Roscommon in Reflection: SiarScéal Anthology 2012

An anthology of poetry, prose, short stories, photographs that treats us to a picture of Roscommon which resonates with the landscape and varied stories of the place but also slips free of boundaries and borders to speak directly to the human heart. A must read for anybody with connections to Roscommon or even a familiarity with the great warmth of its culture, heritage, landscape, scenery.

SiarScéal Anthology 2012: Roscommon in Reflection is collection of poetry and prose representing five years of work submitted to the Hanna Greally Literary Awards, which takes place annually in conjunction with the SiarScéal Festival in County Roscommon, Ireland. SiarScéal Festival is a historical, literary, bilingual festival hosted annually in County Roscommon, inspired by the culture and heritage of Roscommon’s river basins.

In his Foreword to this volume, writer Dermot Bolger describes it as "a book that emanates from Roscommon and resonates with the landscape and varied stories of Roscommon, but, like all good writing, it slips free of all boundaries and borders to speak directly to the human heart about the human condition."

The SiarScéal Anthology is a living testimony and representation of the lives and history of the people of Roscommon and national writers, through the medium of poetry, prose and short stories. From personal memoirs in rural life, exploring the thread of our existence, emigration, the famine ships, Queen Medbh, historical landmarks and fables, to our two majestic rivers, the Shannon and the Suck.

Metaphorically, as an archaeological dig fusing our ancestry to the present time, gleaning from the core of our existence ‘what’s buried beneath’, this collection allows the reader to empathise with the nostalgic imagery created throughout the yesteryears of life in the west. It will find its pride of place amongst our cultural social history in memory of times past and passing.

This anthology showcases Roscommon and all that it has to offer to the visitor and the inhabitant alike. It is an anthology that will be instantly enjoyed by anybody who is from Roscommon, who has connections to the place or has had the fortune to experience its great warmth and attraction. But it is also a book that should be read by anybody who appreciates good writing and literature.