WRITING – I write from necessity. If I’m not writing, I’m miserable. I’ve written lots of non-fiction over the years but I reached a turning point in 2009 when I was short listed for the Virginia [Woolf] prize for my novel, Bone and Blood, published in 2014. Now every day is a writing day wherever I am.
Gunther
Gunther will be my third novel. It is about writing and AI Das Buch erscheint im Herbst. Stay tuned!
Michel-Michelle
My second novel Michel-Michelle challenges fixed notions of gender and seeks to increase awareness of diversity in ourselves, our friends, our families, and others.
Bone and Blood
My first novel, Bone and Blood, was inspired by a visit to Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin where I found out some Irish women had been imprisoned during the Second World War.
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Donegal, my Heimat
The German word “Heimat” speaks to the mind, body and spirit of home and homeland. It has a myriad of individual interpretations but the question “What is your Heimat” elicits a response from every German speaker and has prompted me…
Half-hearted Donegal
Donegal’s fulfilled Ulster’s reputation for truculence with the only No vote in the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution. The 51.9 per cent of No voters is a sign of Ireland’s lingering bi-polar tendencies. Women like my friend, who have…
Word, PEN and the President
In the presence of President Higgins and among so many writers whose spirit and tenacity, I admire, the word solidarity came to mind. Time to take action on campaign for writers‘ rights.
Strabane 1943
I found an old film featuring Gray’s Printing Press, taken by American soldiers, stationed in Ulster in 1943. It triggered memories of the town where I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. Strabane 1943 It is no longer recognisable…
My aversion to submission
The remains of the rebel in me has an aversion to submission. The image of a sprawled figure on the sand, brandishing a floppy whip reminded me submission doesn’t have to mean subjecting myself to the will, whims, power of…
With Margaret as a friend, one could tackle anything.
Our extraordinarily talented friend, Margaret Coulson, (born March 1938 in Leicester) died on 25 May, aged 79, in Sydney Australia after taking her own life following a decline due to dementia. She had lived in Australia for nearly 27 years with…