Sir, - It is good to guard against complacency and John Hughes's letter (December 7th) about the arts in Derry is in some way a useful reminder that cultural experience is a complex and slippery thing indeed.
However, in his four years in Londonderry Mr Hughes seems to have missed a number of important developments, mostly set on or near the city's walls: the Playhouse (community arts); the Nerve Centre (music); the Orchard Gallery (visual arts); the new Verbal Arts Centre (spoken, sung and written literature); and a new theatre complex.
All in all, something approaching £20 million is being spent on improving the infrastructure for delivery of creative activities in the inner-city area. I can think of no other city of comparable size with such a coherent set of venues nor such a history of dedicated and focused work at all levels. This all follows on from a well developed, energetic and I believe innovative set of annual programmes that have been mounted across the arts forms mentioned, also involving a successful (and diverse) outdoor festival programme that brings thousands of children, young people and adults, onto the streets in celebration.
Library services could be better, no doubt, given adequate funding. But the city does include Magee University College library (with an important collection of 19th-century books), the public Central Library (with a good Ulster and local interest collection) and one other specialist library which houses a rare collection. All this is in addition to a pretty good schools and community-based public library service.
In addition to the scattering of names he has mentioned as making up our arts heritage, can I draw his attention (in the field of literature only, and to take a sample only) to Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, Jennifer Johnson, James Simmons, Robert Greacen, Frank McGuinness, Seamus Deane - and, from the past, Joyce Cary, C.F. Alexander, George Farquhar, Kathleen Coyle.
Not bad to be going on with, and going on we are! - Yours, etc.,
Sam Burnside, Verbal Arts Centre, London Street, Derry.