Sean Joyce
Filed under: Authors
I was born in Galway in the West of Ireland and emigrated in 1975. I am married to Vee (from Cork, Ireland) and we have two daughters. Apart from poetry my interests include psychology, history and public speaking. Among other things I am a member of the National Speakers Association and of the Free Burma Coalition. My interest in public speaking got me involved with Toastmasters International, which in turn led to me doing conference and wedding MCing and to a stint in stand-up comedy. All this word play led to writing speeches, comedy routines, short stories and eventually, to poetry. There are similarities between comedy and poetry as they both start with a thought that has to be captured and then written down before it fades away.
The poem "Beyond History" began as an attempt to write about the situation in Northern Ireland but as sometimes happens the poem had wider ambitions that I was unable to constrain. I have never had a piece of writing published but if you get a chance to read the poem "Beyond History" I hope you will enjoy it and see that it is about a recurring situation that we can and should work to change. If we can do that then we will know we are entitled to have governance over the land, fishes and animals. Even a sincere effort in that direction would, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas, put "Stars at our elbows and our feet".
Winning Entry: Beyond History
Contest Won: War Poetry Contest 2006, Honorable Mention
