Jean Bleakney

Selected Poems (2016) & No Remedy (2017)

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Who Do You Think You Are? There is no better diversion, teens to oldies, than turning detective. This THREAD will list sources (for the island of Ireland). All FREE. Get in there.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@MayaCPopa Ahhh❤️

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

https://t.co/wAfKx7USmb
Our dearly-loved daughter -in-law, Sarah.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Jim McElroy - Irish Book Awards
Great to be reminded what an absolute corker this poem is. On so many levels. https://t.co/cn9p5ngfvI

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Thoughts tonight with Myra Vennard (1929-2022) and those who loved her. @DonaldsonMoyra @ACNIWriting @Backmuir Her deeply affecting poems still shimmering.

[Gail Walker @GWalker9]

"That brief formal statement at 12.34pm today is a mighty blow. Intellectually we realised this day would arrive. But emotionally we are not remotely prepared for it at all. Facing into the darkest of winters, it seems deeply symbolic of a world gone awry" https://t.co/oVvZDaOUu9

[David Kerr @davidwkerr]

The bomb detonated at 3.10pm on 15th August 1998, in the centre of Omagh - 24 years ago. My phone went crazy and then the network jammed. We visited the scene 2 days later.
To the youngsters who think it was all a big heroic fairytale, I wish you could see what I saw that week.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@JimBMcElroy @MunLitCentre @frankfarrelly @endawyley @MartinaEvans @JuliaCopus Thanks Jim. I’m honoured. Was thinking about you last week, when out west looking my roots in rough terrain. “Walk on the rushes, Jean”, said a wise family member. Repeatedly.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

First, diseased and defoliated ash trees. Now this chestnut leaf miner. 😢

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Thrilled for Sheila and the utterly haunting Winter in Tabriz.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@SusannahDickey I'd forgotten how good he is. Thanks! He read from New Addresses that night in the Elmwood Hall.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@SusannahDickey 'The iris is a flower that is past meridian, a ghost come bearing you a villanelle' p540. He did Belfast Festival. Came to the workshop. Said there was no such thing as a prose poem. Didn't speak between gigs to save his voice. It was the '90s. Things were different back then.

[Ian Acheson 🇬🇧☘️ @NotThatBigIan]

Here is a picture, faded but happy, of a murdered man who matters. He matters to his family of course, but he should also matter to those who vote for the one mainstream party in western Europe that still believe terrorism is justified. He is Douglas Deering. 1/

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Congratulations to Sheila Llewellyn, shortlisted for her marvellous Winter in Tabriz

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@silverlawn @RuthgMoore @ParrConnal We left Newry in early 1973 for Lisburn. Mum is still there. We sometimes have an upstairs cuppa in Smyth Patterson, always hoping for a window seat. That would have been a fascinating and lively childhood. The Market Sq chemist is much missed by Mum.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@silverlawn @RuthgMoore @ParrConnal Having the approval of gardeners is a particular thrill. Especially pleasing to know you found your Mum in the poems. Thanks so much.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@RuthgMoore @silverlawn @ParrConnal Thanks Ruth. Your support means a lot. Hope to reconnect before the year is out. Fermanagh beckons.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@silverlawn @ParrConnal @RuthgMoore Thank you Clare @silverlawn (and Connal @ParrConnal and Ruth @RuthgMoore ). I really appreciate the feedback and good vibes from afar.

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@JimBMcElroy @MunLitCentre @giftforhope3 @poetryireland Very deserving it is. Thank you Jim xx

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

@the_rivermill @maria_mcmanus Out and about at the moment. Will get back later. Alice Oswald, Gillian Clarke, Sarah Maguire for starters. NB a lot of plant poems are not necessarily garden poems

[Jean Bleakney @jbleakney]

Alfie’s Feet #ShirleyHughes 💔