News from the world
of Snowchild Press....
Book Launches
At the end of October, 2023, two recent books were launched at the Annual Conference of IASIL Japan, at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto.
For the Shanway Press publication Belfast, with Dinosaurs, 1979:
and for the most recent publication: Kind of Green -Jazz Legends, from '86 - '90, through an Irish lens
It's usual to launch only one book at a time, so maybe this was unprecedented. After introducing Belfast, with Dinosaurs, Martin quipped: 'And now for something completely different...' Both talks were well received, and many of the participants showed great interest in these books. Both reflect aspects of the author's experience and Irish experience in general. Kind of Green is a fascinating chapter on Irish jazz. And, yet, according to insider sources, launching a jazz photo book at an Irish literature conference is unprecedented.
Book Review of CBL
A review of Contemporary Bloody Literature can be read by clicking the link below. It's by Danny Morrison, a very well-known figure from Northern Irish life. He is a director of the West Belfast Festival, and holds an annual event called Scribes at the Rock, in which he invites well-known writers and poets to read out from their books etc.. Martin Connolly met Danny at one such event in 2018. This review appears on his blog.
To read the review, click HERE.
To read the review, click HERE.
Jazz album, with a nod and a wink to...
The Conjuring Cowboy...
'Machrijazz' is the second musical outing by 'Machrijam' (the artist who may or may not be one and the same as Martin Connolly). While it is an album of original jazz guitar music, three tracks owe a certain something to the aura, and the story of The Conjuring Cowboy. 'Buster in the saddle' is rather more Country 'n Western than jazz, and it was written to conjure (....) the scene in the book in which Buster finds himself riding aimlessly through the American desert on 'Horsey'. The tone of the piece is decidedly humorous, and a little bit vacant, not unlike the hero of the novel. A later track, entitled 'Bit's Blues' is a re-invigoration of this song, with a blues bridge thrown in. 'The Jimmy-Jack-Cracker Blues' is a musical doff-of-the-hat and manifestation of the spirit of the novel overall... and also to the often spirited, engaging and unpredictable interchange between Buster and Poly Rhumboldt. It's a two-guitar acoustic blues battle, recorded live just to get the feeling right. The album has received positive attention from far and wide, and can be found on Apple Music, Amazon etc.. For the album's site, click HERE. 'Machrijam' sees it as a step up from the 2015 debut.
Special fans of Snowchild Press publications...
Recent Japanese translation of a poem
The poem 'Eating an apple of a Japanese commuter train' is from Labournight (2016) and is translated here by Masahiko Yahata, who is a well-known Japanese scholar of Northern Irish literature. This journal published the translation in September 2018.
Other Japanese translations of poems
Above are translations of two other poems from Labournight, appearing long before the book itself was published, in 2007. The translator is Mieko Yokota, and the journal's name is Sara. This journal is primarily dedicated to Japanese 'tanka'.