Rosemary Jenkinson

Nov 6, 2024 | booksirelandmagazine.com | Rosemary Jenkinson

by Rosemary JenkinsonWhy on earth would any writer make the seismic leap from fiction to poetry? Fiction writers are expected to stay in their more lucrative lane, although it has to be said that short story writers are usually the poor relatives of the prose scene. However, there are plenty of successful novelists who genre-hop to poetry. Louis de Bernières and Colm Tóibínare two notable names to have migrated.

May 12, 2024 | thecritic.co.uk | Rosemary Jenkinson

Determination and death on the front lines of Ukraine On a sunny spring morning in Dnipro, I take a minibus to Kramatorsk, a city in the Donbas region of Ukraine. It’s packed with stern-looking soldiers making their way to the front line. They don’t sleep or talk, but they all chuckle when our driver makes a loud histrionic phone call to his “Mama”. The road ahead is long and shimmering, cutting through endless fields of green-eared wheat and freshly shooting corn.

Apr 24, 2024 | irishtimes.com | Katie Donovan |Rosemary Jenkinson |Máirtín Coilféir |Patrick Moran |Enda Wyley

Thursday, April 25th is Poetry Day Ireland with readings and other events due to take place throughout the country ( see Poetryday.ie for a list of these events and activities in your local area). The theme set by Poetry Ireland, the national poetry organisation, for this tenth anniversary is Good Sports, celebrating the good sport in all of us.

Oct 24, 2023 | thecritic.co.uk | Rosemary Jenkinson

The overnight train is packed as everyone clambers on. I’m heading to the industrial city of Zaporizhia, one of the main staging posts for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia. Zaporizhia is a mere 50 kms from the front line, as a hub for soldiers and equipment. In recent weeks, the British media have kept mentioning “compassion fatigue” amongst Ukraine’s allies.

Oct 23, 2023 | booksirelandmagazine.com | Rosemary Jenkinson

by Rosemary JenkinsonIf there is one thing we have learnt in Northern Ireland, it’s that history can be as explosive as a letter bomb. Martin Doyle, in his prologue to Dirty Linen, tells of how a historian, Dr Thomas Fitzpatrick, contracted cholera and died from the unfumigated papers he handled in the Four Courts in Dublin. “History mishandled can be toxic,” comments Doyle, citing an example where claims of genocide in 1641 were used by Protestants as political capital.