John thinking in novel terms
Kilcullen writer John Martin, who most recently won the Short Story prize at the 26th Dunlavin Festival of the Arts, is considering a novel which will incorporate characters connected with the story, and with his recently performed play.
"The character is a young lad who is living on a small farm above Donard, a handful of acres," John says. "He went down to Donard and saw British soldiers there, and decided he was going to join up. The theme is, of course, that it was going to be a one way ticket for him, and by extension for 50,000 other Irishmen who died in WW1. The play starts when this lad arrives in France, the short story tells how he arrived in France."
John recently took part in a creative writing course in Kilkenny, and one of the tasks was to come up with an idea for a novel. Now he's trying to structure this same theme and character, along with the other people connected to him, into what he hopes will provide the form for a novel on the same theme.
"Watch this space," he says with a grin.
Brian Byrne.
