A fine farewell

After a day of meetings with their mentors, students donned their finest and headed for Markree Castle for the residency's farewell dinner.

It was a magical evening of fine food, conversation, laughter,

fantastic readings by the students in their 

final residencies,

and a room full of the camaraderie which, of all of the amazing aspects of our residencies, is by far the

very best part of the Carlow University MFA Program.

  

"Stories, not atoms"

It may have been the last day of lectures, but there's no such thing as least when it comes to our visiting authors.  Poet Michael Coady and short story writer and biographer Angela Bourke inspired students in the final of our Irish residency's lectures.  In an uncoordinated coalescence, both quoted poet Muriel Rukeyser, suggesting that "the universe is made of stories, not atoms," which served to encapsulate the theme of the entire eleven days.

Click here to watch part of Michael Coady's reading:

Later, Mr. Coady joined some students in their apartment for an impromptu poetry reading.

Arts and Letters

We had a fantastic second-to-last day of lectures with our honored guest and friend of the program, Claire Keegan, winner of many awards including the 2009 Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. 

Keegan led two sessions for students -- one a spirited reading from her story "Foster;" the other a lecture and discussion of John McGahern's "The Gold Watch," which developed into a lively conversation about character.  As always, students couldn't stop talking afterward about how inspiring their time with Keegan had been.

We then took a docent-led tour of the Model Arts Center in Sligotown, featuring the exhibit "Celtic Twilight."

Carrowkeel

High atop a quiet and seldom-traveled Irish hill sits the home of several 5,000 old passage tombs known as Carrowkeel. 

For a small group of students who braved the rain and left the beaten path (literally) to join archaeologist Sam Moore at his "favorite place on Earth," it was a life-altering experience.

We learned about the history, geology, anthropology, and archaeology of the area.  But it was the intangible that had the biggest impact on us, we agreed -- the sense of time and connectivity that pervades the place, which is especially strong once you climb inside one of the tombs.

And the veiws aren't so bad, either...

Knocknarea Mountain

Tonight, we climbed Knocknarea Mountain...

and not only did we get stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean,

Benbulben, 

and seven surrounding counties,

we were also guided by distinguised archaeoligist Sam Moore,

who taught us the myth of Queen Maeve's rumored tomb

and all there is to know about Knocknarea.

and in our splendid lecture hall...

Two fantastic lectures today -- Mary O'Donnell reading from "The Space Between Louis and Me," which won her the 2010 Fish Short Story Prize; and Paul Murray gracing and entertaining us with a chapter from Skippy Dies, which was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

For more information about the authors:  http://www.themanbookerprize.com/perspective/articles/1437
 http://www.maryodonnell.com/about-me.php

Bloomsday 2011

We had a hybrid Bloomsday this year -- part Joyce, of course, and part Yeats, too.
We began the day at Coole Park, where Yeats spent much of his time in his younger years.  We toured the estate and students gave readings under the autograph tree, where Lady Gregory and Yeats lazed about with most of the literati of their day and where many left their mark.  If you look closely, you can see the "W.B." carved into the tree at the center of the picture below.

After a rainy stop at Thoor Ballylee, where the program's Irish co-director, James Heaney, gave a spirited reading of "The Tower," we made our way to Galway City for Bloomsday celebrations.

Our first stop was Nora Barnacle's childhood home, which is now a museum of sorts. There we were treated to an amazing performance of Molly Bloom's soliloquy, a lecture on the history of the house and the Barnacle family, and a song.

Then it was off to The Front Door pub for a talk by Adrian Frazier on Nora Barnacle, her relationship with Joyce, and her influence on Ulysses.

And, of course, we had to save time for a little fun...