Maurice Whelan – författare

First published in 1982. Between 1955 and 1980 the number of pupils in special needs schools in Britain increased tenfold. Between 1970 and 1977 the number of units for ‘difficult’ pupils also increased tenfold and went on increasing. Some observers saw this as a welcome advance in special education, others as an extension of discrimination. The authors of this study highlight the dangers of such a provision being used as a form of social control, which may be imposed on children whose only failure is an inability to fit into the stereotype of the ideal student.

First published in 1982. Between 1955 and 1980 the number of pupils in special needs schools in Britain increased tenfold. Between 1970 and 1977 the number of units for ‘difficult’ pupils also increased tenfold and went on increasing. Some observers saw this as a welcome advance in special education, others as an extension of discrimination. The authors of this study highlight the dangers of such a provision being used as a form of social control, which may be imposed on children whose only failure is an inability to fit into the stereotype of the ideal student.

In ‘Mount Cargill’, a poem in Maurice Whelan’s book Excalibur’s Return, he described running up Mount Cargill in New Zealand with Richard O’Neill-Dean, to whom that volume was dedicated. Richard responded to Maurice’s latest collection, Spirit Eyes, with a poem of his own, after discussing how Maurice sets about crafting a poem and the importance he attaches to a central thought or idea upon which the poem is constructed.

Shipwright

for Maurice Whelan, poet

He might look out the odd plank,

let it season slowly,

covered from the rain,

so that frames, ribs, stringers,

in the imagination, slowly form,

the particular twist or warp or grain

of a thought

favouring the idea of a hull,

sensitive to wind and wave,

to keep out storms,

to manage strains.

But, beyond all, the keelson,

massive, strong,

it must permit of no bend,

take long keel-bolts,

going down through heartwood,

to fasten the lead weight

of a real thought,

many tons,

to keep a good poem upright,

and carrying on,

tied in tight, to bind

all between the sweet lines

of its stem and stern,

to make a fine entry,

to set its wake

upon the oceans

of the mind

The Lilac Bow is the first book of poetry by the author of the collections Excalibur’s Return, A Season and a Time and, most recently, Spirit Eyes. Maurice Whelan is also the author of the acclaimed novel Boat People.

“If stillness can be tasted, precious memories will return, such as poetry once learned by heart, which in Maurice Whelan’s case told of King Arthur receiving his sword Excalibur from the maiden in the lake. If silence can be heard, a poetry in life will breathe, as in this poet’s observation about a dawn which ‘…holds / its perfection/as long/as you hold your breath’. As contrast to a hurried world, Maurice finds a treasury in stillness – Gaelic melodies in the twilight of his mind, his wandering in the slipstream of a silent father’s dreams, and from a wonderful ‘Perfect Pitch’ – his reassuring knowing that ‘the bow is on the string / fingers caress keys, eyes / are closing and heaven’s gate / is opening once again’. This beautiful anthology combines nostalgia for times past, gratitude for nature’s riches and a psychoanalyst’s characteristically sharp insights into personal  relationships: ‘I wasn’t staring / I saw my youth in you. / That’s all.’ His skill in crafting apparently effortless lines, seldom interrupted by commas, semicolons or full stops, conceals the challenge of holding a pen and facing a blank page. ‘Sometimes / finding the right word / is like drilling through concrete / with a jackhammer.’ There’s a brave frankness in such an admission but the poetry which then emerges has been conceived from the peace in silence, the reflection and recall made possible by stillness. No wonder that, on a front page, before his own work begins, Maurice quotes Hazlitt: ‘Poetry…is not a branch of authorship: it is the stuff of which our life is made.’” – Stuart Rees

''It struck me at some point when reading Maurice Whelan''s Thought: The Invisible Essence that thinking, a bit like reading, writing and dreaming, is not framed often enough as conversation. As readers, when we''re lucky, we enter into dialogue with the writer, and when fruitful, the conversation continues long after the book is finished. This poetic and meditative book offers an unhurried, deep analytic conversation with Maurice, as he wanders through the question of what it is to have a mind and to use it.'' - Charlie Stansfield 

Maurice Whelan, psychoanalyst, poet, novelist, non-fiction writer, travels down many paths and asks the reader to travel with him. The places he offers are real and imagined: William Hazlitt''s English countryside, John McGahern''s Ireland''s lanes and hedgerows; Shakespeare''s island in The Tempest, Richard Dyer''s poetic kingdom of the mind. And more. All places become spaces to the extent we are willing to explore them. Some journeys are not easy. Whelan uses his knowledge of Irish history, of the internal workings of the Catholic church and his lifetime experiences as a social worker and psychoanalyst, to interrogate the scandal of clerical child sexual abuse. He highlights an abject failure to think about the damage done to children, to their minds, hearts and souls. While content to wander, Whelan has the real business of living in his sights. He sees an appreciation of the essence of thought as necessary to maintain and improve the living of any life.

In the preface, Maurice Whelan writes, ''It is one thing to get started as a writer. It is another to sustain a creative writing life. I select a few poets who have written about how they established, defined, and sustained themselves. There is an exploration of the relationship between dreams and poetry, of language and the benefits of knowing the way language has shaped who we are and how a love of words is essential if you are to become a poet.'' There are many parts in this short book. In one, poems written during the Covid 19 outbreak offer a literary diary of life during the pandemic. As the world was turned upside down, Maurice Whelan responded to that upside down-ness by writing poetry. Poetry speaks to the author and the author speaks to us about the essence of what it is to be human. His belief in its revelatory and restorative powers inform every page. His is a poetry of life, a search for beauty, a declaration of rights, the right to an imaginative inner world, the right to an outer world founded on truth, liberty and justice.

This book provides information on best practices and new thinking regarding the validation of alternative methods for toxicity testing. It covers the validation of experimental and computational methods and integrated approaches to testing and assessment. Validation strategies are discussed for methods employing the latest technologies such as tissue-on-a-chip systems, stem cells and transcriptomics, and for methods derived from pathway-based concepts in toxicology.

Validation of Alternative Methods for Toxicity Testing is divided into two sections, in the first, practical insights are given on the state-of-the-art and on approaches that have resulted in successfully validated and accepted alternative methods. The second section focuses on the evolution of validation principles and practice that are necessary to ensure fit-for-purpose validation that has the greatest impact on international regulatory acceptance of alternative methods. In this context validation needs to keep pace with the considerable scientific advancements being made in toxicology, the availability of sophisticated tools and techniques that can be applied in a variety of ways, and the increasing societal and regulatory demands for better safety assessment.

This book will be a useful resource for scientists in the field of toxicology, both from industry and academia, developing new test methods, strategies or techniques, as well as Governmental and regulatory authorities interested in understanding the principles and practicalities of validation of alternative methods for toxicity testing.