WOWO September 28, 2023, 19.00-21.00 GMT

Our compere extraordinaire Frank Fahy is away on a well deserved holiday in France, but that doesn’t mean that he is off-screen! He will be operating from Brittany, and has warned us to expect some glitches, but also some surprises! Should contributions fail to complete the journey from this unusual venue, there will be co-hosts on hand who can also supply the material.

In addition, participants whose submissions have not been prepared in advance by Frank and Anne Murray will be asked to have their texts open on their own computers. They will be made co-hosts by Frank, and then asked to read their texts live. To do so, they will then have to click on the green ‘Share Screen’ button at the bottom of their Zoom screen and upload their submission (click on the symbol for the text programme at the bottom of their screen), so that we can all see it. In this way, we can present a lively and novel session, with everybody joining in the discussions on the items and offering advice and encouragement as is usual on Thursday evenings.

Most of the works on last week’s list could not be presented for lack of time, so that they form the backbone of tonight’s programme. In addition, a retrospective discussion on last Friday’s Culture Night, which premiered our wonderful film ‘A Tapestry of Words’, is planned. We can look forward to hearing about other events attended by members, and about reactions from friends and relatives to our own video. This is still available on YouTube if you enter the search words: A Tapestry of Words Write-On 2023.

Here’s to another stimulating and enjoyable Thursday Write-On session!

P.S. Works marked with an * needn’t be opened by the authors – they have already been prepared for presentation and will be shown by one of the designated co-hosts.

Programme:

Poem Confession Kathleen Phelan *

Poem My Little Beach Ciara Keogh*

Poem It Makes No Sense to Me Seamus Keogh*

Poem The Trail Phil McArdle*

Novel Extract (from) A Normal Couple Jutta Rosen

Short Story The Blue Cow Therese McMahon*

Story extract Untitled Molly Fogarty

Discussion Culture Night 2023 in retrospect All Members

WOWO September 21, 2023, 19.00-21.00 GMT

Our monthly Mug of the Month Competition (MOTM) is scheduled a week earlier than usual, and we are proud to announce that eleven contestants are participating. With entries from some of our new members, we can expect a particularly exciting and varied selection of texts around the required words HIDE and STEAL. The winner will be found by means of our electronic polling system.

Prose texts this week include a new short story by Mary Rose Tobin, one of our founding members. Her stories often reveal the subtleties of human emotions, but as tonight’s story doesn’t yet have a title, we might be surprised!

We also have an excerpt from Jutta Rosen’s novel-in-progress about life in war-time Berlin, showing how war and a totalitarian regime can affect ‘normal people’.

A short story by new member Therese McMahon, which was presented last week, initiated a discussion which will be continued this week.

Poems by three established and two new members make up the poetry section of our evening’s offerings.

All in all – a diverse and stimulating collection of contributions are awaiting us this Thursday.

Finally, there will be last minute information and exchanges relating to our Culture Night presentation. Galway Culture Night is taking place on Friday, 22 September, and we are hoping for a large viewing of our 2-hour video about the Irish and international members of our group. For details of how to access this, see the Culture Night page on this web-site.

We wish everyone an enjoyable and profitable evening this Thursday!

Programme:

Competition 11x Mug of the Month Entries All Members

_____________________________________________________________

Poem Confession Kathleen Phelan

Poem Life Story Molly Fogarty

Poem My Little Beach Ciara Keogh

Poem It Makes No Sense to Me Seamus Keogh

Poem The Trail Phil McArdle

Short Story New Work (Untitled) Mary Rose Tobin

Short Story & Discussion The Blue Cow Therese McMahon/All Members

Novel Extract (from) A Normal Couple Jutta Rosen

Discussion Culture Night 2023 + Trailer and Table of Events All Members

WOWO 14 September 2023, 19.00-21.00 GMT

Our session this week is influenced by the excitement in the run-up to Culture Night 2023, which will take place on Friday, September 22. Our members have produced a two-hour video of our activities, with short portraits of themselves and where they live, as well as extracts from their works. In ‘A Tapestry of Words’ you will be transported from Galway to Dublin, from Kilkenny to Germany, from Australia to the U.S.! The film can be viewed on YouTube on September 22 from 7pm GMT – for further details please see the Newsletter Page of this website.

In case you are particularly interested in watching any one contribution, below is a list of the times when individual writers appear in the video, identifiable by their place of residence. However, the rich diversity of poetry, memoir extracts, novel excerpts and songs offer a full evening of entertainment of a very high standard. So be prepared to settle back and enjoy the show!

19:00:00 President Michael D. Higgins
19:01:16 A Tapestry of Words
19:01:41 Galway County Council
19:02:14 Westport, County Mayo
19:07:00 Roundstone, County Galway
19:13:36 Galway City
19:22:50 Kilkenny City
19:32:03 Terryland Forest Park, Galway
19:36:15 Moycullen, County Galway
19:43:44 Queensland, Australia
19:47:28 Oughterard, County Galway
19:51:02 Connecticut, USA
19:54:38 Silverstrand, Galway
19:58:45 Maunsells Park, Galway
20:05:43 Dromahair, County Leitrim
20:14:31 Brandenburg, Germany
20:20:07 Dublin
20:25:38 The Burren, County Clare
20:30:26 Barna Woods, Galway
20:33:27 Barna Community Support (1)
20:34:27 Boise, Idaho, USA
20:36:00 Furbo, County Galway
20:43:10 Barna Community Support (2)
20:43:08 Love Songs
20:49:46 Most Popular Book in Barna?
20:51:38 Write-on Publications

This week's session offers a writing challenge involving character development for our members. We can look forward to no fewer than seven original poems, including one by our welcome new member Anyta Freeman. We are pleased to welcome another new member, Therese McManus, who is contributing a short story. In addition, discussions are planned on organisational aspects of our group.

We wish all viewers an enjoyable and profitable evening!

Programme:
Discussion: Character Descriptions - Open to all Members
Challenge 1: Writing Task based on Character Descriptions - Open to all Members
Story: The Blue Cow - Therese McManus
Poem: Poet On A Train - ANON
Poem: My Little Beach – Ciara Keogh
Poem: Missing My Home – Kathleen Phelan
Poem: It Makes No Sense – Seamus Keogh
Poem: Fragility in Life – Thomas MacMahon
Poem: Christmas in Renvyle - Thomas MacMahon
Poem: The Ritual - Anyta Freeman
Discussion: How to get more viewers to watch our Culture Night Event - Open to all Members
Discussion: Consider changing publication of Anthology to every two years - Open to all Members


WOWO 7 September 2023, 7-9p, GMT

Our session this week will be taken up by the Annual General Meeting 2023. The topics of the agenda include Business, New Books, the Anthology 2025, Literary Events, Tutorials for Upgrading Skills, PR, and any other topics that members might suggest. So it promises to be a full and interesting evening.

For the detailed agenda, please see the latest Write-On Newsletter, also posted on this site.

The competition for this month’s Mug of the Month (MOT) has started. Write a text of not more than 50 words (poem, prose, song …) which includes the words HIDE and STEAL. You may use other forms of these words (‘hidden’, ‘stole’ etc), and the title is not included in the 50 words. Closing date for entries is Sunday 24th September, and your texts should be emailed to annemurraypost@yahoo.ie. You can also record your text on your mobile and send Anne the recording via WhatsApp. We’re looking forward to a large number of entries, especially from our new members!

Have an enjoyable evening on Thursday!

WOWO Thursday, 31 August 2023, 7-9pm GMT

We are delighted to announce the opening of yet another year of writing creativity under the wing of our Write-On Group. Have our authors been active during the summer break? Or have they granted their sources of inspiration a holiday, so as to be even more productive during the coming season? These questions will surely be answered in the weeks to come.

There are no presentations listed for this week’s session. Instead we will be introducing ourselves, welcoming and getting to know new members, as well as discussing how we go about producing our presentations, newsletters, and so on. And we will be sneaking a preview of our video contribution to this year’s Galway Culture Night on Friday, September 22 – rumour has it that it will be even more exciting and colourful than the excellent videos of past years.

The annual AGM is scheduled for next Thursday, 7 September. Members can suggest items to be included on the Agenda.

The Mug of the Month season is also ready to start, and Anne Murray will be announcing the two key words to be included in the text of max. 50 words which members can submit. The due date is the third Thursday of the Month, and the winner of the competition will be selected by all participants present on that day.

All these modalities will be presented and explained tomorrow, with room for suggestions and improvements. More than enough material to fill 120 minutes!

Have an enjoyable session, everyone!

WOWO Thursday, 1 June 2023

After another year of inspired and inspiring writing, our Write-On season is drawing to a close, and the coming session will be the last before the summer break. Meetings will resume in August.

For tonight’s session, Write-On members are invited to select their highlights from the past season, so that we can enjoy a short compendium of the most moving, interesting, artistic, amusing, clever and successful contributions from the year’s offerings.

Write-On wishes all members and guests a profitable evening, and happy holidays with family and friends until we meet again in August!

Programme:

Various works by various writers, to be announced on Thursday.

WOWO Thursday 25 May 2023

This week sees the last of this literary year’s Mug of the Month contests, marking the close of another wonderful year of creativity! We can expect the usual close competition of poems and texts, this time containing the key words ‘Fly’ and ‘Fan’. Good luck to all contributors!

Four poems follow, including a tribute to our recently deceased member Celia Scully. She is sadly missed – hard to believe that only four weeks ago she took part in last month’s Mug of the Month competition. Thank you, Judith, for your beautiful poem, which perfectly captures her gentle and wise personality.

A suitable Big Bash at the end of the year will be provided by the launch of Frank Fahy’s collection of short stories, ‘A Father’s Love’. Frank will lead us through the proposed launch this Thursday.

Finally, there’s our annual Anthology, which will be appearing shortly too. All members are asked to help in the proof-reading by checking their own and possibly some other texts. This, too, will be discussed at our next meeting.

We wish all members and guests an enjoyable session on Thursday!

Programme:

Mug of the Month:

  • A Proper Charlie James Conway
  • Breakfast with a Star Frank Fahy
  • Don’t Geraldine Warren
  • Echoes of Saigon Mary Rose Tobin
  • Fan Fly Seamus Keogh
  • Fjords of Norway Anne Murray
  • Flying Intruders Judith Davitt Geoghegan
  • Frank’s Fervent Fan Elizabeth Hannon
  • The Old Lady Mary Hodson

Poem Leaves Seamus Keogh

Poem Homeless State of Mind Thomas MacMahon

Poem Remembering Celia Judith Davitt Geoghegan

Poem A I Anne Murray

Novel Excerpt from ‘A Normal Couple’ Jutta Rosen

Discussion Launch of ‘A Father’s Love’ All Members

Discussion Proofs of Write-On Anthology 2024 All Members

WOWO Thursday 18 May 2023

Our meeting this week begins with a tribute to our dear member Celia Scully, who passed away recently. We shall miss her wise advice and gentle but precise comments, but most of all we will regret no longer being able to enjoy her own polished, touching and versatile poems. May she Rest in Peace.

Poems dominate this week’s list of submissions, and we can look forward to a variety of styles and contents.

We extend a warm welcome to a new member, Fred Lowe, from whom we shall hear a short story. If time allows, this will be followed by a further extract from Jutta Rosen’s novel in progress.

Discussion on two topics round off the evening. Assembling the annual anthology, with several works from a large number of members, is a mammoth task, and a members’ discussion on moot points is due on Thursday to help clarify details. The launch of Frank Fahy’s collection of short stories, ‘A Father’s Love’, available on Amazon, will also be touched on.

Not to forget the Mug of the Month competition: the key words are FAN and FLY, and the closing date for entries (to annemurraypost@yahoo.ie) is May 21.

We wish all participants an enjoyable and inspiring evening!

Programme:

Video Tribute to Celia Scully All Members

Poem Daddy Eilis Hannon

Poem Leaves Seamus Keogh

Poem Glen Mouse Kathleen Phelan

Poem Like a Dragonfly Seamus Keogh

Poem Christmas at Renvyle Thomas MacMahon

Poem Homeless State of Mind Tom MacMahon

Short Story The Truth Can Cost You Everything Fred Lowe

Novel Extract Ch. 26 A Normal Couple Jutta Rosen

Discussion Write-On Anthology 2024 All Members

Discussion Launch of ‘A Father’s Love’ All Members

WOWO Thursday, 11 May 2023

This week presents a colourful mix of submissions: the genre ‘Dialogue’ (Mary Hodson) is a newcomer that we look forward to! Seamus Keogh’s poem with its Irish title has been queueing up for the third week, and will hopefully be presented this evening. And a warm welcome to a new participant, Eilis Hannon, who is debuting with her poem ‘Daddy’. Welcome to Write-On, Eilis!

As the Write-On year approaches its close, preparation for the publication of the Anthology 2024 is well under way, and a discussion on its impressive Table of Contents is scheduled for Thursday.

Other items include excerpts from three novels in progress, and four further poems by our most talented poets, besides the two already mentioned.

Not to forget the Mug of the Month competition: the key words are FAN and FLY, and the closing date for entries (to annemurraypost@yahoo.ie) is May 21.

We wish all participants an enjoyable and inspiring evening!

Programme:

Discussion Table of Contents – Anthology 2024 All Members

Dialogue The Fence Mary Hodson

Novel Extract: Ch. 2 Signs of Happiness Joanne Dowling

Novel The Homecoming Seamus Keogh

Novel Extract: Ch. 26 A Normal Couple Jutta Rosen

Poem Glen Mouse Kathleen Phelan

Poem Hawthorn Ciara Keogh

Poem Leaves James Keogh

Poem Agus mo Chroí Bhriste Seamus Keogh

Poem Like a Dragonfly Seamus Keogh

Poem Daddy Eilis Hannon