I think as a journalist being neutral is the key to successful writing. People don’t care what you have to say, they care about having the facts presented to them in a fair way that makes them understandable. This is a challenging task in Belfast. As an outsider I feel I have no right to […]
She knew I was going, and she was proud. When I knelt down next to her in her room and said, “I’ll come back to see you when I come home, but I’m going to spend a month in Ireland in a creative writing residency,” her eyes lit up, and she smiled. Though I hated […]
From the Europa Bus Center the following are the bus departure times from Belfast to Armagh: 1:18p on the 251 3:45p on the 270 Gold Line Express 5:18p on the 251 7:58p on the 251 9:48p on the 251
It is Day 7 and I have learned SO much beyond Armagh and Irish history, thanks to my classmates. They are all brilliant and our dynamic is joyous. Last night, after arriving at The Barge, that the kitchen aboard was closed! We were famished, withering away and cranky after a long day of fast bells. […]
Today, I will tell you the story of Belfast. Once upon a time, there was a city named Belfast and through it ran a wall. On either side of the wall extended fields of community, poverty, and decay, each staked out by two different Christian sects with slightly different rules and regulations on respecting […]
At first glance, Belfast seems like a charming, thriving city. Buses run between shops and museums and a university that looks more like a castle. Centuries-old cathedral mingle with modern architecture to the point that one old church has a shiny metal spire instead of a steeple. The city is populated by some of the […]
I posted my pictures separately but collectively, I have a similar response to all of them. The y open and they close. Like that line in E.E. Cummings poem “somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond”: i do not know what it is about you closes and opens. Belfast is both fucking terrifying and extremely […]
Belfast is just that…fast. Cars zip past you and people are constantly hustling around trying to get to their next destination as fast as possible. I wouldn’t call it as fast as New York but Chicago is a pretty similar comparison. Two things stuck out to me today. The tour we had with Neil around […]
