The XBORDERS project
Early this year I was selected for the XBorders Project of the Irish Writers' Centre in Dublin. 18 writers from the North and South of Ireland were selected, based on our expressions of interest.
I had an inkling when I started off that I would write memoir. Straight after the first workshop I was heading off to Hungary and onward an organised trip to Krakow/Auschwitz. The need to go to that
bleak place arouse some time ago, when I started to do research into Katalin Karady's life. She saved many Jews using her charisma, contacts and fame during WWII and she was tortured and imprisoned by the Gestapo.
Doing this journey with my 85 year old mother, was immensely special. Not only because she is a witness of those terrifying years in Budapest, but also because of our relationship. Thus, writing the memoir took me on yet another journey. The piece will be published some time in the future in a special anthology and I will be reading two poems inspired by this project on 7th September in Dublin.
This was a deeply fulfilling journey with my fellow writers and our mentor Maria McManus. With her amazing sensitivity and intuitive support she helped me to find my way into the piece of memoir. Patsy Horton’s to-the-point editing notes will be very useful in the final shaping of the piece. She clearly saw what Maria sensed. I feel that these professionals are the perfect match for this project. I am very grateful to the funders, the Arts Councils and the Irish Writer's Centre for this experience.
