James Anthony Kelly - A Dublin playwright & poet

A friend was surprised when he saw that I had bought The Newman Murder, a play written by James Anthony Kelly in 1996. I had found no traces of Kelly, his book or The Rathmines Theatre, a company which had been formed to produce his works in Ireland, on the web. (please see 2nd part of post below).

Which all hints at a marvellous obscurity.

He then showed me 2 poetry booklets by Kelly - published in a raw, avant-garde format and reminiscent of small independent presses.

Apparently, Kelly is recognised as highly-talented, but one who prefers to do his own thing and shuns publicity. When he publishes poetry, he sells them on the street for a couple of quid, knowing people will buy them. He presents himself as a writer for the sake of his spirt and not for wanting to be in the limelight.

He prefers to stay in touch with the common man and sometimes lunches with the homeless, although he is anything but.
I ask if I can meet him. If I'm in Dublin long enough, I'm told, I'm bound to bump into him on the street.

Isn't it thrilling to meet a writer who's doing his/her own thing enough to create a distinction and not to be a cloned as any kind of a commercially-packaged warehouse assembly.
In this day, even the lack of any significance becomes a rare commodity...a way for a writer to stand out from the crowd. Kelly can afford to indulge in this, adds my friend, because of his talent.

Today, the sun tries a peep but the rain still hasn't stopped.

Picture credit courtesy of Classroom ClipArt