‘My sudden immersion in the hurdy-gurdy of visual expression, with no pre-established reference to guide me, had some unexpected results . . .” A prophetic ring, perhaps, to the late Dorothy Molloy’s words about an exhibition of her art at the Sala de Arte Moderno in Barcelona, 1971.
Born in Ballina, Co Mayo, in 1942, Molloy was scholar and teacher, painter and poet. Her first collection, Hare Soup, published by Faber & Faber in 2004, was posthumously awarded the Irish Times Poetry Now prize; her untimely death, only days before the book's delivery, deprived her not only of the award's pleasure but also of seeing the book in print. A further collection, Gethsemane Day (Faber & Faber, 2007), sounded out the loss and left readers to ponder the possibilities.
"Molloy's poetic achievements – the sophisticated energy and life-giving strokes, her unique word sense of the musical and the physical – continue to earn high praise," says poet Michelle O'Sullivan. "Although her voice was stilled with the third and final, posthumous publication of Long-distance Swimmer(Salmon, 2009), that voice continues to resurrect itself on the page: aromatic and sharp, bold yet subtle."
The poet and critic Michael Foley wrote in his contribution to The Irish Times's Irish Women Writers series last year: "Dorothy Molloy's poetry is compelling not only in itself but also for its vision of a female Ireland struggling out of traditional confinements and desperate to be free but angry, conflicted and haunted.
"Everything about her work is surprising . . . the mix of realistic detail and fairy-tale grotesquerie, of sexual candour and religious imagery, and the view of men as boorish, violent abusers which is saved from being a rant by the savage, black humour, as in Ventriloquist's Dummy."
Next month will see a return home of sorts for Molloy, perhaps in a guise of masks that she herself loved to play with. Ballina will host two events on August 4th to celebrate her work. The Jackie Clarke Museum will host a lecture, Reading Dorothy Molloy: A Workshop on the Poems, by Dr Luz Mar González-Arias, of the University of Oviedo, in Spain, at 2pm.
Ballina Arts Centre will host Celebrating Dorothy, an evening of readings and personal responses to Molloy's poetry, headlined by the new Ireland professor of poetry, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, alongside Gerald Dawe, Ailbhe Darcy, González-Arias, Maurice Riordan, Macdara Woods, Clara Iannotta, Breda Wall Ryan, Andrew Carpenter and Michelle O'Sullivan, along with musical compositions performed by the young Roman composer Clara Iannotta. Booking information from 096-73593 or ballinaartscentre.com.
The
Ogham Stone
, the University of Limerick’s literature and arts journal, is inviting submissions for the Spring 2017 edition. Last year the journal published almost 50 pieces, including short stories, flash fiction, poetry and artwork, and featured new writing by Colum McCann, Paula Meehan, Joseph O’Connor and Mary O’Malley. The Spring 2017 issue welcomes submissions in fiction, memoir, poetry, visual arts and photography, short graphic novels, and creative nonfiction by August 28th.
[ theoghamstoneul.comOpens in new window ]
.
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin is hosting an evening with Claire-Louise Bennett and Sara Baume, authors respectively of
Pond
and
Spill Simmer Falter Wither
, to be introduced by
gorse
magazine editor Susan Tomaselli, on Wednesday, August 3rd, at 6.30pm. This free event celebrates the authors’ involvement with the venue as commissioned writers for its exhibition programme in 2015 and 2016. The Outside Press will publish Baume’s essay collection, which will be available on the night.
