Navan launch for short stories by MartinTowey

Martin Towey's collection of short stories 'Cnuasach, Echoes of an Irish Childhood', was launched recently at the Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, when the author returned to his native county from Fife, Scotland, where he now works.

He has written a collection of stories which range from fiction to autobiographical pieces. Although different stories, they all have common themes running through each piece, whether told with humour or pathos, love and loss, acceptance of oneself in the form of sexuality, character flaws and strengths and the beauty and challenge of childhood, especially from an historical Irish perspective.

The stigma of being gay in the 1980s and the devastating loss of his mother through suicide inspired him to pen a book about his experiences of growing up in rural Ireland, he said.

"I have a dark sense of humour and I think this comes across in the book, well that's the feedback I have been getting," he told the Meath Chronicle before the launch. "This comes across especially in a couple of stories relating to a five month trip I took in 2019 which involved travelling to Iran and India amongst several other countries."

Martin, now living in Fife in Scotland and working as a neurological physiotherapist, grew up on a farm in Follistown near Kentstown. While on the surface it might seem like a quaint upbringing, rural life also brought challenges.

"I was exploring the romantic side of growing up in Ireland but also how it was to be on the margins and whether that was mental health problems, sexuality, race or whether you were just a little bit different," he said.

It is not Martin's first foray in the publishing world. In 2019 he wrote a book called ‘An Act of Madness’, about his great grandmother who was committed to an asylum in the west of Ireland when she was 37, a work with photographer Suella Holland.

Around 60 people attended the launch in Navan, where music was by Fiona Melady and Áine Kerr.