Nicholas Mackey
Author // Photographer // Storyteller
New from Nicholas Mackey
An Irishman In Northern Mesopotamia
Embark on an extraordinary odyssey through south-east Türkiye with Nicholas Mackey as he guides you through a captivating region embraced by the legendary Euphrates and Tigris rivers – the Cradle of Civilisation.
Praise for An Irishman in Northern Mesopotamia
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"In this book Nicholas Mackey deserves great praise in helping to understand the importance for us all of overcoming differences and living together in harmony, increasingly vital in our troubled world today. This inspiring account of his travels is highly recommended."
Jonathan Shackleton, Antarctic historian and author
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"Enhanced by countless striking photographs, Nicholas Mackey’s account of his trip through south-eastern Türkiye opens a revelatory window on the rich history, austere beauty, and present way of life of this ancient land. Nicholas Mackey is a very personable writer, and seasons his narrative with apposite reflections on his own childhood and youth in Ireland."
Katherine A. Powers, former literary columnist for The Boston Globe
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"I loved the book, what fun and the detail and explanations are fantastic. A joy to read and illustrated beautifully by Mackey with revealing photographs ... that are thought-provoking and make the reader want to know a little more of these ancient peoples."
Homer Sykes, photographer
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"An Irishman in Northern Mesopotamia sits happily in that important hinterland between a literary work, a personal story and a guide book. It is exactly the sort of book a discerning traveller should carry in his Turkish backpack."
Rupert Grey, author of Homage to Bangladesh
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"The detailed content and splendid maps, with text punctuated by snippets of human insight, makes for good reading. Nicholas Mackey's unique insight into this little-known land is exactly the sort of book needed as a guide by the modern-day traveller wishing to go off the beaten track, yet advance on the works of Karl Baedeker."
Tarka King, author of An Irishman Abroad
“My work explores the enduring power of storytelling, where I attempt a harmonious blend of the written word and the visual narrative.”
— Nicholas Mackey
Photography
Four Courts, Dublin; 2009. Shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 2010.
Gateway to the tomb of King Agamemnon, Mycenae, Greece; 1980. Shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 2011.
A glimpse of the architectural style of Antonio Gaudi; Wandsworth, London; July 2024.
Boatbuilder, Skopelos, Greece; 1979.
Fitzwilton House,(now demolished), Cumberland Road, Dublin; circa 1972.
Lilly, Jardin des Pamplemousses, Mauritius; 1983.
Part of the "there's light at the end of the tunnel" shortlisted for the Documentary Photographer of the Year Award 2021 by the Royal Photographic Society.
Rock Elm Tree; near Chelsea Harbour, London; 28th July 2020.
The Day Dublin Trembled; bomb explosion in South Leinster Street, Dublin; Friday, 17th May 1974.
Portrait of a sky; Surrey, England; 2008.
Prose, poetry and imagery
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Veins of the Cosmos
PUBLICATION: Art Etcetera Magazine
“I was strolling through a park on a bright but brisk November morning, and I was greeted by these autumnal vistas. As I gazed in wonder at the delicate design and structure of a fallen leaf on the grass, I wrote this poem.”
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The Light And The Shade
PUBLICATION: Art Etcetera Magazine
“I couldn’t get over the fact of how an artist had captured the scene of a scientific experiment imbued with inherent cruelty, and yet painted in chiaroscuro style that draws you into every minute detail of the picture.”
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LandSea Divide
PUBLICATION: Art Etcetera Magazine
“My poem, 'LandSea Divide' encapsulates everything I have to say about the theme of 'Coasts'. I wanted to explore the precision of expression that poetry demands in seeking out everything the word, 'Coasts' means to me.”
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Trees: A Study In Wonder
PUBLICATION: Art Etcetera Magazine
“Like fine and intricate lacework, these bared sleek sinews stretch out intertwining forming an incredible loom of texture – forming an infinite variety of little black numbers fashioned as if for winter.”
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When Dublin trembled
PUBLICATION: Spectator
"A little after 5.30 p.m., everything changed. First, all about us seemed to shiver, as if there were an earth tremor. Then, just as it occurred to me that Dublin did not generally suffer tectonic stress, there was a deafening bang."
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There's light at the end of the tunnel
PUBLICATION: Wandsworth Art
"As a photographer based in Wandsworth, in search of timeless imagery, he records what he sees around him in London and elsewhere. He uses pictures combined with poetry and commentary to document his 'photo stories'."
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The Now
PUBLICATION: Green Room
walking alone ahead
uncalmed
shoved into
that darkened bag
of heavy space -
The Magic of 33
PUBLICATION: Green Room
"The number 33 was our life-saver on that June afternoon as it transported us to take us on holiday filled with happiness for our family and into a magical universe of adventure and discovery."
Listen in.
“As I sit here in a greenish part of London overlooking the Thames, I ponder on the Magical Lost Kingdom of Brexit Forever/Never Never Land as it continues on its unending spiral of self-flagelation, I find my mind drifting back nearly 50 years ago and recall with a smile idyllic family summer holidays spent on the alluring rugged beauty of the Donegal coastline in the far-flung north-west of Ireland.”
Nick’s Notes
