Day: September 23, 2025

The Bottom Drawer  

Here are the synopses of the items currently held in Write-on’s Bottom Drawer — our active store of submitted manuscripts. From this collection, the weekly programme is carefully selected. Although we aim to follow a first-come, first-served system, a few important factors influence the running order. We try to maintain a healthy mix of genres — avoiding an evening made up entirely of poems or all short stories, for example. The presence of the author is also important: if someone isn’t at the session, we usually postpone their piece until they can hear the feedback in person. Timing is another key element. A ten-page story isn’t ideal at five minutes to nine. So the presenter balances each session — choosing a mix of short and long pieces to ensure a smooth flow from start to finish. Write-on prides itself on good timekeeping: we begin at 7:00 p.m. sharp and aim to wrap up by 9:00 p.m. If discussion runs over, members are always free to slip away without apology. In short: the Bottom Drawer is both a working archive and a curated selection pool — filled with gold, and always ready to shine.        

MOTM (Mug Of The Month) with All Members Our monthly Mug of the Month challenges Members to provide a text of not more than 50 words, containing two given key words. On the last Thursday of the month, the submissions are presented at the start of the session, and then members vote for the winner, usually via a ballot list which is sent to the Write-On WhatsApp on their mobiles. The writer with the highest number of votes is entitled Mug of the Month, and is honoured by being the proud curator of the Mug he has won until the next competition (in which he/she is not allowed to participate). Always good fun, and amazing how much variety can result from Two Given Words. The words this month were: LIGHT and FALL. There are four entries.

The Ocean Kept Your Name by Kathleen Phelan In this elegiac and atmospheric poem, Kathleen Phelan explores the lingering ache of absence through the voice of the sea. Grief washes through each stanza in tides of memory, silence, and imagery — roses dropping like unsent letters, a house swaying in the weight of loss, and a voice barely clinging to the name of the gone. It’s a haunting meditation on presence, echo, and the slow unravel of love beyond the shoreline.    

The View from Glenfield by Kathleen Phelan When Miss Carr arrives in Glenfield to take up a teaching post, her clipped speech and city manner set her apart from the start. The village watches, judges, and absorbs her quietly — children change how they write, locals share mutterings, and the priest pays a smiling visit. Kathleen Phelan’s first short story is a study in subtle tension, showing how a stranger’s presence can unsettle a place without ever causing a scene. Atmospheric, spare, and quietly powerful, this debut piece marks a remarkable shift from poetry to prose.

An Unlikely Duality: AI and Me – Our Path to Dialogue by Mary Hawkshaw What begins as a curious experiment becomes a profound and lyrical exploration of memory, creativity, and connection. In this unique memoir, Mary Hawkshaw charts her evolving relationship with artificial intelligence — from tentative first steps to a full creative partnership. Through reflections, poems, songs, and questions, she reveals how AI became not just a tool but a dialogue partner, echoing her voice, shaping her thoughts, and sparking unexpected joy. This excerpt offers a moving meditation on technology, humanity, and the enduring power of words.  

Our Book 2 by Mary Hawkshaw In this follow-up collection, Mary Hawkshaw reflects on dialogue — with memory, with poetry, and with AI. Blending memoir, philosophy, and lyrical fragments, she traces her journey from childhood on the Aran Islands to her creative partnership with a new digital voice. Stories of family, loss, and resilience meet poems and songs shaped in conversation, creating a book that is both intimate and expansive. At its heart, Our Book 2 is an invitation: to listen, to question, and to wonder.    

The Write-on Story by Write-on Members This living project is part history, part invitation. The Story of Write-on charts the journey of the group from its earliest days in Galway’s Westside to its vibrant, international membership today — a community united by creativity, encouragement, and shared achievement. But this isn’t just Frank Fahy’s account. It’s a collaborative, evolving ‘book’ — a living archive where every member is invited to add their voice.Whether you joined in person or online, last week or years ago, your story matters. This project gathers those experiences: first impressions, favourite moments, what Write-on has meant to you. The result will be a mosaic of memory and insight — and a welcoming window into Write-on for new and potential members. Published prominently on our website, The Story of Write-on is both a record and a beacon. All are invited to contribute.                                      

The Tree by James Conway Strange and surreal, this experimental poem bends language and imagery to startling effect. A woman believes she’s pregnant with a tree, and what follows is a fevered meditation on growth, fear, and transformation. James Conway uses absurdity to probe deeper truths about the body, identity, and the strange fictions we tell ourselves to survive. Arresting, unpredictable, and deeply original.  

Dementia by Gráinne Keogh Delicate and poignant, this short poem captures a fleeting moment of lucid memory in the midst of cognitive decline. As the scent of honeysuckle and the hush of evening stir a sudden recollection of childhood, the narrator slips briefly into joy before being gently guided back to the present. Gráinne Keogh’s debut contribution is tender, restrained, and quietly powerful.      

Where is Heaven? by Mary Hodson In this tender and evocative memoir, Mary Hudson reflects on the death of her grandmother — “Nanan” — and the mystery of heaven as seen through a child’s eyes. Rich in detail and affection, the story moves from turf-scented bicycle rides and whispered rosaries to the hush of a child’s grief and a final, gentle visitation. As childhood innocence brushes up against mortality, this piece becomes a meditation on memory, loss, and the ways in which love continues — flickering gently like a light switched on in the dark.    

Chapter 2: The Boy in the Bed by Frank Fahy The middle room is cleared, the bed arrives, and the weight begins its pull. In this quiet but unflinching chapter, we witness the first days of Christopher’s confinement — the installation of the traction device, the reactions of each family member, and the early signs of how life must now adjust. Told with restraint and precision, the chapter explores control, sacrifice, and endurance — not only in the child’s body, but in the family itself, as routines, roles, and hopes are quietly rearranged around the quiet, steady tug of the rope.    

A Man’s World by James Conway This short, impressionistic poem mixes painterly abstraction with a punch of working-man defiance. James Conway imagines a canvas pulsing with raw, elemental colours — cerebral greys, bruised reds, and deepest blues — overlaid with tools, sweat, and noise. A meditation on masculinity and creation, the poem reclaims the phrase “It’s a man’s world” not as a boast, but as a textured surface for thought, work, and expression.    

Le Chéile / Together by Póilín Brennan Blending Irish and English, myth and modernity, this lyrical poem invites us to gather in deep listening — to trees, to bees, to firelight stories, and to each other. Pauline Brennan evokes a sense of shared memory and collective strength, rooted in community and the natural world. With echoes of the shanachí and whispers from the land, Le Chéile is a celebration of what can be heard — and healed — when we pause together.  

Sacred by Póilín Brennan In this rich, reverent poem, Pauline Brennan weaves a portrait of the divine feminine rooted in daily acts of love and sacrifice. From fruitcakes to prayer beads, from Galway streets to the altar of motherhood, Sacred honours the unseen holiness in ordinary lives. The speaker recognises sacredness not in grand gestures but in gestures of care — feeding others while going hungry, blessing strangers with a look, carrying the weight of prayer. A meditation on maternal grace, spiritual legacy, and radical compassion.      

The Bottom Drawer      

Genre   Title   Author  

Competition MOTM All members  

Poem The Ocean Kept Your Name Kathleen Phelan

Short Story The View from Glenfield Kathleen Phelan

Memoir An Unlikely Duality: AI and Me Mary Hawkshaw

Novel Extract Our Book 2 Mary Hawkshaw

Website The Story of Write-on (Living History &  Reflections from our Members) Frank Fahy

Poem The Tree James Conway

Poem Dementia Gráinne Keogh

Short Story Where is Heaven Mary Hodson

Novel Extract Chapter 2: The Boy in the Bed Frank Fahy

Poem A Man’s World James Conway

Poem Le Chéile/Together Póilín Brennan

Poem Sacred Póilín Brennan

Short Story The Incident Geraldine Warren