Ballyglass writer launches debut collection

Ciara Moynihan

‘The Rainy Day’, a collection of tales about farmers and those belonging to them, will be launched this Friday, February 15, at 6.30pm in Mayo County Library. The book, published by Penniless Press (UK), is Ballyglass writer Martin Keaveney’s debut collection of short stories.
Farmers young and old, cunning and foolish, greedy and generous, talented and forgotten are all gathered in this collection. Sometimes the stories are clearly set in Ireland’s west, but mostly they take place in an unnamed landscape, a countryside that shapes the protagonists, who are often waiting for that rainy day to come.
Keaveney’s fiction has previously appeared in literary journals in Ireland, the UK and the US, and his stage credits include RTÉ and Scripts Ireland Playwriting Festival. He is currently completing a PhD at NUIG in Creative Writing and Textual Studies, while also working as a creative-writing lecturer and consultant. In 2016 and 2018, respectively, he was  awarded the SparΡnacht Uí Eithir (a bursary created in memory of Irish writer and broadcaster. BreandΡn Ó hEithir) and the NUIG Write-Up Bursary for his research.
Guest speaker will be Cllr Al McDonnell, who has been instrumental in plans to restore  Moore Hall – the childhood home of author George Moore, who published a major collection of short stories, ‘The Untilled Field’, over a century ago, in 1903.
Complimentary refreshments will be served. Copies of the new title will be available for purchase on the night. Martin Keaveney has previously published short fiction in literary journals in Ireland, UK and US.

For more information, see www.martinkeaveney.com. ‘Rainy Days’ is available to order via Amazon.co.uk.