Crossing Borders New Poetry and Paintings Collection

I suppose I'd better start with the official press release. It describes the book and sounds so much more serious than I could. here goes...

Available from: www.guildhallpress.co.uk

Crossing Borders:

Guildhall Press to Publish New Collection of poetry and Paintings.

Derry Artist’s Brush with Cancer Inspires New Book

Derry-born artist, Joe Campbell’s recent experience of cancer not only provided a sobering period of reflection but also brought him the time to bring together a collection of paintings from the past twenty years. In addition to the paintings Joe has also composed 40 new poems some of which touch upon, not just the artist’s recent illness, but also personal loss, the troubles and reflections on life and a life lived. Placed side by side the poems and the paintings will form the basis of a new publication entitled, Crossing Borders, published by Guildhall Press

 Speaking of what inspired him, Joe says,

“The cancer was the catalyst. When someone takes you into a room and tells you that you have cancer, it’s a profoundly shocking experience. Your life changes in an instant. Afterwards, you grapple with that reality, trying to make some kind of sense of it. You come to the realisation that your life is finite. For me, that sense-the sense that something could be over-sparked a period of deep reflection. The result was Crossing Borders.”

Joe commented, “The themes within the poetry range from: my illness; childhood memories; the “Troubles” and even feelings about past loss and bereavement. Some of the poems, especially those that recollect the troubles came unbidden. Like many in my age group (56) who bore witness to that dark period, I had buried such recollections with spadefuls of silence. I found the very act of expression a liberating one. Like exposing a festering wound to the air, the exposure began a process of healing, although these are poems are particular and personal, I hope they can be of some use to others.”

The paintings span a period of about twenty years. They are above all portraits of places in and around Derry and Donegal and pay homage to the beauty of our immediate landscape. The paintings reflect a lifetime recording that beauty and such a collection should strike a chord with local people whether at home or abroad. The book will be launched at Central Library on Monday December 1st, 6:30pm, all welcome. Crossing Borders and will be on sale at all good bookshops.

Phew! There you are. if you're wondering about that cover illustration. The one with John Wayne, well, there was a kinda well kept secret during the early "troubles" (we're talking early 1970s) there was definitely a recreational element to the rioting. Think of it. What's not to like? Outdoor pursuits for the unemployed and disenfranchised and the lonely. That image refers to both the definite macho image of rioters and the fact that rioting was often suspended so that the participants could all go home for a while and watch their favourite TV programmes. in the case of the poem it was the movie, The Alamo. One gentleman from Belfast wrote to me to tell me with them it was Little House on the Prairie. Come to think of it you wouldn't have missed that programme no matter what the political climate. The accompanying poem sheds more light:

Recreational Rioting

Oh for the days of the Derry dances

With a hop and a skip

And away we go

King and country

Versus chieftain and tribe

Happy as Larry, both full to the brim

With a cracker skim of a stone

And the resulting scatter, laugh and rally

Oh for the boys of the King’s Own Lancers

With an “Alright mate, up against the wall!”

With a hop and a skip

And away we go

Remember the Alamo

Davy and the boys

A cracker film on BBC 2

Then on to the streets

Out for a throw

Here’s to the days of the Derry dances

With a hop and a skip

And away we go

Extract from: Crossing Borders, www.guildhallpress.co.uk

View of Buncrana Bridge, Donegal, Ireland from Crossing Borders

Always really liked this painting. That bridge is probably one of the most handsome in Ireland. The old ruined fort in the right of the composition is O Doherty's Keep. Ancient seat of the O Doherty Clan. That goes back to the 1300s. In the 1500s it came into the possession of The O Doherty family ancestral rulers of Inishowen. It even housed soldiers from the Spanish Armada who had been ship wrecked on the Donegal coast. The old manor house just visible in the background was built by the Vaughan Family in the early 1700s. Its rumoured that Wolfe Tone, leader of the 1789 rebellion was imprisoned in the keep. Bit of history there for you...