RTE Scheduling

So who was the wally who scheduled Desperate Housewives at the same time as Art Lives about John Banville? Both were well worth watching or setting the video for. are we supposed to be differentiated into people who want to watch either one or the other but not both?

The script on Desperate Housewives was very cleverly done where Bree (Brie?) tries to get the recipe for pie from her dodgy but super polite neighbour. A writer could take a few lessons from that. I wonder does John Banville watch Desperate Housewives? What he does watch is The Sopranos. And I've always said much the same as him, though not so lyrically and succinctly. It's modern day Greek tragedy. Character driven, moments of high comedy, betrayal, sex, money, it had it all. The last episode in particular was an exercise on what to leave in, what to take out. Fabulous.

The RTE Guide said

a writer frequently described as "difficult." The documentary follows him from life in Wexford town, through a "grindingly boring job as a clerk" in Aer Lingus, to work as a journalist with the Irish Press and The Irish Times. We witness Banville on trips to Rome and London, but Being John Banville focuses mostly on the tangled business that is the commerce and the art of writing. His self described "killer agent" Ed Victor features prominently and Banville reveals the impact of his 2005 Man Booker Prize win for The Sea. There's also a look at his double life as thriller writer Benjamin Black.

They must have done the Benjamin Black bit and the agent bit at the start when I was still on Wisteria Lane.

Teaching Poetry

I teach creative writing to diverse groups. Here's a illuminating article about teaching poetry to some precocious teenagers and loosing them on the unsuspecting public. Great fun.

And here's an article denigrating selling poetry in cigarette vending machines on the Guardian Blog site, always worth a visit. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/08/vending_verse_is_worse.html

2008 Irish Blog Awards - nominations open

The nominations for this year’s Irish Blog Awards are open. If you’d like to vote for me in Best Blog or Best Post or Most Humourous Post (I've seen better) or Best Arts and Culture Blog or Best Personal Blog Or best Newcomer, please do.
All the details are here:

Never done this before but it sound like a worthy thing to do. They say:

There are two judging rounds this year, so every nominated blog will be judged. No public vote means it is about quality, not the number of people who like you. Any nomination that nominates a blog for every category will be treated as spam and that nomination will be deleted. Choose wisely.

Apparently blogs can only be nominated for Best Blog and one other category.

Poetry Competition - Judges Comments

You can learn a lot reading judges reports. Here's salient points from Don Paterson who judged the Bridport poetry prize 2007.
A
He starts talking about culling down to a long list. He mentions in other competitions coming across terrible typing, and typos, having pot pourri fall out from the envelope (could have worse things fall out of an envelope - suggestions please!), cats drawn in the margin (could have worse things drawn in the margin), copperplate fonts (could be ...etc) written in crayon or blood (apparently entries from prisoners are usually hand written, but very neatly) death threats, acrostic or otherwise.

He start looking for poems with a point or a story, an interesting one. Sometimes that can be forgotten. So you saw a daffodil. It was pretty. So what? What does that do for me?

He also looked for real structural armature. Not sure I really know what that means but he says lots were lines with nice images strung together. I saw a daffodil, the first of the year. It was yellow as butter, yellow as my Granny's pinny. It bent as the wind blew.

Then he says too many afforded me no surprise - which is the reader's only test that the writer has themselves been surprised or excited or moved in the actual making of the poem, and not just in the idea or event that inspired it.. That one is worth pondering. The daffodil bending was really exciting. But was the poem? Was the making of the poem, the crafting?

Then on to tricky judgements. Technical craft. Literal context - the reader has to be able to work out where/when the poem is. Dramatis Personae - and who exactly. Watch your pronouns here. Chronological sequence - that would be the when, then.

So often, though, the reader is forced to expend all the energy fighting their way toward literal sense and temporal sequence that they should be spending on the deeper, elusive truth the poem is - hopefully - trying to communicate. Too often we fudge what the poem is about, forgetting that the reader has understand this before they can get on with the business of what the poem means. Strongly agree with this. I get bored with poems if I can't work out roughly what it's about quickly. I don't mind digging for detail but I don't want to have to excavate down to Troy.

Click on the title link to read the full report.
The winning poets are a mixed bunch. Check out their bios.

Time is running out to get your poems in to Strokestown International Poetry Competition.

Short story competition - judges comments

Tracy Chevalier (The Girl with the Pearl Earring - saw that film over Christmas, what fabulous cinematography it had, like a moving painting)
Anyway Tracy judged the 2007 Bridport short story competition. She was given a longlist (doesn't say how long) culled by Bridport readers from the thousands of entries. She has some interesting comments to make on the type stories she received and the flaws she noticed.

• Certain themes recurred with almost monotonous regularity: aging and problems with elderly parents, suicide, road kill(?), illness, religious faith and lots of cigarettes. So I would steer clear of these for a while unless you can spin them your way.
  
• Underlying all of these issues is a persistent attempt to make sense of death. ditto
  
• Sorely missing from the entries was humour. Humour is hard. Humour gets you noticed. But in my experience wit can be misidentified as light writing.
  
• What let down many of the stories, however, were their endings...the reader demands the impossible: to be both surprised and satisfied. So drag them in with a well crafted beginning but don't forget the ending has to work too.
  
• Make every word count. How often have you heard this but it bears repeating. There is no room for flab, waffling or wandering off at tangents.
  

Click on the title to read the whole report and comments on the winning stories. You can also buy the anthology.
The winner, Graham Mort, lectures in creative writing in Lancaster University.
The 2nd prize winner,Vanessa Gebbie, won the Daily Telegraph novel competition and is Assistant Editor of Cadenza (who just rejected me so they're not in my good books)
The 3rd prize winner, Lisa Wieland is an American writer and teaches creative writing in East Carolina University.
Other shortlisted writers also teach creative writing at Leicester, Reading and John Moore Universities but most of them are part timers. Except for Toby Litt.

I'll blog later about the poets and on the 2008 Bridport prize competition.

Literary Agents in Ireland

Note: Agents and agents' needs change. Please refer to this most recent blog post from November 2010.

There are only a few agents in Ireland. I'm looking for one who deals with UK publishers.

I'm reposting the list of Irish agents with updated details.

I dealt with this one once when my book wasn't polished:
The Lisa Richards Agency
Founded in 1998
46 Upper Baggot St
Dublin 4
Tel: (01)6603534
Fax: (01)6603545
fogrady@eircom.net
Contact: Faith O’Grady
Seeks - Writers of Fiction, Non-Fiction,Childrens and Screenplays.
Send synopsis, 2 -3 speciman chapters, cover letter and s.a.e. (essential)
Translation rights handled by The Marsh Agency Ltd.
No reading fee
Authors include June Considine, Tara Heavey, Colm Keena, Martin Malone, Pauline McLynn, Sarah O’Brien, David O’Doherty, Damien Owens, Homan Poetterton, Kevin Rafter, Annie Sparrow, Denise Deegan, Paul Howard (Ross O’Carroll-Kelly,) Roisin Ingle and Hector

The most high profile one (but Jonathan is a bit grumpy when I've met him.)
Jonathan Williams Literary Agency
Rosney Mews
Upper Glenageary Road
Glenageary
Co Dublin
Tel: (01) 2803482
Fax: (01) 2803482
Contact: Jonathan Williams
Founded in 1981. Literary Agency, evaluating, editing, rewriting, proof reading, consultancy; experience in Canada as well as Ireland. General fiction and non-fiction, preferably by Irish authors (home 10%) Will suggest revision; no reading fee unless a fast decision is required. Return postage appreciated.

This is the one recommended to me. Ger represents a some woman's fiction authors.
The Book Bureau
7 Duncairn Avenue
Bray
Co Wicklow
Tel: (01) 2764996
Fax: (01) 2764834
thebookbureau@oceanfree.net
Contact: Geraldine Nichol
Full-length MSS (home 100%, USA 15%,translation 20%) Fiction preferred -thrillers, Irish novels, Literary fiction,women’s novels and general commercial. No horror,science fiction,children’s or Poetry.Strong editorial support.
No reading fee. Preliminary letter,synopsis and 3 sample chapters.
Return postage essential. Works with agents overseas.

The big name one who launched Cecilia Ahearn:
Marianne Gunne-O’Connor
Suite 17 Morrison Chambers
32 Nassau Street
Dublin 2
Tel: (01) 6779100
mgoclitagency@eircom.net
Commercial and literary fiction, non-fiction, biography, children's fiction (UK 15%, overseas 20%, film/TV 20%). Send preliminary letter plus half-page synopsis and first 50pp. Translation rights handled by Vicki Satlow Literary Agency, Milan. Authors: Cecelia Ahern, Chris Binchy, Ken Bruen, Claudia Carroll, Julie Dam, Noelle Harrison, Claire Kilroy, Patrick McCabe, Mike McCormack, Paddy McMahon, Anita Notaro, Morag Prunty, Naill Williams. Founded 1996.
However a friend of mine sent the standard 3 chapters and a synopsis and received a letter back, return of post saying they don't take unsoliticed so I suggest you write a really good query letter first.

I've met these nice ladies recently.
Font International
Hollyville House
Hollybrook Rd
Clontarf
Dublin 3
Tel: (01) 8532356
info@fontwriters.com
www.fontwriters.com
Ita O’Driscoll, Orna Ross
launched in 2003
Commission 15%,Overseas 20%.
Experienced published writers only. Adult fiction, non-fiction. (No childrens,drama,sci-fi, erotic,technical or poetry.) Unsolicited manuscripts will be returned unopened. Cover letter, word count, SAE for return.
Their writers include Amanda Brunker, Paul Kilduff, Evelyn Cosgrove, Garbhan Downey and Aine Greaney.

Note: The Causeway Literary Agentcy's website is not working so I would hesitate to send my manuscript to them.
Causeway Literary Agency
24 East Claremont Street,
Edinburgh EH7 4JP
PO Box 833,
Maynooth,
Co. Kildare
Tel No: 0131 556 2006 / 3534 586 9801
Email: info@causewayagency.com
Web: www.causewayagency.com

Article in The Independent on your first novel

This is a riveting, sensible article about how to publish your first novel and why. It's a bit gloomy but in a realistic way. I know it's very hard to get published. And I also know that just because you get a book published, doesn't mean it will win the Booker. First books often sink without trace.
But agents and publishers do need to keep their doors open as no one can say for sure what the next sure fire bestseller will be.
There are often stories about slush pile stardom and multiply rejected award winning authors but they are few and far between. Extremely few and far between. John Grisham, Richard Adams. JK Rowling. The stories make good copy, that's all.
There is good advice on where to look for advice. Not even an MA will guarantee you publication, my friends. Not even UEA. (I'd love to go to UEA)
And even if you're published and a well known name, the money is usually pathetic. Get into films and TV if you want the money, so I'm told.
Check out the links for further reading too.