Nature's revenge
Caoimhín Gaffney was delighted with the exposure that came from qualifying for the final of the Frances McManus RTÉ Short Story competition recently.
The awards were presented in late October with John O’Donnell taking first prize. However, for Caoimhín to be among the short-list of 10 from a total entry of 1,700-plus writers, was quite the achievement.
“I’m glad so many could read it and come across it on the radio.
“I’m a visual artist, working in photography and film, most of the writing I do is for scripts,” explained Dublin born Caoimhín who resides on a family farm near Finea. “This is one of the first times that my writing has been published in its own right. It’s different for me to have it as a stand-alone short story.
“This one really made sense as a written piece, it’s cool to have people reading it for its own merit, where the writing isn’t a means to an end but is the final product.”
The story ‘It All Began With The Turlough’, is one of climate revenge.
“It tells of how a small turlough grows of its own accord and takes over the land, and changes the geography,” Caoimhín surmises.
“It’s about taking a small idea and bringing it to an extreme and seeing how far it can go. We’re thinking about the environment a lot so this is like the climate taking revenge on us, there is an element of horror, so it hit on a few different notes.”
The tale intentionally departs from the conventional story arc, as Caoimhín outlines.
“My story doesn’t have a traditional character arc. I’m not interested in setting up a character and letting something happen to them. I’m more interested in letting nature be the main protagonist.”
Caoimhín also offers advice to prospective short story writers.
“Give yourself time to write a draft and look back at it with fresh eyes and edit it harshly. There were a few things I circled back to make sure it flowed right and to keep the reader's attention focused. Next time I’ll put the draft away and return to it at a later date. It’s hard to read with new eyes, but you have to think how a person will read it.
“I finished a PhD in cinema recently and the last six months were all spent on editing, so it’s important to put yourself in the reader's shoes. But you can only do it to a certain extent. With a short story most people only read it once, if you lose them, they won’t come back.”
Caoimhín has had a varied career in the arts, touching many different areas with nature playing a significant role.
“I do a lot of film within the visual arts. I did my BA in fine art, and my MA in photography and video but writing has always been a central part of what I do. A lot of my stories focus on things in everyday life, and focus on being able to look harder at nature and not taking it for granted.”
Artists traditionally gravitate towards Dublin or other major cities to have greater access to other creative people and arts venues. However, with the rising cost of living, many working in the sector have been forced to move away from the capital in recent years.
“I’m working full time as an artist, but we’re getting priced out of Dublin, so that’s why I moved to Cavan,” says Caoimhín. “The Arts Council have been amazing and are much better than a lot of other countries but being able to live in this country can be a challenge.”
That being said Caoimhín has a lot of love for his new home.
“Cavan is really lovely, I have a lot of space here I love it here, it’s far from a penance,” Caoimhín emphasises.
The Dubliner says that those working in the creative sphere can breathe new life into country areas.
“It’s really cool what’s happening in rural communities. People are investing their time there. Cavan Arts Office is great; they’re doing great things across the county. They gave me funding to shoot a film, that I’m editing at the minute called ‘All At Once Collapsing Together’. It’s an emotional response to what’s happening at the minute and is about the bog and climate anxiety.
“It’s going to be shown in Butler Gallery in Kilkenny in June 2024, as part of a bigger body of work I’m making.”