College literary events
UCC gets back its literary journal when the new-look Quarryman is re-issued later this month. The magazine will be launched at the close of the Cork World Book Fest on Saturday, April 25th, at 9pm in the Triskel Arts Centre. The inaugural MA in Creative Writing class (2013/14) took on the challenge of pumping new blood into the journal, which last appeared in the 1980s. In his introduction, the poet Thomas McCarthy notes that the last incarnation marked “a fervid era of writing on campus which saw a new Munster movement in poetry”. This new edition recognises that generation, with contributions by local and alumni poets Greg Delanty, William Wall, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Gerry Murphy. Booker-nominated Donal Ryan has described the new Quarryman as “a perfect reading excursion, its pages inhabited by cyber-stalkers, bereft lovers, dying crows, web-less spiders, disillusioned radicals, illicit cadavers, and people treading the uncertain pathways of life”. The cover of the revamped journal features the work of award-winning US artist and illustrator Kevin Sprouls, creator of hedcut, the iconic Wall Street Journal pointillist portrait style.
At UCD, the School of English, Drama and Film will host a reading by Chris Binchy, the university's Arts Council writer in residence. The reading takes place on Thursday, April 30th, at 7pm, with a reception to follow at the FitzGerald Debating Chamber, UCD Student Centre, Belfield. RSVP and queries to karen.jackman@ucd.ie.
Roddy Doyle, to the manor born
Ireland’s Manor House Hotels have a surprise for overnight guests on World Book Night. Guests staying at any of the group’s 29 properties on Thursday, April 23rd, will find a copy of Roddy Doyle’s Dead Man Talking under their pillow. Each copy will be accompanied by a note asking guests to pass the book on to someone else after they’ve read it. Copies of the book will also be left at reception and in bars and lounges for visitors to pick up, read and pass on.
Weekend poetry workshop
The Monaghan poet and novelist Mary O'Donnell will direct the annual Poetry Writing Workshop Weekend at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen, Monaghan at the end of the month. Running the weekend of April 25th and 26th, the course is open to anyone who is interested in writing poetry: "It's about exploring the ideas and impulses that make you want to write, and about putting some of your ideas into practice. It is hoped that by the end of the course all the participants will leave the workshop feeling ready to write something new the following week, and to see it through various drafts until it is completed." O'Donnell's seventh poetry collection, Those April Fevers, was recently published by Arc UK. More details can be found at patrickkavanaghcountry.com.
Irish Writers Centre events
A number of events are taking place at the Writers Centre on Parnell Square, Dublin 1 this month. The popular Novel Fair initiative gets its 2016 launch on April 16th at 7pm. The event marks the beginning of the Novel Fair 2016 submissions period, which will remain open for six months, with the fair taking place in February 2016. Former Novel Fair winner Niamh Boyce (The Herbalist) will share insights on the opportunities afforded her to connect with publishers and agents. Dan Bolger, commissioning editor at New Island, will discuss how the fair benefits publishers. Free entry but ticketed.
Reading Short Fiction in Transnational Contexts is an evening event from 7pm on Friday, April 17th, hosted in association with the European Network for Short Fiction Research. Chaired by Trinity academic Philip Coleman, participating writers include Evelyn Conlon, Ailsa Cox, Dave Lordan, Tom Morris, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Mary O’Donnell. Tickets are €5.
An evening with the PEN award-winning author Éilís Ní Dhuibhne takes place on Tuesday, April 21st, in association with Imram. From 7pm, this Meet the Author/Buail leis an Údar is the first in a series of events as Gaeilge, hosted by Cathal Póirtéir. The authors Frank Reidy (Tuesday, April 28th) and Liam Mac Cóil (Tuesday, May 5th) will complete the series.
Fans of crime fiction may be interested in a one-off masterclass with the French author Jean-Bernard Pouy. The class takes place on Thursday, April 23rd from 6.30pm-8.30pm. Pouy is the author of some one hundred noir novels, including eleven for the Série Noire collection, numerous short stories and articles on the genre. Booking: €12/€10 IWC members via irishwriterscentre.ie.
Gallipoli 100
Gallipoli 100, a centenary commemorative event to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the ill-fated WWI Dardanelles campaign, will take place in Kells, Co Meath, from Friday, April 24th to Sunday, April 26th. The weekend will feature talks, tours, drama, poetry and music, with contributors from Ireland, England, Australia and Turkey. Among the highlights is a concert from Declan O'Rourke and guests on the Saturday evening at 8pm. Poems of War – Songs of Peace will showcase the WWI songs of Eric Bogle and poetry of the era, read by Welsh poet Nerys Williams. Two additional poetry events on the Saturday include Poetry as Document in the Great War with Nerys Williams from 11.15am-11.45am, and Secret Scripture: Ireland's First World War poetry from 4.15pm-5pm, hosted by Fran Brearton, professor of modern poetry at Queen's University, Belfast. All events will take place in St Columba's Church of Ireland church, Market St, Kells. The event is a joint venture by the weekly RTÉ Radio 1 programme The History Show and the organisers of the annual Hay Literary Festival in Kells. Tickets, including day and festival passes, can be purchased by contacting the booking office at 046 9240055 or kells@hayfestival.org.
ILFD announces programme
Anne Enright, Jon Ronson and Peter Carey are among the line-up for this year’s International Literature Festival Dublin. Taking place across Dublin from May 16th-24th, the programme features 90 events in 19 venues over nine days. Household names and new voices take to the platform alongside poets, journalists, theatre makers and thinkers in “unique encounters that will challenge, inspire and entertain”. Other confirmed guests include the Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh, John Gray, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Paul Muldoon, Dermot Bolger, Deirdre Madden, Selina Guinness, Eoin McNamee, Sara Baume, Gavin Corbett and Lisa McInerney, among many others.
Paying particular attention to the literary anniversaries of 2015, the festival will feature a number of related events. Bodies That Can Never Tire is a celebration of the life and work of Yeats inspired by the poet's words. The actress Fiona Shaw will be among the luminaries marking 150 years since Alice fell down the rabbit hole in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A celebratory tribute to Dermot Healy is another highlight of the programme, featuring friends and admirers of the author, including Martin Hayes, Neil Jordan, Pat McCabe, Anne Haverty and Roddy Doyle. Now in its 17th year, more information about the festival, formerly known as the Dublin Writers Festival, can be found at ilfdublin.com.
Bealtaine
Bealtaine, Ireland’s annual festival celebrating “creativity as we age”, turns 20 this year and is marking the anniversary with a diverse programme of events. An estimated 120,000 people will take part in the festival, which runs across Ireland over the month of May. Literary highlights include two public interviews with Paul Durcan in association with Poetry Ireland. The much-loved poet with appear at the Source Arts Centre in Thurles on Thursday, May 7th at 7.30pm in conversation with Eamon O’Shea, and in Dublin at the Gate Theatre on Sunday, May 10th, at 8pm, where he will be interviewed by the film-maker Alan Gilsenan. One to watch for budding writers aged 60 or over is the Bealtaine Literary Bursary offered in association with the MA in Creative Writing Programme at the University of Limerick and Listowel Writer’s Week. The bursary will enable the recipient to participate in the year-long masters at UL, whose course director is the acclaimed author Joseph O’Connor.
Bealtaine's book for 2015 is I Could Read the Sky by Timothy O'Grady and photographer Steve Pyke, a photo-novel about landscape and loss in the Irish emigrant experience. O'Grady will host a series of writer-in-residence workshops, meetings, performances and screenings with groups and individuals across Cavan, Leitrim, Sligo and Mayo over the course of the month. Roddy Doyle's Fighting Words organisation will also run a series of writing workshops for people aged 55+ from their base on Russell Street, Dublin 1. Full programme details are at bealtaine.com.
Hay Festival line-up
This year's Hay Festival in the UK has plenty in store for literary lovers, with a host of renowned authors representing a cross-section of world fiction. Kazuo Ishiguro, David Mitchell, Graham Swift, Irvine Welsh, Rose Tremain, Elif Shafak, Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín and Marian Keyes will discuss their latest works. An event to watch out for is the Neil Gaiman tribute to the late Sir Terry Pratchett. Elsewhere, rising stars sit alongside established voices, as Jessie Burton offers insight into her multi-award-winning debut, The Miniaturist; Polly Samson discusses her second novel, The Kindness; and Sarah Winman introduces A Year of Marvellous Ways. Nadifa Mohammed and Zukiswa Wanner represent Africa39, a Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club Project celebrating 39 of the best African south of the Sahara writers under 40. Meanwhile, Brenda Lozano, Daniel Saldaña París, and Laia Jufresa represent México20, a Hay project promoting new voices in Mexican literature as part of the Year of Mexico in the UK and the Year of the UK in Mexico 2015 celebration. The festival runs from May 21st-31st, with more information available at hayfestival.org. The Irish offshoot, Hay Festival Kells, will announce its full line-up in the coming weeks.
Contact sarah.gilmartin@gmail.com with your literary listings
