Arts & Culture

Never ones to rest on their laurels, Writers’ Week in Listowel has announced details of its literary workshops and competitions for 2012. The festival will take place from the May 30 to June 3 with submissions for all competitions taken until Friday, March 2.The literary workshops and competitions have been launched with 15 workshops including novel, poetry, short fiction, theatre, freelance journalism, screen, creative writing and new for this year, travel writing.  Writers’ Week have in place a selection of workshop directors, who will share their writing expertise, such as Paul Perry, who will direct poetry; Aifric Campbell, who will teach novel getting started and Mark O’Halloran, who will teach everything he knows about writing for screen and television.  New to this year’s festival will be renowned journalist, Sinead Gleeson, who will direct freelance journalism; successful theatre writer Mark O’Rowe and travel writer and documentary maker, Manchán Magan.   Places for workshops are limited to 15 and should be booked well …

Lahinch-based artist Michael Hanrahan has been requested to sketch two paintings of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Ireland last May.The United States-Ireland Alliance asked Mr Hanrahan, who works full-time as an artist mainly in oils and acrylics, to complete the paintings, having seen his work commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s May visit to Ireland.The first painting, of President Obama addressing thousands of people at College Green in Dublin, will be a gift to President Obama and his wife. The second painting, of the president at his ancestral home in Moneygall, County Offaly, will be given to the US-Ireland Alliance to sell for the benefit of the non-profit organisation’s George J Mitchell Scholarship program.The Lahinch artist received a great deal of attention for his paintings of Queen Elizabeth’s May visit to Ireland. He ­visited London in August to personally deliver to ­Buckingham Palace his painting, which commemorated a ­wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin.  The painting now forms part …

WORLD champion sean nós dancer, Edwina Guckian, comes to Cois na hAbhna this month hoping to spread the dance craze to the Banner County.Hailing from Leitrim, Edwina has been dancing for 19 years and has learned all her skills from the people of Connemara where she spends much of her time. From dancing on bales of hay at the National Ploughing Championships to the stoney steps of the Great Wall of China, Edwina has brought her love of sean nós dancing all over the world and has shared the stage with acts such as Cherish the Ladies, Frankie Gavin and De Danann, Seamus Begley, Martin Hayes and Dervish to name a few. This year, she brought her very successful children’s dance troop Sean Nós ar an tSionann to the final of the All-Ireland Talent Show where she represented the West of Ireland under mentor Daithí Ó Sé. “Sean nós dancing has become hugely popular over the past number of years. …

MILTOWN Malbay concertina player Edel Fox is to perform at the 2012 Temple Bar TradFest on January 26 at Dublin’s City Hall. The acclaimed concertina player is to perform as part of the five-day festival of world class trad planned for the capital city from January 25 to 29. In 2004, Edel was awarded the TG4 Gradam Ceoltóir Óg na Bliana (Young Musician of the Year) and since then she has travelled extensively, as both a teacher and performer. She released an album to critical acclaim with Ronan O’Flaherty in 2006. Edel spent some time studying in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick where she received a BA in Irish Music and Dance in 2007. She is a recent graduate of the MA in Music Therapy and in addition to her work as a music therapist, Edel continues to teach concertina and perform extensively. Edel has just released her debut solo CD Chords …

PAINTER and Lithographer Peter Goossens is a Belgian national, who moved to County Clare 10 years ago and fostered his talent for celtic knots and designs in Fanore. Peter studied printmaking at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp and taught art in Belgium before his move to Ireland.He explains how his art focus developed and changed in recent times and what his thought process is behind his untitled featured work. “For some reason I seem to have an affinity with printing stones. I learned that the whole process is not about exact techniques and procedures but more about communication with the stone. The relationship between the drawing and the sensitivity of the stone is something I have to understand with feeling more than with knowledge in order to produce a good print,” he said.His inspiration behind his chosen artwork begins with his study of Celtic designs.  “Currently I am working on Celtic designs combined with Sacred Geometry. I’d …

BUNRATTY singer Gari Deegan got over the first hurdle in RTE’s The Voice of Ireland on Sunday night. All but one of the judges wanted the 28-year-old on their team and picking which one to go for wasn’t an easy choice. “Three out of the four judges went for me, Bressie, Sharon Corr and Brian Kennedy and I went with Bressie. He was the lead singer with The Blizzards and he has singles out at the moment. “Sharon Corr nearly had me convinced. I was about to say her but Bressie started talking about getting me into the studio and writing and recording. He’s current and he’s a cool fella. He was on about writing songs and making an album and that’s why I went with him.”The show is hosted by Kathryn Thomas and one of the differences from other talent shows is that the judges can’t see the singers before they make their selections, something that should help root …

EIGHTIES chart topper and multi-Brit Award winner Eddi Reader will return to Glór on Tuesday, February 21.Over the last 30 years, she has helped to define the landscape in which folk artists and singer-songwriters navigate. Her incomparable voice and positive outlook have been a fixture in the British music scene since her group Fairground Attraction hit the charts with their hit Perfect in 1988.She actually began her performing career by travelling around Europe with a circus troupe. After this, she decided to settle in London and became a session vocalist, a role that saw her land work with the likes of Eurythmics and The Waterboys.She gained recognition after the success of Fairground Attraction and after its split, she had a platform to launch her solo career. Her biggest album to date is Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns, which was released to critical acclaim in 2007.