In The Irish Times this Saturday, Christine Dwyer Hickey tells Edel Coffey about her latest novel, Our London Lives. Diarmaid Ferriter discusses his new history of modern Ireland with Frank McNally. Author and former BBC journalist Brian Rowan tells Freya McClements about his work on a project documenting the peace process in the North – Impossible Peace, designed by Ciaran Hurson, which is available at the Open University’s OpenLearn website. And there is a Q&A by Ronan McGreevy with Robert Harris about his latest historical thriller, Precipice.
Reviews are Chris Kissane on Irish Food History edited by Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire and Dorothy Cashman; Eoin McNamee on Munichs by David Peace; Dan Geary on Prequel: America’s first fight against fascism by Rachel Maddow; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA fiction; Catherine Taylor on The Voyage Home by Pat Barker; Adrienne Murphy on Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood by Helen Charman; Kathleen Costello-Sullivan on Getting the Words Right: A Festschrift in Honour of Eamon Maher; John O’Donnell on Blood & Thunder. Rugby & Irish Life: A History by Liam O’Callaghan & Together Standing Tall by John Scally; John McAuliffe on The Island: WH Auden and the Last of Englishness by Nicholas Jenkins; Henrietta McKervey on Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers; and Sarah Gilmartin on Liars by Sarah Manguso.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is Born to be a Footballer by Liam Brady. You can buy it for just €6.99, a €6 saving.
Letters for Life, a fundraiser for Irish Cancer Society, is an entertaining evening showcasing letters as a literary form. Poignant, funny and quirky, ranging from Stan Laurel reminiscing about DunLahaire (sic), Samuel Beckett remembering walking on Three Rock Mountain to a poor unfortunate complaining about lack of broadband and many more, they will be read in Tullow Church, Brighton Road, Foxrock, Dublin, on Tuesday, September 10th, at 7.30pm by author Joseph O’Connor, actor Geraldine Plunkett, rugby’s Andrew Porter, Sunday Independent’s Madeleine Keane, Irish Times Stephen Collins, author Sinead Moriarty and RTÉ Sports’ Peter Collins. Tickets €35 on eventbrite.ie
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The Irish Writers Centre annual Novel Fair competition is now open for submissions. Described by The Irish Times as ‘A Dragons’ Den for writers,’ Novel Fair awards 12 unpublished (and unsigned) novelists the opportunity to pitch their novels to leading publishers and literary agents. This annual competition has been a career-changing opportunity for writers across Ireland and worldwide. Since its inception in 2011, 36 Novel Fair winners have found a home for their debuts.
Submissions to Novel Fair 2025 are open throughout September and will require applicants to submit a 10,000-word manuscript sample of their novel and a 300-word synopsis.
Find out more here.
“Novel Fair will forever stand out as one of the highlights of my life. It’s only since Novel Fair that I’ve dared to call myself a writer,” said Orla Mackey, who pitched her debut novel Mouthing at Novel Fair in 2022, after which she was signed by literary agent Nicola Barr (The Bent Agency) and published by Hamish Hamilton this year.
Aisling Trí Néallaibh – Doireann Ní Ghríofa, an intimate exploration of acclaimed writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s world and creative process, directed by Ciara Nic Chormaic, will be broadcast by TG4 on Wednesday, September 4th, at 9.30pm.
Acclaimed poet and essayist Doireann Ní Ghríofa was catapulted into the international literary spotlight in 2020 with the publication of her debut nonfiction work A Ghost in the Throat. It went on to win the Irish Book of the Year.
Aisling Trí Néallaibh – Doireann Ní Ghríofa is a film about memories, motherhood and the mysterious nature of creativity. Captured through intimate performances of her own work and in-depth interviews, the film reveals Ní Ghríofa’s creative impulses and journeys with her to the heart of her inspiration, her home place in Co Clare.
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Twenty Irish fiction authors feature in a new initiative from the An Post Irish Book Awards called ‘New Voices 20 Best New Irish Writers’.
Focused on showcasing a new generation of Irish writers who are reshaping the literary landscape, the list was curated through nominations from publishers, booksellers and librarians nationwide.
The nominated authors could be working in any genre of fiction, must have had no more than two books published over the past decade, and be Irish by birth, citizenship or long-term residence. A panel of literary experts then selected the 20 authors, highlighting some of the most exciting new talents in contemporary literature.
The list, of which there is no overall winner, will be promoted nationwide in bookshops and libraries during September to celebrate the 20 authors in advance of the An Post Irish Book Awards 2024 campaign.
The 20 authors are: Aingeala Flannery; Alan Murrin; Cathy Sweeney; Catríona Lally; Claire Coughlan; Colin Walsh; Disha Bose; Ferdia Lennon; Fíona Scarlett; Louise Kennedy; Louise Nealon; Megan Nolan; Michael Magee; Michelle Gallen Naoise Dolan; Niamh Campbell; Nicole Flattery; Noel O’Regan; Sheila Armstrong; and Una Mannion.
The judging panel consisted of: Maria Dickenson, Irish Book Awards board member; Angus Laverty, Public Affairs manager at An Post; Breda Brown, Chair of the Irish Writers Centre; Dawn Behan, President of the Irish Booksellers Association; Eileen Morrissey, President of the Library Association of Ireland; Madeleine Keane, Literary Editor of the Sunday Independent; and Sinead Mac Aodha, Executive Director at Literature Ireland
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Echoes 2024 will be returning to Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre from October 4th to 6th.
On Friday, October 4th at 7.30pm Maeve Binchy’s Minding Frankie, adapted for stage by Shay Linehan, will be performed by Michael Heavey. There will also be a rehearsed reading of Chancery Lane by Maeve Binchy, a new adaptation directed by Conall Morrison.
On October 5th, from 9.30am to 5.30pm there will be a day of conversations, interviews and readings featuring Cecelia Ahern, Jan Carson, Colm O’Regan, Liz Nugent, Oliver Callan, Edel Coffey, Anne Griffin, Jamie O’Connell, Zoe Miller, Brian McGilloway, Andrea Mara, Kevin Curran, Melatu Uche Okorie, Olha Khoroshevska, Sam Blake, Billy Keane, Andrea Carter, Caroline Erskine, Katherine McSharry, Niall MacMonagle, John Patrick McHugh, Sarah Binchy and Gordon Snell.
On Sunday October 6th at 11am, the Marvellously Maeve Guided Walk, led by Rita Biggs leaves from Dalkey Castle. There will also be a performance of Maeve Binchy’s Aches and Pains at 3pm. echoes.ie.
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Kurdish poet and honorary Irish PEN member Ilhan Sami Çomak has been in prison in Turkey for 30 years, since he was 22 years old. The ECHR ruled, in 2007, that his conviction was unlawful. Nevertheless his imprisonment continued. And continues still. His translator, Caroline Stockford, writes that “political prisoners are usually released after 30 years with 6 years off for ‘good behaviour’. Ilhan was a model prisoner.” But last week, a parole board refused to release him.
Ilhan is an expressive, lyrical (and prize-winning) poet, with a global network of friends and supporters. His first collection in English (reviewed in this newspaper) is published by Smokestack Books. He is an invited speaker for Irish PEN at this year’s Dublin Book Festival in November.
Readers can support Ilhan by reading and promoting his poetry; by inviting him to speak at cultural events; and by writing to him expressing solidarity and hope but avoiding reference to politics or anger, at: İlhan Sami Çomak, Silivri 5 No.lu L Tipi Kapalı Cezaevi, C12 Silivri, Istanbul, Turkey.
More information from Irish PEN, PEN Norway, PEN International.
@ilhan_comak #freethepoet #freeilhancomak
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Ennistymon Booktown Festival takes place this weekend from August 30th until September 1st, with booksellers taking over shop units, the Teach Ceoil and the Courthouse Gallery. Local booksellers Salmon Bookshop and Banner Books will be joined by a dozen or so antiquarian and specialist booksellers at venues across the town. Shops open on Saturday from 10am until 6pm and Sunday from 10.30 to 5.30. There is also a programme of events taking place: Friday 30th: poetry reading with Sara Mullen and Patrick Chapman at Salmon Bookshop, 7pm; Saturday 31st, Karen Fitzgibbon reads from her new novel The Worlds End at 2pm in Salmon Bookshop; 7pm, Stories, Songs & Shells with Linda Hebenstreit and Songpals, Banner Bookshop, The Square.
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Entries in the 2024 Allingham Flash Fiction Competition will be judged by Nuala O’Connor, author and editor of the e-journal Splonk. Deadline for entries is September 29th.
First-, second- and third-place winners of the Poetry and Flash Fiction awards will read their winning entries at the literary lunch at noon on Saturday, November 9th during the 2024 Allingham Festival. In addition to the €300 first prize, winning entries in the 2024 Flash Fiction Competition will also be published in Splonk.
The festival will run from November 6-10 in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal. Highlights include a keynote speech on Artificial Intelligence by RTÉ broadcaster Richard Curran, and a concert by delta-blues prodigy Muireann Bradley. allinghamfestival.com.
Bookselling Ireland, the committee of Booksellers Association members representing bookshops across Ireland, together with Publishing Ireland, has announced that Irish Book Week 2024 will take place from Saturday, October 19th until October 26th.
Bookselling Ireland is also thrilled to reveal the stunning artwork for this year’s campaign, which was produced by well-known children’s illustrator and author, Úna Woods, who has also come on board as a campaign Ambassador. Joining Úna as Ambassadors this year is Laureate na nÓg & children’s author, Patricia Forde and fiction author, Felicity Hayes-McCoy.
Now in its 7th year, Irish Book Week is a nationwide celebration of Irish bookshops, Irish books, publishers, writers, illustrators, and poets. The campaign aims to encourage people from across Ireland to visit their local bookshops to discover and enjoy a range of exciting and interesting events, readings, parties, displays and much more.
For further information on Irish Book Week 2024 and the events that will be taking place throughout the country as part of this year’s campaign, keep an eye on Bookselling Ireland’s social media platforms; Facebook: @BooksellingIreland, Twitter: @BooksellingI and Instagram: @BooksellingI and the campaign hashtag #IrishBookWeek
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At the opening of the annual conference of the European Association of Archaeologists in Rome yesterday, Death in Irish prehistory by Gabriel Cooney, Emeritus Professor of Celtic Archaeology, UCD School of Archaeology, was awarded the EAA Book Prize 2024.
The annual award honours recent publications by EAA members, and from a total of 25 nominations received, six books were shortlisted. Death in Irish prehistory explores the richness of the mortuary record that we have for Irish prehistory (8000 BC to AD 500) as a highlight of the archaeological record for that long period of time.
The EEA remarked that the book ‘is written in an engaging manner, with sensitive reflections on how the living deal with death today as well as in the past.’
Prof Cooney said: “It is a pleasure to acknowledge the dedication, work and publications of many colleagues in archaeology, osteo-archaeology and related disciplines working in and on Ireland whose scholarship enabled and underpins the people-based approach taken in Death in Irish prehistory.”
For the second year running, two prizes were awarded by the EAA selection committee. The other winner this year is Prof Graeme Warren, also of UCD School of Archaeology, for his book Hunter-Gatherer Ireland.
