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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Word Up, Part 2.
The parking meter at the top of Wellwood Street, just off Great Victoria Street, had been adorned with a small rectangular sticker. In black writing on a silver background, it stated: You are beautiful. It was positioned at just the right … Continue reading
Guest Post: ‘Belfast to Derry/Londonderry’ by Jan Carson
It is impossible to be Northern Irish on a train. On the surface you carry yourselves like a private funeral; paperback on your side, on his, a small sheet newspaper, unfurled. You note his newspaper. He notes your novel. You … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Antrim, Belfast, Berlin Wall, Derry, Jan Carson, Londonderry, Mossley West, Northern Irish, People's Park, politics, Presbyterian, train travel, Vernacularisms
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Word Up, Part 1.
Cunt. It’s sprayed in round childish letters about 4 feet in height on the wall in Wellwood Street, just off Sandy Row. The black paint has been applied with some skill: the lines are consistently of the same thickness, and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged A2, adrenaline, Belfast, Belfast City Council, Buckfast, cider, frisson, Glue sniffing, graffiti, Great Victoria Street, handwriting, Hermeneutics, interpretation, Jason O'Rourke, Mise en Page, Office workers, Sandy Row, script, Sheela-na-Gig, South Belfast, Spray paint, Swearing, Vandalism, Wellwood Street
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Guest Blog: ‘A Constellation of Belfast Nicknames’ by Aisling O’Beirn.
Click on the image to view it in your browser. You can find out more about Aisling and this map here.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aisling O'Beirn, Belfast, Milky Way, place names, Street names, Vernacularisms, visual art
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Drama.
Loaded gun. Never fired. Sorry, Chekhov.
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Tagged Belfast, Chekhov, Chekhov's Gun, humour, Jason O'Rourke, short story, Six-word story, Vernacularisms
1 Comment
Hanging up the Boots
The veterans are uniformed in dark suits with black ties; there are no medals. They sit at the back like the bad boys on the bus, chattering slightly too loudly during the minister’s opening gambit. The lads are venerated, and … Continue reading
Guest Post: ‘The Days I Remember,’ By Larry Mac.
I went to school away up the back of the Shore Road. St Aloysius. Near Bearnageegha. I think Barny was a better school. Everybody knew it was. But sure, a school is a school no matter what type of education … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bearnageegha, Belfast, City Hall, fighting, friends, gangs, Harper Street, New Lodge, orphanage, Ravenhill Road, school bus, schooldays, Shore Road, Short Strand, Smoking, St Aloysius
3 Comments
The Selfish Gene?
“How come some people get away with it?” “Get away with what?” “They don’t suffer from unhappiness. Sure, they get pissed off every now and again when something goes wrong, but it’s temporary, a wee setback that doesn’t have any … Continue reading
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Tagged 1990, Belfast, bereavement, conflict, cruelty, depression, Jason O'Rourke, Literature, murder, paradox, psychology, psychopaths, relationships, Richard Dawkins, Sectarianism, selfish, short story, sociopaths, The Selfish Gene, The Silence of the Lambs, total melter, WP Longform, writing
8 Comments
Guest Post: ‘City Isles,’ by Ceardha Morgan.
I chart the city by its parks; green islands linked by the redbrick roads. An archipelago of forty, founded by city fathers many years ago in benevolence and self interest; oases amongst the mills, factories, shipyard smoke, noise and the … Continue reading
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Tagged Alexandra Park, Belfast, Belfast Corporation, Belfast Lough, Botanic Gardens, Bowling Green, dreaming, Dunville Park, escape, Falls Park, fountain, Goliath, James Craig, Landrovers, Lost Boys, Mens sana in corpore sano, murder, nostalgia, Ormeau Park, Palm House, Samson, serenity, Spring, Summer, trees, tribes, Victoria Park, Waterworks, Woodvale Park, WP Longform
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Chadwick at Large, Part 4.
This will make more sense if you have read, at least, part 1. It is here. *** I have had a bad experience, my dear readers. Yes, a German spa holiday in Bad Saarow! I’m sure you will understand immediately … Continue reading
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Tagged Bad Saarow, Belfast, boating, Boney M, Bratwurst, burgundy, Chadwick, Cork, Foie Gras, Germany, Golf, Holiday, humour, Ireland, Irish Songs, Lake Scharmützel, Liebfraumilch, Lili Marlene, Massage, Mud Bath, Napoleon Bonaparte, Resort, singers, South Belfast Herald & Post, Spa, Swimming, Thermal Springs, Tournedos Rossini, traditional music, WPLongform
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Vernacularisms 