The Sealey Challenge: Day 29

‘The Storms’ Issue 1 edited by Damien B Donnelly and Gaynor Kane

wind, lifts / here comes the rain / inhale, begin again…

I’ve been at this now for 29 days. The first 28 have been focussing on a need to improve my poetic understanding, but I have decided to reverse the script a bit for the last three days in August by celebrating people who have personally altered the trajectory of my own poetry journey. That’s why The Storms is here now.

Damien B Donnelly and Gaynor Kane are both Irish poets I have been lucky enough to meet via Flight of the Dragonflies, an online Zoom reading event that was so popular it was nominated for a Saboteur Award. Damien produces Eat the Storms, a well-loved poetry and spoken word podcast, and you’ll already know how much I love Gaynor’s work from a few days back.

Lessons from the Text

The Storms both looks and feels like the sheer amount of hard work and dedication I know both of these people have poured into it: an opportunity for dozens of poets to have their moment in the sun, and to be celebrated in print, many for the first time. It’s also a testament to the importance poetry plays in both of these people’s lives, which I know is true and will continue for many years to come.

Impeccably curated (page 33 especially is worth your time) the inaugural issue crosses wind and water, space and time, memory and history. It’s also a journal for photography and art too, and as a long-term project, I feel the potential for this is very exciting, especially as this project has been Irish Arts Council funded. It also helps that Damien is no stranger to the business of promotion and showmanship: there’s already been a high-profile launch in Dublin, and there’s a virtual one coming soon to Zoom.

I’m still working my way through this, but to find myself alongside friends, professionals, highly publish poets and those starting out on their journey… this is a fantastic undertaking. Please buy a copy, and show your support: