Kildare open mic night is an evening of talent and shared creative spirit
David Scott and Pud Barrett perform at the open mic night
LIKE Sunday Miscellany on steroids, performers at the recent Woodbine Books Open Mic night in Kilcullen delivered an evening of excellent writing and music in extraordinary variety, spanning the full gamut of emotions and experience in two hours of brilliant entertainment. The now annual summer event also marked the end of the season for the Woodbine Creative Writers Group.
Bookshop proprietor Dawn Behan opened on a sad note, marking the recent passing of one of the group’s founding members, John Martin. “
A brilliant writer and always so generous with his feedback,” she recalled. “We are all so much better off for having known him.”
Prizes were then presented for a recent competition organised by the group and funded under the Brigid 1500 programme by Kildare County Council.
Judged by former group moderator Ilona Blunden, who now teaches creative writing in Maynooth, the competition saw winners including Anne Coakley and Amanda Durkan receive books shortlisted for this year’s An Post Book Awards.
Both read their winning entries: Anne her poem , and Amanda her dark flash fiction piece, .
The youngest person present, Raven Evans, followed with four poems, read with a presence beyond her years. Her assured wordcraft revealed colour and richness in the everyday natural world and suggested a promising writing future ahead.
Charlie Gregova then delivered , a brooding reflection on the gap between childhood belief and adult reality, before David Murray returned to his favoured fantasy territory with a tale of a broken knight finding redemption through a second chance.
Phil Cummins shifted the mood with a beautifully acted monologue about family life with dogs and their response to the moods and dynamics of a household.
Music followed from David Scott and Pud Barrett, whose set of songs and guitar playing perfectly suited the intimate atmosphere: , , , and .
Celia Murphy’s brought listeners to the famous Liffeyside bookshop-café, watching Dublin and the Ha’penny Bridge from its window while pondering the stories and ghosts that live on in the river’s night-time reflections. Brian Fogarty then offered three poems musing on literary pretension, the overload of modern life, and unrequited love.
Orla Ní Sheaghaidh read one of her typically delicious comic pieces, mining her panic for humour in an account of a flight from the mainland to Inishmore.
Henry Murphy followed in a similar spirit with a mock email to a supervisor, building comedy from officious language in pursuit of overdue overtime payment.
The audience then discovered where Raven may have inherited some of her creative flair, as her father, Reuben Evans, read from , a children’s book he had written with 256 endings, the path to each determined by audience responses to a series of two-choice questions.
Geraldine Gahan’s memoir traced the legacy of a multi-generational gardening family and what they taught her about food self-sufficiency.
Bernadette Murray contributed a short poem, , moving from the games of youth to an awareness of ageing in a tapestry of life carried forward like the notes of an old song.
Bernie Ahearn’s evocative recalled rural community dancing before the showband era changed everything, with its shy men, missed chances, family expectations, and lives shaped by emigration. Anninka Shimshek then read a short poem describing the images that come to mind when she says colours aloud, including in other languages she speaks. Sean Corrigan delivered , a sharply crafted rap recalling college days when he was introduced as a poet, though he would rather have been known simply as someone who played GAA.
Mary Barber revisited the story of Thornton Lace, a famine-relief enterprise established by Englishwoman Elizabeth Roberts in a townland outside Kilcullen — a history, she suggested, long lost in shadow and deserving to be spoken of again 180 years later. Celia Murphy returned with a memoir of finally visiting Nashville, capturing the childlike excitement of seeing the capital of country music.
Kayleigh Treacy then read , charting an emotional journey from a toxic relationship and abuse towards reclaimed autonomy.
As a parting gift, Charlie Gregova — leaving Kilcullen after a year made “wonderful” by the writing group and wider community — shared a recipe and a baked sample of their favourite garlic bread. David Murray then closed the written programme with , disproving the “unfortunate rumour” that he writes only fantasy in a short poem about unspoken love and secret admiration.
The night ended with more songs from David Scott and Pud Barrett, including , its theme of recovery and growth a fitting close to an evening rich in talent, warmth, and shared creative spirit.
