Ben
Why the Tea Party Loves Ayn Rand & The Hunger Games
While some see our current historical moment as having a special relationship with Orwell, thanks to the state’s ubiquitous deployment of surveillance technology, others see it as having a special relationship with Ayn Rand, thanks to a perceived dystopian encroachment of the state’s regulatory powers.
Fortress of Solitude
I recently worked with Louise Manifold on her beautiful short film, ‘Fortress of Solitude.’ I read an extract from my specially commissioned poem, ‘The Hero No One Believed In,’ over the action. Part of the Two Suitcases Project, ‘Fortress of Solitude’ was inspired by the artists’ superhero film collaboration (Planet of the Capes) with members of CanTeen Ireland, the national young people’s cancer support group.
Two in a Million: The Ebook Is Here
Five years ago, my book Two in a Million was launched. Publishers A&A Farmar have now made it available as an ebook, with an updated preface chatting about developments since, and including a link to the award-winning short film based on the book, Two Suitcases. The ebook is available at Amazon and Smashwords.
‘You Have To Live With It’
So much of the attention I’ve received during my life, so many of the little pieces of me that are out there in the world – they’re all to do with my illness. It is a universally held truism that a person with a serious illness does not wish to be defined by that illness: we want to be known as ourselves, beyond or outside of the illness. Part of how I coped with Fanconi anaemia as a boy, was dreaming of growing up and becoming a writer, leaving childhood disease behind. Well, now I am grown up, and I am a writer with a few published works, but I haven’t left FA behind. I still live with the disease, but more than that, I find that I can’t stop writing about living with the disease.
Dublin: The Local Way – all in once place
From searching for the best baguette in Paris to discovering the perfect cup of coffee in NYC, THE LOCAL WAY is a video series that offers its audience a glimpse into a city’s local life. For the past two years, the producers of THE LOCAL WAY have shot hundreds of hours of HD footage in Dublin, NYC, Paris, and Los Angeles. Each episode, hosted by local experts, features one aspect of a city – “NYC Cocktail Culture” and “Dublin’s Music Scene” providing travellers with tips and insights of the people and places they will encounter on a visit. The Dublin series is presented by Ben Murnane and Katherine Farmar.
The Patient Writer: Finding Meaning in Authorship and Illness
If a person lives with chronic illness, is there “a person” that can be separated from the illness? I suppose many people would say, “Of course there is.” There must be some essence there, some self untainted by disease, some true soul within the sick body. Perhaps the true self, however, is not a form of essence, but rather a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The Local Way: New Website, New Campaign
From searching for the best baguette in Paris to discovering the perfect cup of coffee in NYC, THE LOCAL WAY is a video series that offers its audience a glimpse into a city’s local life. For the past two years, the producers of THE LOCAL WAY have shot hundreds of hours of HD footage in Dublin, NYC, Paris, and Los Angeles. Each episode, hosted by local experts, features one aspect of a city – “NYC Cocktail Culture” and “Dublin’s Music Scene” providing travellers with tips and insights of the people and places they will encounter on a visit.
What would you do if you only had a year to live?
I was on radio and TV recently, talking about the low life expectancy associated with sufferers of Fanconi anaemia, as well as my memoir of living with the disease, Two in a Million, and the short film based on the book, Two Suitcases. I chatted to Matt Cooper on Today FM and Dave Fanning, filling in for Ryan Tubridy, on 2FM. I also talked to Sybil Mulcahy and Martin King on TV3′s The Morning Show.
Living with Illness – Interview in Irish Independent
“I know my own doctors said that reading the memoir was of help to them in terms of how they approach patients. They said it gave them insight into the patient experience. I think the arts can help inform what doctors do in that sense.”
Ben’s Books – Great Reads, Great Prices!
Ayn Rand and the Posthuman is just the latest. You can buy my memoir and my poetry collection here for only €8, including free shipping to anywhere in the world. And the guide to Dublin I edited with Katherine Farmar is now only €5! Don’t miss out on this opportunity – if you don’t buy my books I’ll have to burn them, and book-burning is a sin! All copies are signed – once I make it big, they’ll be worth millions!
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