ROPES Literary Journal - Blog

MALP 2025 at the Publishing Ireland Conference

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 14:27:00 +0000

The MA Literature and Publishing programme at the University of Galway had the privilege of attending this year's Publishing Ireland Conference in November. Every speaker there had a lot to offer, from more hot-button discussions like Pan Macmillan Global AI lead Sara Lloyd's presentation to Simon Mellins's wonky but just as stimulating discussion of accessibility in publishing.

We also attended the launch of The Accidental Publisher at the O’Brien Press 50th Anniversary celebration, in conjunction with the anniversary reprint of Me Jewel and Darlin’ Dublin. It was, for us, a real privilege to brush with this integral part of Irish publishing history.

Our own Catherine Hickey has a wonderful recap of this year's conference on the Publishing Ireland website - read it here!

Flirting with the Unknown: Jazzing Up My College Experience

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 09:39:00 +0000

Like my fellow classmates, I embarked on my own educational journey before joining the MA programme in Literature and Publishing in September 2023. Prior to this, it had been a dream of mine for as long as I could remember to attend Trinity College Dublin. I envisioned walking among the cobblestones and antiquated buildings with the freedom to traverse the Arts Block, sauntering to and from the library without a care in the world other than my studies, the music in my ears, and where I was going to buy my next coffee. Lo and behold, I got in! And to my dismay, it was nothing like I had imagined. I had built up this fantasy in my head that, inevitably, reality could never live up to. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with Trinity, I still view it as the Hogwarts of Ireland. It just wasn’t for me – I didn’t even last a full academic year. Such is life. I dropped out, had a great summer, and went to IADT. It’s a much smaller institute, and I loved every second of my four years there. I finished up in 2020, joined the workforce, survived the pandemic, and decided to return to the academic world to pursue a passion that I have only recently realised I could turn into a career. And so, I find myself here, in the sunny, rain-soaked Wes(h)t of Ireland, with new friends, new skills, and new opportunities, one of which I’d like to focus on in this blog post.

The University of Galway has a student-run radio station called Flirt FM 101.3. If you haven’t already heard of it, check it out. It’s one of three campus community radio stations in Ireland, and one of only 21 licensed radio stations on the island. In short, it’s pretty unique. As such, I wanted to get involved in some way. I considered volunteering as a researcher for someone’s show, perhaps for an Arts & Culture hour. To my surprise, however, I landed myself my own show, Saxy Goodness. It airs bi-weekly, as I share the Friday 8pm slot with another show, Jazz Souffle. My tagline is 'the show where I bring you the best jazz, blues, and soul music from the past and the present,’ and I do exactly that, if I may say so myself. Honestly, it’s the perfect excuse to talk about an area of music that not many of my friends, if any, enjoy. Also, when else am I going to have the opportunity to sit in a fully decked out recording studio?

I have no interest in becoming a broadcaster, and as my show airs, I have no idea if anyone’s listening or if my words are just floating out into the ether, but that’s not what matters. Planning, recording, editing, and listening back to myself is just as much fun for me as it is (I hope) for any of my listeners. I do know I have at least one though, because they emailed in with a query once. Jackpot.

I’ve learned so much from running this show, both about myself and the content I discuss. For instance, I never knew I had the confidence or competence to record and broadcast a show – I don’t even like listening to my own voice messages! I’ve structured it so that each show focuses on a certain artist from the jazz/blues/soul world, and I ‘research’ them in advance. (I use the term 'research' lightly because not everything I say is watertight, so please excuse any inaccuracies. I'm a lit student – not a history student – with a passion for good music. That's all.) The majority of my Artists of Choice are of North American origin or residence, simply due to the sheer abundance of music of this genre produced there in the 20th century, particularly from the 1930s through to the 1960s. Artists like Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Elvis Presley (yes, he wasn't always just the King of Rock and Roll), and others, have been the focus of my shows so far. I’ve learned things I had never known, such as the reason for the lack of jazz music produced in Ireland in the early 20th century. To cut a long story short, an anti-jazz campaign in the 1930s reaped the country of any such music, which caused a ripple effect across the Irish music scene that is still evident today. Instead of jazz, we favoured trad music and classic rock, producing many talented and memorable voices. The jazzy-bluesy folk only emerged decades later, and even at that, they are few and far between. I am constantly on the lookout for jazz artists of Irish origin, but it’s just not something that’s hugely popular here. We do have our annual Cork Jazz Festival, but most of the music there is either international or, if native, mostly instrumental.

For each show, I discuss the personal and professional history of my Artist of Choice and create a playlist of songs with a slight emphasis on said artist’s music. The songs I choose span from the 1930s right up to today, as my tagline suggests. I have an hour-long slot dedicated to, as I say, the best jazz, blues, and soul music available, and in case you doubt me, you can listen back to past shows on Mixcloud. Sadly, my master’s programme finishes up (technically) in March, though I may stay on campus until April or May, but after that, my show will cease to exist. It may come as a shock, but I actually don’t have a recording studio in my own home, and there’s only so much the little microphone in my AirPods can do.

I’ve enjoyed the experience immensely and will continue to for the remainder of my time here. My confidence and love for jazz, blues, and soul music has only grown, as has my knowledge and the scope of artists I now find myself listening to. I grew up with Fats Waller and Nina Simone, I discovered Billie Holiday, Bill Withers, and Frank Sinatra during my angsty teenage years playing Fallout and watching Meg Ryan rom-coms on repeat, and I fell in love with Leon Bridges and Gregory Porter as their fame grew alongside my own musical independence and curiosity. The range of music out there is boundless and I’m so excited to see who I discover next.

If you’d like to dip your toes in and listen to what I’ve played, give the official playlist a go. I update it after each show (that is, until I have to say goodbye):

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4UiQQ1gM03VY8fzZITTkcf?si=d138d73e932846c2

If you’re braver, bolder, and have your shuffle-button at the ready, live a little and listen to my personal playlist (it’s a mammoth – be warned). It features an array of singers, musicians, and instrumentalists spanning almost a century and is called ‘saxy goodness’ which is where my show’s name originated:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CXuJyQ0LJyT0bgwySlLNy?si=cb7ae01844b44fbd

When I was accepted into this master’s programme, I did not expect to become a temporary radio broadcaster, and yet, alongside ROPES, it’s going to be the thing I look back on and really appreciate how great an opportunity it was, and realise how bloody proud I am for taking that opportunity by the reigns and committing myself to it. I suppose that’s what college is all about, right? If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend taking it, even if you think fear will get the better of you. Flirt with the unknown and jazz up your college experience. I did, and I have no regrets.

Instagram: @saxygoodnessflirtfm

Laura Murphy

Lost in Translation

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:25:00 +0000

When I first set foot in Ireland, a revelation began to dawn upon me – that my "potaje" conceptually equated to a simple soup, and that "trapo" denoted nothing more than any piece of fabric, unbound by the sole purpose of cleaning. I finally comprehended, through personal experience, the essence of the so-called cultural shock. More profoundly, I discerned that culture is intangibly woven into the words we articulate. Upon my second descent into the land of the green shamrock and the Celtic harp, I came to realise that my thoughts were crafted in one language and unveiled to the world in another. I still recall the moment when my high school English teacher congratulated me for successfully transitioning to English thinking. However, she neglected to mention that, from that juncture onward, a part of me would dim each time I spoke either language, dissipating amidst native nuances exclusive to each.

Indeed, everyone acknowledges that, in one way or another, something is lost in translation. Nevertheless, it appears as though that elusive "something" should remain in the realm of vagueness, almost as if no one dares venture to name it. Gabriel García Márquez, in his magnum opus One Hundred Years of Solitude, wrote, "Macondo era entonces una aldea de veinte casas de barro y cañabrava construidas a la orilla de un río de aguas diáfanas que se precipitaban por un lecho de piedras pulidas, blancas y enormes como huevos prehistóricos." (13). It is said that the English translation of this novel is better than the original, a sentiment even expressed by García Márquez himself (Lind). It reads, "At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs." (3). In the English version, the houses are made solely of clay, not reed; the water is merely clear, not ornamentally diaphanous; and the categorisation of the stones as polished surpasses that of being white and enormous, which are both relegated to subordination. My aim is not to denounce Gregory Rabassa's translation, by any means; rather, my interest lies in the observation that something is both added and lost in translations, as if an alternate reality opens up—fascinatingly similar to the original, yet never identical.

There was a period in my life when the stars aligned, and I found myself in translation classes studying a book penned by a girl from the Canaries, which I also used to sell at the bookstore where I was doing my internship. During those months, where I dedicated at least one daily thought to Panza de burro, I once again became acutely aware of that elusive "something" that magically dissipates at the border between two languages. Despite its words being intricately intertwined with the specific culture of the Canary Islands in every word, this book was translated into English. Beyond the technical quality of the translation itself, the result is a complete cultural dislocation for any reader not acquainted with the rural culture of the islands. Even the title, Dogs of Summer, falls light-years away from the original title, which alludes to the term used in the Canary Islands to describe an atmospheric phenomenon occurring in the northern regions when a sea of clouds accumulates between the mountain slopes due to the trade winds that batter them. Evidently, such a title is impossible to translate, leaving cultural equivalence as the only alternative. The rest of the book presents even more specific and insurmountable cases, from the very colloquial and Canarian expression "jalaba del agua" (23) reduced to a mere "she'd flush," (10) to grammatical modifications characteristic of spoken language, such as "salidos pafuera" (27) (instead of the grammatically correct "para fuera"), replaced by the very neutral "stuck out." (15). Once again, the intangibility of the original narrative essence lies beyond the reader's grasp in the translated version, and one can only hope that what remains and what is added proves sufficient to captivate them.

Now, in my journey towards becoming an editor, two languages vie for supremacy in my mind, each aspiring to be the one I ultimately choose for my profession. Opting for translation might have been the simpler route, yet something within me whispered that in doing so, I would be betraying the two tongues that encode my thoughts, never quite capturing every nuance and subtlety in their entirety. On one hand, one tastes like universality, projection, and success, lingering on the palate, while the other carries the flavour of familiarity, depth, and home. Regardless of what the future holds for me, and with no intention to draw a conclusion to this verbose contemplation, the undeniable truth remains that each word, irrespective of its reference, harbours a certain magic within. It is a magic that refuses to be isolated, reproduced, or ignored, for it is an intrinsic part of the very essence that witnessed their birth. This magic, ineffable and ethereal, weaves itself into the fabric of language, making each word a vessel of enchantment that transcends mere lexical meaning.

Yaiza Llamas Ramos

Sources

Abreu, Andrea. Dogs of Summer. Translated by Julia Sanches, Astra House, 2022.

---. Panza de burro. Editorial Barrett, 2020.

García Márquez, Gabriel. Cien años de soledad. Diana, 2017.

---. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Translated by Gregory Rabassa, Avon Books, 1971.

Lind, Dara. ‘"You're Shakespeare, but you're playing Hamlet as well": Gregory Rabassa on translation.’ Vox, 14 June 2016, https://www.vox.com/2014/4/20/5628860/hes-universal-a-eulogy-for-gabriel-garcia-marquez-from-his-translator.

The Whole Irish Tradition Thing

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 07:35:00 +0000

“No one who likes Yeats is capable of human intimacy.”

― Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

We have won the Booker, for the sixth time in fact. With the inclusion of four Irish novels in this year’s longlist, it makes us the country with the greatest number of nominees in relation to population size; a whopping 37 writers. Paul Lynch is the sixth Irish author to win the prize since Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea in 1978. Exactly half of Ireland’s Booker prize winners have been women, yet this year our feat of two shortlisted authors was occupied by two Pauls. This is all well and good, excluding the fact that the current Irish literary golden age is dominated by female writers. The glut of our groundbreaking writers at the moment are women, so it is all the more frustrating that only one made the longlist of four Irish writers.

The issue with the Irish writing scene is that it is one whose history is entirely male-dominated, overly revered, and untouchable. There has been a tremendous push to promote female authors being published and read, yet when authors like Anna Burns win the Booker, they are compared to Beckett - despite her opinion that she does not fit into “the whole Irish tradition thing.” Since Anna Burns won the Booker in 2018 for her sharp and experimental novel Milkman, there has been a boom in Irish women changing the world of Irish writing. Yet, despite this great drive to innovate, they still get compared to and asked how they fit into the tradition of Irish writing; if they follow in the vein of Yeats, Joyce, or Beckett? This “Irish Tradition” is a closed box, an all-boys club; unchanging and all pervading. The “Irish Tradition” seems to have no space for Irish women – from whom I think the most exciting writing is emerging. Whilst many male writers are content to sit on this tradition and write about the same old same old, women have been freely experimenting and finding new ways to present the Irish woman’s experience in writing. I believe that the “tradition” too is a cage which hinders the progression of writing through a misplaced loyalty to form and content. You can see this in how the Berlin-based writer Gough described the Irish literary writers of the Celtic Tiger,

“a priestly caste, scribbling by candlelight, cut off from the electric current of the culture. Irish literature had gotten smug and self-congratulatory during the boom; lots of novels about how terrible Ireland’s past was, with all its sexual repression and poverty.”

There is no doubt a freedom to be found writing outside the sphere of acceptance, which is undone upon achieving success and being compared to these figures of the “tradition.” Women have always been at the forefront of literary experimentation exactly because of their exclusion from the male literary world; just look at the development and dismissal of the novel before male writers co-opted it.

The reason we currently have this amazing boom is because of writers like Edna O’ Brien, Anne Enright, Maeve Binchy, and Marian Keyes – those who broke out and achieved success at a time when it was far more difficult. They created the groundwork and showed the success that Irish women could achieve in writing in the modern social landscape. Inspired by them, rather than the stale male canon, the new writers of today have germinated into an astonishing web of form, language, and subject – creating the incredibly rich world of today’s Irish writing scene. There is no doubt that we are experiencing a golden-age of Irish writing, which has absolutely been enabled by the experimentation and diligence of Irish women in the Irish literary scene. These days, we are lucky to have Lisa McInerney, Lucy Caldwell, Louise Kennedy, Elaine Feeney, Nicole Flattery, Kit de Waal, Sinéad Gleeson, Doreann Ní Ghríofa, Sara Baume, Eimear McBride, and so many more. Their efforts have altered the scene and created a far healthier ecosystem for all writers, one less indebted to the men of the past, where experimentation and writing outside of that box is far more welcome.

Tramp Press have long been a fantastic proponent of new and interesting talents, publishing many women who are producing daring writing; the likes of Sara Baume and Doireann Ní Ghríofa. They have taken the time to cultivate emerging writers who are experimenting and pushing the boundaries. With their focus on quality over quantity regarding the books they produce, they have become a highly respected figure in the contemporary Irish literary scene. I would also recommend the collection, Being Various, which was published by Faber and collated by Lucy Caldwell as a fantastic jumping off point to experience the vibrancy of the current Irish scene. Two-thirds of the authors included are women, and Caldwell uses the pieces which she chose for the collection to question Irishness and what exactly being Irish means.

The real Irish writing tradition is not about particular writers, themes, or places. It is a tradition of pushing the boundaries of what writing can do. It is regressive to linger on themes which have been explored to the bedrock and no longer reflect the Irish experience. Naturally, these aspects of our past play a strong role in colouring our contemporary writing, but it is important not to let things stagnate in the name of so-called “tradition.” The real Irish writing tradition is one of revolution, of rejecting what the status quo decrees as high art and real writing. That is the true legacy of our great writers like Joyce and Beckett. Tradition means allowing new names entering the literary scene to stand in their own respects, rather than comparing them to one of these figures. Tradition is an attitude and a response; tradition is change.

Blaise Gilburd

Sources

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2023/08/01/booker-prize-2023-four-irish-writers-make-this-years-longlist/

https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/books/meet-the-author/the-women-shaking-irelands-literary-scene-up

https://stingingfly.org/review/being-various-new-irish-short-stories/

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/how-the-booker-prize-has-reflected-the-new-golden-age-of-irish-fiction

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/17/new-irish-literary-boom-post-crash-stars-fiction

Interning with the Dublin Book Festival: My Experience

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 06:57:00 +0000

This autumn I interned with the Dublin Book Festival as an Administration and Marketing Assistant for their 2023 program. With over a hundred events taking place in various locations around Dublin, the festival is a daunting, but incredibly worthy task. This is only the second year of the internship, and I had the lovely opportunity to work with a repeat intern from last year’s MALP cohort, Isabelle Gahan, who was infinitely helpful, not only in the internship but in understanding the masters. Over the course of the six-week internship, I wrote blog posts, assisted audience development, website development, organized children’s craft projects, conducted interviews, and communicated with authors, publishers, and industry professionals. That was all before stepping foot in Dublin. I did a lot of pajama writing with my big cup of coffee and a dream.

Coming into Ireland, I was unfamiliar with the local literary scene, but as a frequent attendee of book conventions and events in the United States, getting involved with the festival seemed the perfect way to dive in headfirst and test the waters. The Dublin Book Festival is unique in that it celebrates Irish writers, and there is a whole host of amazing talent on the island. It was also intimidating. When I started the internship in September, I had barely been in Ireland a month. While, admittedly, I felt completely out of my depth, the Festival Director, Julianne Siron, the Marketing Lead, Róisín Russell, and Production and Administration Lead, Mathilde Murray, made me feel at home so quickly, which is spectacular because we hit the ground running, and the race to the festival was a well-coordinated, flat-out sprint.

Because of my background working with children and in art and science marketing, most of the preparation work that I did was with the Children and Family program and with Science Week events. When the festival came this focus did not stop. When people talk about internships, they talk about blood, sweat and tears—there was none of that here. It was blisters (from sharpening pencils for children’s illustration events, which, for the record, is a hilarious injury), shivers (I was working in a gorgeous but just slightly chilly tent the weekend of the festival) and face breaking smiles. It doesn’t mean the work was any easier, but it was a joy, a puzzle box of considering new angles of event promotion and inspiring audiences. After attending a variety of events and festivals in the states as a spectator, getting to peek into organizing events behind the scenes put into perspective just how much work and careful consideration goes into every decision. From the tiniest detail, Julianne, Róisín, and Mathilde had considered everything. I was in awe of them and the attention to detail I saw them put into every element of the festival, and I was honored to be even a small part of it.

The quintessential fear of an intern is deleting something you’re not meant to—and I cannot count the number of times I sat quadruple checking blog posts and emails to make sure I hadn’t written something horrifically offensive instead of the nice text I’d drafted, or updating the website, wondering if one normal but secret button would suddenly delete the entire thing by accident (I should preface, I have WordPress experience and I know it doesn’t work like that, but I’m also dramatic and it felt like a wild amount of power to be behind the scenes of a complicated webpage). That said, I made frequent mistakes. The website was (thankfully) safe, but I once accidentally deleted all the relevant information out of a spreadsheet…and then couldn’t get it back. It was a five-minute fix. I sent emails without signing off because I discounted my own presence in the process. During the festival, I spent fifteen minutes preparing an introduction for an event I had written about, for authors I had met, an event I was incredibly excited to attend, and I got nervous and fumbled over my words in a tent full of people. And you know what happened? Everything was okay. The event went incredibly well. The audience enjoyed themselves, the festival went on, and the world kept turning.

On several occasions, I remarked to Irish course mates that it surprised me just how encouraging and patient Julianne and Róisín were, how involved they let me be, how surprised I was at the opportunities to reach out to authors and publishers when it would be easier to send messages themselves, expressed shock at the responsibility of placing me in charge of a venue and allowing me to attend the events that interested me most. My interests mattered, and my opinion was sought outside of just accomplishing the essential tasks. I was asked what I wanted to learn and where I wanted to put my energy, and my voice was heard. This sort of open, encouraging work environment was outside of my expectations and a complete culture shock, but it was not a surprise to my Irish friends. “Yeah, that’s normal” or “that’s just how we do things here” were the frequent refrains. It completely blew me away.

While I was ready to learn more about the Irish literary scene, I learned so much more about its working environment. In the master’s, during visits from Irish publishing professionals, and again at Trade Day, we’re told just how small and how kind the industry is in Ireland, but every time I see it in action, I sit, mouth open, surprised Pikachu meme incarnate. It hit hard walking into the annual Irish Publishers Conference Trade Day and realizing that because of the opportunities of the masters and the internship, there were a surprising number of familiar faces in the audience. Though I have not been in Ireland long, the industry is no longer a foreign place. From every level, the sheer consistency of kindness and friendliness that radiated from everyone was so lovely; from the volunteers to The Printworks staff, to the authors and publishers, the festival directors, and of course, the guests in attendance; everyone was genuinely so excited to watch others succeed. The biggest victory was seeing audiences engaging with events that had taken months of wading through minute details, and leaving after the hour was up with bright smiles and their stories, and their community just a little bit bigger.

The result of weeks of planning was a breathless weekend (and not just because of all the balloons I inflated). Aside from events hosted in my tent domain, I was able to attend launches and celebrations and get a taste of the Irish Publishers Conference. It was a blast to be involved with. I’m leaving the internship, not only more familiar with the Irish literary scene, but passionately invested in its future, and I cannot thank Julianne, Róisín, and Mathilde enough. I would happily jump back into the crazy rush in a heartbeat.

Anastasia Buchholz

“Mom, There’s A Vampire On Our Lawn!" A Spooktacular Halloween Read

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:14:00 +0000

Everybody knows that the month of October is reserved for pumpkin spice lattes, dark academia, and spookiness. From movies to novels, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone that doesn't immediately think of Coraline, Hocus Pocus, or Dracula. Though I’m not a great enthusiast of themed holidays, I was nonetheless consumed with the thought of finding the perfect Halloween read, one that would have me tucking my legs under a blanket, huddling up and, in a stroke of masochism, turning off the bedside lamp.

It's Halloween, after all; it's important to set the mood.

I knew my search was over when I laid eyes on The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix. Don’t let that mouthful of a title fool you. This is not the camp, satiric, supernatural fiction you might be expecting. At least, not entirely.

The premise is misleading enough. Patricia Campbell, a burnt-out housewife whose guilty pleasure is reading true crime novels with other housewives in their "Not-A-Book-Club" book club, starts suspecting her mysterious (and wildly handsome) new neighbour, James Harris, of kidnapping children.

Nancy Drew-levels of shenanigans ensue.

What follows will have you in a constant state of anxiety, fury, and fear. You won’t be able to put it down. You make a deal with the book when you sit down to read it and it will demand its pound of flesh. More than once, I felt my eyes wobble like soft-boiled eggs at the sheer power of Hendrix's descriptions, visceral and gory and terrible in the best of ways.

To fully understand the throbbing core of the novel, the reader must first come to terms with the symbolic nature of the vampire. This creature, so often watered down by sparkly retellings and smouldering actors, is restored to its predatory and gothic glory in the body of James Harris. Abhorring the sun whilst thriving at night, only allowed inside by direct invitation, and commanding beasts to do his bidding– he is immortal and he is singular, in a world designed for sameness.

Hendrix brings back the original serial killer to reflect on the hypocrisy of American morality, which only applies to those who are the same. The "other", represented by the low-income black characters living on the outskirts of Charleston, is not extended the same courtesy.

Beloved James Harris, on the other hand, is given the benefit of the doubt and all the leniency the men in this Southern gated community can afford, as he flashes dollar signs as readily as he does his pearly whites, all the while tormenting their wives and preying on their children The role he plays in this suburban farce is of the All-American poster child; white, male, self-assured, entrepreneurial. The American dream materialised.

What a nightmare that turned out to be.

The same can be said for the female experience. Instead of merely scratching the surface of Southern suburbia in the nineties, the book delves into the emotional and physical labour expected of the stay-at-home mom, the rich inner world women create, once married life snuffs out dreams and ambitions. Patricia is saddled with the care of her dementia-ridden mother-in-law, her two children, and aloof husband. Partly, the true horror stems from the suffocating and alienated life she leads, entirely for others, their wants, and their needs.

The other part comes from a swarm of rats biting and scratching a woman to death.

As Patricia is manipulated and gaslit by every man in her life, to the point of an accidental overdose, she must fight tooth and nail to protect her children, her neighbourhood, and her sanity from a threat nobody else thinks exists. Her carefully manicured, white-picket-fence life begins to rot, and it is up to her to either paint it over or excise it.

Beneath the layers of gore and glamour that admittedly drain the upper-middle-class of any authenticity and real feeling, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is simply a cautionary tale about a woman who should be seen but not believed. Whose word doesn't hold as much power as a man's. When you let yourself become a trophy, you give the world permission to make you a sacrifice.

There is nothing more terrifying than that.

PS: If you're like me, and you pair books with a cinematic chaser, I'd recommend Fright Night (2011), a horror comedy in which Charley finds out his next-door neighbour is a vampire. It matches the pace and tone of this book remarkably well.

Tamára Pinto

Meet the Team: 2023-24

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 05:18:00 +0000

Like a new season of American Horror Story, every issue of ROPES is taken over by a sparkling new cast of MALP students, ready for brand-new plotlines, character arcs, and dramatic finales. This consistent evolution allows ROPES to take on a refreshingly mouldable format, with each MALP group bringing a fresh set of eyes to every issue. Before introducing ourselves, however, we’d like to briefly introduce you to the journal itself.

Without getting too historical, we’ll fill you in on the origins of this cherished publication. ROPES (Review of Postgraduate English Studies) was founded in 1992, a journal originally publishing material encompassing Irish literature, history, and politics. As an extracurricular project attached to the MALP programme, the publication is conceptualized, edited, designed, marketed, and produced by master’s students of Literature and Publishing at University of Galway. In 1998, ROPES incorporated its first piece of fiction, allowing the journal to move in a more creative direction. In recent years, ROPES can be seen as a celebration of a variety of innovative work, both written and visual.

So, back to us. This year’s group of MALP students hail from all over the world, with each member bringing something novel and treasured to the 32nd issue. Brought together by a love of literature and an inquisitiveness about the mystical publishing world, the year's team is one of promise, passion, and enthusiasm. We aim to utilize ROPES not only as a charitable project, but as a platform to showcase emerging and diverse artists, both international and from Ireland. In the 32nd issue of ROPES, we aim to create a tangible and artistic expression of the city of Galway, as well as reflecting the wonderful diversity and creativity to be found within our own team. With that in mind, we’d like to introduce ourselves and give you all a feel for who we are and what we do.

Without further ado, here’s to Issue 32!

Laoise Ní Raghallaigh - Managing Editor

Dia dhaoibh a chairde! My name is Laoise, and I'm delighted to be serving as Managing Editor for the 32nd issue of ROPES. I was born and raised in Meath and have a BA in English, French, and Creative Writing from NUIG (or UG, as the kids say). I'll read just about anything, but I have a soft spot for particularly weird and wonderful short stories, and I'd spend every evening at the cinema if I could afford it! I hope this coming issue reflects the heart of our town, and I'm so excited to continue ROPES's legacy for another year.

Áine Feeney - Assistant Managing Editor

Hey! My name is Áine, I’m from Cork, and I recently graduated from University College Cork with a BA in English and History. My favourite genre at the moment is contemporary Irish fiction and when I’m not studying, you can find me hunched under a tree or over a cappuccino with my latest read. I am really excited to be taking part in ROPES this year as Assistant Managing Editor and I hope this journal will be a reflection of the talented writers in Galway and beyond, as well as the diversity of our team this year.

Megan McCreanor - Editorial Lead

Hi everyone! I’m Megan, I’m from Donegal, and I’m the Editorial Lead for ROPES 2024. I’m honoured to be part of such a passionate and enthusiastic team, and I’m sure that we will produce something truly special in the 32nd issue of ROPES. Having faffed around in Spain for the past few years after obtaining a BA in English and Spanish, I’m excited to get stuck into a Master’s in Literature and Publishing. In my free time, I love podcasts, photography, thrift-shopping, and being outdoors. Reading-wise, I’m not fussy, but I tend towards contemporary Irish fiction (preferably strongly feminist—anything by Anne Enright will suffice!)

Laura Murphy - Production & Design Lead

Hi! I’m Laura, I'm the Production and Design Lead for ROPES 2024. I’m from Dublin; lived, studied, and worked there, but I’m loving living and studying in Galway now. I completed my BA in English, Media, and Cultural Studies in 2020, so I’m ready to get back on the academia train. A couple of things about myself: I love podcasts, horror films, and the sit-com Friends. My favourite song is Strawberry Swing by Coldplay, and Jeff Goldblum once liked a tweet of a painting I did of him, but then he deleted his Twitter account so I have no proof. Devastated.

Courtney Knudsen - Sales & Marketing Lead

As a lifelong reader and bookworm, I always knew I wanted to work with books. I pursued an undergraduate degree in English, graduating with a First-Class Honours from Concordia University Texas in 2010, and I’ve worked in bookshops since 2007. Most recently, I was a buyer, focused primarily on children’s books for Santa Fe, New Mexico’s oldest and largest independent bookstore. When I’m not reading or helping others find books they’ll love, I’m probably hiking, camping, road-tripping, or taking photos—sometimes all of these at once! I’ve travelled a lot of places, and lived on multiple continents, but Ireland has always been and will always be my favourite place in the world.

Tazi Buchholz

Heya, I’m Tazi, and I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana. I completed my BA in English and Spanish with additional studies in History and Creative Writing at the University of Alabama. In the last few years, I’ve studied in Chile, Scotland, and Germany before settling in Spain for the last two as a primary school language assistant. I’m a massive fantasy and science fiction nerd, but as my Goodreads shows, I read just a bit of everything: poetry collections, memoirs, graphic novels, contemporary fiction, etc. I’ll be working on both ROPES's Sales and Marketing and Editorial teams this year, and I can’t wait for y’all to see just how we’ve made issue 32 so special.

Yaiza Llamos Ramos

Hello! I'm Yaiza, and I’m from Lanzarote, Spain. I completed my BA in English this year at the University of La Laguna in Tenerife. I've been a beta reader and advanced reader for some authors, and I've also done several courses related to publishing and creative writing. I love reading and my favourite genre is fantasy. I’m so happy to be part of ROPES this year!

Leah Smith

I’m Leah Smith and I’m from Cavan. I completed my undergrad at the University of Galway in English, Geography, and Creative Writing. As part of the editorial and production and design teams, I hope to put everything I learned during my undergrad to good use. When it comes to reading, I tend to switch genres depending on my mood, and I like to read in either physical form or as an audiobook. If you don’t know where I am, I’m probably in the swimming pool. I’m excited to be a part of ROPES this year.

Vlad-Claudiu Mateescu

Hello there! My name is Vlad and I come from Romania. I completed my BA in English and German Language and Literature at the University of Bucharest. I must confess I am far from an avid reader, but whenever I have time to spare, I thoroughly enjoy sitting down and devouring any book I can get my hands on, especially if we’re talking fantasy, science fiction, or historical fiction. I am committed to ensuring that future generations of readers have a wide selection of good books to pick from when the craving hits them, and, to that end, I am very much looking forward to working on the coming issue of ROPES as part of the Production and Design Team!

Marieke Oggel

Hi! I’m Marieke (Marie). I’m originally from South Africa and grew up in Limerick. I completed my BA in Film Studies & English Literature at Trinity College, where I was also involved in making videos for the college newspaper. I love reading all things, but specifically young adult and literary fiction. I’m very excited to be working on ROPES’s production team this year!

Manuela Herrera

Hey! I am Manuela, and I’m from Venezuela. I moved to Spain six years ago to study Journalism. After graduating, I decided to focus on my passion for books and storytelling and moved to Ireland to study an MA in Literature and Publishing. I am excited to be part of the Production and Design Team and the Editorial Team for ROPES. My favourite genres are fantasy and sci-fi, sprinkled with romance and adventure. But occasionally, I’ll read mysteries. I also love movies and TV series (especially if they are related to any of Disney’s brands), arts and crafts, baking, and writing.

Blaise Gilburd

I’m Blaise Gilburd and I studied my undergraduate here in Galway in Creative Writing, English, and German. I am extremely excited to be participating in the production of ROPES for my Master’s, and will be helping out with the editorial and marketing departments. I am a writer myself so I can’t wait to be inspired by all the amazing submissions. You can read my own work in Tír na nÓg, Skylight47, Crossways, and Here Comes Everyone.

Laoise Ní Chainte

My name is Laoise Ní Cháinte and I’m thrilled to be on the Editorial Team of ROPES. Born and raised in Galway, I graduated from University of Galway in 2022 after studying English and French through Irish. I’ve always been passionate about reading, and I’ve spent my life trying to surround myself with literature and books. In the past year I’ve worked with the James Hardiman Library, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Oxford University Press, and I’m so excited to be back in Galway doing the MA in Literature and Publishing with this lovely bunch!

Gloriana Loria

Hello! I’m Gloriana from Costa Rica. I completed my undergraduate in English at the University of Costa Rica. I love discussing books, exploring different cultures, and capturing moments of everyday life through photography. My interests in literature range from women’s writing to gothic and translated fiction. You can find my ramblings and photos on Instagram: @gloriousprose. I am thrilled to be part of this year’s ROPES and I’m looking forward to seeing issue 32 come to life.

Claire Allen

Hello! I'm Claire and I'm from the United States, specifically North Carolina, which is down south and along the east coast. I completed my BA in English Literature and Writing at Gardner-Webb University last year. I'm thrilled to be continuing my studies of English literature, writing, and books in general through the MALP program and through ROPES. My favourite genres are fantasy, gothic, historical fiction, paranormal, sci-fi, southern gothic, or any blend of all those. I’m also a big fan of classics, folklore, and mythology. I hope to be very involved in ROPES, especially in Sales & Marketing and Production & Design.

Yelaina Anton

Hi, hello! I’m Yelaina, and I hail from a minor city outside Boston, USA. I dug a little hole for myself here in Galway while I did a BA with Creative Writing at NUIG, and there I remained. I’m a reader, a writer, and a die-hard fan of coffee, escapism, and cats. I have a few tiny publications, including one in the ROPES 2021 issue, Ephemeral, and I served as the fiction editor for a small literary magazine for a pleasant two years. I’m fond of stories about things that tempt and distress me—which is unfortunately most things.

Emily Corso

Hi! My name is Emily, I'm from New York, and I'm so excited to be working on ROPES! I graduated with my BA in English and BA in psychology from Binghamton University. Some of my personal favourite genres include YA, fiction, and mystery. I also love theatre, and my neighbours’ dog. This is my first time living abroad, and it's been such a wonderful experience; I'm absolutely loving Galway. I'm part of the Editorial team, and I’m so excited for everyone to get their hands on our edition!

Tamára Pinto

Dear reader, my name is Tamára and I’m from Lisbon, Portugal. I finished my degree in Arts and Humanities a year ago and I’ve been working as a movie reviewer since then! I have a Major in Asian Studies and a Minor in Editing, which basically means I love learning about new languages and cultures and I’m nitpicky about all things grammar. Art is my passion, especially literature, cinema, and the fun ways they intertwine, but I'll always trip over my words explaining them to someone. If I loved it less, I might be able to talk about it more.

Book Review: Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:12:00 +0000

Annie Ernaux’s Not so Simple Passion

Simple Passion

By Annie Ernaux

Translated by Tanya Leslie

Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021

€13.99

In the first page of Simple Passion, Annie Ernaux states: “writing should aim […] to replicate the feeling of witnessing sexual intercourse, that feeling of anxiety and stupefaction, a suspension of moral judgement." After finishing her book and taking a couple of minutes to catch my breath, I realized that she accomplished to generate that feeling in me with apparent effortlessness and in only 48 pages with this genre-defiant text that blurs the boundaries between fiction and real life. Translated into English by Tanya Leslie, Ernaux’s prose on the narrator’s waiting and desire during her two-year affair with a married man is simple in the sense that it is easy to follow, but not to digest.

The narration is so intimate because of the content and the unpretentious language that it feels like listening to a friend talk for hours about her relationship, with self-reflective moments and all. These moments go beyond the anecdotic, as they not only are introspective but metatextual thanks to her characteristic first-person writing: “During all this time, I felt I was living out my passion in the manner of a novel, but now I am not sure in which style I am writing about it[...].” This two-sided consciousness enhances the sense of intimacy, as it makes it easier to dialogue with the text and feel like we are connecting with the writer, who makes her presence evident.

It is also thanks to this emphasized subjectivity that the text elicits empathy, along with the questions it raises on complex human concerns such as time, memory, and the relationship between life and writing, topics that Ernaux has always been interested in exploring through her writing as she mentioned in her Nobel Prize Lecture. Towards the end of Simple Passion, the narrator/author wonders if she writes to see if others have felt the same way. I think, “yes, I have,” and it is in that close emotional depiction that Ernaux manages to generate anxiety and stupefaction while demonstrating that there are no trivial topics or personal experiences to write on.

by Mariana Morales

Celebrating 20 years of Over the Edge

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 13:01:00 +0000

On January 26th, I attended my very first Over the Edge event with a close friend of mine. We’d always said that we’d go during our undergraduate degree, but never did seem to find the time. The stars seemed to align for us that Thursday – we were both in town for the evening, and we’d already arranged to go for dinner. So, after a swift meal, we made our way to the Galway City Library and quietly entered the children’s section, where readings were already underway.

Over the Edge has been a highlight for the Galway literary community for many years. Founded by Kevin Higgins and Susan Millar DuMars, its aim has always been to serve the literary and writing community in the city and the west of Ireland generally. They run regular events in the library which showcase a featured group of writers, as well as providing a stage for new, up-and-coming, and established writers to share their work in front of a group.

As I had expected, there was an excellent turnout on the night. Chairs lined much of the room, shaded by a large felt tree and various other colourful decorations. These seats had already been filled and so people had tucked themselves in between bookshelves, peeking around to catch glimpses of the speakers at the podium. My friend and I had to stand as inconspicuously as possible beside the librarian’s desk, but eventually we were shepherded to a better spot by one of the librarians.

The night began with readings from a few featured speakers – Seán Gibbons read a section from his latest crime novel, Ferdia Mac Anna entertained the crowd with sections of his memoir, and Terri Metcalfe made her public reading debut with some wonderful poetry pieces. We were also lucky enough to hear pieces read by students of the university’s MA in Writing programme during the open mic section of the evening. The floor then opened up to other speakers, sharing work they were currently working on or had recently published.

Though the event was a celebration of the 20^th birthday of Over the Edge, it was also a celebration of the late Kevin Higgins and his work. Speakers had been selected to read some of his poetry, much to the delight of the audience. Many took the opportunity to share personal stories about how they knew him and Susan, or how they had been supported by him in their writing careers. The whole night was a beautiful tribute to him, and to the work he and Susan have done over the years for the Galway literary community.

by Tara O'Malley

Tolka Launch

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 09:37:00 +0000

Last Friday, literary journal Tolka celebrated the launch of its latest issue at Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop with authors Roisin Kiberd and Brenda Romero, who read from their pieces published in the journal. Tolka’s editors — Liam Harrison, Seán Hayes and Catherine Hearn — have an aim to publish “promiscuous non-fiction”, and the evening at Charlie Byrne’s exemplifies very well what they mean by that.

Born during the pandemic, Tolka has become an important piece in Ireland’s vast literary journal scene, set apart by the passion its editors share for publishing non-fiction that is not easily defined. They decided to take the name from the Tolka river because, as Catherine Hearn explained, the word comes from the Irish “tolga”, which means to overflow, and most of the texts they publish share the quality of stretching the limits of genres.

One of the pieces included in the latest issue of the journal, “What We Share” by Brenda Romero, is an interactive piece of non-fiction in which, in the style of role-playing video games, the reader chooses the path the main character takes from a set of options. The text focuses on real-life stories of women who were sexually trafficked and the choices offered to the reader only reinforce the powerlessness of the character. “How do you find the balance between fiction and nonfiction in a piece?”, Romero was later asked by a member of the public, and the question might as well express the genre-bending nature of the text and much of the spirit of Tolka’s preached “promiscuity”.

The overflowing quality was also much noted when Roisin Kiberd read from the piece published in Tolka’s second issue, “Jeff Bezos Talks to God”, which focuses on the brief minutes the billionaire spent in his spaceship in 2021. The piece is not only a mix of non-fiction, critical commentary, and nonfiction, but also a hybrid in its form: at parts list, essay, story, and article. When discussing with the authors, Liam Harrison quoted Beckett: “form is content, content is form”, and went on to ask Romero and Kiberd about the genesis of their work. The evening at Charlie Byrne’s was a celebration of Tolka’s new issue and a reiteration of it being the place where “the overflow” and the “literary promiscuous” find their place. In an age where we feel compelled to label most things, it is much appreciated to know such a place exists.

by Fernanda Ortega