Royal Opera House at Covent Garden

The day after going to see the Terracotta warriors, I went to see Simon Keenlyside singing as Papageno in the Magic Flute. Here's an extract. He was brilliant. What a staging and singing and acting and music. To tell the truth, it puts the operas that come to Dublin to shame, makes them seem amateur. I'm spoiled for opera now.
We went back stage after, which took a little of the magic away and added more intrigue and food for thought.

Poetry Now Workshop

The Poetry Now Festival is seeking 12 participants for a Poetry workshop with Henri Cole and Jamie McKendrick. The workshop will take place on the Saturday 6 April at a cost of €25 or €20 for students. There will be one scholarship available for each workshop

The deadline for applications is March 10th. The Poetry Now Festival is highly recomended and runs 3rd to 6th April so I suppose you have to be available in Dun Laoghaire that weekend.

Anyone interested in taking part should send three poems and a covering letter with contact details to Katie Donovan, Writer-in-Residence, c/o Arts Office, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown Co Council, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.

There's an excellent analysis on how to read one of Jamie McKendrick's poems in the Independent here by Ruth Padel. Have you read her book, 52 ways to read a poem (or something like that.) Very insightful. I feel a distinct lack of education on how to read and analyse poems and fiction.

You can hear Henri Cole reading one of his poems here. He was a finalist for the Pulizer prize for poetry. He was featured on the blog, Poem of the week. I wonder if he knows and has been contacted for copyright?

Ennis Book Festival

Who's going to the Ennis Book Festival? Apart from the readers?

Poetry Ireland, in association with Ennis Book Club Festival, presents a poetry reading with with Richard Tillinghast, Theo Dorgan and Nuala Ní Chonchúir.

Admission: €10/8
Old Ground Hotel, Ennis, County Clare

There's also an evening with Roddy Doyle and Joanna Harris as well as a short story reading from Mary O'Donnell and two workshops (on at the same time - mad!) on how to read, which I'll be interested in, and many others. The problem is, it all costs a lot. Last year I believe they had one ticket to get into everything. This year you pay by event which can really add up. Couldn't they make up the money by selling books or running workshops or something?

The following weekend is the Dublin Book festival organised by Cle, the Irish publishers organisation. And that one is all FREE. It has 100 readings from established and exisiting writers and sounds very exciting and innovative. (I can't go) Includes Joseph O'Connor, Dermot Bolger, John Montague, Cathy Kelly, Margaret Mac Curtain and Enda Coyle Greene.

Trinity College Readings

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Master of Philosophy in Creative Writing & The Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing are having a series of classy readings:

This sounds really good. Not to be missed.

Tuesday April 1st Derek Mahon, Mary Morrissy and George Szirtes
Introduced by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin

Tuesday April 8th Sebastian Barry, Douglas Dunn and Jacqueline McCarrick
Introduced by Deirdre Madden

Tuesday April 15th Anne Enright, Peter Fallon, Bernard O’Donoghue,
Introduced by Gerald Dawe

Tuesday April 22nd Claire Kilroy, Gina Moxley and Andrew O’Hagan
Introduced by Jonathan Williams

Terracotta warriors

I went to the British Museum last week to see the Terracotta army, or those parts the Chinese were generous enough to let out of the country. They were wonderful. I've been wanting to go and see them since I remember. They were discovered in 1974 in China and I was wondering when the news was broken to the Western World. They have always been there in my memory. But when I told some people I work with, they hadn't heard of them. I found this very strange. Was the Terracotta army discovery suppressed in Ireland? Or do they just not watch documentaries and the like?

They've been buried since about 210 BC and now you can look at them face to face. Each head is individualised so the face is based on a real person, now dead a long time ago. I find that fascinating.

And there are thousands left still buried, a huge area. As technology improves, they are retrieved in better nick. The tomb of the Emporer Qin who had them made, is still untouched. Records written about 100 years after his death mention recreations of the world with rivers of mercury and stars of precious jewels. And Indiana Jones type protection to shoot any intruders automatically.

There were not only warriors, archers, generals, charioteers and horses but also accountants, musicians, strongmen, acrobats and ducks and geese for the life in the afterworld. So where are the women? Where are the dancers, the washerwomen, the concubines? Be pretty boring without them, I think.

The exhibition is on until April 6th 2008. You should pre book or turn up early on the day to get one of the tickets released every morning.

And check out this link. A German art student infiltrated the army in China in a terracotta warrior costume and stood undetected until the guards worked out which one he was and carried him out.

Then I went to the Juan Munoz exhibition at the Tate Modern, more modern terracota men and one modern terracotta female dwarf.

William Trevor Short Story Competition

Well,
The shortlist for the William Trevor Short Story Competition has been announced.
It was judged by Seamus Hosey, a well known producer from RTE radio. Not by Mr Trevor. I wonder is he judging the cutdown list? The site says he is the 2007 adjudicator. The competition fee was 20 Euro in bank draft only so not surprisingingly, although they had a international competitor list, only 2 of the 14 are from outside Ireland, both London. A commentor on my blog says the organisers told him only a small percentage were submitted from outside Ireland so it's probably just a proportion thing.

Steve Smithson London, Passing the Leek.
Ivy Bannister Dublin, Archaeology of the Soul.
Tanya Farrelly Dublin, By the River's Edge.
Philip Lumley Offaly, Small Voices.
Jo Campbell London, Staging Post.
Rosalind Lloyd Wexford, Passing Time.
Orla Shanaghy Waterford. Yesterday's Snow.
Imelda Carroll Wexford, The Elephant in the Room.
Richard Stevens Dublin, Rex.
Mary O'Shea Cork, The Winter Visit.
James Martyn Galway, Angelground.
Orlaith O'Sullivan Dublin, Louisa and the Sea.
Thalia Miller Dublin, The Blue Olive Tree.
Alyn Fenn West Cork, The Wire Road.

And one story was withdrawn after what sounds like a bit of a kerfuffle. I hope there is not problem chosing a good winner. First prize is 3,500 Euro. I wonder is it in a bank draft too!

Now worryingly, following the contentious Willesden Herald competition, last years (aka 2006) William Trevor Short Story Competition had no winner. The site said

William Trevor has completed his adjudication of the short-listed entries in the William Trevor Short Story Competition 2006. There was an excellent response to the competition with entries being received from Australia, England, India, Italy, Scotland, Singapore and U.S.A. as well as nearly every county in Ireland.

He chose five stories as being worthy of prizes, one by a name I know, but did not award the cash prize:

The first prize in the competition had a cash value of, circa, € 2,500. William Trevor decided against the awarding of this substantial prize.

It didn't say exactly why.

The competition will run in 2008 under the title of the Mitchelstown Short Story Prize. Consult this site after 01/08/2008 for further information on this competition.

McLaverty Short Story Award 2008

Here's a short story competition from the Linenhall in Belfast I hadn't heard of before.

Judges: Anne Tannahill, retired Managing Director of Blackstaff Press and Carlo Gébler, novelist and short story writer (he really gets around, judging must pay OK)

Prize: £2,000

Fee: £5 or 10 Euro - no cash so for Euro payers without a UK cheque accounts, that's a bit steep.

Deadline: 30th June 2008

Rules: Irish writers (born in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland) over eighteen years of age. So not foreign born people living in Ireland nor Irish people born abroad? Bit iffy if you ask me.

3,000 words max.

Other usual rules about publishing and anonymity.