Friel fever hits Northern Ireland
The inaugural Lughnasa International Friel Festival began on August 20th and runs in locations across Donegal and Belfast until Tuesday, August 31st. Celebrating the playwright Brian Friel, the festival plans to become a cross-border annual event. Directed by Sean Doran, this year's extensive programme features performances, talks, discussions, music, dance and food in both Donegal (August 20th-23rd) and Belfast (August 27th-31st).
The 2015 “signature production”, performed at both locations, is a new production of Friel’s Dancing At Lughnasa, produced by the Lyric Theatre Belfast and directed by Annabelle Comyn. Another highlight is Amongst Women, an all-female discussion programme in Belfast featuring Shami Chakrabarti, director of UK Liberty; Kamila Shamsie, Pakistani novelist and commentator; Kathy Lette, comedian and author; the Egyptian writer Ahdaf Soueif; and Danish-British presenter Sandi Toksvig.
In Donegal, events to watch out for include morning readings at Loughadoon of early short stories by Friel and Anton Chekhov; concerts featuring music from Brian Friel's plays at St Conall's Church Glenties; a Tennessee Barbeque on Portnoo Pier (the setting of Friel's play Wonderful Tennessee); and three curated readings of Friel's plays on the remote tips of coastal Donegal. Bookings and the full programme of events at http://www.lughnasainternationalfrielfestival.com/.
Live thrills for the Irish Times Book Club
The Irish Times Book Club gets interactive this month with a live audience recording of a podcast featuring the author Joseph O'Connor. Taking place at the Irish Writers Centre, Parnell Square on Wednesday, September 2nd, O'Connor will discuss his most recent novel The Thrill of it All, with questions from a panel including Martin Doyle, Anna Carey and Sorcha Hamilton. Spanning 25 years, The Thrill of It All looks back on the eighties music scene as Irishman Robbie Goulding sees his band travel from Luton to Glastonbury to Long Island. Tickets for the event from €5/€3 include a glass of wine. Doors from 7pm, with the live recording beginning 7.30pm sharp. More information here.
CBI annual conference
Truth and lies in children's literature is the intriguing theme for this year's Children's Books Ireland conference. Now in its 25th year, the event runs Saturday, September 12th and Sunday, September 13th in the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin 7. The line-up for Conceal and Reveal: Truth and Lies in Children's Books features writers and illustrators from Ireland, the UK, France and the USA. Highlights include New York Times bestselling author Mac Barnett, William Grill (Shackleton's Journey), spoken word poets Stephen Camden and Aisling Fahey, Louise O'Neill, Annabel Pitcher, non-fiction authors Jim Pike and Nicola Davies, and renowned picturebook maker Barroux. Tickets, starting from €50 for a day ticket and €100 for the weekend are available from www.childrensbooksireland.ie.
Booker nominee in Dublin
The American author Hanya Yanagihara will read from her second novel A Little Life, recently longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize, on Tuesday, August 25th at The Gallery in the Morrison Hotel, Dublin 1. The event starts at 7pm, with €5 tickets available here.
Galway readings
The first Over The Edge: Open Reading after the summer break takes place in Galway City Library on Thursday, August 27th at 6.30 - 8.00pm. The featured readers are Jessica Traynor, Matt Flesk and Aoife Reilly. The usual open-mic slot will take place after the readings. The evening will also see the announcement of the longlist for this year’s Over The Edge New Writer of The Year competition. More information on the series at http://overtheedgeliteraryevents.blogspot.com.
An afternoon fit for High Kings
The eighth annual Feis Teamhra/A Turn at Tara features readings and performances by Irish writers and musicians including Len Graham, Colum McCann, Sinead Morrissey and Padraigín Ní Uallacháin, with contributions from co-curators Susan McKeown and Paul Muldoon. Taking place on Sunday, August 30th from 2pm the event is free of charge and open to everyone. According to Poetry Ireland, who is supporting the event, "the note the organisers hope to strike is one of celebration and continuity. Feis Teamhra/A Turn at Tara pays tribute to the linked traditions of Irish writing and music that have flourished in the surroundings since at least 2000 BC." More information here.
Wild Swans run free
WB Yeats's lyric poem The Wild Swans at Coole is the inspiration for an evening of performance and music at the Freemasons' Hall on Saturday, September 19th. Presented by the non-profit organisation Young Hearts Run Free as part of the Tiger Fringe Festival, The Nineteenth Autumn features a line-up of Irish and international artists including Scotland's Alasdair Roberts (Drag City); Iceland's rising stars Mafama; local luminaries Sunken Foal, Patrick Kelleher, Jet Setter and Philip Connaughton; and house DJs Daragh O'Halloran and Peter Toomey. As with all Young Hearts Run Free events, funds raised on the night go to the Simon Community. Doors from 7.30pm. Tickets at €22 here.
Town of Books in Kilkenny
The 15th annual Graiguenamanagh Town of Books Festival takes place in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny from Friday, September 11th-Sunday, September 13th. This event is expected to bring thousands of people to Graiguenamanagh, with travelling booksellers setting up shop in a range of local outlets. A book trail map designed for the event allows visitors to explore the town and track down specialist titles. There will be sellers of antiquarian, second hand, new, children's, and other specialist subject areas. For more information visit www.graiguenamanaghtownofbooks.com.
Irish authors on Guardian First Book longlist
Sara Baume and the Dublin author Gavin McCrea have made the longlist for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award. Baume is this year’s readers’ choice for her debut novel Spill Simmer Falter Wither (Tramp Press). McCrea’s historical fiction debut Mrs Engels looks at the circles of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels from the perspective of two working class sisters of Irish origins.
The 10-strong longlist consists of six novels, one short story collection, a poetry collection, a nature memoir and a non-fiction account of Putin’s Russia. Independent publishers are the big winners this year, with six nominees published by indie presses and a further two titles published by larger UK houses after smaller imprints discovered them.
Jonathan Franzen protégé Nell Zink is nominated for her debut novel The Wallcreeper, an environmentalist sex farce written in a few weeks and first published by the American feminist micropress Dorothy. Another US author on the list is Virginian Sara Taylor, whose interlinked collection of stories The Shore was longlisted for this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma, recently longlisted for the Booker, also gets a place for his debut novel The Fishermen. The other contenders for the £10,000 prize are: Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter; Physical, Andrew McMillan; Peter Pomerantsev’s Nothing is True and Everything is Possible; Man V Nature, Diane Cook; and Katherine Norbury, The Fish Ladder.
Contact sarah.gilmartin@gmail.com with your literary listings
