In The Irish Times tomorrow, Anne Enright talks to Alex Clark about her new novel The Wren, The Wren. Fintan O’Toole contributes a powerful reflection on Seamus Heaney a decade on from his untimely death and poet Martin Dyar, curator of the Festival in a Van programme, talks to Keith Duggan about how he and nine other poets will remember Heaney at an event in Co Derry this weekend. Fiona Gartland reports on Sarah Webb’s campaign to promote homegrown children’s writers and books for Irish kids. Jennifer O’Leary, author of The Padre, writes of her meetings with the former priest and IRA bomb maker Patrick Ryan. In a new book, Ukraine 22, a selection of its leading writers convey the reality of life during the first year of Russia’s invasion. We publish an extract, Herstory by Sophia Andrukhovych. There is also a Q&A with crime author Linwood Barclay.
Reviews are Denis Staunton on Beijing Rules: China’s Quest for Global Influence by Bethany Allen; The New China Playbook Beyond Socialism and Capitalism by Keyu Jin; and Beijing’s Global Media Offensive: China’s Uneven Campaign to Influence Asia and the World by Joshua Kurlantzick; Mia Levitin on Collected Works & Cheri by Jo Ann Beard; Derek Scally on 1923 by Mark Jones; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA; Rachel Andrews on This Is My Sea by Miriam Mulcahy; Aimée Walsh on Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson; Rónán Hession on Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren; Neil Hegarty on Late Light by Michael Malay; Huda Awan on Hangman by Maya Binyam; Nicholas Allen on Stronger than Death: Hart Crane’s Last Year in Mexico by Francesca Bratton; Ian Hughes on Age of the City: Why our Future will be Won or Lost Together by Ian Goldin; and Sarah Gilmartin on Lazy City by Rachel Connolly.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. You can buy it for just €5.99, a €5 saving, with your newspaper at any outlet.
Alice Winn has won the £5,000 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2023 for her “comfortingly classic but daringly original” novel In Memoriam (Viking), which traces the love story between two first World War soldiers, “whilst meditating on the tragedies of war and the precious sanctuary that can be found in deep human connection”.
Winn said: “This has really taken me by surprise. This is wonderful, thank you so much. Congratulations to all of the nominees, I feel like we’ve honestly all won just by virtue of having been nominated for this.”
Also shortlisted were Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah; Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks; Close to Home by Michael Magee; Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin and Kala by Colin Walsh.
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Danielle Jawando has won the YA Book Prize 2023 for her “raw, powerful and thought-provoking” coming-of-age novel When Our Worlds Collided (Simon & Schuster Children’s). It follows three teenagers from different backgrounds brought together after a stabbing. The book has already won the Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize. Jawando, who is also a screenwriter and lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University was shortlisted for several awards including the YA Book Prize 2021 fro her debut And the Stars Were Shining Brightly.
The search is under way to find the An Post Bookshop of the Year for 2023. After a successful inaugural year in 2021, the category is now back for the third year running in the Irish Book Awards, the annual literary event that celebrates and promotes Irish writing.
The Bookshop category is designed to acknowledge the significant role played by independent bookshops and local branches of bookshop chains in helping their local communities to find and savour the titles of their choice. Previous winners include Kennys Bookshop and Art Gallery, Galway in 2021 and Bridge Street Books, Wicklow in 2022.
Customers simply have to click onto anpost.com/bookshopoftheyear to nominate their favourite bookshop. They will also have the option to explain the reason for their choice. Readers can also enter by scanning the QR code in their preferred bookshop and following the instructions. Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win a €100 book voucher. Nominations September close on September 17th.
The 2023 Kilmore Quay ‘Write By The Sea’ Literary Festival, set to open on Friday, September 22, will end on a music high on Sunday, September 24, with a live interview with Riverdance creator and Grammy Award-winner Bill Whelan, followed by a live traditional Irish music set from fiddle player Zoe Conway, a renowned performer with Riverdance, and her partner guitarist John McIntyre.
The event will take place at 6pm at St Peters Church in Kilmore Quay, and tickets for the full day of the festival Sunday, September 24, can be booked now through the website www.writebythesea.ie where the entire weekend programme can be accessed. That programme also includes Claire Keegan, John Banville, Stephen James Smith, Helen Macdonald and Marina Carr and other top literary figures.
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The shortlisted titles for the 2023 Ackerley Prize are Nancy Campbell, Thunderstone (Elliott & Thompson) Edward Chisholm, A Waiter in Paris (Monoray) Thea Lenarduzzi, Dandelions (Fitzcarraldo Editions) The winner will be announced at a special event featuring the shortlisted authors in conversation with the chair of the judges, Peter Parker, at the London Review Bookshop, 14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL, at 7 pm on September 28th.
