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…
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Here’s a report on the 1989 Lowell City Election which included an “English only” referendum which prevailed by a wide margin. To see the individual candidate vote totals, please see our new 1989 City Election page. On November 7, 1989, voters reelected council incumbents Bud Caulfield, Robert Kennedy, Kathleen Kelley,…
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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…
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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…
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The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Black History Month feels different this year. It’s not just because of the apparent increase in special programming on television and the expansion of relevant articles in the print media, though both of those have burgeoned. Nor is…
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Boarding School Blues By Louise Peloquin Chapter 5: Arrival Maman parked the car in front of the stairs saying, “I should have driven up the back way. It has access to the basement so unloading your bags would have been less troublesome. But why not take the main entrance after…
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“A Promised Land” by Barack Obama Review by Richard Howe A recent Op-Ed by psychologist Adam Grant introduced me to the concept of “motivational interviewing” (“The Science of Reasoning With Unreasonable People,” New York Times, January 31, 2021). Set in the context of arguing about vaccinations with a committed anti-vaccer,…
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The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog. Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell is a gift. It’s the story of William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, who died of the plague at the age of 11, leaving behind his twin sister, Judith, older sister Susannah and mother, Agnes Hathaway.…
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This week Trasna is pleased to feature the work of K.T. Slattery. A native of Tennessee, who now lives in the West of Ireland, Slattery is a familiar with Transatlantic crossings. “My biggest regret / Moving across the wide ocean- / I missed that glorious day / Red Sox World Champions!!!!” We commend Slattery not…
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