MY CULTURAL LIFE
Eoin Colfer, writer
Bestselling author Eoin Colfer was born in Wexford and lives there with his wife and children. He began writing adult fiction but after teaching primary school realised that he had an affinity with kids. He created the acclaimed Artemis Fowl, W.A.R.P. and Legends series for children. He is a former Laureate na nog (2014-2016). He has co-written a new musical, Noel, with acclaimed film and theatre composer Liam Bates, that will premiere at the National Opera House from tomorrow, December 19-23.
TV: ‘The Missing’
In this age of distractions, event television is harder to zone in on than it used to be, but the second series of The Missing (right) is such a twisty turny whodunit of a crime show that Jackie and I set aside time to plonk ourselves on the sofa together and watch it. In fact, and this is the highest compliment that a show can receive, in our house we are sworn to watch it together and forbidden to proceed alone. The cast is perfect, the mood is grimmer than grim, and just when you think a character’s backstory can’t get any more tragic, they throw a mother off a hotel balcony. Perfect.
Singer: Paula Cox
Paula Cox has just released her first solo single: Let’s Play A Game. This is a hard one to do justice to with words. If I was forced to compare Paula to a group of people, I would say she is a little like the product of a gene splicing experiment involving Thom Yorke, Siouxsie Sioux and Karen Carpenter. Only more so.
Author: Patricia Forde
Patricia Forde (left) is among the best writers for young people working today, even though Galway completely robbed the city of culture title from the more deserving Three Sisters region. But I am the bigger man and prepared to put that aside to praise her amazing dystopian novel The Wordsmith, which deals with such lofty ideas as the preservation and importance of language, in a clever and entertaining way for children.
Play: ‘Dumpton’
Eamonn Colfer staged his play Dumpton in Wexford’s Fusion Theatre recently to packed houses. Dumpton is set in a future where the Earth has been consumed by man’s waste and the survivors of the human race are forced to eke a living by digging through their ancestors’ garbage. One day, a stranger arrives on the heap with sinister intent, and life on Dumpton will never be the same, if it proceeds at all. A darkly funny piece with hypnotic performances.
Artist: PJ Lynch
PJ Lynch is having an online retrospective at pjlynchgallery. com (illustration, right) where a huge chunk of his published artwork is collected for the first time. The result is a stunning journey from modern times back to the 1800s when I suspect PJ must have been born to develop such skills. A world-class illustrator.