Doghouse

Catherine Anne Cullen

Two poets, one a Moscow-born half-Polish, quarter-Irish Haiku writer, who once studied medicine and is now teaching creative writing to immigrants in Dublin; the other a TV and radio producer, animator, author of award-winning children's verse and documentary maker whose mother is from Tralee. Clash, to be precise.

DOGHOUSE Books are having a hectic summer. This July the prolific Tralee publishers launch two new poetry collections from the above-mentioned writers bringing to sixteen the number of publications to their credit. Jovial Senator and scholar David Norris did the honours at the launch of Dublin poet Catherine Ann Cullen's debut collection, A Bone in my Throat, which took place at the Rubicon Gallery on Stephen's Green on Thursday 12th July.

The front cover illustration of A Bone in my Throat is a reproduction of Albrecht Duhrer's beautiful woodcut Adam and Eve set in the familiar DOGHOUSE binding. The back cover has a comment from, among others, Brendan Kennelly. The renowned Ballylongford native speaks in exciting terms about Catherine Ann's writing: "Cullen ventures into the worlds of Adam and Eve, Bluebeard... and others, and explores the fascination of what is forbidden, the dark, alluring world of Taboo. A Bone in my Throat will be read and re-read by lovers of good poetry."

Catherine Ann recently gave a public reading of her work in Tralee. The reading took place at the Poets' Corner in Reubens Cafe, a regular event in Kerry's literary world every Bank Holiday Monday. Her work immediately seized the audience's attention. Confidently read it was brilliantly observed and crafted poetry with striking visual imagery that was professionally and meticulously edited.

Catherine Ann, though based in Dublin, has a strong Tralee connection. Walk into local hostelry Quinlan's of the Mall and ask Hugh to show you the photograph of Timothy (Thady) O'Gorman. He'll point out a handsome man, with big moustache, proudly sporting the dark green and gold jersey a Kerry footballer on which is pinned an All-Ireland medal. Both Thady and his identical twin brother James (Jimmy) played on the Kerry team which won the first All-Ireland in... yes, 1903. Catherine Ann is the great-granddaughter of James.
On Wednesday 25th July Russian-born poet Anatoly Kudryavitsky's new collection of Haiku and Senryu Poems Morning at Mount Ring will be launched by Shizue Ogawa, Tokyo University, Japan as a part of the 20th International Gerard Manley Hopkins Summer School. It will take place at 4.30pm at St. Paul's Secondary School, Monasterevin, Co. Kildare.
Kudryavitsky has published seven collections of his Russian poems as well as an anthology of contemporary Russian poetry in English translation, A Night in the Nabokov Hotel (Dedalus 2006). He is the founder of the Irish Haiku Society.

The books will be available in selected bookshops. For more information please call DOGHOUSE on 066 713 7547.