Kavanagh fellowship for poets in middle years
The sad and complicated saga of the beyond-the-grave dispute that led to Patrick Kavanagh’s wife Katherine and brother Peter lying in unmarked resting places in the same Iniskeen churchyard (pictured) was recounted by Frank McNally in An Irishman’s Diary on September 20th. The dispute, which had its origins in Katherine inheriting the poet’s literary estate (a dispensation never accepted by Peter) was to lead to the acrimonious removal of headstones and nameplates to both Katherine and Peter, who died in 1989 and 2006 respectively.
As McNally points out in his article, the bequest to Katherine was not one that was ever going to make her rich, but by setting up the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship, she did manage to ensure that others would benefit from the royalties after her death.
The fellowship, of €8,000, is awarded from time to time to an Irish poet in his or her middle years who has published a body of work and is in need of assistance. There is still time to apply for the next award before the closing date, October 15th. Poets who are interested should write to the Kavanagh estate's trustees at 3 Selskar Terrace, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Applicants will be asked to supply evidence of age, financial need and citizenship, plus copies of publications. See tcd.ie/English/ patrickkavanagh/thetrust.html.
Meanwhile, the winner of the 2012 Kavanagh Poetry Prize, announced last weekend at the annual Kavanagh festival in Co Monaghan, is the Galway-born Caoilinn Hughes, a former student at Queen’s University Belfast who is now doing a PhD in New Zealand. The judge of this year’s competition, Brian Lynch, says: “Hughes is a remarkably gifted young poet. Her work is intellectually challenging, effervescent and witty. She has a future of great promise.”
Rare collectors’ items at Dublin Book Fair
The original typescript of a Brendan Behan short story and books inscribed by Samuel Beckett to the actress Billie Whitelaw are among the collectors’ items on sale at Dublin Book Fair, which takes place today and tomorrow at Freemasons Hall in Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
The wares at the fair, involving 20 booksellers from Ireland, the UK and the US include posters, signed photographs, manuscripts and ephemera. Admission €3; see dublinbookfair.org.
And if the fair renews your enthusiasm for the book trade, there is still time to vote in this year's Bord Gáis Energy Bookshop of the Year contest . More than 240 stores are vying to be named Ireland's favourite bookshop in a a competition decided by an online vote at bordgaisenergybookclub.ie.
Votes will be accepted until Sunday, October 14th, and there will be prizes, including holiday vouchers and free electricity, for some voters.
Beckett as Gaeilge at Irish-language festival
The Irish-language literature festival Imram, in Dublin from October 11th to 20th, promises “an eclectic and heady brew” that will include readings of Samuel Beckett’s work newly translated into Irish and a homage to the poet, novelist and polemicist Tomás Mac Síomóin, featuring music from Mangéira. The work of Pádraic
Ó Conaire and Seán Ó Riordáin will be explored, in a lecture and round-table discussion.
The poet Ceaití Ní Bheildiúin will also be at the festival, exploring the various meanings of the word cathair, with projections and installations in city-centre locations including Meeting House Square, Dame Street and the Back Loft. See imram.ie.
