A Limerick literary wizard behind the curtain
DOUBLE Academy Award winning actor Jack Lemmon (1925 –2001) never ventured before a camera without repeating the mantra ‘magic time’ several times as if he were conjuring a muse.
Limerick-born fiction writer Edward O’Dwyer appears to have borrowed something of his ‘wizardry’ in a second collection of short stories entitled ‘The Man Who Became Poems’ (2023).
Hot foot from his debut tome ‘Cheat Sheets’ (2018) the author makes a spectacular leap of faith from the steamy sexual betrayal of the latter towards ‘Twilight Zone’ grotesquerie in the former.
The ends justified the means, however, with resulting critical acclaim serving to affirm this research graduate’s, (US Apocalyptic Horror Films Post- 9/11), literary standing as both erudite and apposite.
“Magic realism is a term that absolutely applies to every story in the collection,” explained O’Dwyer. “Speculative elements arrive in the stories freely and I allow the plots to go to unusual places.”
Indeed, they are, the reader will agree, the product of an unusual imagination.
“If, for example, I am going to write about a romantic relationship or a divorce, there must be something different about it, and there has to be something that adds a bit of fun and intrigue, so a little magic realism goes a long way there.”
Crucially, the lines between fantasy and reality in his literature are blurred to such an extent that the reader is forced to assume they are, in effect, one and the same.
Regardless, the personal seismic events explored by O’Dwyer necessitate a deviation from our everyday real-world preoccupations.
Mungret-based secondary school teacher, Edward O’Dwyer read English, Media, and Communications, at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), before perfecting his literary ‘secret sauce’.
He stated: “You will sacrifice just about everything because it means that much to you. There are things I might like to do but don’t, because you can’t do everything, and books/writing, are too important to me.”
‘The Man Who Became Poems’ by Edward O'Dwyer is published by the Limerick Writers' Centre. For further information, contact [email protected]
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DONAL Ryan was the first Irish writer to be awarded the Jean-Monnet Prize for European Literature. He lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.
“These were a joy to read. Unexpected, wickedly clever, sometimes achingly beautiful, these are Borgesian in their whimsical abstractions and Beckettian in the spareness and elegance of their execution. I loved these beautiful, playful prose pieces, with their solid spines of truth and cores of pure love.”
Dan Mooney’s debut novel, ‘Me, Myself and Them’, won the Luke Bitmead Bursary Award (2016) earning him a publishing contract with Legend Press.
“I absolutely loved these stories. Beautifully crafted in a style that’s subtle, dark, compelling and somehow tantalising. There’s a beautiful range with the dark complexity in some and a brutal, poignant simplicity in others. The often-twisted wit adds an off-beat humour to some stories that I simply haven’t seen elsewhere. A stunning collection of the bizarre and absurd told in a style so unique it will leave you thinking long after you’ve finished reading,” said Dan.
Dominic Taylor is the Co-founder and Director of the not-for-profit Limerick Writers' Centre since its foundation in 2008.
“Emerging Irish author Edward O'Dwyer represents the fresh talent invigorating the country's literary landscape today.
The Limerick Writers' Centre is proud of its role in nurturing his evolution as an author, from his first tentative open mic performance at the White House poetry nights in the early 2000s, to publishing his second short story collection 'The Man Who Became Poems' in 2023.”
Belfast-born fiction writer, Rosemary Jenkinson, is an award-winning playwright and short story writer.
She said: “The Man Who Became Poems (2023) is a boldly inventive collection full of love, longing, witty observations and clever metaphors for our daily existence.
“O’Dwyer is the Salvador Dali of Irish literature, pinpointing with veracity the complexities of human relationships and evoking images that surreally dazzle and entrance.”