Writers Groups and Other Literary Initiatives

Cover of Heartland.

Cover of Heartland, Writing form Longford, edited by Paul Perry.

Cover of Heartland.

Cover of Heartland.

Cover of Heartland, Writing form Longford, edited by Paul Perry.

Enlarge image

Cover of Goldsmith's Ghost.

Cover of Goldsmith's Ghost.This is a collaborative novel with chapters written by writers from three counties and is edited by Paul Perry.

Cover of Goldsmith's Ghost.

Cover of Goldsmith's Ghost.

Cover of Goldsmith's Ghost.This is a collaborative novel with chapters written by writers from three counties and is edited by Paul Perry.

Enlarge image

One thing I hope has become apparent in my discussion of recent Longford writers is the support they felt was offered them by the various writers' groups in the county. There are five main groups operating today:

Lanesborough Writers Group: Margaret Nohilly (043) 21224.

Longford Writers Group: Kieran Furey (043) 40644.

Granard Writers Group: Sr. Maeve Brady (043)86309.

Edgeworthstown Writers Group: Lorne Patterson (043) 71572.

Goldsmith Writers Group, Ballymahon: Ann Collins (044) 55034.

Another source of help to aspiring writers in county Longford, or indeed nationwide, is Virtualwriter.net which is part of an ongoing programme of experimentation and innovation in creative writing currently being undertaken by Longford Library and Arts Services. In addition to offering practical assistance through advice, contacts, etc. in an informal and friendly manner, other interactive features include real-time interviews, chat, submissions and workshops.

This website is maintained by Marie Noone, herself a writer of considerable literary repute, who has twice been a winner at Listowel Writer's Week, and has had stories broadcast on RTE Radio 1 as part of the Francis Mc Manus Season.

Other unique ventures to encourage creative writing to have emerged from Longford in recent years including the Heartland anthology already mentioned. This is a collection of the work of fifty-six Longford born or based creative writers which takes the ancient traditions of story making and story telling and presents them in both book and CD ROM format thus taking the delivery of literature into the twenty-first century. According to the editor, Paul Perry, Longford's first writer-in-residence, the compilation of the anthology uncovered many young and emerging writers of considerable talent including Kathy Rodgers, already mentioned, and will contribute significantly to the continuing development of creative writing in the county.

Yet another venture that shows the importance of creative writing in Longford and its adjoining counties is Goldsmith's Ghost, a collaborative novel by twelve authors from the counties of Longford, Roscommon and Westmeath that was launched at the Goldsmith Summer School in June, 2002. The purpose of this book was to give largely novice writers the opportunity to participate in the writing of a novel and with the assistance of an editor, to help them overcome any difficulties that they might encounter.

Cover of All Because of a Toothbrush.

A third publishing initiative to have emerged is All Because of a Toothbrush, a unique novel created with the help of every fifth class child in County Longford. In eight story building sessions each school created plot lines and characters which were developed into a continuous narrative by seven schools. This project was overseen by Chris Thompson who designed the project and worked alongside the children. Chris has also facilitated paired-writing and paired-reading projects with national schools throughout county Longford.