Creative Places & Faces

This is an exciting episode when I meet Louis Markoya, an artist who spent six years as a protégé of Salvador Dalí. It is dedicated to two very special people – my wonderful friend and fellow author, Zoe Holohan, and the fabulous man, Paul Chimera, who introduced me to today’s guest, Louis Markoya. Louis is continuing the work of Salvador Dalí today after a huge break from art that he to...

I read the third novel written by today’s guest late in 2020 and I couldn’t put it down. Guilty, which is set in County Clare is a riveting page-turner about the dark secret that causes a doctor’s perfect life to unravel. One review by the author Patricia Gibney stated, “A full tapestry of secrets and lies.. a perfect mix for a thrilling read. I loved Guilty.” And so did I. And after rea...

Ryan Dennis explores the dynamics of rural life and those who inhabit it. He is a former Fulbright Scholar in Creative Writing and has taught at several universities.

His fiction, personal essays and poetry have appeared in literary journals in Ireland, New Zealand and The United States.

He is also a syndicated columnist in various agricultural journals around the world. He recently comple...

This guest's latest novel has received rave reviews in lots of top publications worldwide. The New York Times review said, NORA is entirely convincing in her raw sensuality, her stubborn determination, her powerful sense of grievance and her inability to stop loving a deeply erratic, wildly manipulative yet enormously talented man.’ 

Author, Joseph O'Connor's review describes NORA as, "An...

Today's guest is Erin Sarofsky – the award-winning creator of the Sarofsky Corporation in Chicago’s booming West Loop. 

Sarofsky is a design-driven production company whose artists, directors, producers and storytellers can unlock the magic of your project.

They are makers. "Resourceful. Smart. Focused. We get further faster than anyone else. Bringing kinship & excellence to the inters...

Today's guest is a bit of a Renaissance man whose early working life involved travel writing, focusing on the Deep South and Central America. Since then, he's been involved in music, sports, tech and the environment. Simon Cocking is the editor of Irish Tech News, as well as being a very sought after keynote speaker and ICO advisor. 

Hailing from London originally, Simon went on summer lo...

Today's guest won a UNESCO medal for a book of poems in 1979 at the tender age of eighteen. She went on to study at Trinity College Dublin and for a significant period of time after leaving, she didn't continue writing. 

However, when she went back to writing poetry later – in my humble opinion, its eloquence and excellence show that her life experience married with innate talent and love...

This episode's guest is poet, Gaynor Kane, who hails from East Belfast. Although Gaynor never imagined herself as a poet, her most recent collection, "Venus in pink marble’ is a "captivating collection full of personal and social history, with authentic snapshots of people and places, skillfully rendered."

Gaynor started a degree with the Open University when she turned 40 and by the age ...

Today's guest is Byddi Lee - an Armagh based author, who has lived in Canada, South Africa, Paris and California before settling back in her home town of Armagh in Northern Ireland. 

Her first novel, March to November, was written while in California and helped ease her homesickness.

Byddi's Rejuvenation Trilogy has been rated one of the best lockdown reads of the year by the Belfast Teleg...

Today's guest is Byddi Lee - an Armagh based author, who has lived in Canada, South Africa, Paris and California before settling back in her home town of Armagh in Northern Ireland. 

Her first novel, March to November, was written while in California and helped ease her homesickness.

Byddi's Rejuvenation Trilogy has been rated one of the best lockdown reads of the year by the Belfast Teleg...

Today's guest is Seán Mackel, who writes fiction and poetry as well as being a visual communicator. He won the Kanturk Flash Fiction Prize in 2019, for his first flash fiction, The Silent Mouth. 

Seán has been lecturing and working in graphic design for decades in Australia, Germany and Ireland. 

Podcast website:
https://creativeplacesandfaces.com/

Credits:
Host: Jackie De Burca
Sound engineer...

Today's guest is Seán Mackel, who writes fiction and poetry as well as being a visual communicator. He won the Kanturk Flash Fiction Prize in 2019, for his first flash fiction, The Silent Mouth. 

Seán has been lecturing and working in graphic design for decades in Australia, Germany and Ireland. 

Here is one of many classic quotes from this part of Seán's interview: "So I remember that sor...

Today's guest was described as a “force of nature” by the journalist who nominated her to be a guest. This force of nature is the award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Maeve O'Lynn.

Amongst her many achievements, Maeve has won the TU Short Story Competition at Red Line Book Festival, Dublin., in 2019. She was also longlisted for the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing in 2019.

Maeve ...

In this second part of our conversation, Susanne talks about how she first came to Ireland and how the country makes her feel alive. We explore The Troubles through her own thoughtful perspective.

Through her life and creativity, we travel to Bath and various places in Northwest Ireland that are so obviously integral to her life.

Susanne writes beautifully in English and her insightful min...

Imagine being born and living as a sensitive child in Nuremberg in the 1980s who thoroughly absorbed the second-hand trauma of World War II. Add into the mix the fact that your Father is entirely deaf as a result of an air raid. So you learn to communicate with him by writing notes; a formative experience that Susanne Stich is sure contributed to her becoming a writer in her adult years.

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Stained glass artist, Ann Smyth, has been commissioned by a number of establishments including the BBC. Her stunning stained glass works can be seen in various locations in Northern Ireland.

Ann also works on smaller pieces that are deeply connected to Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland, where she lives and works. Feathers are a regular motif in her jewellery.

Travel virtually with Ann a...

Originally an archaeologist, Emma Thorpe, now makes stunning silver jewellery that is very much inspired by her surroundings of Portstewart and the Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland.

Emma's environment has a real sort of sense of wildness about it, but not a terrifying wildness. It’s a wildness that when you come, you just feel free. 

Emma’s bonds with the land that embraces her link to chi...

For much of her week. visual artist, Helen Sharkey, lives and works on one of 70 small islands dotted along the coast of stunning Strangford Lough. She is based beside a monastic site called Nendrum, which is 5th century, and about four metres from the water up a slight hill on the hill of Nendrum.

When there is a full moon, it creates these amazing, polarised shadows which are one of the...

The third and final part of our interview with Malachi O’Doherty brings us back to Belfast as Malachi becomes well-known and respected for his work. 

Another fascinating conversation with a man who loves to spin a yarn.

We end up discussing destiny, karma & baloney! Along with writing and photography and Malachi’s book, Terry Brankin Has A Gun.

This episode is sponsored by Property Insu...