Day: May 14, 2025

While Frank is on holiday, we’re delighted to have Mary Hodson as moderator on Thursday.

With a long list of items, be prepared for surprises – with only four exceptions, you are receiving no preparatory information about the contents of most of the presentations! However, rest assured that the high standard we’ve grown accustomed to from our contributors will ensure an entertaining and stimulating evening!

Child’s Play by Póilín Brennan is a tender and reflective poem capturing a fleeting, bittersweet moment of watching children at play. While young friends tumble onto the green, lost in stick wars and carefree joy, the poet – quietly bearing private sorrow – observes from a distance, caught between absence and presence. Gentle, poignant, and deeply human, this piece honours both the healing power of play and the quiet strength it offers to those who watch from the edges. This poem has also been turned into an evocative, inspiring song with the help of AI.

Coop by Deirdre Anne Gialamas is a sharp, darkly witty story of strained domestic life and simmering frustration. John, overlooked at work and mercilessly nagged at home, clings to routine and quiet endurance. Yet beneath the surface, something is shifting. As years of resentment begin to stir, the balance between submission and rebelling start to tilt. Both blackly humorous and painfully astute, this portrait of a marriage teeters deliciously between the tragic and the absurd.

Life with a Spark by Anne Murray celebrates half a century beside a quick-witted electrician whose bright hands power everything from appliances to family life. Anne charts laughter, setbacks and seven lively ‘sprongs’ as the couple move to their own rhythm – an affectionate portrait glowing with humour and hard-won resilience.

And nine further items !!

Programme:

Charlotte Bronte – A Medical Casebook Dr Michael O’Dowd

The Road to Where Josephine McCann

Come Take my Hand Bill Geoghegan

Coop Deirdre Anne Gialamas Short Story

Child’s Play Póilín Brennan Poem

Child’s Play Póilín Brennan Video

Life with a Spark Anne Murray Poem

Writer’s Block Deirdre Anne Gialamas

Almost There Helena Clare

The Invitation Mary Hodson

You Are Mary Hodson

I’m Finding it Hard to Explain Why Mary Hawkshaw

The Ship Joyce Butcher