Neil McCarthy

Location Vienna
Occupation English Trainer
Website http://This is it.

About Me

I'm an Irish poet dividing my time between Vienna and Los Angeles. I love writing, reading, football (the real stuff) and have recently fallen in love with good whiskies. In that respect, put a good game of football on the box in a bar, give me a whiskey and let's talk poems - is that close enough to Heaven?

I have published 3 chapbooks of poems and released one CD of spoken word entitled 'Live in the Laden' recorded in Vienna and released under Preiser/Label 08. My poems have been widely published and also translated and published in Romanian, Hungarian and Serbian.

Debut Collection "Stopgap Grace" published by www.salmonpoetry.com 2018

I hope you enjoy browsing and give Fictionaut the time and attention it deserves!

Why do you write?

I write because I like toying with words, feeling a sense of achievement upon finishing a piece of writing that one person likes. I don't write because I feel I need to do so in order to justify calling myself a writer, a poet - but if a subject captivates my mind, a 'bone of a poem' as I like to say ends up on the back of a beer coaster, or something I see in a cafe or on a street strikes me as being interesting enough to express with words, then I will sit down and hammer it out.

Any favorite authors? Books?

I´m a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan. I could read Slaughterhouse-5 again and again.I was also recently introduced to Laurie Lee by a friend, and reading "As I walked out one mid-summer morning" made me want to give up everything and move to Spain. In terms of poetry, I love discovering new poets and hearing people read. I will happily namedrop and urge you to check out Michael McGriff, Elaine Feeney, Stephen Murray, Brendan Constantine, Eleanor Hooker, Russell Thorburn... That´s a start.

Neil McCarthy's Wall

Amanda Harris – Jun 10, 2013

Thanks for the kind words on "Carver" Neil. Re: your profile info, I think the combination writer/musician thing is pretty cool.

Jerry Ratch – Jun 02, 2013

Thank you, Neil!

an absence – Mar 19, 2013

Hi, Neil, and thanks! I'm new here and looking forward to reading your work.

Deborah Oster Pannell – Mar 15, 2013

Neil, thanks for stopping by to comment on my piece, Resistance... much appreciated!! :)

Sara Fitzpatrick Comito – Mar 06, 2013

Neil, thanks for your kind comment on "7 years for us." It means a lot to me.

Jerry Ratch – Feb 28, 2013

Thanks, Neil!

Gary Hardaway – Feb 26, 2013

I'm very grateful for your response to "I'm Waiting." Means a great deal to me.

John Riley – Feb 11, 2013

Thanks, Neil for reading and commenting on "A Forest."

Gloria Garfunkel – Jan 27, 2013

Thanks for your comment on Holiday Newsletter.

Jane Flett – Jan 25, 2013

It's ok, I found some more gin.

Adam Strong – Jan 24, 2013

Neil, thanks for the kind words on my piece, One Nil.

Gloria Garfunkel – Jan 23, 2013

Thank you for Ziggy in False Alarm.

Gary Hardaway – Jan 18, 2013

Neil, thank you for reading and responding to The Horror.

Gary V. Powell – Oct 24, 2012

Thanks for the kind words on "The Songs of Townes Van Zandt."

Con Chapman – Feb 14, 2012

They have Guinness, but no pool table and you'd have to go into Boston proper for the pols, but you wouldn't want to. Bad breath is a sort of electoral litmus test here.

Dolemite – Feb 14, 2012

"put me onto Dylan Thomas a few years back."

A few years back?!

Do náire!

Darryl Price – Jan 22, 2012

Welcome!

Jerry Ratch – Jan 20, 2012

Thank you for the comment on the Manet. And welcome!

Neil McCarthy – Jan 17, 2012

Thanks! I´ll have a go at this platform in a few days! :)

Sylvia Petter – Jan 17, 2012

Hey, Neil! Welcome! Looking forward to *seeing* your work after the fun of *hearing* it.

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