Books: Irish American Writers and Artists Salon at the Cell Warms a Winter’s Eve

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How It's New York: The bi-monthly Salons are hosted by Irish American Writers and Artists, a national organization headquartered and founded in New York City.  
How It's Irish: The Salons feature Irish and Irish-American artists of any genre.
A heartycrew came out to the Cell Theatre on the frigid evening of Tuesday, January 22^ndfor another stellar evening of fiction, poetry, and wonderful song at thebi-monthly Irish-American Writers and Artists Salon. 

Here is Karen Daly's summary of the event ... Photos by Cat Dwyer. 
John Kearns hosted and led off with an excerpt from his novel-in-progress, Worlds.Janey Dougherty, a secretary in 1950s Philadelphia, is having an affair with anexecutive at her office, James Logan. James, who is engaged to marry anotherwoman, goes on a business trip for a week without telling Janey.  When hereturns and seeks her forgiveness, she gets him to break off his engagement andtheir relationship quickly goes back to normal. We look forward to hearingmore of Worlds.
Guenevere Donohue described the creative inspiration that the salonengenders. She gave us an example of that inspiration in the form of ahauntingly beautiful love song, "What It Is."  This new composition came into being after Guen’sconversation with Owen and Moley O'Suilleabhain, the singer/songwriters of Size2 Shoes, at a previous IAW&A salon.  
Novelist, poet, and professor, Christy Barrett-Kelly read several poems from a forthcomingcollection.  Christy has written for film, television, and theatre andis currently completing his first novel, NobodySaid.
Inspired bythe sudden drop in temperature to the deep freeze, Jack Di Monte sang “South To A Warmer Place” by Alec Wilderand Loonis McGlohon. Jack has now sung a few times at the salon, andyes, he warmed us up. 
Larry Kirwan read fromhis novel, Rockin' The Bronx, set in the "only borough on themainland” during the wild early 1980s, the time when John Lennon was shot andBobby Sands MP died on hunger strike. Larry described how Irish Republicanpolitics and traditional music intertwined in the bars of the Bronx, and gavean account of how a fiddler dominated a session as seen through a musician'seyes. Rockin The Bronx was published last year and is now available asan ebook on all platforms.

After the break, Seamus Scanlon presented a striking new story linking a cat-free Galway andNew York. His recent collection As CloseAs You'll Ever Be (http://www.cairnpress.com/pages/titles) wasselected in the Best Short Story Collections of 2012 by the Library Journal. Congrats, Seamus!


 Kevin Holohan read a new short-short story “The Six Other Facesof Frank Byrne” which shows the public and private faces of an apparent hardman, Dubliner Frank Byrne as he struggles with family illness and thedisplacement and disconnection of the expatriate before finally cracking andspilling out over the edges to an unsuspecting fellow passenger on his returnflight to New York.  Kevin said: “This character came into my head, leftbehind six tiny stories and then left.  I can’t say I was entirely sorryto see him go.” 
In adelightful close to the evening, singer/songwriter Tara O'Grady treatedus to her new song about Billie Holiday, “GardeniaGirl.”  Tara wrote the song afterlearning that the jazz legend had Irish roots — her Irish great-grandfather wasnamed Fagan and she was born Eleanora Fagan. Tara also discovered anotherpersonal link to Lady Day. Holiday is buried in the Bronx, directly across theriver from Queens where Tara grew up, overlooking the Whitestone Bridge. Tarawill soon record “Gardenia Girl” on her third album, A Celt in the CottonClub.
Though the temperatures outside were freezing, it was a warm,convivial, artistic gathering inside the IAW&A Salon.  The next Salon at Bar Thalia is on February 5^th.  The next Cell Salon is on February 19^th.  If you are a member and would like topresent, send an email to IASalon@hotmail.comIAsalon@hotmail.com