Josie O'Connor

Having fun preparing for camp! We genuinely had a lot of fun and are excited to share new skills, easy games and fun printing projects with participating children. At the end of the week each child will have a completed handmade book to bring home, each page having been made using a different technique; lino cutting and printing, paper marbling, handmade paper making, story writing, simple book binding, even a pop up page as in the picutre here! The kids will also get to see a demo of the antique leterpress machine in action with Conor of the Gentian Press. Very Exciting!!

Camp dates for August. Personally I hate the word camp but it’s a word we all understand!

Inspired by the Crinniu Workshops, I will be co-hosting this with Eanna Byrt for the summer, looking forward to it! Starting this Monday in the newly opened Gentian Press in Lisdoonvarna.

With 10 very imaginative children we came up with 'The liger's escape' at today's workshop for Crinniú na nÓg 2023-free creative activities for children and young people-- I think it's going to be a next best seller! It was a learning experience for us all! Thank you the Ennistymon branch of Clare Libraries for being so accomodating. Sponsored by Creative Ireland Clare and Clare County Council.

Monday Mornings be like...🙈

written for a friend who has lost her shine 🌒

a question I often ask myself! Here is an excellent answer to banish that thought.

How is this for just WOAH?

(Not that my words will heal too many wounds unless you're seriously bent on revenge, but then they will help lots I hope 💥🔥👀 )

Via on Twitter (William R Soldan)
My favorite bit of encouragement from my favorite poet, for anyone who needs it. https://t.co/cvugzw9NX7

Clare Haven Services – supporting women and children experiencing domestic abuse Just launched our 'Home is where the Hearth is' fundraising campaign.For further information, please click the link HERE.

perfect for tonight! Happy Halloween! phone lines close at midnight!

👌 Words of wisdom from Michelle Moloney's book 'Life Audit'. Michelle Riordan

Best of luck to Karen J McDonnell! You can vote for Karen's poem here, I have! Great to see a Clare woman 's poem shortlisted for Poem of the Year! https://writersweek.ie/the-listowel-writers-week-irish-poem-of-the-year-2021-shortlist/

The Listowel Writers' Week Irish Poem of the Year 2021 Shortlist Siobhan Campbell BiOG: Siobhán Campbell’s latest collection is Heat Signature from Seren Press. Winner of the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Prize, Siobhan has also received awards in the National Poetry Competition, the Wigtown and the Troubadour International competitions. Recent poems on ...

'Begin' by Brendan Kennelly

Golden time! Really enjoyed this workshop by Frank Golden standing in for Knute Skinner. Poetry Town has been a really inclusive fun week in Ennistymon, hope it becomes an annual thing! Breda Shannon Catherine Twohig Aindrias de Staic Maura Egan

Booked! A golden opportunity here. Loving the hype of 'Poetry Town' due to happen in Ennistymon between the 10th and 18th of September.

Poetry Town Ennistymon - Poetry Workshop for Adults with Knute Skinner

This workshop will provide the opportunity to discuss and analyse a poem of your choice. Knute will explore the techniques used by the poet such as rhyming, metaphor, repetition, onomatopoeia and more. The themes, styles and vocabulary will be discussed. Please bring a poem of your choice to this workshop. The poem should be no longer than one page and double spaced. Please bring 15 copies of your poem so everybody attending receives a copy of your chosen poem.

KNUTE SKINNER lives in Killaspuglonane, County Clare, his home for the past fifty-five years. His poetry has appeared widely in Ireland, Britain, Australia and North America. He is the author of sixteen books of verse including a collected edition, Fifty Years: Poems 1957-2007, which appeared from Salmon. A memoir, Help Me to a Getaway, was published by Salmon in 2010.

Book here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/poetry-workshop-for-adults-with-knute-skinner-tickets-168616242721

INTRODUCING

A new way for everyone to get involved in Poetry Town Ennistymon

Banner Books and artist/writer Jayne Shor invites you to collect a poetry prompt and notebook from Banner Books between 10th and 18th September in celebration of Poetry Town Ennistymon. The prompts have been inspired by Jayne through her meanderings in Ennistymon and whether you are a seasoned poet or have never written before, we hope they will in turn inspire you to write a poem.

Please drop a copy of your poem into Banner Books and we will display in the shop. Contact [email protected] for any more information.

Inspired by Ennistymon and Jayne Shor - we invite you to get all involved.

Poetry Town Ennistymon is supported by Poetry Ireland / Éigse Éireann, Clare Arts Office and Arts Council Ireland

I couldn't wait to get my hands on Claire Louise Bennett's new book 'Checkout 19', as you can read in my review on writing.ie . It's nothing to do with the 'c' word (covid19) 🙊 but much about books and intense daydreaming. Right up my alley. I got mine in Banner Books Ennistymon. I would love to write book reviews professionally, it would be my dream job! https://www.writing.ie/readers/checkout-19-by-claire-louise-bennett/

Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett I think of Claire Louise Bennett’s previous book Pond as fondly as I would remember a brief, lone holiday. As a parent of a seven year-old, escaping into narratives is the only lone holiday I get. …

Poetry Ireland announces Ennistymon as Clare’s ‘Poetry Town’ — Clare Arts Poetry Ireland has announced details of Poetry Town, a new initiative, which will see more than a hundred free poetry-related…

I'm so proud, my seven year old daughter Melody has won her first writing compeition! She wrote a beautifull haiku called 'Too Far Ahead' all by herself (really!!) We love this little bookshop too, I'm delighted she'll be encouraged from an early age to write - sometimes I feel I've left it too long myself! Start em young!

'Too Far Ahead'

When you go on walks
The trees whisper in your ear
The magic up above

by Melody McGlynn at age 6

WRITING COMPETITION RESULTS

Poetry: Tipping Point, by Madge O'Rourke
Short story: The Webley, by Michael Fitzgerald
Youth section: A poem entitled Too Far Ahead, by Melody

Congratulations to Madge, Michael and Melody. Your Banner Books vouchers are waiting for you in the shop.

Thank you to everyone who entered - there is *a lot* of talent in County Clare and it was a joy to read all the entries.

Thank you so very much to our sponsor and judge for enabling us to offer this competition, and especially for taking so much time and care in reading all the entries to pick the recipients of the vouchers.

Happy Bloomsday! I was a bit nervous attending a Ulysses reading for the first time today, jumping in at Chapter 11 having never waded very far into the book beyond the first few pages without falling asleep 🙈 but being with a mix of Joycean toe dippers and canon ballers made the venture into the snot green sea of Ulysses all the more fun. Thanks to Roger Cummiskey for the invite. My Dad, Mike had attended last years and so Roger kindly included me this year. I've enjoyed leafing through Dad's copy of Ulysses, in a way I began to understand his own writing a bit better which was quite cryptic and bonkers but always so clever. Thanks to his friends Kay Twohig, John Egan and my Mom for all the reading and listening material provided I felt quite immersed in a wonderfull world. In other news, it's the cat's birthday! She's eleven. Kidneys for all!

There'll be fierce competition for this I'd say, Clare is burshtin' at the seams with good writers, and a €100 euro voucher for Banner Books would go far as they're very fairly priced. I managed to avoid amazon completely over the lockdowns by ordering through Banner Books, and I can't wait to go have a browse now they're open! How have I resisted this long?!

The BANNER BOOKS WRITING COMPETITION is back!
In celebration of our reopening after lockdown, a wonderful anonymous donor is funding prizes for the winning entries of these competitions. The competitions are open to anyone with a County Clare connection – you live here, work here or were born here.
There are three categories: one for poetry, one for short stories and one for young people up to the age of 16 (poem or short story). There will be a €100 Banner Books voucher for one entrant of each adult competition, and a €25 Banner Books voucher for the youth competition. Submit your entries (including your full name, address and email) to [email protected] or post to 3 The Square, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, V95 D300 by summer solstice, 21 June. Judging of the final work will be carried out blind by a third party and the winners will be announced on our shop birthday, 23 July. Please let others who are not on social media know about this.
Competition rules
1. The poem or short story must be by the person entering the competition and be an original piece.
2. The poem or short story must not have been published elsewhere (except on the writer’s own web page).
3. The piece must be written in the English language.
4. There is no minimum or maximum word length and adults may submit to both the poetry and short story competition and send more than one entry to each category.
5. The recipients of the vouchers will be announced on social media and the poem and short story, or extracts of them, will be posted on Facebook and be available to read in the shop.
6. Copyright remains with the author, but Banner Books reserves the right to publish the winning poem and short story on their website and/or as part of an anthology.
7. The vouchers cannot be exchanged for cash.
Submission of work implies agreement of these rules.
Queries to [email protected]

Very excited to have my first book review published online on Writing.ie! https://www.writing.ie/readers/to-star-the-dark-by-doireann-ni-ghriofa/

To Star the Dark by Doireann Ni Ghriofa Even before you open the book, holding it in your hands is a sensual experience. You want to stroke it, to trace your finger over the portrait of the faceless woman. The skin-like texture of the co…

A lovely package from Dedalus Press - a lovely smooth textured cover too! In awe of this mná, Doireann Ni Ghriofa - another book so soon after her brilliant Ghost in The Throat!

One of my favourite poems illustrated by one of Angela Butterfield's photo of Lahinch Beach to celebrate Poetry Day Ireland.

A throw-back to Poetry Day last year - Two lines of one of my poems were included in this 'litany' created by Maria Isakova Bennet. https://www.mariaisakova.com/poetry-day-ireland-2

Coast to Coast to Coast – 2019 Activities, Submissions + Publications — Maria Isakova Bennett News on writer submissions, pamphlet competitions and future publications from handmade UK-based poetry journal Coast to Coast to Coast.

Entered last minute, fingers crossed!

Dedalus Press Mentorship Programme – Spring 2021 Submission Deadline: April 30th, 2021 Are you an ‘emerging’ poet? Maybe you’ve published some individual poems here and there but have yet to publish a full-length collection? Dedalus Press is plea…

Now available too at The Salmon Bookshop & Literary Centre in Ennistymon. Thanks to Salmon for stocking.

Thanks to our Writers, Sponsors, Funders, Supporters, Stockists, Book Buyers and families and friends who helped the ‘Walk With Me’ journey in Clare in Covid-19 in 2020 - Your support is helping to make a difference. Still available at shops and selected bookstores around Clare. Full list of stockists on this page. And one more big thank you to Fitzpatrick's SuperValu our main sponsor - All proceeds to Clare Haven Services to support families affected by domestic violence.
Maura Egan Mary Farren Felicity Burke Josie O'Connor Breda Shannon

This is Josie, our fundit campaign manager and she is fully qualified to operate a post-box! Our postage is only €5 no matter how many copies of 'Walk With Me' you would like to order. Simply multiply €10 by however many copies you would like and add €5 for postage: https://fundit.ie/project/walk-with-me---an-anthology-of-writing We will be in touch to get your address after November 9th. Our campaign ends on November 2nd but we will be stocking the book in a few selected stores around Clare - to be announced!