Writing ~ Re-connecting
Writing ~ Re-connecting
„You are still alive!“ There is humour at our mortality when older residents of Wunstorf in Lower Saxony greet each other with these words. The words conjur up my German family mixed with memories of scattered friends – especially those…
Heimat conjures up a sense of belonging – often formless and incoherent. Examining Heimat has raised questions not only of identity but of consciousness. While living in England, France and Belgium, Donegal was the place which fed my fantasies and…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
As I look South from Donegal, Knockarea in Sligo is just behind Ben Bulben. In the window, I watched a wasp die in the web of a much smaller spider with Knockarea in the distance, it gave me a much…
I came back to my parents’ roots in Donegal in 2001. I brought with me work and connections from all over the place and many connections lost along the way. Were you there? Were you there in Northern Ireland in…