Kildare author publishes debut poetry book
Rani Grennell and her debut collection
THE notion that memories are shadows which follow us through life is quite a nice one, and that's where Kilcullen drama and voice coach Rani Grennell got the idea for the title of her newly published first book of poems.
is available on Amazon in print and Kindle formats, and from Barnes & Noble.
The collection of more than 70 poems spans a timeline from Rani's teens until the present day, and she's offering a collection that she hopes will resonate with everyone.
The themes cover life experiences, relationships, family, and her love of nature and animals.
"Each poem stands on its own, but together, they form a picture, if you like, of what my life has been so far," she said.
"It's a collection that can be seen as personal, but hopefully, there's a universality in the experiences of life in it as well."
She says that poetry was always for her a kind of release for emotions and experiences.
"When something really moved me, or was very beautiful, the way I was able to capture that was through writing poetry."
Rani originally trained at The London Guildhall School of Speech and Drama and subsequently worked as an actress in many of the main theatres in Dublin and Cork.
In 1978, she opened her own Drama School, which has grown and evolved to include many communication skills.
Her studio is near Carnalway, outside Kilcullen, where she also trains for film, theatre, and radio auditions and has developed modules for Transition Year students and for children with special needs.
Dancing with Shadows came about through the prompting of friends who had been reading her poems through the years and urged her to publish them.
"Eventually, I sent them out to various publishers, but got the standard response that 'we're not taking on any new work at the moment'.
“Then a friend suggested self-publishing, but you need to know a lot about publishing to do that successfully, and I didn't. Then I looked at publishing services companies, and eventually went with BritLit.
“It's UK-based — I'd have liked to go with someone more local, but there wasn't one."
Working with a BritLit designer, for a fee, Rani finally got her book together. The company also managed the Amazon and Barnes & Noble placements. When the book went live last week, her initial feeling was “terrifying”.
"You know, I had sat in the solitude of my kitchen all those years writing them. They were mine, and there had been varying reactions from friends and family. But now they're out in public, and my poor 'baby' is out there to be criticised.
"What if nobody likes them? But having said that, there's a great sense of achievement and I'm absolutely delighted about it."
She says that seeing in print and on sale has energised her to keep going with writing.
She has previously written short stories and is currently working on a non-poetry book titled The Confessions of a Serial Dog Owner.
Given the relationship of Irish people with their dogs, the title alone could make that one a bestseller.
