Month: December 2020

What a wonderful way to bring the 2020 Write-on sessions to a close! More than 20 videos on display; the launch of our Christmas Covid Song BEAT THE VIRUS; magical new stories and poems; comedy inserts; surprise guests with gifts; and a brand new Mug of the Month Winner, NOLLAIG O’DONNELL, our birthday girl!

A huge ‘Thank You’ to Anne Murray for her brilliant work gathering and presenting the MOTM entries. She has brought the monthly competition to a new level; interest in winning the coveted Mugsy is at fever pitch at the moment. Watch the MUG OF THE MONTH entries for yourself and you will see that Nollaig was a deserving winner. The fact that it happened on her birthday was just a charming piece of serendipity.

Nollaig’s story MAM’s LITTLE CLOWN was one of the highlights of the evening. There wasn’t a dry eye left in the house after her beautiful reading.

But the night was full of highlights: Anne McManus’s poem about her Christmas Memory; Judith Geoghegan’s evocative description of Manhattan Christmas Magic; Mary Rose’s Santa’s Secret; Sean McGrath’s Nonsense Poem; Thomas MacMahon’s Thoughts Before Christmas and Warm a Heart; Nollaig’s Advent, Snow, In Memory of Bells; and all the contributions from Elizabeth, James, Mary, Ciara, Geraldine, Anne Murray and Frank.

We had a wonderful evening of fun and celebration. Enjoy sharing the Write-on Website with your friends and family over Christmas. There are loads of videos, stories, poems and songs to watch to remind us that even during a pandemic, people are resilient, strong and creative. If we work together, we can overcome any difficulty.

Let the Write-on spirit of Christmas carry you all safely through to the end of 2020 into a sparkling new year, filled with promises of better days to come.

Happy Christmas to everyone! See you all in the New Year!

Our last session of 2020. And what a send-off we have planned! Lots and lots of new poems, Christmas Stories, our collective song, and MUG OF THE MONTH as well! Can you contain your excitement?

Some of the highlights that we know about so far:

Song: BEAT THE VIRUS – by the collective warblers of Write-on

Mug of the Month — Eight contestants vie for MUGSY with keywords DUST & Light — but will the reigning champion let him go?

MOTM (1) I Dream of Christmas by Nollaig O’Donnell

MOTM (2) Division of Labour by Anne Murray

MOTM (3) Light Beats Dust by Thomas MacMahon

MOTM (4) See the Light by Anne McManus

MOTM (5) Suspicion, Specks and Sparkles by Mary Faherty

MOTM (6) Light and Dust by Elizabeth Hannon

MOTM (7) Live Wire by James Keogh

MOTM (8) Dust and Light by Frank Fahy

Poem: Sean McGrath’s Nonsense Poem

Song: Mary Rose sings Silent Night

Story: Mum’s Little Clown by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Thoughts Before Christmas by Thomas MacMahon

Poem: Childhood Memory by Anne McManus

Poem: Merry Christmas by Mary Faherty

Poem: Snow by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Advent by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Warm a Heart by Thomas MacMahon

Poem: In Memory of Bells by Nollaig O’Donnell

Poem: Manhattan Christmas Magic by Judith Geoghegan

Story: Revealing Santa’s Secret by Mary Rose Tobin

And much, much, more….

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE! THANK YOU FOR MAKING WRITE-ON SUCH FUN!

Thomas MacMahon’s poem WARM A HEART will be published in Ireland’s Own New Year Annual. The poem has some beautiful, loving sentiments and is particularly appropriate for this time of year, especially in the strange Covid-19 times that have affected all of our lives. It is a poem about communicating with our loved ones, through traditional methods such as writing a letter, or by more modern methods, such as using a mobile phone. Whatever devices we use, we should make time and take the opportunity to express our affection for our loved ones.

Well done to Thomas! He becomes the first member of Write-on to be published in Ireland’s most revered magazine. Perhaps other members will be inspired to submit their works to the magazine for consideration, and follow in his footsteps.

To celebrate Thomas’s achievement, we have highlighed WARM A HEART on the FEATURES section of our website.

Our penultimate session of 2020 (What a year!!!????!!!!) and it looks like there are more and more new pieces to be showcased.

Poem: Oil Skins by Ciara Keogh

Poem: In Memory of Bells by Nollaig O’Donnell

Comedy: Mugsy’s Abduction starring the two Marys

Poem: Grace Before Guinness by Thomas MacMahon

Song: Beat the Virus by Bill & Judith + Members of Write-on Choral Society

Requests: A look back at some of your favourite videos from 2020.

Preview: A sneak preview of some Christmas offerings for our Christmas Session next week 17 December 2020

Much, much, more…

Behind the scenes, people are working away on Mug of the Month entries (DUST & LIGHT) for 17 December PLUS, PLUS, PLUS … Christmas Stories and Poems and Songs …