I am delighted to announce that after several self-published
poetry collections and individual poems published here and there, my first
proper book backed by a publisher, Lapwing Publications(Belfast), has just been
produced.
The book is available to buy here - https://sites.google.com/a/lapwingpublications.com/lapwing-store/joe-cushnan
Feathers Ruffled
by
Joe Cushnan
2017 Lapwing Publications
ISBN 978-1-910855-72-0
53 Pages
£10
In 1960, my father left our Belfast home, his wife and seven
young children and vanished. The next we heard of him was when we were told he
had died at 57 in Clapham, London. This collection of poems was borne out of my
research into his 22 'missing' years. The poems concern him, my mother, my
family, Belfast and me.
Contents:
Larkin's Opener
Feathers
Anger
Unpicking
Loose-Limbed
Yellow
One-Seventy
Bingnian
Comfort Food
Handshake
Shoelaces
Engaged
Scab
Sweet And Holy
Bobble Hat
Belfast TV News
Missiles
Copper And Silver
Buses
Boom!
Where?
Who's Your Daddy?
Fags
Cloth-Cutter
Sausages Burning And Shaving Soap
Idol
Private Messaging
Not A Second Thought
Car Wash
Butter Face
Wallet
Bouquets
Last Known Address
Imagined Chat
Counting
The Wake
Orlando Road
Imagine That
Regrets
Minor Incident
Bingo!
Cold
Epilogue
On Friday 13 January 2018, I was interviewed by Michael Bradley on BBC Radio Ulster's Arts Show about the book and the story behind it. Here's the BBC iPlayer link but I don't know how long it will be active. I'm around 20 minutes in reading Shoelaces, Bobble Hat and Counting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09l690d
The book has received warm responses from a variety of sources (not all family and friends!!) and I have further plans to promote it.
Like anything launched into the public domain, there are those who will like it, those who will dislike it and those who will ignore it. C'est la vie.
Lapwing Publications
c/o 1 Ballysillan Drive
Belfast
BT 14 8HQ
Northern Ireland
The book is available to buy here
- https://sites.google.com/a/lapwingpublications.com/lapwing-store/joe-cushnan
Footnote:
In
process is a memoir of my father - Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly? In Search of My
Father: The Mystery of 22 Missing Years - my major project kindly
fund-supported by The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern
Ireland. Feathers Ruffled is not part of this project, although some of the
material is related.
Encouragingly though, a publisher in Dublin and one in Belfast have expressed positive interest in the story, with both asking to review more material.
Encouragingly though, a publisher in Dublin and one in Belfast have expressed positive interest in the story, with both asking to review more material.
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