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Hi Reader,
The high art of fiction has gone on a wild fancy; great books
now cower behind the peripheral walls while pulp fiction takes the centre stage. This is because
entertainers and celebrities are now the ultimate judges of our literature. In the UK, the
back-door to a box-office is to have a book endorsed by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan on
Richard & Judy, their popular talk show on Channel four. In the news recently, a group of
American writers/Authors genuflected to Oprah that she might recommend their books to her
audience. No, Oprah is not a grey hair emeritus Professor of English. She is not even the
Literary Editor of The New York Times. She is Oprah Winfrey, yes, the amiable host of
Oprah, a talkshow with worldwide audience. In Ireland we are not there yet, but it is
evident that, with Hughes & Hughes in conjunction with Irish Independent we are
not far away.
Accept that Art is like an architectural masterpiece, and anyone
with a keen eye for the beautiful can appreciate a magnificent mansion. But unlike a good
house, a great book cannot be judged by its cover, but by the interplay of its thematic concern,
plot pattern, character portrayal, structural organisation, Language and stylistic technique.
Our Book Reviews Special is both a search for the authentic
Irish Novel of the Year 2004 and a creative attempt to rescue art from this wild fancy.
We have subjected Hughes & Hughes' shortlists: The Master
by Colm Tóibín; Tatty by Christine Dwyer
Hickey; Havoc, in It's Third Year by Ronan Bennett;
and Swallowing The Sun by David Park, to the most
audacious aesthetic critique, using the above technical markers.
* * *
Lee Dunne is the most controversial writer in Ireland.
When his book, Paddy Maguire Is Dead!, was banned in 1972 he stood at the top of
Grafton Street and distributed one hundred copies of it free, daring the
authorities to arrest him. They didn't. The other day, he wrote to me to say, with a "middle
aged" buzz: "I was teaching students in the art of writing today at the same college where I got
my MA a year ago. What a privilege!" Dunne is both a stubborn man and a bundle of angelic
humility. This protean temperament he translates as being born a flake and insists he doesn't
know where his madness comes from. In The Big Conversation, the reader will find that there is method in this madness.
* * *
What is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness? Wole Soyinka
Society think it's an inhuman act of terrorism; a well concealed bomb that exploded on Africa and
Africans in 1902...well, something like that. Their A Good African
Critic is actually an intense debate on what constitute good criticisms of
African literature, but there are metaphors that can be lost in translation.
Metaphors. More Metaphors. Our second essay,
The Assumption Chord by Kate Baggott is also imbued
with many metaphors. A reader who wants to realise the full beauty of this essay must look
closely at Baden's memorial painting.
* * *
Fran Orford's cartoons can only be found in the best
places. Let's take a quick count: The Times, The Telegraph, The Observer, Spectator, New
Statesman, Private Eye and the list goes on, all intimidating names. Recently, by
divine intervention, our paths crossed. The result is
FRANkly Speaking!: a showcase of the wit
and fine art of a genius. No, it isn't a one off thing; Fran's Cartoons will grace the
pages of the Dublin Quarterly for a very long time. And in a rare show of benevolence,
Fran has offered us these cartoons for free.
* * *
In our fiction section you will find six (6) interesting short
stories:
Joseph's Pyramid
by Simon Maslin confronts man's existential ennui. Zdravka Evtimova's
The Magazine is a telling agony of love and life.
Buddha Lamp by Matthew Fries is both a mantra for art
and a quest for the spiritual. Alexandra Kitty's The Birthday
Boy of Bingford blends the lure of lucre with the theatre of the absurd.
Gull by David Jordan enthrals by its moral force.
And Michael Hulme's Movie is a metaphor for life as a stage,
full of human actors. Note: Mine is not the final word because, as it is often the case,
these six creative short fiction have the capacity to provoke different artistic sensibilities.
* * *
From where do I begin these seven poems of distinction.
Is it with the sensuous wit of Michael Spring's
Coyotl? Or the melody and the movement of Alley Dolle by
Moez Surani? Or the poetic temperament lurking in the nerve
of the Martin Burke's political verse? In this section, the reader
will find remarkable and well crafted poems by three highly talented poets.
* * *
A special thank you to Frances Cassidy of the
Blanchardstown library, Dublin, Ireland. She made it possible for us to have all the primary
and secondary texts we needed for the 2004 Irish Novel of the Year review. I understand
that sometimes Frances had to source these books from libraries in the most remote part of
Ireland--when they were not available at the Blanchardstown library...
Aha, our new Writers' News section. I know you have
noticed it. It is our way of bringing to you news on writers and writing, as they break
anywhere in the world. But it is also a way to celebrate our own: Those whose works have been
published in the Dublin Quarterly, and have just broken new grounds (won a new award or published
new book) now have a forum to tell the world about it. We are one big family!
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Flying Pigeons by
Peter Oghina
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