New Look 'Counting Stained Glass Windows'

A new version of 'Counting Stained Glass Windows' in perfect binding and on better quality paper is now available from this website. The publication cost 8 euro

Red Admiral on my Tagetes

Swords Heritage

Got my invitation to the presentation of prizes in the Carnegie Court Hotel Swords on 31st August.
Swords has been a happy hunting ground for me over the past number of years having won the top prize for three years in a row.
I suppose i have as good a chance this year as any other year. I would never dream of commenting on the merits or otherwise of my own work, that is for others so I live in hope. My record in this competition reads
2002 Certificate of Merit
2003 Third Prize
20o4 First prize
2005 First prize
2006 First prize
2007 third prize
2008 Certificate of merit
2009 as Frank Murphy will confirm a drenching on one of the wettest night of the year
2010 First Prize for the third time

Tommy Murray Battle of The Books

Website

Main website still down and may be for the next week or so. I find this quite annoying but there is nothing I can do about it. It will give me more time to concentrate on my poetry and get ready for my next collection. So far i have 48 poems and two offers to publish but I don't have a title which might reflect the general theme running through the poems. I will probably spend as much time working on the title as i did writing the poems and i don't regret this as it will shadow me for as long as the book is available. I began with an idea of calling it 'The Great Outdoors' but how do you fit a poem called the Marchioness into that title.

Syllables /Ledwidge Competition

Website still down, meanwhile toying with the idea of entering something in the Francis Ledwidge Competition. It might not suit me to enter a poem at this point in time as the only competition poems that I have available haven't been tried in usual outlets as yet.
This competition has been a happy hunting ground for me over the years, coming second twice, fourth once, getting Highly Commended, Commended and Certificates of Merit no less than ten times as well as coming second in the reader's Choice Section once. I should however, point out that some of these awards were obtained before the competition switched from Syllables to the Francis Ledwidge Awards

Feedback from the White House

Thank You Tommy for a great night of Poetry you gave in the Whitehouse.

Barney Sheehan

Just returned from a very successful reading for the White House poets in Limerick City