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WISE IRISH BLOG

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All the way from the Emerald Isle!

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Hugo Kelly

Entering into the second week of our visiting writers series we had an inspirational visit from the lovely and talented Mr. Hugo Kelly.

A fiction writer and an active member of the very successful Galway writers' group Talking Stick. Hugo has won over twenty awards for his short fiction works in Ireland and in Great Britain including most recently the Brian Moore Award.



Hugo works full time at the James Hardiman Library at NUIG and has been writing since his youth. After his stint in University he took a year out at the age of 23 to write his first novel and admitted it was not his best work. There was a similar vibe to talk he gave - because he (again, like our writer last week Nuala Ní Chonchúir) brought the realities of being a writer in Ireland today up close and personal.

Mr. Kelly took us through the early years of his writing career sharing with us tips of the trade and what he did to keep busy and get his name out there. He was not interested in being a martyr , and has never felt the need to suffer for his art. He feels very fortunate to have found a job he really likes (Information Librarian) at NUIG. He gets to earn a decent wage and still pursue his passion.

Hugo read one of his pieces from a chapbook of his titled Night. Day Follows. The story began with a young man trying to hang himself in the kitchen and the ghosts of his parents arrive and a conversation ensues. It was a great piece. There is some talent required in writing about something disturbing like a man trying to hang himself and making it so ordinary as the ghosts of his parents carried on reading the newspaper and telling him not to use a roller to paint his ceilings as it wastes good paint. Yes - enjoyed by the whole class!

Looking forward to next week!

That is all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna



3 Comments:

Rebecca Sutherland said...

Hi Hugo,
I've just enjoyed The Lost Weekend. I listen to Radio 4 constantly, yet this piece really stood out. I'm not single or childless, neither do I have an elderly relative with declining mental health. Yet I found your piece economic, highly original and touchingly human.
Keep writing.
Rebecca Sutherland

Lexi said...

I've just listened to The Lost Weekend on Radio4 Extra, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I've been poking around the internet to see if I can find some more of Hugo Kelly's writing...

Lexi

WiseMóna said...

Hi Lexi,
It is hard enough to find his stuff but I love him. He works at NUIG so you might want to try to email him directly to see if he has links to share. ( I do not have his email address but will look for it).

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