Christmas is just round the corner and the tension is rising. This Thursday’s mega session is playing its part in providing even more excitement, with Christmas music, songs, stories, memories and poems. Plus lots of laughs and perhaps some surprises! Make sure you’ve put out the cat and fed the family before we begin, because we’ll be going into overtime!

Without further ado, here is the long list of presentations.

1. Silent Night Zazz by Mary Rose Toibin
2. Christmas 2006 by Elizabeth Hannon
3. The Holly and the Ivy by Michael O’Dowd
4. Charity Shop by Mary Rose Toibin
5. Christmas (poem) by Elizabeth Hannon
6. Christmas Miscellany by Anne McManus
7. The Pattersons: Our Christmas Angel
8. Christmas 2009 by Elizabeth Hannon
9. Journey’s End by Nollaig O’Donnell
10. Bernie Mulligan’s Christmas Song
11. Christmas Eve by James Conway
12. Christmas 2014 by Elizabeth Hannon
13. Kindly Light by Nollaig O’Donnell
14. Christmas Long Ago by James Conway
15. Christmas 2021 by Elizabeth Hannon
16. Christmas Miracle by James Keogh

As a writers’ group, part of our function is to WRITE! This week we will ask our participants to do just that. We will devote approximately ten minutes of our session just writing. So, have your writing implements to hand – notebooks, pencil and paper, quills, laptops, or mobile phones. Mary Rose has written an intriguing new story with the “working title” CHARITY SHOP. She will read her story at the session, but… just when you think she is reaching the denouement, she will stop. At this point, we will ask our participants to ‘GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?’ or ‘HOW WOULD YOU END THE STORY?’ We can have lots of fun exploring the different suggested endings and then will come the big reveal: How did Mary Rose finish her story?

We are spoiled for choice this week with so many contributions. We have a wonderful selection of stories, poems and songs to get us into the Festive Spirit.

Newsflash!

Bill Geoghegan is working on a Write-on Christmas Song. Remember last year? We hope to do a collective recording of our new song for Christmas 2021 during the week.

Here’s What’s On Write-on (WOWO) for this week:

STORY: Charity Shop by Mary Rose Tobin (Write the ending exercise!)

STORY: Christmas Years by Elizabeth Hannon

STORY: An Irish Odyssey by Michael O’Dowd

POEM: All Around Me by James Conway

POEM: Samhain by Anne McManus

POEM: Curlew by Christine Kelley

SONG: Laura by Michael O’Dowd

SONG: Rathmullan Romance by The Pattersons

SONG: On Galway Bay by Michael O’Dowd (Cancer Care West Charity CD)

Hard to believe we’re into December already and the year is drawing to a close! There’ll be three sessions this month, the last being on the 16th. Because of this early date, and since there are currently TWO holders of Mug of the Month, it was decided not to have a MOTM competition in December. Elizabeth and Jutta hold the trophy into the New Year!

There will be a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL on 16 December. Could we get everybody to contribute something? It can be old, new, used, rehashed …. Also, remember that family and friends can be invited to look in and enjoy the fun. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 12 December.

For this Thursday we have a fine mix of poems and stories, as well as interesting background to Charlotte Brontë’s honeymoon in Ireland.

Presentations for December 2:

A WRITE-ON SPECIAL: Charlotte Brontë by Michael O’Dowd

POEM: Silence by Seamus Keogh

POEM: Little Voices by James Conway

POEM: Lost Words by Seamus Keogh

STORY: Charter Flight (revisited) by Anne McManus

STORY: Down Memory Lane by Anne Murray (work in progress)

STORY: 1916 by James Conway

Looking forward to an enjoyable and inspiring evening!