Literary journals arrive on Sadbh's desk like autumn leaves - although they are considerably heavier. The odd time, Sadbh wouldn't know whether it was a journal or a novel that was arriving, since some literary magazines and journals these days are the size and shape of conventional paperbacks. One such is the latest edition of the Cork Literary Review, edited by Sheila O'Hagan and published by Bradshaw Books. This is the eighth year and the eighth edition of the CLR. The review contains a mix of interviews, reviews, poems and prose. One fine asset to the journal and magazine editor these days is the spell check function on a computer: for too many years, readers were irritated by sloppy productions and appalling proof-reading.
The contents, however, cannot be amended by pressing a button: happily, there is much that is worth reading in this edition. There is an essay on the painter Rothko by priest and academic Nicholas Madden; an interview with Theo Dorgan, and one with Frank McGuinness; an essay by poet and critic David Wheatley on Peter Disbury; several reviews; and an extract from a play about Synge by Andrew Carpenter.
There are also poems by Seamus Heaney, John O'Donnell, Bernard O'Donoghue, Tom MacIntyre, Maurice Harmon, and several others, including a lovely wry in-the-style-of-Heaney poem, At the James Joyce Centre, 29 September 1995, by Tom French about getting a copy of Death of a Naturalist signed at a reading. French, the biographical notes tell us, has a book due out from Gallery soon - one to watch for.
Incidentally, judging by the biographical note at the back, the more famous one is, the less we need to know. Hence entries running to hundreds of words for some lesser known craftspeople and just three words for Famous Seamus, who, we learn, "is a poet".
Portrait of the Irish Artist is the title of a new documentary from Seβn ╙ M≤rdha, whose Seven Ages was such a success last year. In the new one-hour documentary, ╙ M≤rdha explores the theory that it was creative Irish people who shaped this State, no more than those usually perceived to have done so, such as politicians and policy makers. Irish artist and Irish State have not always seen eye-to-eye - look at the banning of John McGahern early in his career, for instance. Yet now the State loves to laud its creative sons and daughters. Writers, however, have memories like elephants. It is this complex relationship with creativity and officialdom that ╙ M≤rdha focuses on, using new interviews and archive footage with Irish writers, both still with us and departed. Among those featured are Kate O'Brien, Flann O'Brien, WB Yeats, Brian Friel, Edna O'Brien, John McGahern, John Banville and Seamus Heaney.
Interestingly, Charles Haughey is also flagged as a "notable artist" among those listed writers: presumably his contribution to the creation of a tax-free State for creative artists is the focus here. Although, as we all know, he's fond of telling stories. Portrait of the Irish Artist airs on Sunday 16th December at 10.20 p.m. on RT╔ One.
Still on writers and documentaries, Listowel Writers' Week went under the camera lens last year. Listowel is the original of the species when it comes to pioneering writers' workshops. The festival has survived three decades, which is an achievement in these ephemeral days. Tomorrow evening you can see Listowel Writers' Week - 30 Years On, a documentary filmed on location in 2000.
The cameras focus on some of those who participated last year, including Pulitzer-Prize winner Michael Cunningham whose novel, The Hours, is currently being made into a movie. John B Keane, Listowel's most famous publican, meditates on the annual festival in his home town; President McAleese, a keen reader, was there to open the festival; and Charlie Bird, and some of Ireland's standing army of poets, also contribute. The programme is narrated by Seamus Hosey of RT╔, and it airs tomorrow at 4.45 p.m. on Network 2.