Common Things That are Suddenly Special is an inspirational memoir which will motivate readers to see the ordinary things and events in their lives as special and extraordinary. It is what Thomas Larson defines as sudden memoir, which helps the writer to cope, get through, get past. Freud claimed that our memories are stored in our brains as static entities, but recent neurological discoveries show that our memories are in a state of flux and are continually being updated or refashioned. In this inspirational memoir, Brenda Liddy, takes the reader on a journey from the interfaces of north Belfast to the cherry blossoms of Kyoto. The memoir was inspired by Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book. She was a Japanese author who served as a court lady to the Empress Teishi in the mid-Heian period around the year 1,000 during which time she composed her pillow book which was in effect a collection of observations, impressions, opinions on everyday life in the court, including the highs and lows of aristocratic life. You might say Sei with her witty and sometimes pithy, sometimes unflattering remarks was a kind of early modern tweeter! The author uses Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book as a framework to reflect on her own life and some of the events that have shaped it. It starts with a reflection on the four seasons. Basho's spring haiku where he celebrates the cherry blossoms is reflected on and we learn that the poet felt as if he was in a Noh play. Liddy adheres to the 'sudden memory' style throughout the book as one moment you are in the Empress Teishi's Japanese court where the full-moon gruel festival is in full swing, and women are chasing each other with gruel sticks and the next moment you are reading about a St. Patrick's Day celebration in Belfast where young men are wearing green glitter newsboy hats and are sporting red curly beards, and women are wearing green tinsel wigs, long 80s style neon fishnet gloves and trailing green and white turkey feather boas round their necks. Or one moment Sei Shonagon recalls going to the palace to see a procession of blue horses and the next moment, Liddy recalls a TV programme where the horses were parading around before the start of the Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. The reader will be taken a walk down memory lane, which could sometimes be the Waterworks in north Belfast where the mute swans glide along elegantly to the snow capped Slemish mountain where St. Patrick herded sheep. Sei conjures up an enchanting landscape of rippling rivers and mountain peaks with Shinto shrines, and you will find her insights illuminating. But you will also be fascinated by Liddy's viewpoints on Irish mountains and their incredible myths and legends from the Cave Hill in north Belfast in County Antrim to the Mourne Mountains which sweep down to the sea, in County Down. You could be savouring Sei's Japanese aesthetic in one entry when she describes a misadventure involving palm-leaf carriages and in the next breath you could be reading about the gates in the interface peace walls in north and west Belfast or finding out about The Gateless Gate, a Buddhist text. Or do not be surprised if you are admiring a photograph of a bridge at Toome and then further on in the memoir, you are dancing on the bridge of Avignon. You could be reading about W.B. Yeats' nine bean-rows or Muslihuddin Sadi's hyacinth or awakened by a priory peacock or amused by an observation about Not the Nine O'Clock News. The memoir, like Shakespeare's Cleopatra is full of infinite variety and moves from an early modern Japanese world of sliding screens and reed blinds where women lived in the shadows, to the hustle and bustle of a 21st century post-conflict Belfast where women are equal partners in public life and have for the most part have obtained their independence. Like her role model, Sei Shonagon, Liddy's lists are not mere inventory, but a powerful memoir, peppered with insightful comments and witty observations.
About the Author: Dr Brenda Liddy holds a PhD from the University of Ulster. She has published two academic books, which were based on her doctoral studies. Women's War Drama in England in the Seventeenth Century and The Drama of War in the Theatre of Anne Devlin, Marie Jones, and Christina Reid, Three Irish Playwrights have been well received and continue to gain critical attention. She lives in north Belfast and is active in community education and interfaith dialogue. Currently she teaches on the Access Programme at the Northern Regional College. This involves English; History; Sociology and Research Methods. She also teaches GCSE English, Essential Skills and has a proven track record in delivering high quality teaching both in an academic and in a community context. She has special expertise in researching and teaching Renaissance Literature, in particular Shakespeare and his contemporaries. She has studied amateur drama at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast where she has worked on developing vocal skills, movement and improvisation and gaining confidence in communication skills and team work. She has also taken classes in comedy improvisation and in-depth text work involving scenes/monologues from classic/modern plays. Dr Liddy is also a published poet and she facilitates poetry workshops in schools as part of the 'Poetry in Motion in Schools, Community Arts Partnership' initiative. Poetry in Motion in Schools fosters the creative abilities of young people by enabling their poetic voice to emerge through language, rhythm and imagery. Last year she facilitated poetry workshops in Strabane. This led to the production of a Shared Peace Anthology. This autumn, she will teach memoir writing at the Open Learning Centre, Queen's University, Belfast. As well as appearing as Lady Catherine de Burgh, in a Kaleidoscope Production of Pride and Prejudice, and as a gold elite performer in The Land of Giants, she has also made her directorial debut when she put on a Performance of Readings from Brian O'Nolan's work, An Béal Bocht/The Poor Mouth in Lifford during the Flann O'Brien festival. She has helped to found a meditation centre based on Soto Zen which is located in Donegall Street, Belfast. she is committed to building peace in Northern Ireland and is interested in using the Arts as a mediation tool in interface and cross-border areas. Recently her biographical information was included in Marquis Who's Who in recognition of her extraordinary achievements.