Fighting Talk

A few months ago, I saw an opportunity to become involved in a Global Writing Lockdown project the organisation 'Fighting Words' was facilitating. A couple of my friends volunteer with Fighting Words. The organisation aims to help children and young people and adults who did not have opportunities as children to discover and harness the power of their own imagination and creative writing skills. It also aims to use creative writing and storytelling to strengthen children and teenagers from a wide range of backgrounds to be resilient, creative and successful shapers of their own lives. You can find out more about them here https://www.fightingwords.ie/about-us

I'm delighted that my piece of flash fiction 'There's No Such Thing as Can't' has been included in this. The 'Near and Far' anthology can be viewed here https://fightingwords.ie/nearandfar

In the Glen

 One aspect of lockdown has been re-discovering the gems on our doorsteps. 

While I'm very familiar with the area, a walk through nearby Valentine's Glen revealed there had been some changes since my last dander there, including the appearance of a plaque commemorating a murder that happened in the glen last century. Since 1952 locals have been fascinated with what really happened that night and the mystery surrounding the murder has inspired books and television dramas and has become a key aspect of local culture.

I'm delighted that my story 'In the Glen', inspired by the Curran murder, has been included in 'Stories from the Waterside'. This anthology was produced from a writing competition celebrating people's connections with Ireland's rivers, lakes and beaches. The publication has been launched this week to mark #WaterHeritageDay and can be viewed and downloaded here:

http://watersandcommunities.ie/stories-from-the-waterside/

What is a virtual writing retreat like?

At the beginning of each year our writing group makes plans for the year ahead. Along with writing goals, these plans include our schedule of workshops and our annual writing retreat. It has become a tradition for our writing group to assemble for a couple of days each August for our much anticipated writing retreat in Coney Island. 

But this year, like so many other planned events, we had to review and revise our ideas for the writing retreat, just as a good writer edits and re-edits their work.

We've managed to continue to hold a monthly 'virtual' writing workshop throughout lockdown and easing arrangements. We were loathe to cancel the retreat so considered having a 'virtual' get-together was the best option for our writing retreat. Over two days we gathered together over Zoom meetings to chat and share our writing and in between times we wrote, edited, revised and read.

There were some elements of our writing retreat which remained the same this year as in previous years.

The sun shone most of the weekend; coloured pens had been purchased; we ate good food; we received support from each other; the 'craic' was good; we wanted to write; there was no pressure to write; and we could guarantee a real belly laugh - probably the first I've experienced since lockdown commenced where I laughed so much I cried.

But it wasn't a writing retreat as we knew it. The views were different; the accommodation was different. We missed the anticipation when it would be decided which one of us would be lucky enough to secure Maddie's beach house for the weekend. The food was different. We missed Maddie's speciality dishes. We missed each other's company; we had distractions as life intervenes more when you're still fully immersed in it; and a level of anxiety hovered.

I still managed to fit in walks by the shore, albeit a different piece of shore and managed to write a couple of new pieces.

And just as many of us have managed to survive 2020 so far, we adapted to this new normal and made the best of it and wrote.