Anything goes at new Cork event for writers

Let me tell you something about University College Cork’s newest monthly literary series, aptly titled Let Me Tell You Something (LMTYS)!

The brainchild of Nell Korben -graduate of UCC’s own Creative Writing Master’s Programme - the series seeks to give a voice to the far reaches of Cork’s modern literary scene, most recently providing a platform to writers from as far away as Poland and France, in addition to Irish natives.

The first one was held last month, and was a great success, and the next one takes place on October 22.

Korben describes the stage of LMTYS as a medium for writers to present those pieces that struggle to find space elsewhere, namely “the dark, the weird, the funny, the unexpected,” and as an overarching theme, bold and on the border of uncomfortable.

Yet, the September session of LMTYS - a ‘special’ teaser for future showcases, performed at UCC as part of Culture Night - stamped out any possibly lingering unease, with its intoxicating atmosphere and invigorating presentation.

Violet and green lights revealed scarcely an empty seat in the Boole Library’s Creative Zone as Korben introduced each reader in turn, to the tune of “Let me tell you something about…” and raucous applause from the energetic audience.

While LMTYS operates on an open call for local writers across any medium, this event was headlined by seven other members, past and present, of UCC’s Creative Writing course: Jessica Anne Rose, Andie McNamara, Evelyne Cynk, Karl Morrissey, Ciara Dunne, Kemi George Simpson and Clare Bohane, with an additional reading from Nell Korben.

Matching the varied backgrounds and directions of the readers, the swathe of topics covered such subjects as: the Sims and neurodivergence, cerebral palsy romance, ruminations on potential mothers-in-law, and meditations on motherhood under the Portugal sun.

Following suit, even the forms of the writing stretched convention, from scripts accompanied by disembodied voices, second-person folktales, and chanting and singing joined by the audience (which began as a rhythmic thumping from the reader, who was initially hidden among the crowd), to memories of Manchester United’s Eric Cantona kung-fu kicking a crowd-member (thankfully, not replicated in person).

An ambience of comfortability and camaraderie was maintained throughout the evening on both the crowd and speaker side.

Host Korben in particular kept the laughs and ease flowing in a manner that was befitting the purpose of such events: creatives supporting other creatives.

LMTYS will thus continue this month, and into the new year with the same intent and drive, in an ongoing collaboration with the UCC library, and aims to draw writers from far and wide, even offering the opportunity for physically unavailable creatives to Zoom in and read virtually.

The first official session of the monthly series of Let Me Tell You Something will take place on Wednesday, October 22 in the Creative Zone of the Boole Library from 7pm-9pm, as the perfect preparation for the Bank Holiday weekend and ensuing Halloween.

Thus, the October event’s theme is set and simple: spooky!

From the official LMTYS Instagram page, all forms of writing and creativity will be welcome now and for the future - “flash, poetry, essay, memoir, skits, plays... hell, write us a song if you feel like it” - for anyone daring enough to take centre stage and ‘spook’ the crowd.

Let Me Tell You Something is then planned to continue for a total of six official events, in November, January, February, March and April, with the potential for another ‘special’ in December.

While only the October theme has yet been publicly revealed, each event will wrap itself around some common concept, despite the great diversity of interpretations, and the open call and participation aspect of LMTYS lends itself to encourage aspiring readers to reach out to Korben through the Let Me Tell You Something Instagram page and pitch their works.

So, whether you joined for the September teaser, are planning on coming down before Halloween, or are scrambling now to buy tickets to Cork for April, make sure to at some point let yourself nestle into the UCC library, allow yourself laugh a little, let yourself learn and experience a lot, and maybe even tell someone else about your special thing at Let Me Tell You Something!

Most recent updates on Let Me Tell You Something can be found at @letmetellyousomething_nights or through @ucc_library_events, both on Instagram