Frank O' Connor - favourite short story writer

Though Frank O' Connor may not be known to you or the fact he is an Irish writer may have put some limitations on his fame, nonetheless I wish to devote some time to singing his praises as a writer and an as inspiration to me to in my efforts to write about the backdrop to my story settings in the historic Shandon region of Cork city.

The house he grew up in as a boy, is now used by the Munster Literature Society as their headquarters. I like to go there not so much to listen in on book launches or poetry readings and workshops, but to experience Frank's house and to imagine how he spent his time there. His real name, by the way, was Michael O' Donovan.

Like a lot of writers his early life was filled with all sorts of experiences, good and bad, mainly that of his father's drinking and the way his mother was badly treated by her husband. He joined the IRA and became involved in the War of Independencne and the Civil war of the early twenties, was jailed and then released.

He aspired to literary interests thereafter in the theatre, teaching and in the library. He would have known W.B. Yeats from his days in the Abbey theatre in Dublin.

His literary talents extend right across the board, but he is best known and loved for his short story writing - an art form in itself.

My first encounter with Frank O' Connor's writing in a real way, besides the usual introduction in the school setting as a student of English, was through the teaching of English in my first job as a Secindary school (High school) teacher in Ireland.

O'Connor's brilliant depiction of life in the thirties in Cork city and the view of life then, through the eyes of a child, was nothing but skillful and careful writing of detail and the well chosen phrase and word to paint the scene with an intensity through humour, though the threads running through the stories in themselves were one about war, violence and deprivation.

To amuse and entertain the younger students, especially those facing their first public examination at 15/16 years, i would read these stores aloud. Being of the short variety, they didn't take long to read and I would have some students join in on the written dialogue with their best pronounced Cork accent - a very distinctive accent and somewhat akin to Welsh accent with a singsong effect within its range.

Frank O' Connor would have written the story dialogue with this accent in mind.

The students had great fun and it made it easier to 'teach' the analysis of the short story format of writing. They could digest the analysis and relate to the story parts at the same time.

The story we liked the best was called 'The First Confession', based on O' Connor's life. It tells the story of a child trying to live harmoniously with his family, his grandmother, whom he finds has very strange habits. It is that time in a young Catholic boy's teaching when he comes to Confession and Communion for the first time. The act of confession comes first. For a seven year old boy to have to think of 'sins' to confess, becomes the whole focus of the story.

The boy made up his mind to kill his grandmother and then tells the priest in confession. He doesn't actually kill the grandmother, but proceeds to tell the priest about it in confession. He fears what the pries will say. Of course the priest takes a wide view and gives various prayers to say as a retribution.

Now that kind of synopsis doesn't do justice to the actual story telling and the hidden depths of the power of the language used by O' Connor.

It's no wonder there is a very rich prize every year of €35,000 for the First Prize winner of a new short story. So if you like writing stories give it a go and do find out what is meant by a short story, as opposed to writing astory that is short. View the Munster Literature Society website : www.munsterlit.ie

Let's view O' Connor's very word on the art of the short story - "Always in the short story there is this sense of outlawed figures wandering about the fringes of society, superimposed sometimes on symbolic figures whom they caricature and echo - Christ, Socrates, Moses" (O'Connor, Lonely Voice 19).

O' Connor produced many collections of short stories - a form of writing not well supported by the populace publishing houses, citing usually that it lacks polularity.

Surely the argument must be made that the shortness of the story should be very appealing to the polulace. I'll never understand that distinction.

O' Connor's popularity grew as he broadcast many of his stories on radio. A very short taster of O' Connor's reading can be herad on the attached You Tuber part 1 of 'The First Confession.'

The You Tube extract of 'The First Confesstion' gives a flavour of what the story is like and is read by Frank himself - without his distinctive Cork accent. Just playing a little of the story gives an interesting insight into O'Connor's ability to paint the details of the child's dilemma - his grandmother and his fear of his sister.