Ellington Restaurant, July 22 -- Novelist Anthony C. Murphy’s work has been described as “funny, sweet, moving, gentle and bold,” all of which might be said of “Murph” himself, the host for this edition of the Irish American Writers & Artists Salon.
Singer/songwriter Daniel Harnett was on hand, this time without his guitar, to start off the evening with a cluster of short stories and poetry. As always, the crowd was welcoming and appreciative on a lovely summer night at the Ellington restaurant on the corner of 105th and Broadway.
Rebecca Coffey, novelist, humorist, and science journalist read from her hilarious book, “Nietzsche’s Angel Food Cake . . . and Other ‘Recipes’ for the Intellectually Famished.” The tasty chapter she selected was “Anais Nin’s Hot Cross Buns,” an indelicate pastiche meant to titillate the funny bone. Information on Coffey’s latest book, Beyond Primates: New Essays on Darwin and Evolution, and other literary works can be found on rebeccacoffey.com. Her visual art is available on fineartamerica.com.
Judith Rodgers read an excerpt from her novel in progress. The novel follows several individuals behind the headlines of a 1980s New York City news story: the crack-fueled shooting of a child in Brooklyn. Over the ensuing 20 years, the central players grapple with the impact of the crime with varying degrees of success.
The essays and short stories of Corinne O'Shaughnessy have been published in numerous online lit magazines. A retired New York City public school teacher, she is currently working on a memoir about the desire for family, tentatively titled Everything That Breathes. She shared an excerpt about one of the many unexpected casualties of divorce: losing one’s dentist.
M.J. Flood presented a piece called “Havin’ a Smoke with Grandma Agnes,” in which he recounted a tender memory of his maternal grandmother, Agnes Legrady, as well as of his family gatherings in his grandmother’s smoke-filled kitchen. Flood is the author of “Where AreYou? Finding Myself in My Greatest Loss,” a memoir of grief and healing. He will be reading from his memoir at Hofstra University, 6:30 p.m., Oct. 9. All are welcome to the free event in the Hofstra University Cultural Center Theater.
The audience at the Ellington was fully engaged and somewhat apprehensive as they followed along with Kate McLeod’s amusing recounting of her attempt to fly at the age of 9. Fortunately the jumping off point was the top of a staircase rather than a roof. McLeod is currently writing a musical with composer Megan Cavallari and planning a reading of her monologue play, “For The Love of Me,” which will be presented at American Irish Historical Society on Sept. 17.
John Munnelly. [Photo by Eamonn McKay]
IAW&A Board Member John Munnelly provided the music that enlivened both the first half and finale of the salon. His original lyrics, braced by blues guitar riffs, addressed the angst many in the room were feeling on this unique evening that followed the curtailment of the Biden presidential campaign. John is an ASCAP “Jay Gorney” award winning songwriter for song with a social conscience. He regularly performs with the IRTE Improvised Repertory Ensemble here in New York. Sign up for John’s newsletter at JohnMunnellymusic.com to browse through new songs, memoir and poetry pieces (and to order John’s amazing hot sauces at hattwood.com).
Slainte Oakland, July 25 -- Your diarist welcomed the crowd at Slainte Oakland, shared the mission of Irish American Writers and Artists and then started the evening with a personal story about the recording of “Tear of the Clouds” and the mistake made with an unfortunate CD cover.
Amelia Hogan, renowned singer in the Irish “sean nos” style graced us with three songs, one original, with her final rendition of an Irish American Writers and Artists first “What Will We Do When We Have No Money,” an original, “Taking Flight,” and a salon favorite, “Wild Mountain Thyme” which got the entire Slainte audience to sing along. IAW&A founder Malachy McCourt often ended New York salons with this song. Here in California, we do things a bit different, we began the salon with it. www.ameliahogan.com
Some of the Oakland performers. [Photo by Shannon O'Haire]
Next up was Barbara McVeigh, filmmaker and author, who shared her award-winning documentary “The Man with the White Guitar” (http://www.themanbehindthewhiteguitar.com/) and read from her memoir, “Redemption, How Ronald Regan Ruined My Life, and Probably Yours Too.” Her work is a testament to the healing power of art. The documentary will be presented, with a musical performance, on Sept. 7 at the Smith Rafael Film Center (https://rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/man-behind-the-white-guitar/).
More music followed with Deborah Crooks accompanied by Kwame Copeland performing upbeat originals, ‘Shapeshifter,” “Congratulations,” and “What to Say.” Deborah also shared from her self-produced and edited ‘zine’ Bay Station Eagle. www.deborahcrooks.com
Clifton Linton, retired business journalist and musician, regaled the audience with tales of his time covering the Chicago futures exchange in the 1990’s. He read from his Substack blog called “Tales of Yore from the Trading floor.” https://cliftonlinton.substack.com
The evening ended with writer, director, producer, filmmaker Patti Cary, creator of FunAmeda productions, sharing a script in development “A Tree” with two actors, Patty Devlin and Erik Gulseta reading a scene from this hilarious play. FunAmeda.com.
