This week on Trasna we feature a new publication by Beir Bua Press, ‘Only Connect,’ an anthology of poetry and prose written during the pandemic and shared weekly with a group of writers on Zoom sessions led by Margaret O’Brien. Featured here is the introduction to ‘Only Connect’ and four…
Boarding School Blues: Chapter 23 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 23: Going Home At twelve o’clock on the day before Thanksgiving, Sister Gerald’s wooden clapper indicated the end of classes with a beat which reminded Blanche of “Carmen”. The rhythmical succession of loud clicks made her think of Papa singing along…
Thy Sister’s Keeper By Stephen O’Connor It was back in ’92. While I attended UMASS, Lowell, working toward a degree in English, I had a job working for the Massachusetts Guardian Security Services. Armed with my radio and Maglight Tactical Flashlight, I would prowl the darkened alleys and hollow hearts…
Three for Halloween By David Daniel 1: Speed Dating at the Lonely Monsters Club When they get off the elevator, the sign is on an easel outside the function room: SPEED DATING EVENT TONIGHT Nervously, Shanna runs her hands down her hips. “This is going to be another big fail,”…
Daniel Wade, award-winning playwright, poet, essayist, and novelist, is making his second appearance in Trasna this week. Following his memorable tribute to poet Dermot Healy, last year, Dublin-born Wade has been actively pursuing his writing career and is now celebrating the release of his historical novel, A Land Without Wolves.…
Rooted in Brooklyn By Malcolm Sharps Prompted by Betty Smith’s iconic novel of childhood, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Malcolm Sharps reflects on his own childhood and family life and attempts a comparison Betty Smith, author of the semi-autobiographical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, wrote in an introduction to a…
Autumn is the season that embraces reflection: thoughtful persons give thanks for their harvest even as they mourn the [human] losses that befell them during the time past. In the poems she reads for Trasna, works from her newly published collection Reshaping the Light, Irish writer Breda Joyce voices the…
Wormwood By Stephen O’Connor Just before noon, the cloud bank that had hunched over the city like a great gray cat skulked off to the west, giving way to light. Lowell always looked beautiful to me in the sun: red brick and gray stone under blue. Along the cobbled streets…
Odysseus Wandering (How I Became a Prison Guard) By Tim Trask Here’s how it started. I’m on an overnight flight from San Francisco to Boston on January 10-11, 1969, after spending a year in the Republic of Viet Nam. There aren’t many people on the flight, but even the few…
Boarding School Blues: Chapter 21 By Louise Peloquin Ch. 21: Inspection Desk inspection replaced morning chores the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Blanche and her classmates welcomed the shake-up in the schedule and felt confident that Madeleine’s tidying techniques would serve them well. “Girls, Sister Gerald will soon join us. We want…
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