Good old 'Cyphers' pays Greacen respect
How many Irish literary magazines can boast a history of more than 30 years? Cyphers can. The current issue (No 65) of this "occasional publication on literature and the arts" comes with a reminder note that it has been running since 1975. Its editors are Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Pearse Hutchinson, Macdara Woods and Leland Bardwell. This is a special fiction issue - edited by Woods and Bardwell - and includes work by Philip Davison, Desmond Hogan, Adrian Kenny, Áinín Ní Bhroin and Lisa Steppe.
Fittingly, as tribute to poet Robert Greacen, who died this year, the magazine republishes his poem Captain Fox Remembers a Childhood Holiday in Ireland, along with poet and critic Allan Bell's original review from 1975 of Greacen's A Gallery for Captain Fox (Gallery Books). Bell found in the collection poems that bristle with fine touches of irony and satire - and a technique worthy of Swift. To give a flavour of what's in store, the editors inform us that the content covers "comedy, grief, war, sex, politics, betrayal, love, memory, loneliness, conflict, immigration, money, culture, satire, religion, nature, death, delusion, parking - and more comedy" - not bad for €5.99.
There's plenty of poetry as well, including work by Colette Connor, Aidan Murphy, Aoife Casby, Yitzhak Laor, Susan Connolly, Christopher Merrill and Peggie Gallagher as well as by Bardwell, Hutchinson and Woods.
[ www.cyphersmagazine.orgOpens in new window ]
Barry to read at Synge Summer School
"Irish theatre and the world stage" is the theme of the 2008 Synge Summer School, which opens on June 29th in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow and runs until July 5th. The programme features lectures and workshops on Irish dramatists including Brian Friel, Stewart Parker, Marina Carr, Samuel Beckett, Conor McPherson and, of course, JM Synge.
There will also be a reading by novelist and playwright Sebastian Barry (above), while Bisi Adigun will discuss the updated version of The Playboy of the Western World, which he and Roddy Doyle wrote for production at the Abbey Theatre last year - all under the eye of the school's current director, Patrick Lonergan of NUI Galway. The school will be opened by Lynne Parker. Lectures include Synge, Irish Theatre and the New York Stage by John P Harrington; Translating Synge by Ondrej Pilny; Synge and the European Avant-Garde by Shaun Richards; and Irish Theatre and World Stages - Reflections on Recent Developments by Melissa Sihra. www.syngesummerschool.org
Enright is guest of honour at Trieste
Man Booker prizewinner Anne Enright will be the guest of honour at the 12th annual Trieste Joyce school, which opens in the Italian city on
June 29th and continues until July 5th. Enright will give a public reading and take part in a Q&A session. Another highlight will be a performance by UCD academic - and singer - Fran O'Rourke, who will give a performance and talk entitled Joyce's Use of Irish Song at the Conservatorio Tartini where Joyce had his tenor voice trained a 100 years ago. John McCourt will give a talk, The Use and Abuse of Joyce in Ireland, and will also lead a walking tour of "Joyce's Trieste". Derval Tubridy will give a talk, Tripping in His Wake, I'm Wracked: Writing Poetry after Joyce, while Enrico Terrinoni will give a lecture, Comedy, and What Went Unsaid in Ulysses. Other speakers include Clare Hutton, Fritz Senn and Brian Cosgrove. Participants from 20 countries have enrolled for the school.
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