Culture

Lowell’s Mardi Gras

March 17, 2021 – With the pandemic lockdown still upon us, we are deprived of our “traditional” celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This Paul Marion post from March 17, 2011, captures what Lowell is usually like today. For me, it evokes some nostalgia and brings some hopefulness for the not-too-distant…

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Red or Gray?

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a post from eleven years ago complete with some of the comments left at that time. Even though corned beef is not regularly consumed in Ireland, we eat a lot of it on St Patrick’s Day.  But I have a couple of questions:…

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Gary Metras: Poem

Gary Metras directed Adastra Press for many years. Now he fishes for trout and writes poems. This poem is from his recent collection Captive in the Here (Cervena Barva Press 2018). At Adastra, Gary brought out several books by Mike Casey and Tom Sexton, regular contributors to our blog. That…

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“Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape” by Manchán Magan

It is the oldest vernacular language in Europe; it is “unique,” “complex,” and “primal.” Those are some of the words author Manchán Magan uses to describe the Irish language. Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. We begin with Manchán Magan and his recent 2020 publication,…

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Susan April: A Poem

Susan April grew up in Lowell and Dracut. She is a scientist who lives in Maryland. She offered us this dream-like poem from 1989.   End of Track by Susan April   I’m running home again. The church off Shattuck Street smells like morning Mass. The granite curb feels cool…

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My Mother, Smoking

My Mother, Smoking By David Daniel A recent editorial in the Sun reports how Massachusetts’ ban on menthol cigarettes has cost the state a lot of tax revenue, while, simultaneously, tobacco sales in neighboring states without such a ban have spiked. I know almost nothing about public tax policy and…

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