Pen & Ink group honours early members

At a recent event, entitled Pen Folk, Pen & Ink, the Kiltimagh Writers’ Group celebrated its years of service to its members. It also celebrated the Folk Café’s great support for the arts and the links of both the group and the Café to the town of Kiltimagh.

The Pen Folk event featured readings by Pen & Ink’s founder member, poet Terry McDonagh, and by past and current members of the group. Honorary membership of Pen & Ink and a memento of the occasion were awarded to Terry and to Mayo Co Council's Acting Arts Officer Ann Marie McGing, who were jointly responsible for the founding of the group in 2007. Also awarded with honorary membership were three early members who read at the event: James Corcoran, Patti McNicholas and Peter Schmidt. Peter is still an active member of the group, currently serving as its treasurer.

The Folk Café in Kiltimagh was the venue for the event and its proprietors Elish and Mick Griffin put on a lavish spread for attendees. Elish and Mick are accomplished musicians, with a special interest in traditional Irish music.

On Friday mornings, from 11am to 1pm, the Folk Café offers sessions of music and songs, along with poems and prose, which feature talent from the local area and further afield. The aim is to make the arts available to people for whom other times and venues are not so easy to manage. Other offerings at the Folk Café include a monthly evening open mic and ad-lib music sessions.

Local charities have also benefitted greatly from fundraising activities held in the Folk Café. In recognition of all that Elish and Mick are doing for the arts, charities and the local community, Pen & Ink awarded them honorary membership too.

A special feature of the Pen Folk event was an In Memoriam section at which poems by three departed members were read. John Parr and Nick Burrill, current Pen & Ink members, read works by Les Milne, late of Brackloonm near Kiltimagh, and Tom White, late of Knock. Graham Mace very kindly read a poem, Mirrors, by his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 2013. Elizabeth is known to the world as Louise Lawrence, author of Children of the Dust, a book studied in many schools. She was a leading light of Pen & Ink and is remembered with fondness by those members who knew her.

The evening ended with a very enjoyable open mic, which featured high-quality acts by singers, poets and humourists.

Pen & Ink would like to take this opportunity to thank Terry McDonagh, Ann Marie McGing, Graham Mace, Mike Absalom; Joe, Adele, Ellen and John Greene, John and Isabela Hoban, Billy Coleman, Carmel Kilgallon and, very importantly, Elish and Mick Griffin, all of whom gave their services for the Pen Folk event. Thanks also go to all those not mentioned by name who attended and performed and helped to make the event such a great success.

“We’re based around the idea of critiquing people’s work,” Anni Wilton-Jones, the group’s long-standing chairperson told the Western People. “We don’t do writing exercises or have talks. Each person reads their piece aloud, and the group discusses it in detail - pointing out anything from punctuation issues to plot structure.” 

The group currently has eight active members, with a balance of men and women ranging in age from their late 20s to over 80. Meetings are held in the evenings, typically in members’ homes, and usually run for a couple of hours. Each session is structured to allow about 15 minutes of focused feedback per piece, with a 1,000-word limit helping to keep things concise and manageable.

“We’re not just looking at whether the story works,” Anni said. “We’re looking at all aspects that affect whether a piece of writing is ready for the public. It’s supportive, but it’s honest. We won’t just say, ‘Oh, that’s lovely.’” 

Members come from across the region, often travelling significant distances to attend. Despite this - or perhaps because of it - the group has stayed small by design.

“It’s worth the drive,” Anni said. “There aren’t many groups around that offer what we do.” 

The genres represented in Pen & Ink are diverse. While the group leans toward prose nowadays - thanks in part to a growing interest in flash fiction - poetry is still a strong feature. One member writes humorous fiction and is working on the second book in a trilogy, while another draws inspiration from real-life mysteries, such as coming upon a plaque commemorating a missing person. Another member focuses on children’s literature, crafting stories that appeal to both young readers and the adults reading to them.

Even technical aspects like grammar and punctuation are up for discussion. Far from being seen as constraints, they’re treated as essential tools in a writer’s arsenal.

“A misplaced comma can change the meaning of a sentence,” Anni said. “And if you’re aiming for publication, those details matter.” 

The group, which began in 2007, remains open to welcoming new members who are interested in this serious approach to improving their writing. 

“We’re not actively recruiting, but if someone wants to come along and try it out, they’d be very welcome,” Anni said. “Critiquing can be very different from what people are used to. It’s not for everyone - but for the right writer, it’s invaluable.” 

For more information about Pen & Ink, please contact Anni Wilton-Jones on penandink.comayo@aol.com.