public access
dreaming in Bandon
For several days we wandered in and out of shops and offices in Bandon, County Cork, asking people we met if they would tell us a dream they'd had lately, or could remember from the past. It is a curious and intimate question. Responses were often cautious, excuses frequent. But, once engaged, dreams flowed, rising and falling like a pulse of the town, unseen, unknown, till now.
20pp, pbk,150x150mm, edition of 101. A public access book, September 2015
€7
fear
93 first year students at Limerick School of Art and Design wrote and drew their fears. 'Fear of chalk sponge spiders snakes vomit balloons control. Fear of dying young. Of growing old. Not knowing the truth. Not fitting in. Making decisions. Having my ears touched...'
12pp, 150x150mm, pbk, edition of 101. Road books, 2014
€7
fascinating serendipity
83 words chosen on the spur of the moment by 83 first year students at Limerick School of Art and Design, recombined, reconnected and disguised by Peter Morgan and Judy Kravis.
The word 'serendipity' derives from an old name for Ceylon, which is itself an old name for Sri Lanka. Horace Walpole first used the word in 1754 after reading an old tale called 'The Prince of Serendip'. Serendipity means discovering something you aren't searching for. Serendipity is not just a question of luck, Walpole insisted, but also of sagacity.
20 pp, 150x150mm, stapled, 20 colour pictures, Edition of 201, A public access book, February 2013
€7
21 proposals for the Turbine Hall
The Tate invites. You do not send in proposals. To write a proposal for the Turbine Hall is to dream seriously. This is a startling and provocative range of proposals, most of them from Ireland, some within the bounds of possibility, some beyond. Contributors grapple with abstractions like truth and fear as well as with the dense physicality and absurdity of the world we live in. The Turbine Hall is occupied by cars or carcasses, sharks or poltergeists, by energies of the mind.
48pp 175x223mm, thread sewn, french flaps, 22 b+w illustrations. Pbk. ISBN 978-0-9519358-5-9 Edition of 501. A public access book, November 2011
€10
mesmerized
A collective contemplation of water through the words and drawings of schoolchildren in Bandon, County Cork, assembled and transformed by JK and PM. 'A big river stretched from one end of my eye to the other ... the closer I got the more mesmerized at every step.'
24pp, stapled, 210 x 200mm, pbk, text and drawings. Numbered edition of 201. A public access book, 2010.
€7
When the bells go down: A portrait of Cork City Fire Brigade
A rare insight into the life and banter of a bunch of lads whose work the public takes for granted - until the day they're needed. Siren roaring, blue light flashing. Is it as exciting as a child imagines? Over 100 firemen photographed and interviewed, their words edited to form one voice.
Commissioned by Cork City Council.
96pp, sewn, 226mm x 226mm, pbk, french flaps, colour and b/w photos. Edition of 900. ISBN 0 9519358 2 8. Road books, 2001 - €15
Cloughjordan now - portraits in a village
'Tis grand and quiet if you're into quiet. You'd nearly know everyone in the village. I can't see there being any better place to be.' 20 colour photographs of people who live in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, and brief interviews, including 40 schoolchildren taking a guess at their future.
Commissioned by North Tipperary County Council.
24pp perfect bound, 152 x 175mm, pbk. Edition of 750. Road books, 2000
€7
Lives Less Ordinary: Thirty-two Irish portraits
The people who talk about their lives in this book represent a creative, dissident Ireland. Some continue ways of life that have existed for generations; others have chosen to live and work in ways that are experimental, exploratory, and always singular.
192 pp, sewn, 170 x 240mm, pbk, french flaps, 32 photographs, colour and b/w. ISBN 1 901866 22 X. The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 1999
€20
Teaching Literature: Writers and Teachers Talking
What happens when students read literature? How do teachers teach literature? What happens to literature when it is taught? 24 interviews and introduction. Contributors include Grace Paley, Edmund White, Hermione Lee, Andrei Codrescu and Guy Davenport.
276pp, sewn, 155 x 222mm, pbk. ISBN 85918 026 4 24 b/w photographs. Cork University Press, 1995
€15