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The man about Motown
Few artists have had as many hits or written as many songs as Motown legend Smokey Robinson, but he still loves to write timeless classics, he tells Jim Carroll p

Revival of the fittest
Kelly Rowland hasn't let her 'death' or rifts with former Destiny's Child bandmates spoil her new album, she tells Angus Batey p

Jumping to the wake-up call
Motherhood and a spell of serious illness have not slowed down London-Irish writer Bridget O'Connor - in fact, they have galvanised her, she tells Martin Doyle p

Arts

Stage for action as well as words
Culture Shock Fintan O'Toole Mark O'Rowe is one of our best playwrights, but his work highlights the challenge facing Irish theatre writing p
A Long Room of word-lovers
On The Town: There were hushed tones as the Long Room in the library of Trinity College in Dublin filled with those who love words. Among them were playwright Thomas Kinsella , poets Peter Fallon and Brendan Kennelly and writers Harry Clifton and Deirdre Madden. p
Kinsella gives voice to his poetry
ArtScape: Before last Sunday night's full-house reading in the Gate Theatre in honour of poet Thomas Kinsella, another event took place in the nearby Irish Writers' Centre to celebrate the launch of a new Claddagh Records double-CD recording of his poems. p

About Us

The master of plaster
Our Georgian heritage extends beyond the facades and fanlights, with the decorative plasterwork of that era finally getting the considered attention it deserves, writes Eileen Battersby p
Why did the hedgehog cross the road?
Another Life Michael Viney The flattened, spiny husk of a hedgehog among the tyre-marks on the boreen was a sad sight but not a gloomy one: at least the little creatures are surviving on a hillside well-patrolled by badgers, the one mammal dedicated, it can sometimes seem, to their eradication. Our own destruction of Erinaceus europaeus is casual and oblivious. p
Horizons
Food and fruit for thought Where our food comes from is becoming a big issue as climate change begins to impact on food production and consumers question the hidden costs of the long journeys many food products make to reach our tables. p

Book Reviews

Decisions, decisions . . .
History There have been so many books in the last few years about events or objects that "changed the world" - drinks, fish, maps, battles, colours, machines, voyages, gigs, and so on - that it would be almost a relief to read a book about something moderately important that altered things a little bit. p
Dreams and diversity
Anthology Appropriately, Facing White begins with a quotation from Oscar Wilde: "I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world . . . His punishment . . . And his reward". p
Darkness in the city of light
Fiction One of the major graces of narrative is its facility for putting on airs. Here is the relevant definition from the accessible Book of Literary Terms, where the formalist critic Lewis Turco examines the stylistic possibilities within prose: "Atmosphere is the aura of mood that surrounds the story. p
Finger-pointing and scary truths
Politics A slam dunk, if you don't know, is the expression used when a basketball player manages to shoot through the hoop with forceful style. In colloquial terms though it can be used to suggest that something presents no difficulty. They are words that George Tenet, former director of the CIA, must greatly regret having used and which will haunt him forever. p
Rescued by reading
Memoir John Sutherland is an academic who writes - shock, horror - readable criticism, a biographer (the authorised Spender), a high-end journalist and a reformed alcoholic who told the story of his journey to sobriety in Last Drink to LA. Now, for those who want more of his story (and I am of that parish), we have The Boy Who Loved Books, in which he explains what made him a drunk. p
Two sides to a woman's war story
History An enduring image of the Crimean War is Roger Fenton's photograph of Fanny Duberly seated on her (Irish) horse, with her husband standing in front. Mrs Duberly was the only British officer's wife to witness the entire campaign and report on it. She can be compared to William Howard Russell, who has taken the credit for being the first modern war reporter. p

Seen & Heard

Split personality crises
TV Review Hilary Fannin Having problems with your inner wolf? Try a spoonful of twinkly, curly-headed and thoroughly house-trained James Nesbitt, a piquant Irish import regularly enjoyed by a salivating British television industry. Nesbitt's humorous self-effacement - as in Cold Feet and a slew of advertising campaigns - has possibly been marginally more palatable than his five-o'clock-shadow role as policeman Tommy Murphy (Murphy's Law), where he tends to leap around sulkily in a distressed leather jacket. p
When the substitute outshines the player
Radio Review Bernice Harrison The summer stand-in season is in full swing - and, as there's no sign of an actual summer, it's all a bit disorientating. p

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The man about Motown

Revival of the fittest

Jumping to the wake-up call

Stage for action as well as words

A Long Room of word-lovers

Kinsella gives voice to his poetry

The master of plaster

Why did the hedgehog cross the road?

Horizons

Decisions, decisions . . .

Dreams and diversity

Darkness in the city of light

Finger-pointing and scary truths

Rescued by reading

Two sides to a woman's war story

Split personality crises

When the substitute outshines the player

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