Bob Dylan Grateful Dead Travelling Wilburys

Ever since a friend introduced me to the music of Bob Dylan I have been conscious of the fact that Dylan has teamed up with numerous musicians to form what was at the time a brilliant example of musical genius. What springs to mind is the time Dylan toured with The Grateful Dead between 1986 and 1987. Naturally it would have been brilliant to be at their concerts but alas I was only a nipper back then and strange as it may seem I wasn’t atuned  to Dylan or The Grateful Dead. I did however listen to Mary Black and  The Clancy Brothers and what a joy they brought to my young mind. In those years I was studying to get a good result in the Leaving Cert Exam. Well I would probably have been better off listening and absorbing such fine music talent like Dylan, The Dead and The Travelling Wilburys. After all I would have got a proper musical education and who knows I might have moved to the USA years ago and played with some of these iconic musicians.

At this point I’d like to thank Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead and The Travelling Wilburys for a wonderful, magical musical experience. I’d certainly recommend anyone listen to the sublime music that these artists produced in their prime. Thankfully their records are easily accessible and ofcourse the web brings them and that golden musical time period right into your life in the present.

Poetry and the power to influence…

The following poems are from Umberto Fiori’s volume of poetry entitled Translations.

Stop
There’s a middle zone
after the curve of the road-bridge,
a dead point
between a shop window full of lamps
and a field where weeds and brambles
heavy with shoots
creep towards the dust.

It’s there that, one day of our lives,
buses take us.

I don’t why the following poem Stylite reminds me of the English actor Jeremy Irons; maybe it has something to do with imagery of the sea and the jellyfish (Irons lives in a castle near Kinsale in County Cork). He is a fine actor and like Ralph Fiennes, another brilliant English actor and a truly outstanding performer on the stage or theatre. But I would have to say that Jeremy Irons is my favourite English actor because he is simply a brilliant performer.

Stylite

It was like swimming
in the open sea, and being caught
suddenly, in a shoal of jellyfish.

With the fury of a saint,
a hermit,
who from the top of his pillar in the desert,
shouts out his visions,
his prayers,
I thanked them, I wished them good evening,
I begged their pardon.

On the Street

If at the corner and old lady
- or, say, a policeman -
turns,
face sculpted by the light
of a beautiful day,
and speaks to me,
just to me, here,
about how there’s no respect,
or how hot it is,
I feel weak, like a saint
brushed by eternity,

I feel plants grow, I feel the earth turn.
Everything seems clear and strong to me,
everything has yet to happen.
The poem entitled Boss evokes memories of one or two ‘bosses’ I have had the good fortune or otherwise to meet during my working life. Perhaps poetry and it’s magnificent power to influence and impress are akin to drinking fine wine or finding something in life that really impresses you.

Boss

When you hear somebody shouting in the street
- Hey, Boss! – and you turn, and realise
it’s you they want,
you feel greatly honoured
to be there: a passer-by,
an able man, who can lend a hand
and then sit down to eat, maybe
in a restaurant, biting a piece of bread
and remembering that moon-world
where no-one was anything.

Making A Writer Out of You

Making A Writer Out of You
To become both a published and hence ‘successful writer’ you need to develop organisational and personal qualities such as self-discipline and perseverance. This advice applies just as much to the part-time writer as it does to the full-time professional.

In a nutshell: Successful writers do not lounge around waiting for inspiration. They sit with pen, pc or laptop and they start writing. They write regularly because they have disciplined themselves to do so, and because they want to. Try to write everyday, even if only for a few minutes. This can be notes for future reference, a synopsis for an article, the plot of a story or simply letters to friends or relatives. This regular writing helps to keep the mind fresh, active and creative. Many writers find keeping a diary very helpful for this and it can have the added advantage of being a rich source of writing ideas when you look back through it.

The following key writing points are taken from The Writers Bureau Creative Writing Course, Manchester, England, 2000, Book 1 (p28-29). I began this writing course that same year (2000) and have been drifting in and out of it ever since. I feel I have to say that the advice given by the Writers Bureau is perfectly rational and sound writerly advice. It does require discipline and commitment to put their advice into practice and for most people this can be the sticking point. However, all aspiring writers have to grit their teeth and get on with the job of writing; the reward is enjoyment (hopefully) and the immense satisfaction of seeing your words in print and obviously a good financial return for your efforts.

Key Points to Remember

• It does not matter when you write but try to work when you are most mentally alert.

• Find a place to write where you are comfortable and you are not likely to be distracted.

• The best way to start writing is to sit down and get on with it. You can always discard your ‘warm-up piece’ afterwards.

• You can become mentally tired and stale if you overdo your writing. This can lead to writer’s block. Always take regular breaks – anything that will give you a mental rest and help you to relax.

• Make sure you have all the necessary basis equipment.

• Editors only accept typed work; so it is better if you can organise access to a pc or laptop computer right from the start.

• Always have a notebook or electronic recording device such as an iPod handy and make notes when you see or hear anything that you could use.

• Keep a cuttings file. Look through newspapers and magazines for items that tie-up with subjects which interest you.

• Be organised – keep accurate business records for both your own information an for tax purposes.

• Read widely – you can never really Know enough. Analyse the work of others and study their style.

• Try to enlarge your vocabulary as much as possible.

• In addition to perseverance, determination and personal commitment you also need to organise your life properly. Patience, resilience and confidence are also valuable personal qualities for any writer.

• Don’t let a rejection depress or anger you. Try to spot the flaws which made your work fail and learn from this. If work is rejected try it with another market but ensure you have altered it, if necessary, to make it suitable. Once you have had a success, follow it up as soon as possible.

• The quickest way to recover from a rejection is to start on another piece of work.

• Make sure you have a steady output, but set yourself realistic targets which you know you can reach comfortably.

• Write about what men and women are discussing in their daily lives – what we call general interest topics. Don’t set you sights to high as a beginner.

• When you are more experienced, specialising in a particular area may prove lucrative.

• Short articles, fillers and readers’ letters can be a good way of breaking into print relatively early in your writing career.

• Keep your eyes open, talk to people and listen if you want to find more ideas for your writing. Always look for an original angle that will help to sell your work.

Endnote: check out the links on The Writers Bureau homepage Resources for writers. E-zee Writer and Freelance Market News are particularly informative and useful for developing your writing craft.

Umberto Fiori

Umberto Fiori is an Italian poet who was born in Sarzana in 1949; today he lives in Milan. He has published four collections of poems. You will find his volumes of poetry in Books Upstairs – an eclectic book shop located on College Green, (south of the River Liffey) in Dublin city. A very good friend of mine has just leant me Terminus by Umberto Fiori. It is a typical slim volume of twenty poems which have been translated from Italian. The book was published in 1998 by Poetry Ireland (Dublin) and The Tyrone Guthrie Centre (Annaghmakerrig, County Monaghan).

The poem Terminus is a lovely poem because it depicts a scene where the bus is waiting at the terminus and there is only the driver and one passenger. This poem evokes simple imagery and makes no grand statements. The same could be said of the poem Rampart – another travelling poem which employs the imagery of nature and the little things like ‘gullys’ and ‘walls’ that one would otherwise ignore.

No doubt Umberto Fiori is a fine Italian poet and if you really want to be surprised by fine writing then make your way to Books Upstairs and enjoy volumes that are unique to this particular bookshop.

Truman Capote (1924 – 1984)

A very good friend enlightened me about the brilliant novel In Cold Blood by the American writer Truman Capote. This novel is well worth reading because it will transport you the reader to the beautiful prairie landscape of Kansas in the American mid-west. I wont spoil the book for you suffice to say that it ranks with classics such as Moby Dick by Herman Melville and Dubliners by James Joyce. Read it as soon as possible! And if you have read it in the past, re-read the book and enjoy the experience again!

You have to read Beyond Belief by Emlyn Williams. This book is his account of the Moor’s Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

Another exceptional novel is 10 Rillington Place which is based on the true crimes of one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, John Reginald Christie.

It’s useful to know that all of these books and authors can be sourced via Penguin Classics. Any good library worth it’s salt should stock the Penguin Classic series of books. I hope that you my faithful readers enjoy reading the many fine classical works of literature that are so easily available in today’s modern world. Enjoy the summer and expand your imagination!

Bob Dylan at Wembley Arena

On the 17th April 2007, Bob Dylan played a concert at the Wembley Arena in London. Most reviewers sang the praises of Dylan’s performance; remember he is now 65 or 66 years of age. Apparently he still gives a good show albeit helped along by an excellent band of musicians. long may he continue to create magic.
Three cheers to Bob Dylan!!!

My Favourite Writers and more …

Thursday 29th March 2007

Today like so many other days I ventured into Chapters Bookstore in Parnell Street, Dublin. This new bookstore which opened early in January 2007 is excellent as it’s not as crowded as Easons and it has as many book titles if not more.

The following authors interest me. First off is the contemporary German writer Gunter Grass. He is highly rated both in Germany and throughout the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. More details about Gunter Grass can be found on the web site Books and Writers.

Ernest Hemingway is also one of my favourite must-read authors. As a child I remember being fascinated by the film version of his book The Old Man and the Sea. I noticed it’s a very slim volume but what a story. Read it and be enthralled!

E.M. Forster and the book which made him famous A Passage to India is also on my reading list. It’s a fairly large tome but judging by the reviews on the dust jacket and references to it by other famous writers it is definitely a book worth reading.

Back in the year 2000 I went to see the film Finding Forrester about the Pulitzer Prize winning author William Forrester. He wrote only one book Avalon Landing but it earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. I will definitely read the work of William Forrester. And you dear reader should do likewise.

Perhaps the one of the most interviewed of authors is the English writer Philip Pullman. This morning he was on the Radio 4 programme In Conversation presented by Terry Jones. Pullman became famous for his Dark Materials Trilogy, the first book is entitled Northern Lights. He said he was very much influenced by John Bunyan’s The Pilgrims Progress and he also stated that mediaeval and classical literature are the original and the best stories to read and learn from. I intend to read his work in the near future. “Writing is a journey of discovery,” Pullman says of writing. And how right he is! More on Philip Pullman in the next post.

ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN

Alexander Solzhenitsyn is the famous Russian author. I first discovered his work in his great novel THE FULL CIRCLE, which I picked up at the Library in Dublin Bus, Donnybrook Bus Garage. More on this Russian writer later….

JM Coetze and his garden…

I would love to have the opportunity to work on JM Coetze’s garden in South Africa and where he currently lives in Australia. I’m sure he has magnificent gardens and would be delighted to have an Irish man who is an unknown gardener to be his gardener. From the research I’ve done on JM Coetze he seems to spurn publicity and prefers to lead a quiet life writing his highly interesting novels and lecturing at university. One of his most famous books is called Life & and Times of Michael K. Look up his work this author is definitely worth a read. Thank

you Louis for first mentioning JM Coetze all those months ago as an excellent writer that one should definitely read.

John Steinbeck – famous American author

The other day I came across a little novel called The Pearl by the American author John Steinbeck. And just to let you know there isn’t anything about gardening in this wee  novel. What a story! More to the point what a fantastic writer Steinbeck was. He was capable of creating the most captivating fiction. The best thing you the reader can do is go to the library or the book shop and select several of his novels; The Grapes of Wrath being his most famous novel. Bring them home and spend Christmas and the New Year digesting the fantastic narrative. Happy and enthralling reading to one and all!

Why I want to be a gardener for the Rolling Stones

I would love to be a gardener for the Rolling Stones. Okay between them they probably have loads of grand gardens. But this fact would be so much the better for me – their ‘prospective gardener’!

The Rolling Stones must be the world’s greatest rock band.  The Stones continue to record and perform and are one of the longest running and most successful acts in show business. They are often the highest grossing concert act the years they tour, and every album of primarily new studio material has placed in the top 5 in the United States.

For more than forty years of The Stones’ existence Jagger, Richards, and drummer Charlie Watts, have been constant members.

The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and they were rated #4 in Rolling Stone Magazine‘s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.