Deirdre O Byrne
Derbyshire Scribes Workshop: 8th May 2008
By Christine Plant
Deirdre O'Byrne dressed as Molly Bloom.
I first met
Deirdre at the Black Bull in Mansfield Woodhouse where she ran a 6 week course
in Irish Literature. Her enthusiasm for
literature was so inspiring that I asked her if she would do a workshop with
Derbyshire Scribes. She agreed and we arranged
for her to talk to the group on 8th May, 2008.Her two hour workshop was brilliant and her choice of authors and styles varied. Deidre comes alive when she reads and her ability to lift the written word off the page is nothing less than spellbinding. She focuses especially on issues of gender, identity and class through the ages. After each reading a lively discussion took place. She even managed to make James Joyce’s Ulysses sound funny! Other readings were taken from:
The
Midnight Court - Brian Merriman
(translated by David Marcus 1989)
The Girl With The Green Eyes - Edna O’Brien
An Irish Country Childhood: Memories of A Bygone Age – Marrie Walsh
The Pornographer – John Maghern
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
The Blackwater Lightship – Colm Tōibin
The Ballroom of Romance – William Trevor
The Girl With The Green Eyes - Edna O’Brien
An Irish Country Childhood: Memories of A Bygone Age – Marrie Walsh
The Pornographer – John Maghern
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
The Blackwater Lightship – Colm Tōibin
The Ballroom of Romance – William Trevor
Deirdre lectures at
She has had various short stories published and works closely with local writers with Ross Bradshaw and Cathy Grindrod to promote literature in the area.
If you get chance to attend any of her workshops – please do. You will enjoy every moment. If every child in school was introduced to a teacher of Deirdre’s calibre, we would have a nation of first class readers!
You can contact her via Nottingham Irish Studies Group at: www.nottinghamisg.org.uk
Padley Chapel
Date: Saturday 14th June 2008
Time: 1400-1600hrs
Place: Padley Chapel, Grindleford
A rare chance to explore this historic church building inside and out. Contact Christine for details. Make your own arrangements for transport.Workshop With Anthony Cropper
Date: Thursday 31st January 2008
Time: 1900-2100hrs
Place: Bolsover Adult Education Centre (next to entrance to Bolsover Castle)
Anthony Cropper is the well respected author of two novels, an award winning radio play and numerous short stories. We got to know Anthony very well when he was "attached" to our sister reading group based at Shirebrook Public Library for a few months (2006/2007) and much appreciate the insights he provided into the creation of a novel, and, as an unexpected bonus, the inside story of his radio play.Anthony has retained the links with our groups and has yet again demonstrated his commitment to nurturing potential writers by coming along to give a workshop.
We are looking forward to this with much anticipation.
Christmas 2007 Writing Competition
The response to this was heartened both in terms of quantity and quality. A short list has been selected and given to our impartial senior judge for the final placings.Watch this site for an announcement as soon as we get the results ourselves.
The response has encouraged us to start planning another competition in the not to distant future. Keep a look out for a future announcement.
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