The Boy in the Ring

"At home a young woman is suddenly old. She stretches on the settee weeping. A man on the telly keeps standing up and falling over, standing up and falling over."
(Today John Lennon will Die by Dave Lordan)

Dave Lordan is a brave and vociferous exponent of protest poetry for all people, but perhaps especially young people and those on the margins of society.

He was inspired to start writing poetry in his early teens by admiration for punk and alternative bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Cure.

"I loved the way that they expressed their rage, sadness and joy in words that everyone could understand and sing along to," explained Dave. "They showed me that writing and performing could be a way of unleashing the turbulent emotions which were constantly on the boil inside and seeking some kind of outlet."

Writing must have been a merciful release for the young Dave.

"I found I could rhyme well and kept a kind of poetic Diary which my mother Mary Byrne (now Lordan), who grew up in Mitchel's Avenue in Tralee, has held on to for me," added Dave. "I was writing about the events in my life and the people and towns I knew well like Clonakilty and Tralee. So from the beginning the idea of telling stories was connected to writing poetry with me."

Dave was awarded the Patrick Kavanagh Award for his hard-hitting new collection of poetry "The Boy in the Ring" and considers himself a "narrative poet" meaning someone who tells stories in poetry.

"I particularly like to tell the stories of what some might consider unimportant people, but whom I consider sacred - rural people, old people, people like immigrants and workers, ordinary people responding to the pressure of extraordinary events," explains Dave.

Writing poetry was not always an easy job for Dave but he was encouraged to keep writing by his family and friends.

"When I was very young my Tralee grandmother Maureen Byrne used to tell me stories about her life and the lives of people on her street and in her family. My father Joe Lordan, of Bog Road in Clonakilty, is also a great storyteller, as are many of his friends, and I picked up a gift for storytelling from them. There's no shortage of great material in West Cork and in Kerry so I've plenty to keep me busy with yet. My father has challenged me to write about the sport of road bowling and I intend to take up that challenge!"

Having met Dave Lordan at the Samhlaiocht Easter Festivals in 2006 and 2007 I can appreciate how strongly he feels about the importance of the two places he grew up in.

Though he's from Clonakilty in West Cork he has very strong connections to Tralee through his mother's family, the Byrnes of Mitchel's Avenue. He also had a lot of his formative experiences as a teenager in Tralee - his first girlfriend and his first flagon of cider!

"So I consider myself as having a dual heritage. The people I grew up with in these two towns have been the biggest influence on my writing. I'd like to especially mention my cousin Janet Griffin of Mitchel's, who was a hugely positive influence in my life."

Following a successful launch in The Winding Stair bookshop Dave Lordan's debut collection of poetry The Boy in the Ring is now available online at http://www.salmonpoetry.com/