A book festival launch for the author in us all

THE SOCIAL NETWORK:"There's a book in everyone," said the Minister for Arts, Jimmy Deenihan, quoting his fellow Kerryman John B Keane at the opening of the Dublin Book Festival on Tuesday evening. "You should do it if you haven't already."

For those who already have, the festival celebrates Irish writing and publishing, and the bookshelves in the Smock Alley Banquet Hall were heaving with homegrown titles.

Patrick Sutton, the director of Smock Alley Theatre, said he was delighted to have the Dublin Book Festival on site for 10 days and was looking forward to leading the conversation with renowned actor Barry Cassin on Sunday as part of the festival programme.

The children’s author Juliette Saumande attended the launch and is re-launching her book Chop-Chop, Mad Cap! during the festival. She was there with Aoife Murray of Children’s Books Ireland and Carrie Anderson of the Gutter Bookshop in Temple Bar.

Emerging young theatre director Marc Atkinson of Sugarglass Theatre attended with Liam McCarthy, and was particularly looking forward to the conversation with award-winning author Jennifer Johnston, as he is the recipient of the Jennifer Johnston Directing Bursary for 2012.

A public conversation to open the festival was then held in the main theatre space with Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy and Alice Taylor, author of To School Through the Fields. The sold-out talk, entitled Inspiring Lives, Inspiring Stories was chaired by Sean Rocks and provided much inspiration, as the hilarious, witty, razor-sharp Murphy and the charming Taylor regaled the audience with stories of their respective lives in literature.

Who we spotted: Kelly Fitzgerald and James Sheeran from Irish folklore publisher Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann; Ellen Byrne and Vincent McCarthy from Dublin City of Science. Author/radio producer Marcus Connaughton and former TD Trevor Sargent.