CWLC presenters offer a unique perspective on their selected author and on the session’s theme. We were very fortunate to have our Ireland-born member, Anna Q., give her presentation on Paul Lynch and provide her perspective on Irish literature. Anna is a talented presenter, writer, and curler: her team won their curling league championship only hours before giving her presentation!

Anna’s presentation is entitled: “Paul Lynch, A Study of the Resilience of Human Nature: Tales of Oppression, Emotional Repression, Guilt, Fascism, Famine, Escape, Survival, and Pastoral and Maritime Journeys.” Effortlessly, Anna covers all these elements as she discusses five of Lynch’s novels.

Red Sky in Morning (2013), Lynch’s debut novel, explores the brutal exploitation of the Irish peasantry by the English gentry in the 1800s. Based on historical events, the language of this Hemingwayesque book is poetic, sparce, and melodic.

The Black Snow (2014) is set in 1945 in Donegal, Ireland. It tells the story of an Irish emigrant who returns to Ireland after working in New York. Superstition is pervasive, and Anna found the story very engaging and one that kept her guessing. This book is described as raw, savage, and tender.

Grace (2017) is Anna’s favourite Lynch novel—a beautifully written story that incorporates lyrical and inventive language. Readers learn of a young girl’s relentless fight for survival during Ireland’s Great Famine, and it can be compared to books and television shows including The Road, The Handmaid’s Tale, and “The Last of Us.”

Beyond the Sea (2019) is a highly philosophical novel that questions the meaning of life. Unlike Lynch’s other novels, which take place in Ireland, this maritime journey takes place in South America. This story of isolation is described as stark and mesmerizing.

Prophet Song (2023) is Lynch’s most well-known book and winner of the 2023 Man Booker Prize. This gripping dystopian story is inspired by the Syrian civil war; although, it takes place in the Republic of Ireland, which has fallen into totalitarianism. Mimicking the story’s severity, Lynch’s writing and structure are unconventional, consisting of irregular punctuation and a relentless pace.

Anna chose Lynch for her presentation as his writing is thought-provoking and poetical, he writes about universal themes, and he is a skilled storyteller. Paul Lynch is an internationally acclaimed Irish author who began writing fiction after a career in journalism.

Posted by Mooréa G.

On Tuesday, March 18^th, Betty S. gave an impressive presentation on award-winning, Dublin-born writer Sebastian Barry. This was Betty’s fifth CWLC presentation and her experience as a presenter and close reader certainly showed. Betty’s research and selected readings brought Barry’s stories to life and had her listeners wanting to hear more.

Sebastian Barry’s novels Days Without End, A Thousand Moons, and The Secret Scripture have garnered great acclaim and have been translated into almost forty languages. Barry credits some of his childhood experiences and family members for influencing his works. From Sligo, Ireland to western United States, Barry’s stories traverse time and place with “detailed descriptions of violence and revenge, unforgettable characters, acts of selflessness, and charming bits of humour.” 

In Days without End (2016), seventeen-year-old Thomas McNulty flees the horrors of the Great Famine in Ireland to find himself in the center of the violence and turmoil of the Indian Wars and American Civil War. Warmth and humour make their way into the novel when McNulty meets John Cole, a brother-in-arms and a fellow “saloon girl” dancing for female-deprived miners. The men’s friendship grows into a romantic relationship and then marriage. Barry introduces the orphaned Sioux girl, Winona, who is taken in by McNulty and Cole to create an unusual though loving family. Days Without End is described as brutal, folksy, unsettled, and “a great American novel which happens to have been written by an Irishman.” In addition to other awards, this novel received the celebrated Costa Book Award in 2016.

A Thousand Moons (2020) is a sequel to Days Without End and takes place in Tennessee in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Winona, the novel’s seventeen-year-old narrator and protagonist, tells her story of racism, post-civil war tensions, violence, and young love. 

The Secret Scripture (2008) is a prequel to the McNulty and Cole novels. The story is based on a childhood memory of the author with the protagonist, Roseanne McNulty, residing in a mental institution in Sligo, Ireland. The novel was produced into a movie in 2016; however, according to Betty, it falls shy of resembling Barry’s story. Barry received his first Costa Book Award in 2008 for The Secret Scripture.

Barry’s novels On Canaan’s Side, The Temporary Gentleman, and Old God’s Time were briefly discussed. Betty warns that Old God’s Time is a “terribly dark” novel that centers on child abuse within the Catholic church. 

Betty’s favourite books are the three discussed in detail, which embrace themes of love and relationships of all sorts and the passage of time.

Posted by Mooréa G.

On Tuesday, March 11^th, guest speaker Danny Ramadan provided a powerful and informative presentation on the relationship between author and reader.

Danny is an award-winning, Syrian-Canadian author and an LGBTQ-refugees advocate. Danny’s resume is long and riveting: he has lived in numerous countries, his work and passions are extensive, and he has received many notable awards and honours. Danny is the 2024-2025 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary.

Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir (2024) begins with the line “Writing this memoir is a betrayal.” Danny half-jokingly states that he wrote his memoir against his will. Personal Danny is protected and reserved: Author/Public Danny is calculated. According to Danny, fiction provides a shield and a safe platform in which to write, whereas Crooked Teeth exposes his private self and dark memories: memories that have been intentionally locked in vaults of the past. Resilience is a word that aptly applies to Danny’s memoir and his life’s journey.

Danny shared his favourite childhood memory of his paternal family’s 300-year-old home in Damascus. His discussion illustrates how he uses parts of his life, such as this special family home, in his fictional works. Danny emphasizes that although his fictional stories incorporate real-life experiences, these books are not memoir.

Danny’s other books include The Clothesline Swing (2017) and the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winner, The Foghorn Echoes (2020). The Salma children’s series, which includes one picture book and three chapter books, has won numerous awards. Danny describes his children’s books as a welcome break from his more serious writing. 

The CWLC is grateful to Danny for sharing his works and for trusting our members with aspects of both his public and private self.

dannyramadan.com

Posted by Mooréa G.

The CWLC Spring 2025 session has begun, and we continue our focus on Irish Writers.

Lynn B., a new member as of 2024, kicked off the session with her inaugural presentation on Jess Kidd. Kidd was an unknown writer to Lynn, as well as to most of the club’s members. Lynn provided a superb introduction to this Irish writer through her use of an author’s biography, book summaries, personal reflections, and readings.

Although born in London, Kidd belongs to a large, Irish family that moved to England from County Mayo, Ireland. With the encouragement of her family, Kidd began to read and write at a young age. Numerous trips back to Mayo, along with the “magic” of the region, greatly influence Kidd’s writing. 

Kidd’s works include dark humour, magical realism, historical fiction, and even ghost stories. Kidd’s first novel, Himself (2016), begins with a descriptive, violent murder of a young women. After attempting to read this award-winning novel, Lynn was unable to move past the violence and set it aside for a later read.

The Night Ship (2022) is based on the true story of the Batavia shipwreck. The story follows two different narratives (from 1692 and 1989) and takes place in Geraldton, Australia. Lynn found this novel very enjoyable and relatable, as she had spent time in Western Australia.

Mr. Flood’s Last Resort (2017) takes place in a Gothic mansion inhabited by a lonely caregiver, a cantankerous old hoarder, and numerous ghosts. According to Lynn, this novel illustrates Kidd’s adeptness at incorporating numerous plots and characters into one book. 

Things in Jars (2019) is a Gothic mystery, which takes place in Victorian London. Auditees and curiosities, ghosts, and supernatural powers have this novel’s readers questioning “how we see others and how we see ourselves.”  

Kidd holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, she has earned numerous literary awards from England and Ireland, and—in addition to her novels, short stories, and children’s books—she is currently developing her own original television project.

Author and public speaker Danny Ramadan will be our guest speaker at next week’s meeting. Mr. Ramadan is the 2024-25 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary. 

Posted by Mooréa G.

Cicero’s “A room without books is like a body without a soul” is a quotation that book lovers and literary enthusiasts can fully appreciate. Shelves with perfectly aligned books and wobbly stacks of novels bring character and warmth to any room.

Yet, a lack of time, a lack of motivation, and/or an absence of a reading community often get in the way of pursuing literary goals and enjoying books to their fullest. Is it a room filled with books or a room filled with stories, emotions, and knowledge from the pages within the books to which Cicero makes reference? Alexander Pope cleverly writes in his “An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Earl of Burlington” (1731) that book collectors may not know their books are merely blocks of wood covered in beautiful velum, since the books have never been opened or read.

It is a luxury for people to have homes filled with books at the ready. Public libraries, such as the Calgary Public Library’s twenty-two locations, provide a boundless number of books for all who are interested in pursuing literature. Libraries also offer many services, programs, and events. It is not necessary for books to permanently inhabit a room in order for one to be a reader.

The Calgary Women’s Literary Club is an option for those who want to learn more about literature, discuss books with like-minded people, and become motivated to read various authors and genres. Unlike other book clubs, CWLC members are not required to read a new book every month. Instead, at every meeting, one member presents on an author of choice based on a predetermined, yearly theme. This year’s theme has been “Irish Writers”–presentations have been informative, hilarious, sobering, and always thought-provoking.

The CWLC meets every Tuesday afternoon in the months of October/November and March/April at the Memorial Park Library. Our club consists of thirty intelligent, kind, and dedicated women who inspire one another to be curious and confident readers. Members are required to present a paper every other year, regularly attend meetings, and pay a small membership fee. Guests and prospective new members are always welcome. Guests may attend three meetings prior to joining the club.

For more information or to attend the first meeting of the Spring 2025 session on Tuesday, March 4th, please click HERE.

Whether it is dusting off your stacks of books, taking your first steps into a library, or attending a CWLC meeting, the CWLC wishes you the very best with your 2025 literary pursuits.

Posted by Mooréa G.

Members of the CWLC say a sad goodbye to our longtime member Dorothy Elizabeth Little. On December 21, 2024, Dorothy peacefully passed away at the age of ninety-six with family by her side.

To state that Dorothy was a “longtime” member is quite an understatement. Dorothy joined the Calgary Women’s Literary Club in 1956, at the age of twenty-eight. She was an active member until 2014 and an honorary member until her passing. In the past year, Dorothy, accompanied by her daughter Nancy, attended several regular meetings and the Spring Luncheon and AGM. As a member of the CWLC for sixty-eight years, it is possible Dorothy is the longest attending member of any literary club in Canada.

Dorothy’s first presentation, in 1956, was on poet and playwright Christopher Fry. In total, she presented twenty-eight times, with her last presentation in 2014. Presentations include writers such as Kenneth Grahame, Aldous Huxley, Wole Soyinka, Maxim Gorky, Emily Carr, and Tennessee Williams. In addition to her presentations, Dorothy served on the CWLC Board as treasurer and vice president. Members remember Dorothy as “gracious, knowledgeable, organized, friendly, and cheerful.” One member recalls Dorothy covering a last-minute vacancy, when a scheduled member was unable to present.

Along with the CWLC, Dorothy contributed to many other organizations in Calgary including the University of Calgary, the Calgary Public School Junior High Commission, the Calgary Regional Arts Foundation, the Glenbow Museum, among others. Family was Dorothy’s greatest joy and passion.

While members of the CWLC sadly miss our longtime member and friend, we celebrate a life well lived and are grateful to have had Dorothy dedicate so much of her life to our club.

Posted by Mooréa G. and Anita M.

Fun was had by all at the annual CWLC Winter Party on Tuesday, November 26. The festive event was held in the beautiful Alexander Calhoun Salon at the Memorial Park Library. The towering windows and spaciousness of the room made this a magical location for our gathering.

A spectacular potluck tea with goodies, live music, a literary quiz, and the much-anticipated book exchange contributed to the afternoon’s fun. The Fall 2025 / Spring 2026 presentation theme was also announced (to be posted at a later date), which gave rise to excited conversations amongst the members.

While the Winter Party marks the end of the fall session, members take this time to reflect on past presentations and joyously settle upon their winter reading lists.

The Calgary Women’s Literary Club wishes you a winter season filled with love, good health, and hours of great literature.

See you back on March 4, 2025 for more presentations on Irish Writers!

Posted by Mooréa G.

Sandra E.’s presentation on Claire Keegan (October 29, 2024) did not only catch our club’s attention, but also the attention of a promotional company in Toronto.

On behalf of Cineplex Pictures, Touchwood Public Relations generously provided free tickets for all CWLC members to attend the movie Small Things Like These. This movie is based on Claire Keegan’s novella (2020) of the same name. Award-winning, Irish actor, Cillian Murphy plays the main character, Bill Furlong.

“Oscar® winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as devoted father Bill Furlong in this film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. While working as a coal merchant to support his family, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.” Cineplex Pictures

While tears were shed and deep discussions ensued, the movie was thoroughly enjoyed and well-attended by many of our members.

The Calgary Women’s Literary Club is thrilled to have our 2024 – 25 program on Irish Writers reach those both inside and outside our club. We are most grateful to Touchwood and Cineplex Pictures for their kindness and generosity.

Posted by Mooréa G.

On Tuesday, November 19^th, Shawna M. roused spine-tingling energy in the room with her presentation on nineteenth-century Gothic writer, Sheriden Le Fanu. With the use of dark photographs and eerie readings, Shawna unveiled the dread and fear portrayed in Victorian Gothic literature.

Le Fanu was born in 1814 in Dublin. He began to write at the age of six and took great interest in Irish lore. Although educated as a lawyer, Le Fanu turned to journalism and became the owner and editor of several newspapers. He began writing ghost, mystery, and horror stories—later to be known as the “Master of Gothic Dread.”

Gothic literature consists of dark imagery, women in distress, anti-heroes, the supernatural, and an ancient and decrepit castle or mansion (and butler). Atmosphere is important: stories take place at night, during the winter, or in gloomy, foreboding weather. Le Fanu commonly used a haunted rental property as a setting. For Le Fanu and other Gothic writers, this genre was a means to explore the underbelly of society and expose “hidden guilt, shame, and fear.”

In the late-eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century, Gothic literature was at its peak with the writings of Anne Radcliffe, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Byron. Another Dublin-born writer, Bram Stoker, wrote the Gothic novel Dracula in 1897.

Le Fanu was a prolific writer: he published fourteen novels, five short-story collections, numerous novellas, and poetry.  Shawna provided an in-depth exploration of several of Le Fanu’s key writings: The Ballad of Seamus O’Brien (1837), The Purcell Papers (1938), The Last Heir of Castle Connor (1838), Spalatro (1843), An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aunger Street (1851), Uncle Silas (1864), In a Glass Darkly (1872), and the seminal novella, Carmilla (1872).

Le Fanu’s characters, themes, and narrative found their way into the works of other Gothic writers, as well as in current adaptations. The Ballad of Seamus O’Brien, for example, has been turned into a song, play, and opera. Uncle Silas was made into a film starring Peter O’Toole. Carmilla—a vampire fiction predating Dracula by twenty-five years—and its lesbian vampire character is a prototype for many books, comics, films, and music. While the name “Sheridan Le Fanu” may not be well known today, he has left a literary legacy that continues to tingle spines and have audiences question if “scary comes from within.”

Shawna’s presentation brings the fall session of Irish Writers to a close. How quickly the past two months have gone! Meetings resume on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 with the continuation of Irish Writers. Guests are always welcome.

Posted by Mooréa G.

Contemporary Irish writer and award winner, Donal Ryan, is intrigued by today’s Irish people, regardless of whether they are new immigrants, or their Irish roots are generations deep. He cares deeply about them, which is understandable because he grew up in a “typical” rural Irish village. In her November 12 presentation, Barbara R. discussed five of Ryan’s books. Barbara’s use of online interviews provided illuminating insights into what explains Ryan’s drive to write, his evolving writing processes, and his goals for each book. 

Revealing and understanding “real” Ireland, from the 1980s to today, grounds the five books. The Thing about December (2013) and The Spinning Heart (2012), his first published books, are set, respectively, at the start of the “Celtic Tiger” economic boom and during its collapse. A Slanting of the Sun: Stories (2015) has nineteen short stories and nineteen characters. Each story is an opportunity to learn more about Ireland: its people, historical events that still influence everyday life, and the impact geography and place have on people’s aspirations and options. Ryan flexes his “creative muscle” by using different literary structures in various books, such as in A Low and Quiet Sea (2018).

Ryan excels at “getting in the head” of his characters. Readers are not simply told the idiosyncrasies, contradictions, pet peeves, puzzling loyalties, or unadmitted shame of a character. Instead, these traits become known gradually through a character’s behaviours, interactions with family and neighbours, and self-reflections. 

Ryan’s writing style makes characters and plots come alive and feel tangibly real. Excerpts read from his books demonstrate Ryan’s use of local Irish dialects and idioms, grammatically incorrect remarks and thoughts, and intermixing different characters’ viewpoints in the same paragraph. The presentation concluded with a longer reading from All We Shall Know (2016) to illustrate the kinds of literary gems Barbara discovered throughout Ryan’s work.

Posted by Barbara R. and Mooréa G.