It was a warm evening in the Bay Area and the crowd in Slainte Oakland welcomed another Irish American Writers & Artists salon on April 9.
Your diarist as host introduced the artists for the evening. First up were DJ Hamouris & Buffalo of the Dulcimates who began the magical night with their expert playing of “The Great Silkie,” “Ashokan Farewell” and finished their set with DJ Hamouris with an original instrumental while Buffalo recited Yeats’s poem “Song of Wandering Aengus.” The story goes, after DJ shared the tune, he opened a poetry book to a random page that contained “Song of Wandering Aengus.” Chills.
Your diarist introduced the next writer, Eanlai Cronin, who took charge as host of her amazing posse of writers from her long-established Wednesday Morning Writing Group who then read, recited and sang.
Juliet Clancy reflected on the practice of author’s acknowledgements and imagined her own, both heartfelt and hilarious -- from the nun who told her she would never amount to anything to her mother who told her she’d never marry. I must say that her daughter and husband were in the audience, so Juliet proved them wrong.
Enlai Cronin.
Nancy Philips shared a memoir piece from her Bronx child’s view of the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur, and longing to be treated like the men, especially her Uncle Dave, who all fawned over. Years later she recognizes the imbalance but still a part of her jokes she would love to be treated like Uncle Dave.
Shelia Chandrasekhar told of her Indian American family and her longing for a Norman Rockwell holiday of the perfect Thanksgiving.
Vibha Akkaraiu Nirmy Knag’s short story “Torn” had the audience travel to a London shopping …
Gigi Gamble’s cleverly titled “The Well of Loveliness” a twist from Radclyffe Hall’s “The Well of Loneliness,” had us eavesdrop on an ordinary day.
Russell Kaltschmidt held the letter from his mother, and 30 years later makes peace with her reluctance to recognize his gay life.
Greta Wu read three brilliant poems that made the audience laugh and cringe as she relates the role rats played in her life. From skittering behind walls and her daughter’s birth in a “year of the rat.”
Eanlai Cronin: The songs of our childhood haunt us. The ones we hated now take on a new meaning as she sings “The Cursed Kerryman.” She reflected on her Irish childhood in an Irish-speaking Gaeltacht where rain looms large as a character. Now in sunny California she cherishes the poem she recited for family and friends at age 4, not understanding it in either language, but proud of her reception.
The audience and Slainte owner requested the Eanlai Writers to come and read again soon.
Clarion Performing Arts
Center, San Francisco, April 12
In the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown there’s a sweet historic theater that welcomes all during the month of April. They offer the theater for free to local nonprofits. This is IAW&A’s second year hosting a salon at the Clarion during this generous opportunity.
The salon began with your diarist giving a brief history and the mission of IAW&A as well as sharing upcoming events, such as IAW&A first participation in the American Literature Association this May in Boston.
J. Patrick Goggins and Norman Ten of the Irish Chinese Transcontinental project informed the audience of the efforts to have the annual Transcontinental celebration break from mostly recognizing the financiers and owners at the 145 celebrations to three years later making sure the celebration recognized the immigrant workers who did the back breaking work to build the railroad. Of historical note, most know of the golden spike that was hammered to acknowledge the completion of the railroad. But it was news about the “Laurel Tie” which also recognized the workers. Both items were always displayed together. The story got lost over time, and the tie was lost in the 1906 earthquake. The project researched and brought this significant artifact back and it is now displayed in San Francisco along with the golden spike.
The speakers could have stayed for longer, but Mr. Goggins had to leave for the United Irish Cultural Center gala honoring George Mitchell and his work on the Irish Peace Accords.
While Mr. Goggins was leaving, the host played Patrick Carnahan’s stirring YouTube video of his original song “Men of Iron” which has many historical photos of the Chinese workers building the Transcontinental railroad.
The next act, The Neoriffs, a favorite band, is a trio comprised of Robert Anderson on guitar and vocals, Baldwyn on bass and Heather on drum. They rocked the crowd with Leonard Cohen’s “I Can’t Forget” and their original “Beauty All Around” and finished with a rousing version of The Cars’ “Just What I Needed.”
The Neoriffs.
Alison Hart, author, actor and dancer read from her upcoming memoir and enthralled the audience with the chapter on her parent’s courtship in the times of the 1950s and interracial non acceptance.
Speaking of enthralled, the salon ended with another favorite. Irish American Sean Nos singer Amelia Hogan, accompanied with an unusual instrument called the Shruti box, hushed the audience singing “Old Church Yard.”
Then she had the crowd sing along with David Francy’s ode to spring “Red Wing Black Bird” and Amelia’s own song, “California Gold” which came in the third during this year’s Folk Alliance Billboard.
Amelia ended with an IAW&A favorite and tradition “Wild Mountain Thyme.” Clara Hsue, the artistic director of Clarion Performing Arts Center, invited Amelia with her band back for a future concert. High praise, indeed.
