ORNA ROSS

Historical Fiction

Poetry

Go Creative!

Feminal: A New Word for Women

Feminal: A New Word for Women

Over on my Facebook page, we've been discussing the word “feminal”. It means: “relating to a woman” and I came across it while researching my Yeats-Gonne book… I really think we should revive it. It fills the great wide gap between...
Illustration by JB Yeats “The Stolen Child”

Illustration by JB Yeats “The Stolen Child”

In researching the prologue to my Yeats-Gonne series, which is told from the point of view of the fathers of WB Yeats and Maud Gonne, I came across the above black-and white-print by JB Yeats, sold at Whytes Gallery auction recently. It fetched €6,400, which is rather...
Poem of the Week: Into Ease

Poem of the Week: Into Ease

My most popular poem on Instagram this week was “Into Ease” My darling, let’s not sigh to see day fade, the earth receive the sun, the light recede. Let us, with sky and trees, dim to dusk mood, fall deep, and deep, and deeper into ease. When hands and...
Poem of the Week: The Scribe in the Wood

Poem of the Week: The Scribe in the Wood

My most popular poem on Instagram this week was “The Scribe in the Wood” Continuing my series of adapted old Irish poems. This one was developed from a quatrain in Kuno Meyer’s book, Ancient Irish Poetry. It uses a twist on what in traditional Irish poetry...
Poem of the Week: The Hermit’s Song

Poem of the Week: The Hermit’s Song

My most popular poem on Instagram this week was “The Hermit's Song” Early Gaelic (a.k.a. Old Irish) is the form of Gaelic used in Ireland and parts of Scotland from roughly 600–900 AD. A 9th century manuscript of The Hermit's Song in old Irish was...
Poem of the Week: Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn

Poem of the Week: Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn

My most popular poem on Instagram this week was “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” Here we have it, an urn’s future and present and past a picture performance in three parts in a well-funded gallery of the arts. 1. Ai Wei Wei holds the urn Between the hands of...