As a kid I yearned for hurricanes,
tornadoes; even earthquakes,
envied countries that had them –
they seemed more in touch with the elements
than our miserly temperate rainy winters,
warm but never hot summers.
Now violent storms have become so familiar
we give them names, flooding a way of life,
I realise I never thought about people –
what I craved was the might, the majesty of nature,
trees uprooted, buildings toppled,
the earth split open –
a channel for my own destructive forces,
a child’s will to power.
Poem by C Moya Roddy
I’m Irish and published my debut collection Out of the Ordinary in 2018. It was shortlisted for the Shine Strong Award. I was also shortlisted for the Hennessy/Irish Times Award in 2017 (both of these are most prestigious awards for newcomers in Ireland). I also received an Honorary Mention at the Patrick Kavanagh Awards 2016. I’ve published a novel The Long Way Home which was described as “simply brilliant” in the Irish Times – Ireland’s foremost national cultural newspaper and my second novel will be coming out at the end of this year. A collection of short stories Other People was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. NB used my partner Pete Mullineaux’s card to pay.