Applications are now open for the 2016 Arts Council University of Limerick Writer’s Fellowship. The €20,000 fellowship, co-funded by the University of Limerick and the Arts Council, is tenable either for the period January-June 2016, or for the full calendar year, subject to the fellow’s wishes. Irish writers of established reputation are invited to apply.
The creative writing programme at UL is led by Joseph O’Connor, author of eight novels including Star of the Sea, Ghost Light and The Thrill of it All. Other teachers on the programme include novelist Professor Giles Foden (The Last King of Scotland), and the current writer fellow, Limerick author Donal Ryan (The Spinning Heart, The Thing About December). The 2016 fellow will engage with students, staff and faculty, as well as participating in a number of public events in Limerick city. With O’Connor and other colleagues, the fellow will also participate in the inaugural New York-based UL Creative Writing Summer School, at Glucksman Ireland House, NYU in summer 2016.
Interested candidates should contact programme coordinator Claire Ryan at Claire.ryan@ul.ie, or Joseph O'Connor at joseph.oconnor@ul.ie, with a covering letter outlining areas of interest, experience and ideas for engagement, in addition to a full CV with three referees. The closing date for applications is noon on Friday, August 28th. Interviews will take place approximately one month later at the University of Limerick.
Meet the makers
Currently underway in Donegal is the long-established Earagail Arts Festival, now in its 27th year and running until Sunday, July 26th. A first for the festival is this weekend's event Beyond the Pale - Meet the Makers, which sees Irish and international theatre artists and practitioners offer a series of workshops, discussions and presentations at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. Tthe programme of events includes a keynote address by Eugene Van Erven, artistic director of the International Community Arts Festival, Rotterdam; Open Spaces, Different Places with Stella Duffy and Philip Parr; and a masterclass with Declan Gorman entitled, Making Something of Our Own, Taking Something Away. Full biographies and details on speakers are available on the Beyond The Pale section at www.eaf.ie. A weekend pass for €20 gives access to all events over Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th.
Long night of short fiction
Long Night of the Short Story at the Galway International Arts Festival features readings from some of Ireland's most acclaimed writers. Kevin Barry and Anne Enright will be joined by emerging authors Colin Barrett, Claire-Louise Bennett and Mary Costello for an evening of short stories and music. Presented by Enright, each author will read one of their own stories, with musical responses from Camille O'Sullivan and Feargal Murray. The free event takes place on Sunday, July 26th in St Nicholas's Church on Market Street from 7pm. Tickets must be booked in advance through http://www.giaf.ie/events/longnight
Italo-Irish launch
A new Italo-Irish anthology will launch at the Irish Writers Centre (IWC) in Dublin 1 on Thursday, July 16th from 6.30pm. Lost Between, published by New Island, features a range of established and emerging writers responding to the theme of displacement. The diverse group of fifteen writers were brought together by the 2014 Italo-Irish Literature Exchange, an initiative organised by the IWC and its Italian counterpart, ònoma. Now in its fifth year, the exchange was established to enable Irish and Italian writers to take part in readings, educational visits and other cultural events in both countries. This is the first time that writers’ works have been compiled into an anthology. Irish contributors include Afric McGlinchey, Liz McManus and Nuala Ní Chonchúir.
Writing competitions
The 2015 Dromineer Literary Festival is open to entries for its flash fiction and poetry competitions. Unlimited entries of €5 per poem, with a maximum of 40 lines for each entry. This year's competition will be judged by the Waterford poet Thomas McCarthy. Co-founders of independent publisher Tramp Press, Lisa Coen and Sarah Davis-Goff, will judge the flash fiction competition, which is €10 per entry and has a word limit of 500 per piece. Prizes of €500 for 1st place, €350 for second and €150 for third in both competitions. The closing date for entries is Tuesday, August 25th. More information on postal and email entries at http://www.dromineerliteraryfestival.ie/Competitions.
Happy Days in Enniskillen
World premieres directed by Max Stafford-Clark, Adrian Dunbar and Sophie Hunter are among the highlights of this year’s Beckett festival in Enniskillen. The Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2015 takes place over two long weekends, from July 23rd to August 3rd. Other highlights include the Berliner Ensemble’s first visit to Ireland with their controversial production of Beckett’s Warten auf Godot by the Hungarian playwright and director George Tabori. France’s acclaimed choreographer Maguy Marin will also present in Ireland for the first time; May B is a classic work inspired by Beckett’s writing, with music by Franz Schubert, Gilles de Binoche and Gavin Bryars.
Stafford-Clark will direct a new production of All That Fall featuring Rosaleen Linehan, commissioned by the festival and co-produced with Out of Joint Theatre Company. Festival associate Adrian Dunbar is at the helm of a new production of Ohio Impromptu, with performances at sunset on Lough Erne's Devenish Island, a monastic site founded in the 6th century. An extensive programme of music will include a new production of Benjamin Britten's last vocal work, Phaedra, a short cantata for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra, directed by Sophie Hunter and starring Ruby Philogene. The film programme features Ian Christie talking on Beckett and film; a rare opportunity to see the BFI re-make of Beckett's FILM, introduced by Patsy Nightingale who worked on the production; and screenings of Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers and Cul De Sac, starring the renowned Beckett actor Jack MacGowran. More information on events and bookings at happy-days-enniskillen.com.
Contact sarah.gilmartin@gmail.com with your literary listings
