John Broderick Book Club set to get underway

The John Broderick Westmeath Writer in Residence 2021 tenure kicks off on Tuesday with the first Book Club session.

The book club is free of charge and open to all Westmeath residents.

These Zoom sessions will be held every second Tuesday from 7pm-8pm. The 2021 John Broderick Writer in Residence, poet Keith Payne, has chosen two exciting books both of which were published just last year. One is Oein DeBhairduin’s beautiful and lyrical collection of Irish Traveller tales ‘Why the Moon Travels’ which is published by Skein Press.

This book is important on so many levels but perhaps its greatest importance is that it is the first collection of stories from the Irish Traveller community to be written by an insider. It is also beautifully illustrated by Leanne McDonagh.

Oein DeBhairduin’s re-telling of the stories has a very authentic ring about it and his personal introductions certainly add to the power of the book. The stories contain a sprinkling of Gammon words and the book has a useful glossary of these terms which are in danger of being lost.

The second book is ‘The Word Ark’ described as a pocket book of animal poems. It is edited by the poet Pat Boran and published by Dedalus Press, it too is a beautiful production. It’s packed tight and has poems on everything from doves to dolphins and woodworm to whales – it is a joy to browse through and contains many memorable poems. It is illustrated by Boran’s father-in-law, Gaetano Tranchino.

It's an anthology with a difference which should appeal to both lovers of poetry and lovers of animals.A feature of the workshops is that they will include a Zoom session with both Oein DeBhairduin and Pat Boran, both authors will be in discussion with Keith Payne – Oein on March 30 and Pat on the April 27.

To register for the book club, email writer@westmeathcoco.ie to receive the Zoom link.