AnthologyAll Good Things Begin has its own beginnings at the Irish Writers' Centre in Dublin, where the writers showcased here attended workshops convened by the editor of the book, Yvonne Cullen.
The book aside, this is interesting in itself, as it points towards a growing Irish cultural trend to commercialise the practice of creative writing. Writing classes are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary Irish society, evident in their upsurge in universities, evening courses and day classes across the country. The traditional image of the solitary and mystical figure of the "Great Irish Writer" is being seriously questioned in the process, as the process of writing, and inspiration is being re-framed in terms of practice, collectivity and interactivity. Such collectivity is further mirrored in the production of All Good Things Begin, which is a collaborative, self-published enterprise. Indeed, the theme of connective interactivity and its transformative potentiality repeatedly surfaces throughout the work, evident in Deborah Ballard's wonderfully evocative poem The Last Wolf and in stories such as Marcella Morgan's Ribbons and Ropes, Ainín Ní Bhroin's Smiling and Jodi Collins's The 21st Chromosome.
All Good Things Begin comprises the work of 42 new Irish writers, while also including a number of excellent poems by editor Yvonne Cullen. There are 96 pieces of writing in total, the majority of which signal the professional over the novice, the accomplished over the trainee. Particularly striking about this volume is both the versatility of the writers included, many of whom practice poetry and story writing alike, and a refreshing sense of wonderment with language and all that language can do. Some of the writing directly and reflexively addresses the practice of writing and the difficulties of representation, such as Samantha McCaffrey's sparse and elegant poem Work in Progress and Ellie Madden's linguistically experimental story Fighting the Waves. In an Orwellian gesture which figures animals as speaking characters, Steven Bailey's innovative story A Great Noise also deals adeptly with the representative theme, exploring the issue of subjective storytelling in the context of contemporary international politics.
Photography is a motif which recurs in All Good Things Begin, referring both to the representative act and the capturing of memory. Thomond Gill's poem If I Could Have Taken Ten Photos and stories by James Stafford (Ice) and Eileen Kavanagh (Double Blade) all deploy the image of the photograph to address issues relating to meaning making and remembrance. Memory is a dominant theme. The past permeates the writing of this collection, perhaps reaching its most haunting exploration in VB Reid's story The Scar. However, the collection does not tie us to the past. The time-travelling narrator of Paul O'Regan's Days in Time seeks to reconcile divisions between "past" and "future" and find "a way of connecting the two". This can be extended more generally to the literary project that is All Good Things Begin. Signalling exciting future directions of Irish writing, it simultaneously pays attention to past worlds and their importance in any construction of the new.
While only "skimming the surface" (to quote from Maresa Sheehan's eloquent poem Skimming Stones) of a collection overflowing with excellent writing and exciting new voices, this review has aimed to capture some of the energy and vitality contained in this important new addition to contemporary Irish writing. It is worth the read, not least because it is here we can find new and different ways of understanding what the terms "Irish writer" and "Irish writing" can be said to mean.
Claire Bracken is currently researching contemporary Irish women's writing and film
All Good Things Begin: New Irish Writing Edited by Yvonne Cullen Off Centre Publishing, 258pp. €10