University of Limerick students wow crowd at launch of new anthology

A BREADTH of talent wowed a crowd of bookworms at the launch of The Ogham Stone’s 10th edition.

Produced by UL English and Creative Writing students, the latest edition of The Ogham Stone features over 30 students and six feature writers, including Sarah Gilmartin, Roisin Meaney, Roy Galvin, Fíona Scarlett, Lisa McInerney, Jack Fennell, Jane Clark - and many more.

A journal of new Irish writings, The Ogham Stone launched its 10th edition on Thursday, April 18 at Narrative4 - with a full house. 

Lisnagry’s very own Sarah Gilmartin, author of the acclaimed novel Service and Irish Times literary critic, had a three-word review for the anthology.

“Elegant, varied and considered,” she said.

As part of the event launched, Sarah read her piece Homeward Bound. As a literary critic, how does it feel to face a crowd of fellow writers, who are all, in their own way, critics too?

“I am still getting used to reading in front of a crowd. But tonight, there's such a lovely crowd and that has been the whole process of The Ogham Stone. It’s such a collective, communal effort, and everyone really supporting everyone else,” she said.

Her piece was inspired by her grandmother, who was from Shanagolden, a small village in Co Limerick.

“When I was a very young child, my grandmother had dementia. We brought her out a couple of times to see the places that she would have remembered from when she was younger. She always used to point to this really fancy house on a hill, overlooking the water. That image came into my head and I just kind of went with it, it was the image that started the piece,” the author explained.

Roy Galvin, Ireland’s first male ballet dancer, read an exclusive piece from his upcoming memoir.

Throughout his career, the Limerick city native has lived many lives. But the life he was surprised by the most is not the one you would expect.

“Being a performer and growing up on stage in front of people from a very early age made me very jealous of people who had normal, ordinary lives. All my life, all I've ever wanted was an ordinary life. So the name of my memoir, the title, should I say, of my memoir is In Pursuit of A Normal Life,” he said.

Roy, who now lives in Tipperary, says coming back to Limerick is like “returning to the well”.

“Oh, I love Limerick,” he smiled broadly.  “This is where I learned everything about art, music, dance. It was all from Limerick.

“As a schoolboy, I used to go to piano lessons, art classes, dancing classes.  I used to go to King John's Castle, and listen to poetry. For me, Limerick was kind of the essence of a highly artistic life. So when I come back to Limerick, I'm always reconnecting with that. I see Limerick as a centre for arts.”

The 10th edition of The Ogham Stone can be purchased from O’Mahony’s.