Claire Hennessy, Puffin Ireland editor, co-founder of The Big Smoke Writing Factory and Banshee literary magazine, and an Irish Times contributor, has signed a book deal with Hot Key Books, the only publisher to have two titles shortlisted for the inaugural YA Book Prize, and whose roster includes authors such as James Dawson, Julie Mayhew and Laura Dockrill.
Nothing Tastes as Good follows Annabel, a recently deceased anorexic teen who finds herself (unwillingly) assigned as a ghostly “helper” to Julia, another girl with a difficult relationship with food. Editor Naomi Colthurst acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for this and another untitled book from Sallyanne Sweeney at Mulcahy Associates in a hotly contested auction. It will publish in July 2016.
Colthurst said: “In Claire, I know we have found UK YA’s next biggest voice. Her writing is astonishing – it grips you from the moment you start reading, and simply doesn’t let go. I have never met a character like Annabel, and the journey Claire takes her on is extraordinary. On top of that, Claire is simply a dream author: funny, engaged, passionate and a complete delight to work with.”
Hennessy said: “As a YA addict I’ve been really impressed with the smart, thought-provoking and fabulously readable books Hot Key have published over the last few years – so to be now working with Naomi and the rest of the team on Nothing Tastes as Good is, well, ridiculously brilliant. I can’t wait to share Annabel’s story with readers next summer – who doesn’t love snarky ghost girls, right?”
Hugh Maxton honoured
Irish academic and poet WJ McCormack, who publishes his poetry under the pen name Hugh Maxton, has been elected to honorary membership of the Hungarian equivalent of Aosdána – the Szechenyi Academy of Letters and Arts. This is an autonomous subsidiary of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1825). Istvan Szechenyi, after whom it is named, was a nineteenth-century liberal reformer and thinker.
Born near Aughrim in Co Wicklow in 1947, McCormack has travelled extensively, living in Hungary over a period of 10 years. As a consequence he has published translations of such major Hungarian poets as Agnes Nemes Nagy, Sándor Wéöres, and Endre Ady.
His poetry as Hugh Maxton includes Stones (1970); The Noise of the Fields (1976); Jubilee for Renegades Poems 1976-1980 (1982); Passage, with Surviving Poems (1985); .At the Protestant Museum (1986); The Puzzle Tree Ascendant (1988); The Engraved Passion: New and Selected Poems 1970-1991 (1992); Swiftmail (1992); Gubu Roi: Poems and Satires (2000); and Poems 2000-2005 (2005). He has also published the memoir Waking: An Irish Protestant Upbringing (1997) with Lagan Press.
Reading and reception for UCC writer in residence Michael West
UCC’s writer in residence, dramatist Michael West, will give a reading of his work on Tuesday, December 1st, at West Wing 5, at 6pm, followed by a welcome reception in the Social Area of the Department of English. This event is free and no booking is required.
West, who was appointed in September for the academic year 2015/16, is an award-winning playwright and a noted adaptor of literary work. As co-founder of the Dublin-based Corn Exchange theatre company, he has collaborated in productions of Joyce’s Dubliners, Nabokov’s Lolita and most recently, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, by Eimear McBride.
His play Freefall won an Irish Times Theatre Award for best new play and best director in 2009 and several of his productions have won Irish Playwright and Screenwriters Guild awards. His latest play, Conservatory, was staged at the Abbey Theatre in 2014.
As writer in residence, West has been teaching on the MA in Creative Writing and will be providing public workshops next semester.
World Book Day announces 2016 line-up
The live tour line-up for 2016’s The Biggest Book Show on Earth, which will feature over 45 top authors and illustrators and visit 10 locations throughout the UK and Ireland, returns to Dublin on Tuesday, February 23rd with authors Shane Hegarty, Sibéal Pounder, Jonathan Meres and Brian Gallagher, compered by the inimitable Stephen Butler. In each location, World Book Day will work closely with local partners who will bring the events to life, arranging bookselling and coordinating with local schools to fill the venues.
The events will run from February 22nd till March 4th.
