Still here...

Yes, I’m still here! And still writing... I decided to reawaken the blog as I miss its old style, slow style - which suits my own at the moment!

Workshops...

For (Ireland based) readers interested in writing workshops, Fact to Fiction in particular – I’ll be running live workshops this Autumn – feel free to contact me via the blog to register your interest. It will be covid compliant with limited numbers and based in the Irish Midlands.

Lyonesse Literary Journal...

Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele

I've been trying to read journals and sites that feed my writing mind and inspire at the moment  and Lyonesse is one of them. Its an exciting online journal celebrating women writers who foreground women and weave magic and nature into their work. They ‘particularly love showcasing writing inspired by mythology, folklore and fairy tales.’ It’s run by Sam Young and team. I was delighted to be part of their 'In Conversation' feature - the interview covers fairy tales, folklore, Irish history, poetry, mermaids, silence, witchcraft and a little about next novel...! 

'Niamh Boyce is an award winning writer and poet from Ireland who is based in the Irish Midlands. Using the novel and poem to unearth the witches, ghosts and other buried voices of marginalised Irish women, her writing frequently explores womanhood and the oppressive influence of the Catholic religion and patriarchy on women’s lives. 

In 2012, she was awarded the Hennessy XO New Irish Writer of the Year for her poem “Kitty” and later went on to publish her first poetry collection, Inside the Wolf (2018), in which she dissects traditional fairy tales to explore art, motherhood and her Irish ancestry. Boyce’s debut novel, The Herbalist was published in 2013, gaining her Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards the same year. Set in 1930 rural Ireland, it tells the story of how the arrival of a mysterious medicine man to a small Irish village impacts the lives of four women within the community and exposes the culture of shame and silence which oppresses them. 

In 2019, Her Kind was published and shortlisted for the EU Prize for Literature. Taking the title from the Anne Sexton poem, the novel provides a speculative account of the Kilkenny Witch Trial which saw a group of Irish women condemned for witchcraft in 1324. In this interview, Lyonesse Editor Sam Young and Niamh discuss some of her feminist literary influences, the enduring allure of myths folklore and fairy tales, and giving voice to the historically silenced women of Ireland’s turbulent past..... 

to read more - click here

In the Long Read section, there's an fantastic in depth critical analysis of my first novel The Herbalist, by Maeve Eveyln Reilly - (first, spoiler alert, it's best to read this after you've finished the novel!) - to read - click here-   

Image by Monika Ruminska Akwarele

There's also a beautiful feature by Sam Young on hares and their associations with the moon, goddesses and witchcraft - its illustrated by Monika Ruminska Akwarele's stunning watercolours... to read more - click here 

In the meantime, I'm getting to the writing every day, some days only for a very short time - but getting to it day by day keeps the energy of the book alive... 

'In some ways I'm rediscovering the reasons why I wanted to write in the first place; for the pleasure of creating and living in the worlds which belong to me, and no one else until I invite them in...' 

Stephen Wyatt