Nov '24 11

'Grace Notes' is launched. Sail far and wide, little book of big poems!

Adelaide Fringe 2020, Biographical poetry, Grace Notes, Grainne Mhaol - Grace O'Malley, Ireland's pirate queen, New/unpublished poems, Publicity & promotion, Rescued poems, Salmon Poetry, Singing No comments »
Author Jennifer Liston at a book signing event, smiling at the camera while pointing to a stack of her book, <em>Grace Notes: Giving Voice to Gráinne Mhaol, Ireland’s Pirate Queen</em>. She is wearing a sparkly silver jacket over a black top and a necklace. The books on the table have a blue and green abstract cover with a sticker saying 'Signed by the Author.' A wine glass sits nearby on the table. This ALT-text was generated by ChatGPT.

We had a fantastic launch on Friday 8 November 2024 of my poetry collection, ‘Grace Notes’, published by Salmon Poetry, at The Allingham Festival in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal. I was so moved at the number of people who made an effort to be there: my sister Susan Coakley and her husband Daragh, my brother Tony and his wife Marie, and my brother James flew over from England as a surprise, as well as several close friends. And of course my dearest Robert Rath.
Author Jennifer Liston on stage seated next to Win McNulty at a small table with microphones in front of them. Jennifer, wearing a sparkly silver jacket, holds a copy of <em>Grace Notes: Giving Voice to Gráinne Mhaol, Ireland’s Pirate Queen</em> in her lap and looks toward the audience. The setting is a theatre with red carpeting and seating in the foreground. This ALT-text was generated by ChatGPT, then edited.

Local writer Win McNulty and I decided we would structure the launch as an interview/conversation. Win drew out of me many key points about the collection and its structure, how I came to focus on Gráinne Mhaol and voices/voicings as themes, my ideas about writing with and through constraints, and my rescued poetry process. It was a great conversation, and I’m very grateful to Win for all her background work and her intelligent, thoughtful and considered questions. We’re hoping to post video highlights publicly soon, so I’ll keep you updated.

I'm very grateful to The Allingham Festival committee for including me on the festival programme and for providing a beautiful space. I feel very privileged that my book launched on the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Allingham.


I'm particularly indebted to Tony and Marie Liston for arranging the amazing wine and canapés reception, and for looking after all the logistics associated with the event.

And of course my deepest gratitude goes to Jessie Lendennie and Siobhan Hutson Jeanotte of Salmon Poetry for publishing my work in such a beautiful form. The book itself is a work of art.

A display table with multiple stacks of Jennifer Liston's book, <em>Grace Notes: Giving Voice to Gráinne Mhaol, Ireland’s Pirate Queen</em>. Several copies are propped up to showcase the cover, which features a vibrant abstract design in blue, green, and purple tones. The books are neatly arranged, creating an inviting setup for a book signing or sale event. This ALT-text was generated by ChatGPT.

Christmas is coming, dear readers, so you might like to buy a few books as gifts for the bookworms and poetry lovers in your life! Order the book directly from the Salmon Poetry website. They ship worldwide!

Posted by Jennifer Liston

Nov '24 4

You can now buy my poetry collection 'Grace Notes' from Salmon Poetry!

Adelaide Fringe 2020, Grace Notes, Grainne Mhaol - Grace O'Malley, Ireland's pirate queen, New/unpublished poems, Publicity & promotion, Rescued poems, Salmon Poetry, Singing No comments »
Cover of the book Grace Notes: Giving Voice to Gráinne Mhaol, Ireland’s Pirate Queen by Jennifer Liston. The design features bold, swirling brushstrokes in shades of blue, green, and purple, with touches of red, resembling an abstract painting of ocean waves. The title and author’s name are overlaid in white and gold text, with the publisher, Salmon Poetry, noted at the bottom. This alt text was generated by ChatGPT.

It's finally here!

Ennistymon-based Salmon Poetry has published my poetry collection, Grace Notes. It will be launched at the Allingham Festival in Ballyshannon on Friday 8 November. I'm really looking forward to launching this baby into the world. It's been a long time in the making.

Grace Notes is a collection of poems that express fragments of the life of Grace O’Malley/Gráinne Mhaol. The Gráinne compositions place Gráinne at different points in her life and also situate her in a mediaeval past and a borrowed future via her dreams, or aislings. Interspersed with these compositions are ‘rescued’ poems. (I've posted many examples and written quite a bit on this site about my 'rescued poetry' process. You could also check out my rescued poetry website.) I chose 17 texts connected to Gráinne – a selection of factual or fictional biographies of her and a small number of contemporary historical texts – from which I rescued 50 poems.

Isn't the cover gorgeous? Salmon Poetry's Siobhán Hutson Jeanotte designed it. I requested that it wouldn't feature the usual pirate queen image bandied around whenever Grace O'Malley is illustrated, and Siobhán did a wonderful job with an abstract image that suggests movement and sea and waves without hitting us over the head with them.

You can buy the book directly from the Salmon Poetry website. They ship worldwide!

Posted by Jennifer Liston