Every Stamp Tells a Story….in 224 words!
16 May 2013
Designed by the Stone Twins, two Amsterdam-based Irish designers (and twin brothers), the bright yellow regular-sized stamp features a short story written last year by Eoin Moore, then aged 17, who participated in Dublin’s Fighting Words creative writing programme for young people. It was selected from stories submitted by primary and secondary school Fighting Words participants, all striving to capture ‘the essence of Dublin’ in precisely 224 words.
The unusual new stamp and a First Day Cover may be viewed and purchased at main post offices, at Dublin’s GPO and online at www.irishstamps.ie
Some of the world's greatest writers have been inspired by Dublin city - and its literary output continues to delight and enthral world audiences. Literature is a major contributor to the city’s cultural, social, intellectual and economic life and literary events in Dublin continually enrich the experiences of visitors and inhabitants alike.
The 15th annual Dublin Writers Festival (May 20th- 26th) features top international and Irish authors, with events for all ages at numerous indoor and outdoor venues across the City.
Eoin Moore’s short story, as depicted on An Post’s new 60c stamp celebrating Dublin’s permanent designation as UNESCO City of Literature.
The thick clouds cover up the moonlight, but the city’s lights provide worthwhile illumination – above them all, the beacon burns bright atop the monolithic podium, signalling to wayfaring voyages the ancient Viking settlement. Now, where Norsemen once stood, I look back, along the quays, streets and alleys, to where the inhabitants live their lives: eating, speaking, and breathing their city into existence. It gives me cause to wonder, as I stroll aimlessly along the cobbled paths, about those who have traversed them before me, by carriage or before there were even cobbles to walk upon. I feel their lives and mine are somehow connected, that we all were at one point a part of this city, living pieces of its grand, striking framework. Every High King and scholar, every playwright and poet, every politician and every rebel, every merchant, student, and busker who ever set foot in the city holds or held onto a chunk of this city’s soul; every one of them stepped to the city’s heartbeat. I listen to the streets at night and I can feel the city’s lifeblood pumping through me; I can feel myself flowing through it. All of us who travel those arteries step on the words, actions, and lives of those who travelled them before us. The city embodies the people, and the people embody the city.
