Unpublished works of John B Keane hit the streets of Listowel

IT may not be generally known, but playwright John B Keane was also a prolific writer of songs and poems, a collection of which was launched yesterday on the first anniversary of his death.

Writers’ Week, the annual literary festival in his native Listowel, Co Kerry, was an apt setting for an emotional occasion, attended by his family and friends, and led by his widow Mary.

Also there were his sons, Billy, Conor and John, daughter Joanna, who edited the collection, and grandchildren. It was the first launch of a Keane work at which he himself was not present and some in the attendance at Scoil Realta na Maidne were moved to tears.