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Brian Leyden

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Brian Leyden
Born1960 (age 63–64)
Arigna, County Roscommon, Ireland
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, screenwriter, documentarian, editor, mentor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityIrish
EducationFine Arts, Creative Writing
Notable workThe Home Place, Love These Days

Brian Leyden (born 1960) is an Irish writer. He has published three novels, two short story collections and a best selling memoir. He has co-written a script for a feature film, made radio documentaries and is a regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany on RTE Radio 1. In 2021 Brian Leyden was one of the founders of the independent regional imprint Lepus Print. https://www.lepusprint.com/

Biography

[edit]

Brian Leyden is from the coal mining valley of  Arigna, County Roscommon,[1] a place and a way of life memorialised in the author's work. He writes fiction and non-fiction in which he holds a Masters in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, (2022)[2] and a PG Diploma in Fine Art (NCEA) (1983).[3] Leyden has been a creative non-fiction mentor with the MFA in Creative Writing at Carlow University Pittsburgh for twenty years.[4] He has worked continuously in the arts, including the positions of Writer in Residence with Leitrim and Sligo Libraries. He has mentored for the NUI Galway BA in Creative Writing program.[5] Reading tours he participated in include Ireland and its Diaspora Writers & Musician’s Tour of Germany (1996), Newport Festival Rhode Island, and The Irish Writers' Centre Peregrine Readings (2010)[6] and New York in (2019). Leyden as a writer is very engaged with the relationship between place and the creative calling. He lives on the Atlantic coast of North Sligo with his wife.

Books

[edit]
  • Love These Days (2024) novel[7]
  • Summer of ’63 (2016), novel.[8][9][10][11][12]
  • Sweet Old World: New and Selected Stories (2015), short stories.[13][14]
  • Death and Plenty (1996), novel.[15][16]
  • The Home Place (2002) memoir.[16][17]
  • Departures (1992), short stories.[15][16]

Recent Commissions

[edit]
  • The Sligo Wave, (2024) a writer's response to a major exhibition in the Model Arts centre on the Sligo Landscape tradition from Jack B. Yeats to present day artists.[18]
  • The Sheemore Ambush, (2020) for the Decade of Commemorations (2012-2023) initiative (2022).[19]
  • The Sligo Bus and All That Jazz, (2020) The Hawk's Well Theatre: Come together with writer Brian Leyden and musician Eddie Lee.[20]
  • Walking Bird Mountain, (2018/2019) Creative Ireland, Sligo, and the Factory Theatre multi-media collaborative arts project.[21]
  • Creative Ireland Award script commission for the 'Famine Attic' , (2018) Carrick-On Shannon, Co Leitrim.[22]
  • Old Flames, (2016) A script commission as National Writer in Residence for the Bealtaine Festival, and live performance tour with multi-instrumentalist Seamie O Dowd.[23][24]

Plays

[edit]
  • Remember Me, (2023) The Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo.[25]
  • Ink and Lunacy, (1990), The Factory Theatre, Sligo.[26]
  • W.B Yeats: Experiments in Magic, (1989) St John's Church Theatre Listowel, Yeats Society , Co Sligo for the 50th anniversary of the poets death.[27]

Film

[edit]
  • Black Ice (2013) Premiered at the Jameson Film Festival, Dublin and the Model Sligo, before going to cinemas nation wide.[28][29]

Opera

[edit]
  • Humpty Dumpty (2010) A libretto for a short opera by contemporary composer Ian Wilson. performed at the Lancaster International Concert Series March (2010).[30]

Editorial Highlights

[edit]
  • The Cathach Volume II (2010) Sligo Library Services online literary Journal.[31]
  • First Cut Anthology, (2004)[32]
  • Force 10 Literary Journal, Issues 7-8, (1995-1997)[33]

Radio Documentaries

[edit]
  • The Irish Station Mass (2015)[34]
  • The Closing of the Gaiety Cinema (2004)[35]
  • Even the Walls Were Sweatin' (1997)[36]
  • No Meadows in Manhattan (1991)[37]

Other Radio Highlights

[edit]
  • BBC 4 Short Story, Departures (1990 and 2000)[38]
  • A Word in Edgeways (2022-2024)[39]

Essays and Anthologies

[edit]
  • Brian's non-fiction and essays have been broadcast on national radio and widely anthologised. Including Sunday Miscellany: A selection 2018-2023, ed. Sarah Binchy,'[40][41] A Door Opening: Sligo and the Legacies of Partition, eds. Susan McKay and Keith Hopper (2023).[42] Further essays are included in Winter Papers 2, and 8, (2016 and 2022) eds. Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith,[43][44] Maugherow: beneath the blowing sands, ed. Sean Golden, (2022),[45] Fermata: Writings inspired by Music, eds. Eva Bourke and Vincent Woods, (2016),[46] Irlande 66/69 - Guy Jungblut and Jacques Piraprez/Nutan, (2016).[47] His personal essays on other writers appear in Writing the Sky: Observations and Essays on Dermot Healy, ed. Neil Murphy and Keith Hopper, (2016),[48] This Landscape's Fierce Embrace: The Poetry of Francis Harvey, ed. Donna L. Potts (2013).[49] His fiction has been anthologised in Reading the Future: New Writing from Ireland, ed. Alan Hayes (2018)[50] Stories for Jamie, ed. John Scally (2002),[51] The Brandon Book of Irish Short Stories, ed. Steve Mc Donagh (1998),[52] Irish Christmas Stories II, ed. David Marcus (1997)[53] and The Alphabet Garden: European Short Stories, ed. Peter Ayrton (1994).[54]

Recognitions

[edit]
  • The Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon "Literary Bursary" (2014) and (2022)[8][55]
  • Culture Ireland Travel Award, USA, (2017)[8]
  • Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Sound and Vision Award (2014)[8]
  • Sidney Brown Memorial Award (2012)[56] for the musical adaptation Emerald. Music by Denise Wright. Book and lyrics by Chris Burgess. Based on the novel Death and Plenty by Brian Leyden.
  • Sligo County Libraries Writer-in-Residence (2010)[57]
  • Norman Mailer Writers Colony (at Provincetown, MA) Scholarship (2009)[58]
  • Arts Council Travel & Training Award (2009)[59]
  • Jacobs Award for No Meadows in Manhattan (1991).[60]
  • Francis MacManus Short Story Award for The Last Mining Village (1988)[61]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Arigna Mining Experience - Coal Mines Cave Tour Ireland". Arigna Mining Experience. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Home". Lancaster University. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art". Atlantic Technological University Sligo. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  4. ^ "carlow college pittsburgh - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Undergraduate Courses - University of Galway". www.universityofgalway.ie. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Peregrine Readings". Irish Writers' Centre. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013.
  7. ^ "Lepus Print". Lepus Print. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d "Brian Leyden: On Writing". Hawk's Well Theatre. Sligo. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. ^ Leyden, Brian (22 June 2016). "An ageless pleasure: A Bealtaine diary by Brian Leyden". The Irish Times. Dublin. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  10. ^ Dooner, Dan (16 February 2017). "Castlecoote fiction fans warmed by 'Summer of '63'". Roscommon People. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Brian Leyden reading from Summer of". Lepus Print. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  12. ^ Leyden, Brian (2016). Summer of '63. Brian Leyden. ISBN 978-1530961269.
  13. ^ "Writing for radio, with Brian Leyden". Irish Writers Centre. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ Leyden, Brian (9 February 2015). Sweet Old World: New & Selected Stories. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1508415602.
  15. ^ a b "Biography: Brian Leyden". The Irish Times. Dublin. 17 February 2001. ISSN 0791-5144. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  16. ^ a b c "Brian Leyden". Sligo Arts Service. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  17. ^ Leyden, Brian (21 February 2013). The Home Place. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1482336054.
  18. ^ "The Sligo Wave". The Model, Sligo. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  19. ^ "The Sheemore Ambush Brian leyden - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ^ Hawk's Well Theatre (23 May 2020). Come Together: Our Artists Respond - Brian Leyden & Eddie Lee. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ "Walking Birds' Mountain II". Tread Softly. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ^ Leitrim County Council Arts Office (8 May 2019). Famine Testimonies. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  23. ^ "old flames with brian.leyden andcseamie o dowd - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  24. ^ Atlantic Light Productions (19 June 2016). Brian Leyden Old Flames. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  25. ^ "Remember Me". Hawk's Well Theatre. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  26. ^ "The Factory". BLUE RAINCOAT. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Brian Leyden - Documentary maker". RTE Radio. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Black Ice". IRISHFILMFESTA. 27 February 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  29. ^ "Brian Leyden: The 'skinny' on new Irish feature film Black Ice". Writing.ie. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  30. ^ "Wilson: Humpty Dumpty". Universal Edition. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  31. ^ "The Cathach is out". Irish Independent. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  32. ^ First cut /. Leitrim County Council. 2000.
  33. ^ "Temp Head". Irish Independent. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  34. ^ "BAI issues €4.5 million in TV and Radio comissions". cce.gno.ie. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  35. ^ "Closing the Gaiety in Carrick on Shannon". RTE Radio. 21 March 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Even the Walls were Sweatin'". RTE Radio. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  37. ^ DocArchive: No Meadows in Manhattan, retrieved 15 August 2024
  38. ^ Michael Helme (18 February 2020). DEPARTURES - Short story by Brian Leyden. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  39. ^ "Brian Leyden". RTE Radio. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  40. ^ "Creative Blooming by Brian Leyden". RTE Radio. 15 October 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  41. ^ "The Great Inventor, by Brian Leyden". RTE Radio. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  42. ^ Nc Kay and Hopper, Susan and Keith (2023). A Door Opening: Sligo and the legacies of Partition (1st ed.). Sligo: Sligo Co Council. ISBN 9781838091798.
  43. ^ winterpapers.com. "Winter Papers – Volume 2". winterpapers.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  44. ^ winterpapers.com. "Winter Papers – Volume 8". winterpapers.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  45. ^ Golden, Sean (2020). Maugherow: beneath the blowing sands (1st ed.). Ireland: Tread Softly Publishing. ISBN 9781916228016.
  46. ^ "Fermata – edited by Eva Bourke and Vincent Woods | Artisan House Editions". Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  47. ^ Jungblut and Piraprez, Guy and Jacques (2016). Irlande 66/69 (1st ed.). Belgium: Yellow Now Les Carnets. ISBN 9782873403843.
  48. ^ Murphy, Neil. Writing the Sky: Observations and Essays on Dermot Healy. Edited with an Introduction, by Neil Murphy & Keith Hopper. Dalkey Archive Press, 2016.
  49. ^ Potts, Donna. L (2013). This Landscape's Fierce Embrace: The Poetry of Francis Harvey (1st ed.). Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1443851664.
  50. ^ Hayes, Alan (2018). Reading the Future: New writing from Ireland (1st ed.). Dublin: Hodges Figgis. ISBN 9781851322008.
  51. ^ Scally, John (2002). Stories for Jamie (1st ed.). Dublin: Blackwater Press. ISBN 1841315885.
  52. ^ MacDonogh, Steve (1998). The Brandon Book of Irish Short Stories (1st ed.). Kerry: Brandon. ISBN 0863222374.
  53. ^ Marcus, David (1997). Irish Christmas Stories II (1st ed.). London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0747533377.
  54. ^ Ayrton, Pete (1994). The Alphabet Garden (1st ed.). Kerry: Brandon Book Publishers LTD. ISBN 0863221890.
  55. ^ webmaster, Arts Council (5 November 2023). "Who we funded". www.artscouncil.ie. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  56. ^ "Emerald #124; The S and S Award". Sidney Brown Memorial Award. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  57. ^ "Writer-in-Residence". Sligo County Libraries. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  58. ^ Leyden, Brian (18 July 2009). "In the Steps of Mailer". The Irish Times. Dublin. ISSN 0791-5144.
  59. ^ "Who we funded". Arts Council of Ireland. April–May 2009. Archived from the original on 4 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  60. ^ "No Meadows in Mahattan". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  61. ^ "The Leyden File". Sligo Champion. 12 November 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013.
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