Beautiful organ recital by German organist, Axel Flierl, at Sorø church this evening. What a madly complex and genius instrument the church organ is.
Rónán Hession
@ronanhession.bsky.social
Irish writer. Leonard and Hungry Paul, Panenka, Ghost Mountain. Richard Heart Julianne out in summer 2027 www.ronanhession.com Music as Mumblin' Deaf Ro https://mumblindeafro.bandcamp.com/
I've been in Norway ten years this month, so wrote a little substack about some music and literature I like from Norway: davidtoms.substack.com/p/41-a-decad...
# 41 - a decade in Norway
August marks 10 years since I moved to Norway. Here's 10 things I think you should check out
davidtoms.substack.com
Our summer holiday evening viewing has been the Beatles Anthology. My son in his first big Beatles phase. My mind blown all over again. Imagine releasing Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver all in one twelve month period.
It was such an honour to be in the Belfast Telegraph talking about Wild Iris—a paper I remember being delivered when I was little. Sometimes people assume it was easy for me to get published—that's not the story at all. Thanks to Áine Toner ❤️ www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/.../a/153146...
Good morning Bluesky ☀️ My grandad told me he saw the Titanic - from the outset he warned all the people that the ship would sink, but nobody listened to him. He knew he was right and didn't give up. He warned them again & again, until eventually they kicked him out of the cinema.
The Granta Scandinavia issue includes a 30 page extract from Lars Norén's five volume Diary of a Playwright, published as a 1,650 book in 2008. Not hard to see how it cleared the way for Knausgaard with its epic everyday musings. Extract translated by Sigrid Rausing – would love to read the rest.
Malmo is the world capital of people wearing roundy black glasses. Looks great.
Just look at those classic sleek aerodynamic lines. Also, there's a Saab 92 in the background.
Malmo station has a strict no balloon policy. Behind every sign is a story they say.
Here we go. For your Christmas stocking. Bluemoose Books - Hebden to Hollywood . My recollections of the publishing industry and why we started Bluemoose. Plus a few stories and successes along the way. Marvellous.
Day trip to Malmo and a visit to the disgusting food museum. We tasted black ants, mealworms, durian and marmite.
There are six (very good) Helle Helle stories in this that remind me of Kjell Askildsen, who I like a lot. I must give her novel, They, another go. I think I tried it when my brain was too fried with other stuff.
Rónán Hession@ronanhession.bsky.social · 2d agoNow reading the Granta Scandinavia issue. Includes a list of personal favourite writers & a mix of names that are new to me. Also reminds me – why no Karl Frode Tiller, who's missing here and from the conversation generally. His excellent Encircling trilogy was one of my highlights of recent years
Now reading the Granta Scandinavia issue. Includes a list of personal favourite writers & a mix of names that are new to me. Also reminds me – why no Karl Frode Tiller, who's missing here and from the conversation generally. His excellent Encircling trilogy was one of my highlights of recent years
Finished Greyhound by Joanna Pocock. Observations on her repeat journey across the US via Greyhound bus. Insight into the broken lives of many who travel on those buses, marginalised by the centrifugal spin of intensifying societal decay. That said many retain an their openness and likeability.
@paulduane.bsky.social's Barbaric Genius, a film about John Healy - the vagrant turned memoirist turned international chess whizz - is one of my favourite documentaries of all time. It's having a rare full screening at the IFI in Dublin on Monday 17th August. You should go!! ifi.ie/film/from-th...
FROM THE VAULTS: BARBARIC GENIUS + Q&A - Irish Film Institute
SCREENING MONDAY 17th AUGUST Paul Duane’s intimate portrait charts the unpredictable life of John Healy – award-winning author, internationally distinguished chess player and erstwhile alcoholic vagra...
ifi.ie
Sorø church. Built in the 12th century, it was restored in 2022.
A Dan Dryer hand dryer – the name "Danny Dryer" was right fackin' there weren't it.
Visited Sorø art museum. This painting of Sorø square from 1895 by Johan Rhode shows the town hasn't changed much.
Sometimes I forget I'm a published writer. Here's the first story I ever had published; don't worry, it doesn't make much sense to me, either: psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...
The Greatest Mercy - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
I live in the same house I grew up in. Each day I walk my dog up and down the same streets and through the same parks. I make the same observations about the same landmarks
psychopomp.com
I went swimming at the lake & got talking to a Russian guy from Murmansk. Says the lakes are not cold in Murmansk in the summer, unlike Ireland (he guessed – he's never been). I saw fish in the water but he said he prefers hunting. "I only shoot beer bottles though, not animals" he said.
"it's my fault – Yahztee is too intense" – Hungry Paul.
#womenintranslationmonth begins August 1, and RJL is psyched! Every day in August, we'll be posting a short bio of a Japanese woman writer* who takes up feminist themes in her stories. Stay tuned for an August episode on Japanese Women Writers.* readjapaneseliterature.com/Book+lists/J...
Sorry, that was rather abrupt, wasn’t it? Limpets’ teeth have goethite in them, which gives them their strength. And yes it was named after Goethe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethite
Goethite - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
“Plot is nothing; plot is simply time, a timeline.” —Grace Paley
Grace Paley, The Art of Fiction No. 131
“One of the first things I tell my classes is, If you want to write, keep a low overhead.”
buff.ly
The Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability index scores 173 cities across five categories: health care, culture and environment, education, infrastructure and stability. Copenhagen is top due to the number of cultured, charismatic Irish writers holidaying there.
Today sees the start of #WITMonth (Women in Translation), an annual focus on books by women writers, initially written in languages other than English. To mark the occasion, here are ten brilliant books I heartly recommend - all by women in translation! 💙📚 jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/w...
Women Writers in Translation – some book recommendations for #WITMonth
As many of you know, August is #WITMonth (Women in Translation), a celebration of books by women writers, initially written in languages other than English (and then translated for English-speaking…
jacquiwine.wordpress.com