ÉIGSE 2009 HUMOUR , IRONY & WIT A FESTIVAL OF POETRY AND PROSE presented by the Munster Literature Centre Éigse 2009 Humour, Irony & Wit Welcome to the 2009 Spring literary festival from the Munster Literature Centre. As with each of the last six years, our festival is arranged around a changing theme. In the past we have dealt with immigration, translation, love, politics and religion. This year the theme is Humour! Irony! Wit! Not all irony is funny and not all humour induces belly laughter. Humour can be subtly nuanced or it can be in-your -face obvious and is often shaped by cultural considerations. - a French arthouse film of some years back, notoriously claimedRidicule that the English had no wit but something called humour instead. Arguably one person’s wit is another person’s mere humour. To acknowledge this we have gathered together a disparate motley crew of literary clowns whose origins include America, Britain, Estonia and Japan as well as Ireland. We have poets, novelists, essayists and chancers of many genres. I’m hopeful that for anyone habitually inclined to pick up a book, this festival will contain something to induce a wry smile or convulse the stomach muscles. Taking note of the known healing properties of laughter, we have decided, for the first time ever, to distribute one of our festival brochures to Doctors’ waiting rooms. Who knows? There might even be a few prescriptions issued on the basis of the festival. As medicine you can take your pick from readings, workshops or book launches with complimentary wine or lemonade. Have fun. Patrick Cotter Festival Director Munster Literature Centre He has travelled extensively and read his poetry at many interna- tional festivals. His poems have been translated into 30 languages. In 2007, his poetry was published in the collection (Scottish Poetry Library) containingAll Points translationsNorth in Norwegian, Finnish, Shetland and Icelandic. He has also translated English- language poets such as T. S. Eliot, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti into Estonian. His recent works includes the haiku collection, , which was recently releasedA Chafer by Kisses the thepublishing Moon house Shichigatsudo in Tokyo, Japan. His poetry in English is found in the anthology (2008), with translations Theby Andres Ehin PatrickEchoing YearsCotter. He lives in Rapla with his wife, the poet Ly appearing Saturday, 21st February 2009 Seppel. 19.00 Reading with Gerry Murphy & Yatushiro Yoshimoto Andres Ehin was born in Tallinn, Estonia on March 13th, 1940. He is a poet, translator, novelist, editor, short story writer, Dog Apartment radio play auteur, journalist and essayist. He studied at the University of Tartu at Imagine an apartment made of dog the same time as Jaan Kaplinski. Ehin three rooms of bark, a bathroom of snout subsequently found work as a freelance writer, the cold tap dribbles, the hot tap slobbers editor and journalist from 1965 to 1974. As an apartment made of dog with floors a poet, Ehin has published many collections which howl at ceiling lamps at night as if including (1978), they were moons Spiritual(1988), Nostrils I Sip the Darkness Full-Moon Midday (1990), (1996) and imagine an apartment made of dog Consciousness is Snakeskin (2000). which detests the very scent of cat Subconsciousness Is Always Jolly an apartment made of dog He has received numerous awards, whose sofa hairs bristle including the Estonian National Prize in at the sprayings of even distant moggies. 2001 (for ), the Looming PrizeSubconsciouness for best novel Is ofAlways the year Jolly and the Estonian Culture Capital Foundation Award. Moose Beetle Swallow anthologies, among which are (Bloodaxe), (Picador),The and New Poetry (Faber). TranslationsThe Firebox from the Serbo-CroatianEmergency appearedKit in (1998, Bloodaxe). He has alsoThe published,Scar on the Stonetogether with Hilde Ottschofski, translations from the (2001, Bloodaxe).Rumanian of Marin Sorescu: Censored Poems His chapbook called will appearOutpost from theTheater: Bonnefant Berlin PressPoems (NL)1976 -in 2002 time for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Creative Writing John Hartley Humbled by the need to earn money, made haughty, I confess, by the dim talent of my pupils, Williams I brought a dead frog to class and bade them consider it attentively for twenty minutes, appearing Friday, 20th February 2009 preparatory to writing a poem they would call 21.00 Reading with Dennis O’Driscoll ‘The Dead Frog’. After three minutes of whispering a chair cracked Born in 1942, John Hartley Williams was born in back. Cheshire (UK) and grew up in London. He studied Its owner stood tensely, squaring off against me. at Nottingham University and later (postgraduate) Then another leapt to his feet in a splendid show at the University of London. He has worked as a of recalcitrance. teacher in France, Jugoslavija and Cameroon. Since ‘You haven’t seen it yet,’ I told them, and walked 1976 he has been a teacher at the Free University around the table, of Berlin. gripped the smaller of the two, kneed him in the back He has published nine collections of poetry. The and smashed his head upon the table of polished latest volume is a retrospective of work - mainly oak. from the seventies, but also going back to the sixties - entitled (Salt Publishing, 2007). I bound him with rope to the chair and instructed Two previous collectionsThe Ship were shortlisted for the TS the class Eliot Prize: (Jonathan Cape, 2004) and to consider him attentively for twenty minutes (Bloodaxe, 1997).Blues The latter volume was a CanadaPoetry preparatory to writing a poem they would call Book Society Choice. (Bloodaxe ‘How the Unconscious Works’. 1985) and wereBright both River PBS Yonder Recommenda- Then I ascended to my room, took pen and paper tions. He is alsoBlues the author of (Arc, and knew with thrilling deliberation that soon I 2005), a prose memoir, and theIgnoble prose Sentiments work would have a poem. (reissued by Vintage, 2003). He Mystery is the Downstairs I could hear voices and the shifting of co-author,in Spiderville with Irish poet Matthew Sweeney, of furniture. As feet began to climb the stairs, I scribbled faster. Teach Yourself Writing Poetry. Williams’ work has appeared in numerous Spending Time with Walter awarded a bursary by the Arts Council in 2005. A collection of his essays and reviews, , was publishedPoetry, Politics by &Lapwing Dorothy inGone 2006. Horribly Astray Kevin’s work is discussed in poet-critic Justin Quinn’s (CambridgeCambridge University Introduction Press, to Modern2008). Irish A recent Poetry poem of his, ‘Ourselves Again’, appeared in . His work will be featuredBest inof Irishthe forthcomingPoetry 2009 anthology (Bloodaxe,Identity Parade 2010). – HeThe Newhas readBritish his and work Irish Poetsat most of the major literary festivals in Ireland and at a wide variety of venues and festivals in Britain, France and the United States. Kevin Higgins Page From The Diary Of An Officially appearing Saturday, 21st February 2009 Approved Person 16.00 Reading with Gina Moxley By day, your new blonde hair and state-sponsored smile are twin planks Kevin Higgins was born in London in 1967 in the Government’s anti-poverty but grew up in Galway City, where he still strategy, lives. He co-organises the Over The Edge as you put on your enthusiasm and treat literary events with his wife, Susan Millar another seminar DuMars. Kevin also facilitates poetry to an orgy of flip-charts; then play workshops at Galway Arts Centre, teaches Mayors and Ministers off creative writing at Galway Technical against each other Institute and was recently Writer-in-Residence over the much anticipated beef stroganoff. at Merlin Park Hospital. He is the poetry critic No-one noticing the names being underlined in of and was a founding The Galway Advertiser red co-editor of literary magazine. He in the twilit Politburo of your mind. regularly reviewsThe Burning for Bush . Books In Canada: The Canadian Review of Books By night, you sit alone in a mansion called Kevin’s first poetry collection, Equality, The Boy With No and listen to the moans, was published by Salmon in 2005 and from some far basement, of those Face, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award whose nervous hands questioned for Best First Collection by an Irish Poet. His this expense account, second collection is that clerk’s timely suicide; openly (Salmon, 2008). His Timepoem Gentlemen, ‘My Militant Please defied Tendency’ was highly commended by the judges whole conference-loads of otherwise of this year’s Forward Poetry Prize and features unanimous applause. in the . Kevin won the 2003 CúirtForward Festival Book of Poetry Poetry 2009 Grand Slam and was Time Gentlemen, Please Tom Barry’s ghost moves to Dublin Who is there now that can remember Our little intifada? Here in the walled round city of the possible. Here in the pale beyond the ditch of time. In a time that should never have been, In a petty Republic no more than a name. There is no such thing as children. Mothers and fathers I won’t even mention, Or the old men who used to sing and whistle On the way to work, Dave Lordan Or the keeners who are long gone out of appearing Friday, 20th February 2009 a job, 19.00 Reading with Alan Titley For who sees any sadness now in the going the flesh way. Dave Lordan was born in Derby, England, in 1975 to Irish parents and grew up in Last week as I wandered round the bog Clonakilty in West Cork. He began I saw the last telling ruin bulldozed to the writing in his teens and his chapbook ground. -18- was published by the English literature Or the doors nailed shut, society in UCC in 1994.