For those who missed it, my radio drama ‘Cow’ will be repeated TONIGHT 2nd April on http://www.kclr96fm.com  @ 7pm (GMT) – click on ‘listen live’

Some have asked if a ‘catch up’ version of ‘Cow’ will be available on the KCLR96fm website. Apparently, yes. KCLR are currently constructing a ‘listening room’ for documentaries and dramas and I’ll let you all know once its up and running – in the meantime, the stations forwarded some lovely feedback this morning – so, I’ve just gotta boast, I mean share…:

“thank you so much for this sensitive, witty, biting and ultimately balanced dialogue between the sexes… Sue Healy’s ‘Cow’ and the women and men bringing into being over the ether were wonderful…especially the wife who paused to say …’calving..’ [given her own delicate situation vis a vis ivf..] when her lovely lump of a man wriggles out of the Wednesday salmon-fest supper to ease him into the bedroom..[lovely touch that] by saying that the heifer is tail up and the wife mumbles the dread-laden word…’calving’…which of course she is not…oh how painful and sweet…i cried …oh God yes i did big tear drops onto my white plate of toast…beautifully realised…this is a play of magnitude, significance, humanity and…redemption… you lucky lucky people…what a fantastic flower you planted, tended, nurtured and ultimately stood backand admired…”

Doesn’t get better than that!

Well, ok, not the mooovies, rather I’m on the radio…

Yep, I’ve got the first broadcast date for my radio drama, ‘Cow’. It will air just after the 11am news (local time in Ireland) on Easter Monday on KCLR 96fm (yes, that’s April 1st – and no, this is not an April Fool’s) – here’s the scoop:

‘Cow’ concerns ‘Agi’, a beautiful Hungarian woman, arrives on Clearys’ farm, Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny, to work as a mushroom picker. The Clearys’ already strained, childless marriage appears under further threat by her presence, however an unlikely friendship develops between Marie Cleary and Agi, leading both women to a new world view.

To listen, go to kclr96fm.com and click on the listen live button. It may take a minute or two to configure.

UNO St. Claude is thrilled to host a second opening for Just then, and Again. The artists are Dana Frankfort, Geoff Hippenstiel, Shane Tolbert, Brad Tucker, Jim Nolan, and Nathan Green. Their modes of abstraction, including the virtuoso and calculated mark – mostly on canvas – are a means of conveying thought on a two-dimensional support. This group endeavor is a snapshot moment of work in their practice, and in the larger Houston art-making scene. Many thanks go out to the lending artists and their galleries: Inman Gallery, Art Palace, and Devin Borden Gallery. 

The reception runs from 6-9 p.m. at the gallery, located at 2429 St. Claude Ave, on Saturday, March 2.

Here I am. I’ve wrapped ‘Cow’,  a radio play I wrote and produced. It’s now in the nimble hands of Eugene Sully, our editor who’ll be tweaking it over the next week or so and we’re due to broadcast in March. Watch this space for a date and time. It’s been a full on, manic period with a steep cliff of a learning curve and if I wasn’t working with some of the most talented people in the business, actors and director, I would never have made it thus far. A sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you.

And as ‘Cow’ recedes in the rear-view mirror, my focus now is the Escalator project. At the end of January, I learned that I am one of ten writers from the East of England region who have been awarded the Escalator professional development award which will afford me Arts Council funding and professional mentoring from an established novelist, to bring a novel of mine from early draft stages to completion over a twelve month period. The novel, ‘A Castle Spinning’ concerns the adventures of an alcoholic Irish dwarf who goes to Hungary in search of a woman who seduced him and becomes embroiled in a pornographic cult.

I’ve been putting off knuckling down to focus on a novel for long enough and now there are no further excuses. So, expect to read a lot of posts on the process of writing a novel , over the next twelve months. Onwards and upwards!

“Just then and again” is a group show of artists working in, or associated with Texas.

The artists are:
Dana Frankfort
Geoff Hippenstiel
Shane Tolbert
BradTucker
Jim Nolan
Nathan Green

Their modes of abstraction, including the virtuoso and calculated mark, -mostly on canvas – are a means of conveying thought on a 2D support.This group endeavor is a snapshot moment of work in their practice, and inthe larger Houston art-making scene.

Thanks go out to the lending artists and their galleries: Inman Gallery, ArtPalace, and Devin Borden Gallery

The exhibit opens Saturday, February 9, 2013, with a reception from 6-9 p.m., and will run through Saturday, March 2. There will also be a closing reception with a time and date to be announced.

The UNO St. Claude Gallery is located at 2429 St. Claude Ave.

Regular gallery hours are Fridays through Sundays, from 12-5 p.m.

In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck

In Dubious Battle is a politically engaged novel that was, at the time of its publication at the height of the 1930’s Depression, highly controversial.  The book follows Jim Nolan, a young man from poverty stricken circumstances, who is disillusioned with a system that he perceives as unjust, in which his father fought a losing battle for justice all his life, while his mother futilely sought salvation in a God that does not exist.  Joining a group of communists determined to bring about a new world order, Jim is desperate to prove his devotion to their ideals and an opportunity soon presents itself.  It has been announced that pay rates have been reduced for the apple pickers in the orchards that year, this after the arrival of itinerant workers at the site.  The organisation decides to manipulate this disharmony to bring about a general strike amongst the workers.  Jim is to serve as an apprentice to the experienced Mac McLeod, a shrewd, idealistic and courageous labor organiser and campaigner.

As the ensuing strike develops it becomes apparent that the radicals are less interested in whether the strike is successful and more in mobilising support for the ongoing war that lies ahead. Steinbeck is adept at capturing the turmoil of the times in his description of the escalating hardships of the disenfranchised migrant workers; the poverty, hunger, the fear of the police and the ever present threat of vigilantes, as the strike rises in intensity, destruction and ultimately ends in tragedy.  The worker versus capital confrontation is described in great depth from the tactics deployed by both sides to the psychology of manipulation, the importance of gathering public support and the significance played by propaganda, factors that have lost none of their relevance today.

This thought provoking novel is perhaps one of Steinbeck’s most compelling works, in which the author skillfully resists the temptation for commentary, leaving the reader to reach their own conclusion on where the real exploitation lies and whether its deployment is justifiable as a means to an end.

Oh happy days. I’m in Budapest for the season with my dearest, most supportive, most loyal friends – in many ways, my family.  And I’ve reason to celebrate. A radio drama I wrote and am producing ‘Cow’,  has won full funding  from the BAI  Sound and Vision  scheme. We will go into the studio, in Kilkenny, Ireland, the first week in February.

The drama is to be directed by renowned Irish director/playwright Jim Nolan. ‘Cow’ will also feature the talents of Waterford actor Michael Power, who recently finished shooting an episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ for HBO, Madeleine Brolly, a veteran of BBC Radio 4 drama and Geraldine Crowley, a Dublin based actor who hails from Barrabehy, Co. Kilkenny. The soundscape will be managed and produced by BBC sound engineer, Eugene Sully. They’re a highly professional and talented team, I’m enormously lucky to have them on board and I’m sure their expertise will enhance my little drama no end.

Catching up with dear friends, Dob utca, 22nd Dec. 2012

And on the same day I got word that ‘Cow’ was successful in the funding bid, I also heard that I’ve been shortlisted for the East of England’s Escalator Award – on a proposal for a novel I’m writing. So, once again, Oh happy days!

Hey, this year has been challenging in many other ways. There have certainly been tough moments. But how lovely to go out on such an up beat note. And, I’m due to enter the New Year with an intense, focused period of writing on Inis Oirr, one of the Aran Islands, where I’m ‘artist-in-residence’ for January.

I’ve got a long list of projects to concentrate on whilst there, and am hoping it proves very fruitful – if I don’t get blown off a cliff. The population is Irish speaking – which will be a challenge, as I haven’t really  spoken Irish since I left school. Ufasach!  If you’ve ever seen ‘Father Ted’, Inis Oirr is actually the island used as ‘Craggy Island’, in the opening credits. Yes, I’ll probably turn up in the Kilkenny studio with a full beard and a grizzly bear in tow. But hey, it’ll be worth it.

Many thanks to you, visitors to my blog, for dropping by this year. I wish you all the best of the season and may you have much success in all your endeavours in 2013!

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If Mike Murphy went the other way with the whodunit aspect of the episode, then the mystery wouldn’t feel natural. The reveal of the episode falls into the category of “it’s so obvious no one would suspect it.” At the same time the opposite is true, for almost all mystery stories, which I believe keeps the reader turning pages (or in this case, the listener to keep on listening). The individual wants to know if they’re right, not be given the answer. At least, that’s my philosophy on mystery stories.

All in all this episode really sold me on Jim Nolan.

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The first episode of this ongoing mystery is not very mysterious. I knew it was the campaign manager almost immediately. It wasn’t that hard, because it was either the police chief or him. They were the only two suspects, and characters for that matter that could possibly have any motive. And, it would be to easy for the culprit to be someone in the Boston Police Department. So, by process of elimination, it had to be the campaign manager. I realize it could have been someone not introduced, but I really hate those kind of mystery stories. The one that immediately pops into my head is the Sherlock Holmes story: “A Scandal in Bohemia.” (Not really sure, but it’s one of the first three stories in any copy of the book). The culprit in the story, if my memory serves me correctly, was someone who was never introduced in the story until the end. I was glad that it wasn’t one of those stories, but the mystery wasn’t very intriguing. I will admit that I didn’t know why he would do that, but I had some suspicions. However, none of them were correct.

Even though the mystery element of the story wasn’t up to par, the story and characters were really well rounded for a first episode. Usually it takes at least six episodes for me to get used to actor’s voices, the character’s motives and the story being told. But, I felt a real connection with Jim Nolan and the other characters. Maybe it’s because the format was like an episode of a crime television show. It needs to be self-contained and have a beginning, middle and end. the ending was too easy to figure out, but the beginning and middle is what really got me interested in going on with this series. The fact that the ending didn’t affect the entire episode speaks volumes about Mike Murphy’s talents as a writer. After all, a bad ending can ruin a perfectly good story. Not that it was bad, but it could have been better.