(c) Grace O’Reilly
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