Poets!

I attended the launch of David Park's The Poets' Wives last night at the Belfast Museum, an event organised by David Torrans of No Alibis Bookstore in Belfast. And it was an excellent affair all together.

Colin Reid's musical introduction was a hauntingly beautiful performance, despite the 'positive feedback' experienced by his guitar amp for a short time. Check out some of his mad guitar skills on YouTube. I've picked a tune that's slightly more upbeat than those performed last night (thought last night's pieces were well chosen for the venue and atmosphere), simply because it's Friday morning.

We also heard from Park's publisher (I should have written the lady's name down, feel free to nudge me if you know it). It was a glowing tribute, as you'd expect. Park has made Bloomsbury his literary home for a decade and a half now, and there are no signs that his welcome is wearing thin.

Damian Smyth from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland spoke for a short time (two pages!) about Park, his work and the achievements stemming from it. Smyth almost stole the show by announcing that The Poets' Wives will be Belfast's 'One City, One Book' this year; an honour previously bestowed upon Glenn Patterson and Lucy Caldwell.

Then David Park himself said a few words. It was my first time hearing him talk, and I was pleasantly surprised by his seemingly effortless wit and charm. For some reason (perhaps because he doesn't put himself out there that often -- or maybe I'm not looking in the right places for him) I thought he would be rather quiet and reserved. But he made me, and the audience, laugh more than once before reading from his novel.

Speaking of the audience, there had to be close to 200 people in attendance. A wonderful show of support for a writer that deserves it.

Belfast Poet Laureate and T.S. Elliot prize winner, Sinéad Morrissey, contributed to the night by reading poems connected to Park's novel; works by William Blake and Osip Mandelstam. The microphone may have played up on her a little, requiring some of us at the back of the room to lean forward and listen a little harder. And lean we did, quite precariously. Luckily, Morrissey's words gave us something to hang on.

David Torrans rounded up the event efficiently and then supplied me with the novel on my way out the door.

All-in-all it was an inspiring event, and one that gave me a feast for thought on my 30-mile drive home.

Incidentally, it was a pleasure to bump into a couple of young poets at the museum. All the best to Stephen Sexton and Stephen Connolly (and thanks for the free magazine, Mr Connolly), both PhD students at QUB, and a dapper pair of gentlemen. They made me wish I'd ironed my shirt.

No Alibis Event, 27/2/14

David Park
With Special Guests Sinéad Morrissey & Colin Reid

Thursday 27th February 7:00PM
Venue: Ulster Museum

No Alibis Bookstore, in association with Bloomsbury Publishers and the Ulster Museum, invite you to celebrate the launch of David Park's latest novel, THE POETS' WIVES, on Thursday 27th February at 7:00PM in the Ulster Museum, Botanic Gardens, Belfast.

Special Guests Sinéad Morrissey & Colin Reid will also be on hand to read and play music. Sinéad will read poem by Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, who features in the novel. Colin will be playing guitar….well, as it is Colin, he will be making it Sing.

This is a FREE event, but tickets are required, and are now available from No Alibis Bookstore.

NO ALIBIS BOOKSTORE

83 BOTANIC AVE

BELFAST BT7 1JL

NORTHERN IRELAND

www.noalibis.com

02890319601

Writers' Writers (a short report)

Adrian McKinty and Declan Burke made for an awesome double act at last night's No Alibis event. Both writers opted not to read from the books they were there to launch (McKinty's Falling Glass and Burke's Absolute Zero Cool). Instead they entertained the audience with a frank and oft times scathing dialogue about the state of the modern publishing model. A lot of what was said I wouldn't dare write about here for fear that I might be sued for libel. What I can tell you is that it was a fascinating insight into the minds of a pair of excellent writers who are masters of their trade.

Incidentally, Stuart Neville, David Park and Andrew Pepper were among the crowd. I wish I had the presence of mind to snap a few pics but I haven't been at the top of my game this week. I'm sure they'll pop up on the No Alibis website and/or Facebook page at some point. I'll post a link when they do.

If you didn't get to the event you should make it up to yourself by buying Falling Glass and Absolute Zero Cool as soon as humanly possible. Both books are a master class in crime fiction that doesn't conform to the old and tired model.

Peace is Upon Us

It's Adrian McKinty's fault that I even entertained the notion of reading David Peace's Red Riding quartet. I got the whole set from Serpent's Tail a while back but so far I've only made it through 1974. As I said in my review, 1974 is a brilliantly written novel, it's dark, violent and fascinating. It's also quite an emotional investment. I've been a little afraid of moving on to 1977, and so have avoided it until now.

Here's the thing, though. The film adaptation (the quartet as a trilogy) is upon us. Part one will play on Channel 4 on Thursday at 9PM. I'll probably try to catch it on 4 on Demand, as I'd like the opportunity to pause and take the odd time out. What a month to go off the booze! I don't want to let the movie do all the thinking for me, so I've begun reading 1977 in the hopes that I can get most of it read before Thursday. I'm a good way through the second chapter, and I think this'll be a quick read.

But I imagine that even if you watch the films first, there'll still be quite some merit in reading the novels as well. A quick refresh in Peace's writing style for this series has me kicking myself that I didn't get around to it before now.

A Wee Review - The Truth Commissioner by David Park

In the last year David Park’s The Truth Commissioner has been acclaimed by many as the most important book to come out of Northern Ireland’s current political situation. And maybe it is. I haven’t read all the books that aim to examine this stage of the peace process, and I doubt they’ve all been written yet, so I’ll reserve judgement on that count. What I can say, is that The Truth Commissioner left me thinking about Northern Ireland in terms of my own Northern Irish/Irish/British(?) identity and my confused and often ignored idea of personal politics. But the review isn’t about me and my political commitment problems. So, on with my impressions of the book.

On purely a story-telling level, there’s a strong but slow-paced plot driven by a huge amount of time spent inside the four protagonists’ heads. The structure of the book reads like a collection of four interlinking novellas until the final act, which then ups the pace with shorter chapters and a number of POV shifts. The prose is very dense, and unless you’re entirely plugged in, a lot of nuances could be glossed over. Luckily, Park’s writing is beautifully crafted, so it’s not as big a chore as the first glance at the page might suggest.

The four main characters are all very interesting, which they’d need to be. The book is minimal in action and big on introspection. Each character is believable in their flaws, entirely human and utterly miserable. I’m slightly worried that they’re a depressing representation of modern Northern Irish man, but then, one of them is English. I don’t want to go too deep in examining them, as Park has done that for you, so instead I’ll give you a quick run through:

Stanfield – The truth commissioner. He’s been drafted in to oversee a vital stage in the peace and reconciliation process in which the circumstances around the ‘disappeared’ are investigated. However professional he seems, his personal life is far from enviable.

Gilroy – The ex-provo politician. He’s tied in to a particular ‘disappeared’ case under investigation but the issue seems to be overshadowed by his daughter’s impending marriage.

Fenton – The ex-RUC officer. His involvement in the investigation has dragged him out of a peaceful retirement.

Danny – A young man trying to build a new life in America. But not even the Atlantic Ocean can insulate him from his past.

There’s a melancholy running though the book. Isolation and loneliness seem to be the predominant feelings shared by the cast. They’re all haunted in their own way, and for much the same reason in the cases of Gilroy, Fenton and Danny. Little comfort to those who believe they have suffered loss at the hands of these characters, but perhaps a hint of a way towards reconciliation? Yes, we’ve all been hurt by the Troubles, even those perceived to have done the hurting? Is that the book’s message? Possibly. I don’t want to get too cerebral about it, but I will say, it’s a decent, nay, strong read. But don’t expect to blast through it. This one will leave you thinking.

As far as an examination of the political situation in Northern Ireland goes, The Truth Commissioner is a well-balanced and very interesting assessment. It’s not preachy and nor does it lean towards any particular political opinion. We need more books like this, and I need to read them. If you’re Northern Irish, you could almost consider it therapy.