Space Inside Arts Magazine

Spring ‘13

FREE – PLEASE TAKE ONE

Vol9 Iss 3

Space Inside Arts Magazine

Anne Mc Williams

Space Inside LIVE NIGHTS 1st Tuesday October to June Wicklow Sailing Club, Wicklow Town FREE ADMISSION Great Music, Poetry and Dance

Editorial Hi all, Welcome to our Spring issue of the Space Inside magazine with topical articles and information about the arts.

It is with much regret that this will be my last issue as editor. Some of you may know that I am training to become a poetry therapist and this commitment means I can no longer give the time and effort that the Space Inside Live Nights and magazine warrant.

The future of the Space Inside Live Nights is secure as our brilliant team will remain firmly at the helm. It is hoped that the magazine will continue, too, and you will be kept informed of developments through our Facebook page.

Every year more than 20,000 children visit The Ark in Dublin.

Carol Boland takes a closer look at this cultural centre for children.

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Here’s a quick look inside this issue 3 Mind Over Subject Matter 4 Music and Book Reviews 7 Learning A New Skill 8 Poetry and Memory Remember, you can read our magazine online (http://thespaceinside.blogspot.com) which, by the way, got over 2000 hits on the last issue.

Don’t forget we are running a Table Quiz on 11th April in Phil Healy’s to raise funds for the Space Inside so hope to see your there at 8pm. There will be music and food!

Carol Boland

Cover Art: Multi-media Exhibitions by members of Signal Arts Society, Bray.

Signal Arts Centre present the 12th Annual Members Exhibition of works by members of the Signal Arts Society. The exhibition will run from 3rd to 15th July 2012.

This exhibition is a showcase for members of Signal Arts Society and, being a group show, includes a diverse range of content, a varied selection of mediums and always something to delight even the most discerning of palates. www.signalartscentre.ie

located in the heart of Temple Bar in

Dublin 2, was founded on the principle that children, as citizens, have the same cultural rights as adults. In a unique building designed specifically for them, kids aged 2 to 12 explore everything from theatre, music and literature to painting, film and dance. They are introduced to the wonder and creativity of the arts, and even discover what it means to be an artist from respected professional artists. The Ark plays a vital role in raising the standard of culture for children. Teachers can bring their classes along, junior infants to 6th class, to take part in Big Bad Wolf theatre workshops, or to hear music performances, such as the amazing Fidelio Trio, performing on 8th April ’13.

Raising children’s awareness of cultural and environmental issues is an important role for us all. Commissioned by The Ark in 1999, Zoe’s Play by John McArdle, raises the issue of sustainability and the impact of the march of urbanisation. The play toured nationally before playing at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to great acclaim. The 2013 production was recently performed to celebrate The Ark’s 18th birthday. The play tells the story of a child who recognizes that her father’s actions are leading to dangerous consequences for the forest. As the wolves living in the forest are driven to find alternative sources of food, Zoe struggles to make her concerns for her grandmother’s safety heard.

But, it’s not only children who benefit from the centre. ‘The Creative Self’ is The Ark’s new personal and professional development programme for primary school teachers. These workshops aim to help teachers gain confidence to deliver rich and imaginative learning experiences in the classroom. Many of the programmes run alongside artistic programmes for children, all the while helping teachers to nurture their own creativity.

Check out The Ark programme of events for children and teachers at http://ark.ie/events.

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Mind Over (Subject) Matter Is yoga good for your creativity? Anne Graham considers the question.

Last time around I wrote an article about Stephen Pressfield’s The War on Art, a self-help guidebook to help artists with creative blocks. Being the fickle beings we can be (apparently Freud said that artists are neurotics) , sheer willpower can be a draining exercise- especially in the light of the haphazard nature of inspiration.

On the last count, I have roughly 100 song ideas on my hard drive, and there are more on my external hard drive, all at different stages of completion from wailing makey-up singing up to some studio ready and all stages in between.

The way my ‘creativity’ flows, it can overwhelm me; I often have the full song idea in my head but don’t have the instruments/sounds to hand when recording the idea. And trying to figure out notes and chords for what’s in your head - intransient, untouchable nuisances!.

So what do I require to have focus and a consistency so that I can complete as many songs as I can? I have been asking myself this over the past few months.

St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) practices Yoga regularly to ensure her arms strong enough to keep playing those mean Following a riffs.

After a bout of depression last year, I decided to take up yoga. I had tried meditation on its own but, being akin to an impatient toddler in terms of energy, I realised I needed something to FORCE myself to focus. So after a few non-committal attempts I now do yoga and meditation several days a week, sometimes everyday if I can manage it - I need to retain SOME of my artistic wishy washiness to still be able to create.

And what have been the results?

Increased levels of concentration, more even moods and even some increased fitness. I think my music collaborator nearly had a heart attack the last time we recorded a song because I had almost EVERYTHING written down in terms of notation, which I never do. My playing has also improved significantly, for in yoga you learn to be soft and strong at the same time.

So by softening my oft times problematic shoulders, the flow of playing on guitar, keyboard and percussion has really started to come in.

I still have a long way to go and the maintenance of the practice is a life commitment. But the more you start to enjoy your elongated and still body and mind, the more you become addicted to it. Plus it doesn’t hurt that the place I go to in Wicklow Town (Yoga Sacred Space) has a fantastic offer of a €50 pass to as many yoga classes as you like in a 4 week block.

So call it spiritual, call it ‘stretching’, as some males I know like to call it, I’m of the opinion that yoga is good for you and your creativity

Wicklow Arts Festival’s 10th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS 24th-26th MAY There are three days of fun and creativity in the beautiful harbour town of Wicklow at the end of May with activities to suit all ages and tastes- workshops and concerts, stories and song- it promises to be some party. The events are continually being updated so you will need to keep checking their website for details. Meantime, you can keep in touch with the festival news by joining them on Facebook,Twitter or Google+. http://www.wicklowartsfestival.ie/

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Music Review Hilary Claire Woods ‘The River Cry’

Book Review The City of Shadows

by Michael Russell

(Betrothed Records) Michael Tinsley reviews ‘The River Cry’ the debut album of Dubliner, Hilary Claire Woods.

Those of you of a certain age may remember ‘JJ72’, an Irish three-piece from the late 90s / early 00s who had some mainstream success and nearly hit the big time.

Amongst other things, they were notable for lead singer Mark Greaney's unusual voice, and their very striking female bass-player, Hilary Woods.

Woods has recently reappeared into the music world with 'The River Cry' and delivered a fairly singular and intriguing sounding album into the world. The album, which was recorded on the Beara peninsula West Cork in the winter of 2012, has for the most part a fairly wonderful stripped-back sound, with predominantly piano accompanying her captivating reverbed-up voice. This is particularly effective on the aching opener ‘When I Lie’ and on second track ‘Sleep Baby Sleep’ which calls to mind a minimal Mazzy Star. An exception to the piano driven sound is on the foreboding ‘The Devil Knows’ which relies on a guitar, bass and drum set-up, and comes close to, but never quite rocks out, in a way which only adds to the edginess.

The tracks ‘Miaow’ and ‘September Light’ employ their musical accompaniment in a less conventional way, providing texture and tension for the vocals rather than a straight melodic foundation. The album closes with ‘Raise The Red Lantern’ which is probably nothing to do with enthralling Zhang Yimou film of the same name.

However over the piano and strummed guitar chords Woods’ tale of heartache in as absorbing as any Chinese cinematic epic. http://therivercry.com Michael Tinsley is one-half of Wicklow based band Aphrodite Lion. For more music news and review check out their regularly updated blog ‘The Lion’s Share’ at http://aphroditelion.tumblr.com.

'She looked up at the terraced house, with the closed shutters and the big room at the end of the long unlit corridor where the man who smiled too much did his work.

She climbed the steps and knocked on the door...'

Dublin 1934: Detective Stefan Gillespie arrests a German doctor and encounters Hannah Rosen desperate to find her friend Susan, a Jewish woman who had become involved with a priest, and has now disappeared. When the bodies of a man and woman are found buried in the Dublin mountains, it becomes clear that this case is about more than a missing person.

This is a gripping thriller with some very vivid writing.

Michael Russell has scripted for ITV television dramas and lives in Co. Wicklow

Hilary Bridge Street Books, Bridge Street, Wicklow.

T: +353(0)404 62240 www.bridgestreetbooks.ie

Some Things Are Free!

Visit 2013

The Wittgenstein Project: I Won’t Say I Will See You Tomorrow The Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, invite you to the opening event of ‘I won’t say I will see you tomorrow’ on Sat 27th April, a walking tour and introduction to Wittgenstein by The Irish Philosophical Society.

Sound installation presented by artist Karl Burke. Tea will be served, followed by the Trinity Quartet playing the music of Ludwig Mahler and Johannes Brahms.

Bring walking shoes.

This project is a 6-month exploration of Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and his time spent living in Wicklow from 1947-48, through a programme of commissioned works and events. It runs from Apr - Sep 2013 and is curated by Aoife Tunney. www.mermaidartscentre.ie

Congrats Niamh Parkinson, a recent Space Inside act, has launched her first EP. i am niamh , Check her out on

Analysing Cubism:

Visit 2013 is a weekend event which will see artists’ studios organisations all over Dublin city opening their doors to the public. Artists make their artworks in buildings that are scattered throughout the city, and Visit 2013 invites you to enter these usually private spaces, talk to the artists and see their work first hand. Detailed information places and dates on http://visitstudios.com.

Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, Mary Swanzy and masters of European Modernism 20 February - 19 May 2013 Analysing Cubism explores the early decades of Cubism and features the work of such celebrated Cubist artists as Albert Gleizes, Evie Hone and Mainie Jellett.

Free admission.

IMMA New Hospital www.imma.ie

Bealtaine Hugh Lane Gallery Every May, Age and Opportunity’s month long festival programme invites people aged 50+ to take part as audience, artist, critic or participant in Arts and Cultural opportunities from theatre and music to literature and photography.

To celebrate Bealtaine, a variety of free tours will take place in the Hugh Lane Gallery. Check out their programme of events at http://www.hughlane.ie/images/p rogramme_events_pdf

https://soundcloud.com/iamniamh/s ets/i-am-niamh-ep/s-pUZsl

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Galleries, Royal Kilmainham

Space Inside Arts Live Nights On the first Tuesday in the month, from October to June, the Space Inside Arts runs a free evening of music, dance and poetry in Wicklow Sailing Club, South Quay, Wicklow Town.

Doors opens 8pm For upcoming performers, or if you or your band want to perform, check out our blog at www.thespaceinside.blogspot.com

What’s On – Events that caught the Space Inside’s eye www.gaietytheatre.com

MUSIC

BALLET Cinderella

Woody Pines

Wed 24 Apr 2013

Fri 24 May 2013

8 pm 8.30 pm Ever wondered what happened to Cinderella and Prince Charming after they got married? Well Ballet Ireland takes up the story when the pair returns from their honeymoon. What Cinderella doesn't realise is that the Prince is bankrupted and he plans to auction off The Glass Slippers!

For children and adults

Last time this North Carolina Band toured here, the reviewers unanimously agreed that they were the hottest band on the American circuit. Now the fourpiece band returns for their biggest tour of the UK and Ireland.

€20/18 conc

€12/€10 conc

Mermaid Box Office T: 01 272 4030

Courthouse Tinahely T: 0402 38529

www.mermaidartscentre.ie

THEATRE

ART Sean Scully: Doric

Hello Dolly!

17 – 27 April 2013

Until 09 June 2013

This exhibition presents Sean Scully’s Doric paintings.

The title references one of the three orders of ancient Greek architecture, the least ornate Doric order, and the paintings were conceived as a celebration of the contribution of classic Greek culture to humanity.

The renowned Chorus of Rathmines & Rathgar Musical Society makes a welcome return to The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in this production by Director, Noel McDonough, Musical Director, Gearóid Grant, Chorographer Marina Kealy and Chorus Director Jackie Curran Olohan.

Admission: Free Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane Charlemont House, Parnell Square North Dublin 1, Ireland t: + 353 1 222 5550 www.hughlane.ie

€20 South King Street, Dublin 2 Telephone : +353 1 677 1717 Fax : +353 1 677 1921 6

funding from the Arts Council through its Raise programme. The groups will receive money for a full-time fundraiser and they, in turn, will have to raise €250,000 per annum each, over the next three years.

Learning a new skill As cuts in the arts continue, it is imperative that groups hone their fundraising skills. Carol Boland reviews the 2013 Philanthropy Initiative.

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n 2012, Minister Deenihan launched a Philanthropy Initiative to provide an incentive to arts organisations to proactively seek new relationships with sponsors which would deliver more private sector funding for the arts. Taxpayer funding was made available for organisations if they could match this with funding from the private sector.

This year, €210,000 will be available to arts organisations under the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s Philanthropy Initiative.

Under the scheme, arts and culture organisations can apply for funding if they can augment the amount with private fundraising as follows: Up to €5,000 of state funds if each €1 is matched with €2; Up to €10,000 if each €1 is matched with €3; Up to €15,000 if each €1 can be matched with €4.

Following serious cutbacks in government grants, it is imperative that art groups tap into the estimated €500 million philanthropic sector in Ireland.

A Cultural Shift Arts Council chief executive Orlaith McBride said there needed to be a ‘cultural shift’ in the arts towards looking for philanthropic donations.

In the past, some 61 per cent of funding of arts in Ireland came from the State. McBride stated that only 0.6 per cent of all philanthropic donations in Ireland go to the arts, and this is in comparison with 5 per cent in the United States and 6 per cent in the UK. Philanthropic donations amounted to just 3 per cent of Irish arts revenue in comparison with 31 per cent in the United States .

Though philanthropy is part of the American way, the US Governments provide incentives. ‘The inconvenient truth is that Americans who donate reap major tax advantages that the Irish don’t,’ said Breda Kennedy, who worked in the non-profit sector in New York for 14 years.

The Irish Film Institute, the Royal Hibernian Academy, Na Piobairi Uilleann, the Galway Arts Festival, the Model Gallery in Sligo, the National Chamber Choir, the Wexford Festival Opera and the Gate Theatre have been chosen from a list of 68 organisations which will receive

Arts in Education In a new departure for the initiative, the majority of the Philanthropy Initiative funding will be directed towards arts and culture organisations that are looking for support for projects that include an education component. This is to support the Arts in Education Charter, launched recently by Minister Deenihan and Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn TD. Says Deenihan: ‘I hope that the Philanthropy Initiative, while continuing to provide an incentive to arts organisations to engage in fundraising, will also get arts and culture organisations engaging creatively with children . . .

In doing so, they will be helping to foster the artists – and the audiences – of the future.’

In 2012, a total of 31 arts and culture organisations received €202,000 under the initiative. This was matched with private funds of €863,000. Every €1 of taxpayer funds was matched by €4.26 from the private sector, meaning that the scheme generated additional funding of over €1 million for the arts.

Although arts groups are adept at raising funds for capital projects, raising funds for day-to-day programming is quite different.

Fundraising can become a stressful, time consuming activity, leaving less energy for doing what arts groups are best at - enhancing our arts and cultural experience.

Memory and Poetry

Does memory make meaning of poetry or poetry make meaning of memory? Jane Clarke, poet, takes a look at poetry and memory.

particular moments when so many other moments of our lives are lost to us. Also interesting is how we relate to what we remember.

It was when I worked as a psychotherapist, before I began to write poetry, that I realised the power of memory in shaping our story of ourselves and our sense of identity.

This understanding of memory as mutable and individual is liberating for me as a poet. My memories are my own to explore, to learn from, to play with and shape. The process of retrieving bits and pieces of memory,

Memory is both tenacious and fragile. It is formed and reformed in the recalling. Our emotional experience, assumptions, expectations and associations influence our memory of an event. We protect ourselves from some memories and burden ourselves with others. When we realise that various members of a family can each remember the same event differently, we have to let go of the notion of objective truth in relation to memory. I came to see that what matters for the individual is finding the truth of their memories and exploring how that memory has shaped how they experience themselves as adults. What is interesting is why we remember

Honey Away, away, he shouts, sending her up the hill, through furze and bracken, to gather scattered sheep.

Listening for his whistle to bear left or right, she snakes towards them, belly to the ground.

They raise their heads, sniff, ears pricked, then flock together and run for the gate.

She comes back panting, stands at his side, eyes bright, tongue lolling out.

She had the herding instinct from birth; when she was just a pup he’d find her in the haggard rounding up the hens.

You’ll make a right cod of her, he gives out, when we dress her up like our teacher in our mother’s headscarf and glasses.

We sit her at the kitchen table, offer her a cup of tea and a scone.

A Sunday close to lambing, three men in the yard, one with a rifle under his arm. Your dog and Dunne’s wreaked havoc last night, thirty ewes dead or dying, mangled in barbed wire, lamb beds hanging out.

From an upstairs window we watch him walk to the shed. He drags her by the scruff, leaves her at their feet. He says nothing when he comes in, says little for weeks.

Jane Clarke

and giving them form, is an endless source of creativity. Through my writing I have come to question where memory ends and where imagination begins. Perhaps they work side by side making stories. They seem to be mutually dependent, as I have found that the more I recall of my own life story the more I can imagine the stories of others. And the more I use my imagination, the more I seem to remember. Often one memory releases another. Sometimes it’s like as if, out of the blue, a new memory comes knocking on the door of consciousness wanting to be heard, to be seen and to be given expression.

Working with memory is the bread and butter of poetry. Writing a poem can be a way of making meaning of a memory, of coming to understand memory for the first time or of putting a more bearable distance between the writer and a painful memory. Sometimes, when I have written a poem around a memory, it is as if I have given that memory a home. It is wonderful when a reader resonates with the memory and can read themselves into the poem.

I see memory as the springboard but the poem is the dive. While a poem is often sparked by memory, it must be free to go beyond memory to wherever the poem needs to go. This is where memory, imagination and craft meet. When I read my poem, Honey, people often ask me did that really happen. I have vivid memories of the dog and of that morning in the farmyard but, knowing that memory has a life of its own, all I can truly answer is, ‘that is how I remember it.’

Jane Clarke lives in Co. Wicklow.

Her poems have been widely published and she has won a number of prizes including Listowel Writers Week (2007) and iYeats (2010).

How (not) to publish an ebook But how do you go about publishing your book as an ebook?

There are lots of internet sites out there telling you ‘how to’, but be warned, it isn’t as easy as many imply.

The ebook is revolutionizing the book market. Carol Boland tells us how to avoid those rookie publishing errors that take forever to correct.

The most recent data available to The Bookseller reveals that e-book sales in the first 10 months of 2012 accounted for approximately 14% of all book sales in unit terms and, as e-books are far cheaper than print books, around 6%–7% of sales in revenue terms.

If e-book sales in November and December remained largely on trend, that means that Total Consumer Book sales for 2012 across all formats totalled around 255 million—up 5% year on year— with the total value of the book market suffering a slight contraction by around 2%, to £1.75bn. Simply, more books were sold last year than in 2011, but because e-books are significantly cheaper than printed books, the value as a whole, fell.

Most self-publishers recommend that writers publish their e-books simultaneously in two places: Smashwords and Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). This ensures that your book will be available for all major e-reading devices, and on all major ebook stores. Just remember to set the same list price for your book on both sites, and to set it low enough so people will take a chance on it – between €1 and €5 seems to be most attractive to purchasers. You will also need a PayPal account to collect your money.

Publishing on Kindle takes only a few minutes but it is the formatting of the ebook that takes the time and may cause a certain level of stress. The first rookie mistake I made when setting up my book/file was not getting the free ebook ‘Building Your Book for Kindle’. I am now systematically working through it and kicking myself I didn’t check it out in the first place.

No Pages With an ebook there are no pages as we recognize them in a print version. The pages look different on each reader depending on the size of font chosen, so the pages reshape and reflow as necessary.

Therefore, one of the first things to

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do is to make sure you format your page layout correctly. This is the most common mistake a digital publisher makes, as they assume that what they see in Word translates to the Kindle. Without going into detail, it doesn’t. For example, you should not use tabs or spaces to indent paragraphs, or use the ‘return’ when starting a new paragraph. Before you start, you should set these features in the ‘Page Layout’ options in your Microsoft Word file.

Also, do not use Headers and Footers as they will not be displayed, and remember not to use ‘return’ key at the end of a line, and page breaks should only be used at the end of a chapter.

Another tip: left-align your paragraphs.

When Ready Once the file/book is ready, you must save it as a HTML file. This is easy to do and is clearly explained in the Building Your Book for Kindle.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) is Amazon's e-book publishing platform and it is advisable to upload your file directly to the site. To help me through the next part of the process, I downloaded the free Mobipocket Creator software which I found relatively easy to use.

I’m pleased to say that my ebook is currently sitting on my computer itching to be e-published. The only problem is those rookie mistakes that still need correcting.

A Traveller’s Tale

In Profile The Space Magazine

Inside

Zoe Buckley recounts her trip to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s most imaginative masterpiece.

Carol Boland looks back at 9 years of this unique arts magazine.

It is worth doing a slow circuit of Gaudi’s incredible cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, more than once, despite the fact that it is largely a building site.

Less than a third of the projected finished temple is complete and so far it has been 120 years in construction.

It all started with a crazy idea - an arts publication for Wicklow to support the new Space Inside Arts Club and local arts events. With financial assistant from Wicklow Rural partnership, and a handful of voluntary workers, the journal was launched.

It’s easy to see this as unjustifiable artistic indulgence; at least it would be if it weren’t for the building itself.

Everything about it astounds. There’s a scant disregard of gravity: unlike other width-heavy earthbound constructions Sagrada gives the impression that it has fallen into the sky. There’s enough in the temple to make it seem symmetrical, but only in the way that some trees are – almost accidentally and not at all on closer inspection.

It is with nostaligia that I look back at the first edition of the Space Inside Arts Journal with only 4 pages printed in blue and black. The editorial team was Carol Boland, Stan O’Reilly, Pam Beacon and Ray McGovern, who launched his Lucy & Vodkat comic strip with its unique sense of humour. A run of 200 copies was printed by Wicklow Press, situated on the Murrough.

In 2005, following closure of Wicklow Press, our publication moved to Ruon Print in Rathnew. There, with additional funding from the Wicklow Arts Office and patrons, our issue improved to full colour with 8 pages and a run to 500 copies. We thought we were in the big league now. By 2006, the journal was a well-established and much loved publication with people keeping a lookout for each monthly issue. At this time, Janet Smith joined our editorial team and Bridge Street’s Book Review became an established column.

Some of the carved stone looks like age old stalagmites and stalactites that have eventually come together to form misshapen pillars. Looking up, it’s possible to pick out a colossal stone lizard crawling up the facade. He’s aiming – inexplicably – for the shining mosaic fruit hanging from the roof. One pillar, carrying a cliff load of stone, rests not on the ground but on the shell of a rather aggrieved looking tortoise. And it is as easy to miss these details as to spot them, which makes La Sagrada Familia rewarding in a way that seems never ending.

Meanwhile the Live Night team, including Vera Walsh and Frank Murphy, were working tirelessly to keep the nights fun, friendly and free. Soon after Anne Graham joined the editorial team, the run was increased to 1,000 copies and pages to a grand total of twelve. Michael Tinsley then launched his Music Review column. We enrolled the help of Tessa Doyle and Evert Beerda to help with the distribution and our area now stretches from Wexford Town to Dublin. Recently we made the decision to publish the magazine online and I’m delighted to say that our latest e-magazine has attracted over 2000 impressions.

Even incomplete (or perhaps because it is) this cathedral, with its eternally active workshops, as well as its own gift store and cafe, really is Gaudi’s masterpiece.

TABLE QUIZ

SPACE INSIDE ARTS 11th April at 8pm Phil Healy’s Pub Wicklow Town

With recent cuts in arts funding, this much loved magazine is now quarterly, and that’s where we are today: The Space Inside magazine - one of a kind.

SPOT PRIZES . . . RAFFLE . . . FINGER FOOD MUSIC FROM"THE BOB'S" AND SPECIAL GUESTS

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Twitters Grow Happy May belongs to the Bealtaine Festival which celebrates creativity in age. Last year about 115,000 people attended over 3,500 performances, concerts, workshops, dance classes, films and creative events across Ireland

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013 is now open for entries for films of up to 25 minutes to screen at ASFF 2013: an international film festival that presents a fantastic opportunity to showcase your work to a wider audience.

Bealtaine is coordinated by Age & Opportunity. The theme for the 2013 festival is 'Grow Happy' - a call to celebrate growth, spring and positivity for ourselves and our communities. Running from 1 to 31 May, Bealtaine takes place in Museums, Galleries, Cinemas, Libraries, Care Centres, Active Retirement Associations and many other venues. To check what's happening in your area go to: www.bealtaine.com.

ASFF 2013 takes place in the historic city of York from 7 – 10 November. The screenings will cover a wide variety of genres and filmic styles including drama, documentary, animation, comedy, music video, thriller, experimental and artists’ film.

Irish Writers Centre After a short hiatus, Inkslingers is back on Saturdays at the earlier time of 12 noon.

To help cover costs of this popular workshop at the Irish Writers Centre, there will now be a charge of €5 (€3 IWC Members).

More details at http://www.writerscentre.ie.

The winner will receive £500, editorial in Aesthetica Magazine, and screenings at a number of other UK festivals among other prizes.

Entry fee: £15 and deadline is 31 May 2013.

For more information visit www.asff.co.uk

Creative Writing Comps The McLellan Poetry Prize 2013 Deadline: 30th Jun 13 Wigtown Poetry Competition 2013 Deadline: 31st May 13

A poem for a Monday morning. What better way to start the week, wherever you are in the world?

Poetic Republic Poetry Prize 2013 Deadline: 30th Apr 13

Every week Poetry Project uploads s a poem and accompanying video artwork, in celebration of Ireland’s literary and visual creativity. Week by week, until 30th June, you’ll be able to follow the work of leading, and emerging artists and writers, and discover Ireland through different eyes.

The Golden Pen Awards Deadline: 30th Apr 13 Poetry on the Lake Deadline: 22nd Apr 13

2013 Frances Browne Multilingual Poetry Competition Deadline: 19th Apr 13

The Poetry Project is presented as part of the Culture Programme of the EU Presidency. www.poetryproject.ie

Comórtas Filíochta an Choirnéil Eoghain Uí Néill Deadline: 19th Apr 13

Source: Poetry Ireland

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http://pix.ie/henleyal/2148392

Maureen Perkins lives in Drogheda but also has many happy memories of times spent in Co. Wicklow.

In 2007, Maureen was awarded an MA is Creative Writing from Queens University, Belfast. Her first book of poetry will be launched in June 2013 (Boland Press).

Wicklow Man You were born in this valley constant and solid like stone early taught to till the earth to care for sheep heavy with lamb drive cattle to Blessington mart.

At night you heard farmers’ talk of weather, births and deaths soaring costs, Michael Dwyer and what the neighbour’s squinting window saw.

You learned the art of make and mend found you had creative hands your granite stones grew into walls in time your walls grew into homes.

Passage Grave i.m. Bettina Poesche Going Bettina’s way to Newgrange, a ridgeline down to the Boyne, a tomb’s mouth in dazzlewhite quartz swallows the stillness of a winter day.

I join new age prilgrims at a kiosk huddled hoods and padded anoraks talking of where she was found over the river near Donore.

Like rabbits in a narrow burrow we squeeze through the passage of stone, stand in a recessed burial chamber risen high, a corbelled cone.

As effigies we wait in dimness.

I feel the glimmer of the axeman’s flint on ripples, diamonds, spirals, zigzags picked and pointed on giant slabs.

Bettina never reached Dagda’s mound, last resting place of druids and kings her killer hid her in a thicket of thorn a prey to birdlife as she lay alone.

She will not be here at winter solstice to see the light of the new born sun creep over the river through frozen fields flood the tomb in a silver stream.

FRIENDS of The Space Inside 2012/13 Businesses: National Fire Museum of Power (Wales), Healthy Habits Café, Wicklow, Maltfield Riding School, Redcross,, Bridge Street Books and Track One (Wicklow) and Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray.

Groups: Wicklow Writers and Shed Poets Individuals: Anne Ferris (TD), Helen Duffy, Avril Young, Charlie Burke, Conal Kavanagh (Councillor), Mary Boland, Anne Graham, John Graham, Joy Whittaker, George and Meta Whittaker, Liam Walsh, Edward Ryan, James Boland, Edward Ryan, Andy Boland, Cora Boland, Marie O’Brien, Philip Lynch, Michael Tinsley, Shirley McClure, Marin O’Donovan, Carol Boland, Margaret Kennedy, Tommy Dickenson, Bernie Walsh, Pat Moore, Peter Kelly, Philip Galvin, Pascal Moran, Liam Walsh, Catherine Graham, Helen Graham, Kevin Graham, Charlie Kavanagh, Angela Nolan, Kerri Gill, Patricia Gill.

Space Inside Arts Magazine is published quarterly by volunteers: Carol Boland and Anne Graham. Distribution: Evert Beerda, Tess Doyle and others. Live Nights: Carol Boland, Pascal Moran, Kerri Gill, Anne Graham, Cait Breathnach, John Graham, Maureen O’Donovan http://thespaceinsdie.blogspot.com T:0851138367

E:spaceinside@hotmail.com Published by Boland Press Printed by Conway Media

Space Inside Arts Live Nights First Tuesday in the month, from October to June, the Space Inside Arts runs a free evening of music, dance and poetry in Wicklow Sailing Club, South Quay, Wicklow Town. Doors opens 8pm Help us to keep afloat by becoming a Friend for only €40 with a chance to win €100 in our 9 monthly draws. You can also donate €3 (or more) online at thespaceinside.blogspot.com.

The Space Inside is grateful to Wicklow Town Council and Friends for making the journal and Live Nights a reality. This project was initially assisted by Wicklow Rural Partnership Ltd under the European Union LEADER +/National Development Plan 2000-2006.