The Digital Nib
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
‘Scissors’ by Jane Pearn
Strange how it’s the names of things, the nouns, that leak away. You’d think words that are some of the first we learn – teddy, milk, ball, hat – would be more embedded
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Alex Carrigan Reviews ‘Cyber Smut: A collection of short stories and poetry’ edited by Julianne Ingles
Alex Carrigan reviews 'Cyber Smut a collection of short stories and poetry' edited by Julianne Ingles from Guts Publishing https://www.gutspublishing.com
$11
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
‘Runaways’ by Randy William Santiago
They swayed to the beat and sent currents through the room, bumped us into each other, into dances that weren’t quite accidental but seemed that way.
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
Poetry by Featured Poet, Leeanne Quinn
Quinn is a flawless writer. She draws on the materials life has given her to create a pared but visionary poetry.
Talking Heads
Irish poet Leeanne Quinn in Conversation with Tracy Gaughan
Irish poet, Leeanne Quinn speaks to Tracy Gaughan about literary history, art as consolation and why she never lets herself away with anything in her poems.
Poetry In Translation
Three poems by Astrid Cabral, translated by Alexis Levitin
Astrid Cabral’s poems are visually musical and the rich vein of her native language, Portuguese, is beautifully captured in Alexis Levitin’s translation.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Two Reviews of ‘Rare Birds Voices from Holloway Prison’ by Natalie Scott
Two Blue Nib Reviewers, Lynda Scott Araya and Daniel Ajayi, consider Natalie Scott's 'Rare Birds Voices from Holloway Prison’
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
‘Unethical Use of a Frisbee’ by Nick Sweeney
'Had I not offered the Frisbee man my stare, the brief but unsettling vision of his feather-topped head in my fridge, then he probably wouldn’t have veered off course and found the Frisbee, and the perfect woman'
An Astráil: With Denise O'Hagan
Two poems by Anne M Carson
These two compositions by Australian poet Anne M Carson are as sensual and precisely structured as the music that inspired them!
Talking Heads
Clara Burghelea talks with talented translator, Alexis Levitin
Alexis Levitin shares his view on being a translator in these cruel times: 'to show that we are all human, for better and for worse, and that language can uplift us, even if it cannot save us.'
North American Time: With Felicia McCarthy
Poetry by Bruce Meyer
Bruce Meyer, First Poet Laureate of Barrie, Ontario, CBC broadcaster, and prolific writer.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Emma Lee Reviews ‘Cloak’ by Susan Castillo Street
Emma Lee reviews Susan Castillo Street's 'Cloak'
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
Poetry by Alex Josephy
There’s a sharp-eye and lexical fluency in the work of Alex Josephy. Italian appellations and clever depictions of larger than life plants, create imaginary worlds evocative of Alice.
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
A Discernible Pattern by Lloyd Rees
Get lost in this strange but compelling story from author Lloyd Rees.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Emma Lee Reviews ‘Wolf Planet’ by Oz Hardwick
Emma Lee reviews Oz Hardwick's 'Wolf Planet'.
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
Survive One Must by Chitra Gopalakrishnan
Or did the photographer just use the slant angle on a whim, without giving much thought to its emotional effect?
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
Cretan Jail Journal
I’ve lost the feistiness and determination I exhibited upon capture, screaming for my right to a phone call and demanding the prison phone number so family in Kiev could call back.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Emma Lee Reviews ‘Hinge’ by Alycia Pirmohamed
Emma Lee reviews ‘Hinge’ by Alycia Pirmohamed
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
2 Poems by Kevin Higgins
Thought provoking
as a weeklong convention
on the history of the brown paper bag
in a city without cocktails, massage parlours,
or even as much as a cup of tea.
Talking Heads
Helen Mort in Conversation with Tracy Gaughan
Ahead of appearing in issue 44 of The Blue Nib, Helen Mort speaks to Abhaile editor, Tracy Gaughan about unsung heroes, where poems come from and the places that shape her imagination.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Declan Toohey Reviews ‘The Wild Laughter’ by Caoilinn Hughes
‘The Wild Laughter’ Caoilinn Hughes One World Publications ISBN 9781786077806, £14.99 hardback Towards the end of ‘The Crying of Lot 49’ (1965), Thomas Pynchon defines a visionary...
An Astráil: With Denise O'Hagan
1 Poem by John Bartlett
History and a lingering sense of grief come together in this haunting work by Australian poet John Bartlett which delves into the enduring legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Talking Heads
An interview with Viviana Fiorentino
Don't miss our interview with Vivian Fiorentino, one of the poets included in Issue 43 of The Blue Nib: 'Writing is a form of awakening but also a way to turn violence, rage, despair into transformation. Into hope.'
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
Trapeze Girl by Mark O’Flynn
On cue I would appear on my trapeze high above the ice and spin about the bar as fast as I could go. Like a whirligig, or a blowfly in a cobweb, the rhinestones on my leotard flashing.
North American Time: With Felicia McCarthy
3 Poems by Carolyn L. Tipton
Carolyn L. Tipton, Berkley poet, professor, and award-winning translator brings autumn alive with these short vivid poems.
An Astráil: With Denise O'Hagan
Two poems by Kimberly K Williams
Kimberly K Williams knows just how to hold up a mirror to the precise nature of her wonderment at nature, and we find ourselves immersed in her delicate reflections.
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
3 Poems by Brian Kirk
We’re connected to thousands of years of poetic tradition with Kirk’s fidelity to form. The melodic movement of his visual verse takes us from turbulent sestina to the resting place of Noah’s Ark.
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
The Fall by Judy Birkbeck
‘He was Adam, separate, oak and beech and hazel trees crowded him, squeezed him, they were pigs buckling and squirming and their flesh heaved against him, sizzled and withered to a crinkled brown mass of labyrinths that formed and melted, formed and melted, and the air was full of screams. His own.’
Translation Po-int: With Clara Burghelea
2 Poems by John Casquarelli translated from Turkish by Sevda Akyuz
John Casquarelli’s poems exult in vividness and engage the body of the reader in unexpected ways.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
‘The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree’ by Shokoofeh Azar
Dave Kavanagh reviews ‘The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree’ by Shokoofeh Azar, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, 2020.
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
Border Post by Charlie Gracie
Charlie Gracie weaves a wonderful tale of a bothy and a border post.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
‘The Adventures of China Iron’ by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Dave Kavanagh reviews ‘The Adventures of China Iron’ by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, 2020.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Dave Kavanagh Reviews ‘Tyll’ by Daniel Kehlmann
Dave Kavanagh reviews 'Tyll' by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, 2020.
North American Time: With Felicia McCarthy
2 Poems by John Hicks
John Hicks fills his poetry with vibrant colour and sound, in response to the world around him
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
4 Poems by John D. Kelly
Kelly is a poet of depth and flexibility who interrogates his surroundings, drawing intertextually on a variety of cultural references.
An Astráil: With Denise O'Hagan
1 poem by John Robert Grogan
Let yourself be carried along by the lyricism and tightly packed melancholy of this villanelle by Irish-Australian poet, John Robert Grogan!
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
Tracy Gaughan Reviews ‘The Loss of Yellowhammers’ by John D. Kelly
The Loss of Yellowhammers’ by John D. Kelly Published by Summer Palace Press, Donegal ISBN: 978-0-9954529-4-7 There is a pleasure to be occasioned in the poetry of...
SeanchaÃ: With Lydia Renfro
Touching the Past by Frances Guerin
Youth meets age in Frances Guerin's engaging short story exploring the pain of loss.
Latest Articles
Editorial
The end is nigh and parting is indeed such sweet sorrow
As an awful years ends, we bid you farewell.
Dave Kavanagh, Managing Editor of The Blue Nib celebrates the readers, writers, contributors and editors who have made the last five years so very special.
Talking Heads
MARK TREDINNICK IN CONVERSATION WITH DENISE O’HAGAN
In this in-depth and articulate conversation, celebrated Australian poet Mark Tredinnick shares some of his insights on poetry - what first drew him to it, what it means to him, and how he works.
The Write Life With Clare Morris
Thanks for the Memories
Maggie Sawkins and Margaret Kiernan share poignant memories from their childhood.
The Write Life With Clare Morris
‘Ezekiel’ by Eugene Yakubu
The village was gloomy when I got there. Its hand to its cheeks. Last time I was here my grandfather Bobai Lambaya was being buried. Now my brother.
Abhaile: With Tracy Gaughan
Poetry by Alwyn Marriage
Managing editor of the publishing house, Oversteps Books, Alwyn's eleven books include poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Emma Lee reviews ‘Tymes Goe By Turnes Solstice Shorts Festival 2020’ edited Cherry Potts
Emma Lee reviews 'Tymes Goe By Turnes Solstice Shorts Festival 2020' edited by Cherry Potts
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Lynda Scott Araya reviews John Bartlett’s ‘Awake at 3am’
Linda Scott Araya reviews John Bartlett's 'Awake at 3am'
The Critical Nib: With Emma Lee
Emma Lee reviews Jena Woodhouse’s ‘Dreams of Flight’
Emma Lee reviews Jena Woodhouse's 'Dreams of Flight'