FURTHERMORE
By Gerry Moran
Saturday, October 10 is World Mental Health Day, a day intended to raise global awareness, end mental health stigma and advocate for better mental health support systems. Just three days before World Mental Health Day, Janet E Sahafi will launch her new novel which is based around this very subject – mental health struggles and how we cope and love as we make our way through it in today’s world.
‘The Only Way Out Is In’ is the quirky love story between David Little and Jess Shackleton and how they navigate various emotional challenges that threaten to unravel the very fabric of their love. Janet has two previous novels to her credit: ‘Jigsaw’ and ‘Savoir’ (written under the pen name of Janet O’Rourke) as well as two non-fiction books: ‘Healing The Past’ and ‘Healing The Spirit’.
The book will be launched by Carlow author John McKenna at 7.30 pm, on Wednesday, October 7 in Langton’s Ballroom. Doors will open at 7pm. and all are welcome.
In the meantime who, you may well ask, is Janet E Sahafi? Born in rural Oklahoma, Janet Sahafi has lived in a variety of interesting places in America and would never have predicted that she would end up in Ireland. Through her own life struggles, and subsequent therapy, she was introduced to psychodrama which she took to immediately.
Returning to school after her divorce, she received a Masters Degree in Literature and Humanistic Education. Eager to learn more about how people handle challenges in their lives she trained as a psychotherapist and an addiction counsellor. Roots have always fascinated her because of the unsettledness of her own life. The stories of her grandparents’ experiences in the times of the Wild West fed her imagination as a child.
Janet came to Ireland for six days in 1990. On her third day while walking a country road in Donegal, she had a thought: “Why not come to Ireland and write the book.” A year later, with 300 US dollars in her backpack, she left a secure position as an adjunct professor in New York and came to a little cottage in West Clare where she began to write.
Now a naturalised Irish citizen (a naturalised Kilkenny person even, as she’s been living in Thomastown for the last 26 years) Janet continues to write, her latest novel being the above ‘The Only Way Out Is In’ which will be available in The Book Centre, High St. and on Amazon.
******
I was saddened to hear of the closure, after 32 years, of Khans bookshop in James’s St. Khans was a booklover’s delight; a treasure trove of all things literary. You could find a book on any subject under the sun – including the sun; astronomy, astrology, criminology, psychology – Khans stocked them all. Plus there was a lovely little section dedicated to local authors that included Jimmy Rhatigan’s ‘Love Is’ and Orla Hennessy’s ‘The Left House.’ to mention just a few.
Books, books, books, that was Khan’s – bargain books, discounted books, best-selling books, all under one roof. And, of course, it had a vast and wonderful children’s section which is where this adult could frequently be found picking up a book, or two, or three, for my grandchildren, building up a library of sorts for them and I love to see them make a beeline for those books when they visit. They are never disappointed.
Above all I shall miss Khans at Christmas-time. Why? Because for years now I have been collecting various, beautifully illustrated, editions of Clement C Moore’s famous poem: ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (first published anonymously in 1928 as ‘An Account of a Visit from St Nicholas.’ To date I have about 30 or so in my collection. the majority of which I purchased in Khans. I shall miss Khans.
Khan Kiely, thanks for the years of browsing and purchasing and sometimes just browsing. I wish you, and your staff, the very best in your future endeavours.
