virginia ryan

Making Change, Anak Sastra, Issue #40

“It took me 30 years to return because I was unwilling to see what I would find. If
nothing had changed in my village or school, my service would have been for naught.
Finding everything changed, might be worse.”

http://anaksastra.com/uploads/3/5/2/6/35260529/anak_sastra_issue_40.pdf

**Broad River Review, Volume 53**
From "Unforgettable”
“My mother’s lack of memory for Friskie makes me miss Elizabeth, even now a half century later. If she were around today, she could have helped. If she had made it to adulthood, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Heartwood Literary Journal, Fall 2021, Issue 12
From Scentsless:
”I lift up from my pillow to open the jars, one at a time. I lower my nose and take shallow bunny breaths that hit the top of my nostrils but go no further. Like waiting for the ping of a pebble dropped into a well, I pause two, three, four seconds for the echo of recollection to move from my olfactory nerves to my brain. But there is no ping, no recollection, no scent. Frustration pushes me back onto my pillow and yet I promise myself: Try again later.”

http://www.heartwoodlitmag.com/scentsless

Embark Literary Journal, October 2020, Issue 13
Novel excerpt from “Claddagh Girl”
A novice clad in white led her to Sister Bartholomew’s office. Nell kept her head bowed and her hands clenched by her sides, half expecting to get a whack on her palms the way she often had as a student.
“Finnoula O’Connor,” Sister Bartholomew said, surprised. “It’s your mother I expected.”
Nell was afraid to meet the nun’s stare. She’d always been afraid of Sister Bartholomew. “Mam sends her regrets but isn’t quite up to it. Under the weather and all that. I’m afraid you’ll have to count on me to pass on whatever it is you need her to know.”
Sister Bartholomew sighed. “And how long has your mam been under the weather? A week, a month?”
“More than that, I’d say,” Nell admitted.
“And it’s you that’s been taking care of your brothers?”
“It is, Sister,” Nell replied, feeling the color of shame on her face.
“’Tis a sad thing when a woman loses her husband and children lose their father, especially a man as good as King Ned. But grief doesn’t absolve us of our responsibilities. It pains me to have to remind you that St. Dominic’s is a school, not a barnyard. If your brothers are to continue in their studies, we expect them to act, and smell, like civilized young men, not animals. Is that clear?”
Nell nodded. A whack on the hands would have been less painful.

https://embarkliteraryjournal.com/issues/issue-13-october-2020/claddagh-girl-virginia-ryan/

The Hot Truth, Sky Magazine