In recognition of Black History Month, this week Trasna features an excerpt from a new publication by Joann Malone, Awake to Racism. Malone, an Irish-American, shares her experiences as a Catholic nun in Alabama in the 1960s. There, while teaching, she begins a lifelong involvement in the Civil Rights movement.…
This week Trasna is pleased to feature Irish poet, Frank Farrelly, who is based in Waterford city. Frank’s poems here are from his first full collection, The Boiler Room, and reflect on childhood, place and a growing towards an understanding of the complexities of life and living. The poem, Against the…
Poet Brian Simoneau, who grew up in Lowell, has a new book of poems due in June, No Small Comfort (Black Lawrence Press). Pre-order your copy now at this link. His poem “Thorndike Street” appeared in North American Review (Spring 2020). With his permission we reprint it here. Please click…
Here’s a poem from Tom Sexton’s new book, Cummiskey Alley: New and Selected Lowell Poems, which is available at www.loompress.com Triangle Luncheonette by Tom Sexton With its gleaming black-and-white marble floor and even its exotic name, Luncheonette, it could never be mistaken for a lowly diner like the Club…
George Chigas’ Review of On Earth Beneath Sky by Chath pierSath In the aftermath of genocide, survivors undergo a lifelong process of healing in an attempt to make sense of the traumatic events that ruptured their lives. They strive to come to a new understanding of themselves and the…
Malcolm Sharps is an occasional contributor to this site who lives in Hungary and offers a European perspective on many topics. His previous articles here include TV Giant Clam, The Leaving of Liverpool, and Swept on by the River (on Thomas Wolfe). Cultural Appropriation on the Carpet: A Cautionary…
Award winning poet Grace Wells has brought her considerable poetic sensibility to bear on her latest creative work, in which she uses poetic video in a manner that both deepens our awareness of what we might lose and have lost, and also lends her voice to the urgency of the…
Atlantic Currents is an anthology of sixty-five writers from Ireland and the United States. The book grew from the efforts of John Wooding, a former Provost at UMass, to have Lowell designated a UNESCO Learning City. Working with co-editors Paul Marion of Loom Press and Tina Neylon of the Cork…
Nancy and I have been attending the Moby Dick Marathon at the New Bedford Whaling Museum since 1997, the beginning of a New Bedford tradition. We’ve only missed two over the 25 years since then. I wrote this a few years ago right after the reading of the final chase…
Thanks to our regular contributor Stephen O’Connor for bringing us another essay by Malcolm Sharps, who was born in England and has lived in Hungary many years. About this commentary on Thomas Wolfe’s iconic novel Of Time and the River, Steve tells us, “I’m glad that I got something of…
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