Omagh poet releases collection of 60 works

“DARK yet hopeful…”

This is how an Omagh native has described an eclectic, emotional and personal collection of his thought-provoking works, which have been recently published in book form.

Featuring a watercolour-style cover which showcases blue hills fading into a white sky, ‘Bluestacks’, Vin McCullagh says, is a book filled with 60 poems inspired by the sights and sounds of life’s heavier times dotted with metaphors.

“I had a troubled history,” said Vin, who hails originally from the Brookmount Road before moving to Derry in 1979. “I broke my neck at a building site in Omagh, and developed manic depression. I had a very rough time about the town with that.

“Then I went to Derry, and worked for 30 years as a mental health nurse. I had a lot in my mind and a lot to figure out and work through. However, eventually I met a lady in Derry called Felicity McCaul – and she was a well-known writer in the Maiden City.

“I went to her writing group for 13 years and she introduced me to plays, novels, plays… the arts. So I began writing.”

Respected writer

It was at this time that Vin’s love for penning poetry started to bloom – and he has been writing and creating ever since; quickly gaining popularity over the decades as both a respected poet and esteemed playwright.

Among Vin’s arsenal of works include an original play titled ‘One in Six Times’, staged at the Waterside Theatre on January 25, 2014; poems published multiple times in the New Ulster Literary Journal; a book titled ‘The Tisperer’, published in November 2023 and a play titled ‘Why Am I?’ first performed as a rehearsed reading at the Playhouse Derry, before later being showcased as a play at the Alley Theatre, Strabane and other prestigious venues across Derry.

“The first poems I wrote in the early days were total rubbish,” Vin laughed, reflecting on earliest written helpings. “…And maybe these aren’t much better! But they are a wee bit better.

“The first poem included in Bluestacks is called ‘Up on Blackpeace Road’,” he explained. “I had three sons who were boxers, so I would take them to training at an old schoolhouse, which was a rather isolated place, in Donegal.

“At the time, I was working at a mental health hospital, and that poem was about leaving them at the schoolhouse and then walking to a place called Fullerton Dam and being alone with my thoughts.

Reflections

“I needed to have some way of describing what I saw and what I felt after leaving the mental health hospital – and that is how that poem came to fruition.”

And its title, too, Vin explained, was very intentional

“Peace is usually associated with white flags and doves – but this poem is called ‘Blackpeace’ due to all that I had to deal with at that hospital.

“Many nights travelling on that road were very dark,” he added.

“And I was interested with how the light of the moon interacted with the light that reflected off the roads… All of the poems in Bluestacks are about things like that.

“It’s different from the poetry that one would usually read, in the sense that a lot of it is metaphorical,” Vin continued.

“And there are other poems in Bluestacks delving into life, dealing with hate, and feeling suicidal.

“And I have created a lot of poems about walking: ‘Porthaw Bay’ (poem 47) is a place outside Buncrana. ‘Take Me Back to Iskaheen’ (poem 46) is about an old woman whom I met when working at a ward. She had dementia, and she wanted to go home to Iskaheen.

“They are all so different,” Vin said. “People say to me that my poems are dark yet hopeful at the same time,”

‘Bluestacks’ was officially launched in Foyle Street, Library, Derry.

l If you would like a copy of Vin McCullagh’s book, please email Vin at tmccullagh@hotmail.com or ring Vin on 07590058884.