There or thereabouts

The long narrow rectangular shape of the Fidel Hogan Walsh’s new collection of poetry is unusual. To the Celt, sitting in the Bailie Hotel lounge, it is reminiscent of a drinks menu.

Fidel gets us back on track by explaining it’s more like the shape of a map.

“I love maps, I like getting lost. I’m not a big fan of GPS,” she says, while admitting to also not being very good at reading maps either.

“The book is inspired by all my travelling. I travel a lot - I like to travel the world or travel the country. I love landscapes, new old.

“I think my soul needs the far away, the not knowing where I am, and then the comfort when you are back home.”

It’s in that comfort of home that Fidel processes her experiences and this new collection of poems has emerged.

Fidel fizzes when discussing them, travel and her love of nature. So much of this passion goes into her writing. How they are composed has a mysterious quality, one she embraces unquestioningly. Wherever the phrases come from, Fidel is experienced enough to get them onto the page.

“When I’m writing poems, I’m not writing them for a reason. Sometimes a poem will come and pounce at me. It kind of writes itself, and I’m left with: where the hell did those words come from? I love it when that happens.”

Fidel is certain the adventures nourish her creativity, by replenishing her “memory banks”. More familiar, beloved landmarks also inspire her in surprising ways.

Asked for an example she reads a line from ‘Out There’, the book’s title poem: ‘An electrifying strangeness - a constellation’s curiosity with eternity’

Written in 2023, Fidel suspects it was prompted by being out at Castle Lake, a Bailieborough beauty spot she cherishes. A member of Friends of Castle Lake, Fidel invests a lot of her time in environmental projects, to protect its health. An hour before she sat down with the Celt and Elizabeth McKenna of Birdwatch Ireland she met with Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan, to discuss a project to encourage swifts - a migratory soul like herself - that has chosen to nest in Bailieborough.

While very occasionally whole poems are almost channelled, more often than not Fidel has to roll up her sleeves and practice the ancient craft of writing. A sign of the times, she now writes the poems on her phone.

“I leave it and let it settle - let it do it’s own thing. And then I’ll come back to it and look at it. Most of my poems are whittled away to within an inch of their life.

“It starts off probably like a novel, but it could end up with four lines - I throw it all away. That’s the craft of what I do: I whittle, whittle whittle, whittle.”

The result is, in the words of endorsement by her friend and historian Kevin Mulligan on the back cover: ‘A crackling, otherworldly energy flows through Fidel’s poems’.

Others too have been energised by her work. Fidel pulls out a postcard of a seascape and explains that visual artist Orla Meegan Gallagher painted it in response to reading her poem ‘Chasing Sunsets’.

“That had nothing to do with anything but the pure joy of two people working together,” she delights.

In a similar train but going in the opposite direction, Fidel received an original painting in the post from visual artist Caoimhe O’Dwyer from Castlebellingham.

Caoimhe had painted “a wakening of apple blossoms” from her orchard, took the painting and divided it into 32 postcards and then sent each to “strong and inspirational women” for International Women’s Day 2023.

“I love postcards - it ties in with my travel, it all ties in with me getting lost. So I wrote, which I love, ‘Aroma of Dreams’.”

Just like Caoimhe’s postcard dropping through her letterbox, a poem just dropped in front of Fidel in response.

“Literally ‘Aroma of Dreams’ came like that,” she says with a click of her fingers, happy to send the reply so swiftly.

“I was hugely honoured,” she says adding ‘Aroma of Dreams’ is also in the new poetry collection.

So how will Fidel get ‘Out There’ out there?

Fidel has a decent profile amongst poets, and counts herself lucky to have a loyal readership in Ireland. She is also part of the #promptcombo project, which was started by Poetry Ireland’s inaugural Poet in Residence Catherine Ann Cullen. Catherine would tweet one word, and poets across the world would use it as a springboard to create verse. The project migrated from Twitter to Bluesky and Fidel is now one of five hosts, generating word prompts for the online community.

“I might be called the local poet here, and it’s great because I would read for anybody - but then [with #promptcombo] you are dealing with people you admire, people you never thought you might be in the same room as.”

She still posts her own responses to the prompt word, allowing others to critique it.

“It’s a really positive space,” she quickly assures, but adds it helps keep her on her writing toes.

“It means, I have to keep getting better - I have to keep pushing myself.”

The question is, pushing herself to where?

Fidel Hogan Walsh will launch her new collection of poetry 'Out There' on Saturday, September 6 at 3pm in Bailieborough Courthouse. All proceeds from the book will go to Testicular Cancer Awareness Care - St. James's Hospital Foundation.