Novelist Alice McDermott will discuss the art of fiction at the 92nd Street Y, New York, on Monday, Dec. 16, at 7:30, in an online and in person event.
The National Book Award winner’s newest novel, “Absolution,” which has been described as “a moral masterpiece,” centers on American women who faced down the war in Vietnam. McDermott will discuss it in an evening of conversation with fellow author Amor Towles. For details go to www.92NY.org.
O’Reilly short for RTE
“Suspicious Minds” is a short narrative film, set during a trippy Halloween rave, by award-winning New York-based Irish writer/director and producer Imelda O’Reilly. The film has been selected and will be broadcast on RTE as part of the short screen series on Dec. 12. This is the third of a triptych of films in O’Reilly’s series, with “Eggs and Soldiers” and “Tumbling Towards Home,” that explore themes of identity, history and exile.
Imelda O’Reilly, center, directing “Suspicious Minds” on set at the Catwalk Art Residency in upstate New York.
The film portrays a nocturnal encounter in which Lola played by Gina Costigan, a Dubliner familiar to Broadway and off-Broadway audiences, dressed up as Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz”, breaks up with her boyfriend, played by Ben Chase dressed up as the Cowardly Lion. A character named Phil played by Ed Malone, and dressed up as Elvis, plays the hero. Uniquely, the film blends live-action with animation, montage and magical realism. At the core of the film is questioning what it means to be Irish living overseas and where is home when you have left the homeland?
The film also features a dance sequence choreographed by Darragh Carr with champion African American Irish dancer Morgan Bullock.
South Shore photo contest, exhibit
The South Shore Irish Heritage Trail’s Photo Contest and International Exhibition is Open for Entries! And the theme is “Trasna.”
This is an International Exhibition open to original photographs (in both digital and black and white formats) that respond to Trasna, the Irish word for “across,” by featuring images of sites along the South Shore Irish Heritage Trail in Massachusetts or in Ireland along the Wild Atlantic Way or the Causeway Coastal Route.
The entry deadline is end of the day Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. The Opening Reception will take place on Saturday, March 1, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Mass.
For full details, go to https://ssirishtrail.org/photo-contest/
