A Phoenix Still Rising - Softcover

Farrell, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1915819202 ISBN 13: 9781915819208

Publisher: impspired, 2023

Synopsis

In this eclectic collection, Mary Farrell interleaves short stories and poems, autofiction and fable, acrostics and song lyrics to give us glimpses of hidden lives and alternative selves. Whether we enter into the perils of online dating, the challenges of adopting an abandoned puppy, or the restorative calm of a French courtyard, these are works shot through with incisive wit, hard-won wisdom and a drive towards positive transformation. As Mary writes in ‘Butterflies and Phoenixes’, now is the time to ‘slough shells/scrape barnacles/shed weight’.
- Kathleen McCracken, Poet, Associate Faculty, Ulster University

Stories and poems, such as these Collections of Mary Farrell, provide an invaluable resource for storytelling groups and a useful aid for promoting thinking, discussion and writing. Ranging from the familiar and the heart-rending to the imaginative and the fantastical, they demonstrate a wide variety of writing techniques, including personal experience, shared writing and a very effective quirky use of hyphenated adjectives. Each piece lends itself well not only to being read aloud but gives encouragement to those with a story to share. The "connectivity of humanity" runs through this book.
- Christine Turner, Freelance Educator teaching about diversity and inclusion, Storyteller with the Causeway Yarnspinners in Northern Ireland

In A Phoenix Still Rising, Mary Farrell’s fertile and active mind has created a delightful collection of prose and poetry which will keep you up well past your bedtime as you dance from one romp to the next. Her humour is sometimes dark, sometimes bright—and always clever. A whimsical Irish Imp peeks out from these pages, but there is pathos liberally mixed with the humour. Sometimes you won’t know whether the tear in your eye is from laughter or from a sad recognition of something you thought you had forgotten in your past. But either way, you will find it cleansing. We need more writers like Mary who can play all the strings of our emotional harp. I’m definitely going back now to read her earlier works.
- Mark Pearce , Author of Tobias and The Isle of Justice, 2023, playwright with plays produced on the New York stage, published in numerous literary journals, magazines and anthologies, a Pushcart Prize Nominee

Edition details

• Publisher: impspired
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1915819202
• ISBN 13: 9781915819208
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 126