In The Irish Times this Saturday, Benjamin Myers talks to Edel Coffey about his latest novel, Rare Singles. Patrick Freyne interviews Colin O’Sullivan, the Irish author behind the big Apple TV show Sunny. And there is a Q&A with Evie Wyld, author of The Echoes.
Reviews are Ian Hughes on Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum; John McCourt on Mark Gilbert’s Italy Reborn From Fascism to Democracy; Neil Hegarty on Mathijs Deen’s The Boundless River: Stories from the Realm of the Rhine, translated by Jane Hedley-Prôle and Jonathan Reeder; Martina Evans on the best new poetry; Daniel Geary on When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s by John Ganz; Claire Hennessy on Lemony Snicket: And Then? And Then? What Else?: A Writer’s Life by Daniel Handler; Paul Clements on The Origin of Ireland’s Ordnance Survey by Finnian O’Cionnaith; Lorna Siggins on The High Seas by Olive Heffernan; Frank McDonald on The Language of Architectural Classicism by Edward McParland; Niamh Donnelly on Everyone I Know is Dying by Emily Slapper; Eilís Ní Dhuibhne on Father, Son and Brother Ghost by John MacKenna; Declan Burke on the best new scifi and fantasy; and John Boyne on Anyone’s Ghost by August Thompson.
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Ferdia Lennon has won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 for his novel Glorious Exploits at a ceremony at the Waterstones Piccadilly flagship bookshop in London this evening.
The prize consists of £5,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to the winner’s writing career. Last year’s winner, In Memoriam by Alice Winn, became the bestselling debut of 2023 after the announcement.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Head of Books, says: “We are delighted to announce Ferdia Lennon as the winner of the 2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for his novel Glorious Exploits.
Lennon brings the ancient world to life in technicolour, from the horrors of war to the moments of hilarity to be found in the mundane, with a charmingly eccentric cast of characters. It is a riotous, exuberant treat of a novel, which celebrates the redemptive power of art, and the catharsis to be found in storytelling.
A masterclass in tragicomedy, firmly rooted in classical tradition and yet strikingly, unapologetically new, Glorious Exploits is madly ambitious and devastatingly affecting, but above all pure page-turning joy from start to finish. The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize champions fiction’s future: it is looking extremely exciting with the arrival of Ferdia Lennon.”
Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Libyan father. He holds a BA in history and classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. His short stories have appeared in publications such as The Irish Times and the Stinging Fly. In 2019 and 2021, he received a Literature Bursary Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.
Glorious Exploits, his debut novel, is set in Sicily in 412 BC and follows two locals and a group of captured Athenian soldiers as they stage one of Euripides’ greatest tragedies. Inspired by the authors lifelong enchantment with ancient Greece, it is a nod to the recent historical retelling trend whilst offering something surprising and new at every turn.
Lennon said: “Rather than write what you know, I have always followed the dictum: write what fascinates you and bring what you know to that. My fascination for ancient Greece began as a child. However, not being personally acquainted with any gods or mythical heroes, I decided to tell my novel from the perspective of two ordinary lads with a love of story. It had always struck me that ancient Greek comedy, such as that of Aristophanes, has something of the ribald, irreverent humour I grew up with in Dublin and that blending this with the universal themes of classical tragedy would be one way to evoke a living breathing ancient world that felt contemporary and urgent. A chance discovery of a line from Plutarch, where we learn that Athenian prisoners of war survived by quoting lines from Euripides’ plays to their Sicilian captors, showed me the path the novel would take and Glorious Exploits was born.”
Hannah from Waterstones Hanley calls Glorious Exploits “a love letter to the classics”, whilst Robin from Waterstones Putney describes it as “poetic, and ribald and rollicking and so deeply sad” and for Charlotte from Waterstones Aberystwyth the novel is “an exceptionally unique and clever tragicomedy” with a “Monty Python style wit”.
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Write By the Sea, the boutique literary festival in Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford, returns from September 27th to 29th. Festival highlights include a wide-ranging conversation between acclaimed author Tessa Hadley and award-winning writer and editor Lucy Caldwell. Howard Keeley of Georgia Southern University will present an enlightening talk on the writings of Irish journalist and short story writer Maeve Brennan, with excerpts read by the Ballycogley Players.
Wexford crime writer Cat Hogan will join Colin Walsh and Colin Barrett to explore the rich narrative possibilities within literary crime novels and poet and novelist Elaine Feeney will engage in conversation with journalist Aoife Barry.
American essayist and novelist Rachel Kushner will discuss her highly anticipated novel Creation Lake with Irish writer Carlo Gébler. Andrew O’Hagan returns to discuss his latest novel; short story enthusiasts will enjoy a session featuring Lucy Caldwell, Cathy Sweeney, and Maggie Armstrong, chaired by Eileen Morrissey. Rising literary stars Cathy Sweeney and Niamh Mulvey will discuss their debut novels in a conversation chaired by Olivia Fitzsimons.
Award-winning authors Sophie Mackintosh and Sinéad Gleeson will discuss their atmospheric novels with author Emilie Pine, while poets Breda Wall Ryan, Michael Dooley, and Kerri ní Dochartaigh will read from their work and discuss the natural world’s influence on their writing.
Booker-longlisted author Kevin Barry will engage with Wexford musician and author Peter Murphy, reading from his latest novel The Heart In Winter.
“We’re incredibly proud of the 2024 programme”, said chairperson, Sasha Wilson. “Not only are we hosting an incredible roster of unbelievably talented Irish writers, but we’re also welcoming to Kilmore Quay critically acclaimed and celebrated writers from North American, Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe. 2024 is our biggest programme yet and we have a jam-packed schedule of events including interviews, readings, masterclasses and workshops.”
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Little Island Books has announced the acquisition of the YA debut by popular Irish bookseller Gráinne O’Brien. Solo will be published in April 2025 after world rights in all languages were acquired by publisher Matthew Parkinson-Bennett from agent Sallyanne Sweeney of Mulcahy Sweeney Associates.
Solo, a novel in verse about teenage love and friendships, lost and found, is the first novel by O’Brien, a well-known bookseller with Kennys Bookshop in Galway (formerly of O’Mahony’s in Limerick) who was named a Bookshop Hero by The Bookseller in 2022. She is the founder of Rontu Literary Service, one of the founders of Silver Apples Magazine, and served as a member of the Irish Booksellers Association Committee. Solo follows her bestselling debut picture book, A Limerick Fairytale (The O’Brien Press, 2023).
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The Irish Writers Centre (IWC) will once again open its doors for Autumn Open Day on Saturday 31 August 2024. Taking place inside IWC’s beautiful Georgian building on Parnell Square in Dublin, Autumn Open Day is a dynamic programme of free events that brings together anyone with an interest in writing. Expect taster workshops, information sessions, writer-led panel discussion, and more.
Whether you are an absolute beginner, or an experienced writer, this day will introduce you to a new community, and hopefully leave you with some tips on how to develop your practice.
