Sean Walsh

I live in Dublin, Ireland. Sometimes. Most times I live in my head, quite unaware of my surroundings – if you know what I mean… If you succeed in tracking Sean Walsh, please let me know, ok? I've been searching for him for years…

About

Sean and Ann WalshI’ve worked and lived in communications all my life: journalist, subeditor, editor, actor, director, producer, preacher – here in Ireland and abroad. I fell in love with Hiberno-English a long time ago – English as it is spoken and written in my country – and have been in love with it ever since. I love the challenge of pen and blank paper: creating characters, storylines, drama. (Not to mention the warm humour that wells up from a big heart.) If I may share with you some of the gems that have influenced me down the years; I’ve tried to abide by them but haven’t always succeeded!

“You make your way by taking it…

“It does not just happen, you have to make it happen.

“Sometimes in stooping down to pick up two pennies one can lose a fortune…”

Interests:

Friendship – when it is not possessive, controlling… Quiet. Silence – a positive value completely overlooked by many today… Reading – carefully judged. If I’m not hooked by the first sequence – the first paragraph – I won’t read any further… Trying, day in day out, not to spill any more milk… and to stop crying over milk already spilt. Not suffering fools gladly… Analysing Casablanca, frame for frame, line by line…

Publications:

My scripts have been broadcast on RTE, Radio One, BBC 4 and, in translation, on European networks; televised on RTE One, BBC One and Channel 4; staged at the Peacock by the Abbey National Theatre, at the Project, the Eblana, the Liverpool Playhouse and on the London Fringe… Credits include The Night of the Rouser. Earwig. The Dreamers. Fugitive. Veil. Penny for Your Travels. Far Side of the Moon. Three for Calvary. Jenny One, Two, Three… The Circus. Centre Circle. Where Do We Go from Here, My Lovely? Pilate Under Pressure. Conclave. Assault on a Citadel. I’ve conducted many workshops on Creative/Script Writing in Dublin and at various centres around Ireland.

Favourite authors:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul. Belloc. GKC. A D Sertillanges. John Henry Newman. Waugh. Greene. Hemingway. O’Neill. Hans Kung.

Likes:

Good conversation. The company of my fellow searchers.

Dislikes:

Arrogant, self-opinionated prigs… Controlling, bullying clerics…

Favourite Quotes:

“I passionately hate the idea of being with it. I think an artist has always to be out of step with his time.” (Orson Welles (1915 – 1985))

“Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.” – Stephen King. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Films I cherish:

Ben Hur. A Man for all Seasons. Jesus of Montreal. Of Gods and Men. The Player. My favourite format? Radio Drama. By far. At its very best the listener is a fly-on-the-wall: eavesdropping, over-hearing, listening in, privy to the most intimate, soul-searching monologue, revealing dialogue… I worked in RTE’s Drama Department for some 16 years in the ’70’s,’80’s – directing, producing, scripting, editing, ending my tenure there as Head of Drama. During that period I wrote and produced some of my own plays – well received and reviewed for the most part, they were subsequently broadcast by the BBC and, in translation, on European networks. True what they say: Radio makes the best pictures…

Copyright © 2024 Sean Walsh

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