Hot on the heels of her best-selling and ground-breaking, Extraordinary, Ordinary Women, Karen Minihan is launching a sequel, More Extraordinary, Ordinary Women – appropriately, on Lá ‘le Bríde, St. Brigid’s Day at 5,00pm in Working Artist Studios.
More Extraordinary, Ordinary Women: Untold Stories from the Founding of the State
This new collection of stories tells more of the extraordinary herstories of ordinary, West Cork women, that helped to change the course of history and led to the founding of the Irish State. These stories have been collected by Karen Minihan since the first collection was published in 2022. Again, themes of bravery and courage are evident, along with unspeakable fear and injury, and an overriding reticence to speak of these experiences afterwards. Here are thirteen stories, with three poems that were inspired by them, and reimagined lyrics for the song, Mná na hÉireann.
This project began by inviting the people of West Cork to tell the stories of ordinary women who lived during the War of Independence and Civil War. In order to comprehend our history from that time – and what followed – Karen believes these untold stories must be heard. Her aim is to give voice to these women, for the purposes of understanding and reconciliation. The first book of Extraordinary, Ordinary Women: Untold Stories from the Founding of the State was published in 2022. Now, following further research, another thirteen stories from West Cork have been collected and the new book will be launched in January 2024.
Karen Minihan is a theatre director, writer and actor who gives voice to stories of deep personal connection. Working in collaboration and co-creation with other artists is fundamental to her work, developing an atmosphere that allows for a freedom of exploration and experimentation that bursts with potential and possibilities. With this process, which she describes as collaboration and collective creativity, Karen seeks to find that indefinable spark––that touch of magic––that makes live performances fresh, meaningful, dynamic and impactful.