A Blogpost I Wrote Last Year On Such An Underrated Irish Writer!

The average ulster cycle war: Medb wants a cow. Stop her getting a cow.

Compared to

The average fenian cycle war: A descendant of Balor from Scandinavia has invaded Ireland and placed a Gaes on Fionn to sleep with his wife. Meanwhile, Clan morna is mad at Clan Bascne over some meat, and the high king hates the power the fianna holds but also needs them to shoo off the foreign invaders. The only solution for all of these problems is to go on an island hopping adventure where various Tuatha de will join the fianna, and Mananaan will go on a boat. The Battle of Magh Tuireadh will, for some reason, be recounted, and the fianna will have to stay in a hostel where they will be ambushed. Several magical monsters. To kill the random Scandinavian king, fionn will have to get a sword forged by the classical god vulcan and / or the King of Alba and / or on the day of the birth of the guy they are going to kill this will require about 20 more adventures. However, this won't matter anyway because Diarmuid, Goll, or Osgar will kill the guy in single combat without these weapons anyway. Fionn will never actually sleep with the king's wife, but they will marry.

Brigid of the Forge | Culture Night 2021

New poem in Tower Vol I: End out May 15th!

Achilles

I

To them I am the brute not the lover

The raging king’s hound, his gold spear – death’s kiss

Was this the way, was there no other?

II

History, prayèrs did try to cover –

Those violent delights, and that violent bliss

- To them I am the brute not the lover.

III

Yet, if time would but only uncover

Those extra curves of your smiles that they miss – I miss.

Was this the way – was there no other?

IV

If the Prince of Troy did not hover over

My mind and your ghost – in debt to the Styx –

To them I am the brute not the lover!

V

They forget romeo, the pre-mover;

Was it for this you died, was it for this?

Alas, I am the brute. Not your lover.

Was this the way? Was there no other?

"Achilles" by Sadbh Kellett. First published in The Attic XX, 2017.

How the last few weeks of the thesis got me feeling rn

Don't tell Twitter, but this week I graduated from St. Andrews and am now officially a Doctor of Philosophy! My thesis looked at Gaelic mythology and its relationship with national identity in modern Irish and Scottish literature (including Irish language texts). Humanities ftw!

Comhghairdeas mór to my superhero of a supervisor Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter Mackay) who was also appointed as the Makar of Scotland this week! So very deserved.

I finished the first draft of my current novel this week!

“September came in with golden days and silver nights,”

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Curtis Brown Creative

Discoveries Prize Class of 2022

To help inspire potential Discoveries 2023 entrants, we’re delighted to share extracts from the openings of the 16 novels-in-progress longli

You can read the opening of my shortlisted novel Hunt the Hare here! If anyone is thinking of going for Discoveries 2023 when entries open later this month, just do it!

Lá fhéile Bríde sona daoibh! Tá an tEarrach linn.