The Edinburgh-based literary magazine, Chapman, recently brought out an Irish issue, subtitled Flames of History, with guest editor Hayden Murphy, who is a poet and journalist. The issue is dedicated to the memory of Lar Cassidy, the late, generous-spirited literature officer of the Arts Council. Contributors include Seamus Heaney, Bernard MacLaverty, Vona Groarke, Michael Longley, Eavan Boland, Thomas Kinsella, and Conor O'Callaghan. There is also a preface by Daniel Mulhall, the Consul General of Ireland, and, at the back, a slew of reviews of books by Irish writers. It costs £3.50 sterling.
Murphy tells Sadbh he will be over in Dublin for a very special Paddy's Day celebration - one to do with that other famous namesake of our national saint, Patrick Kavanagh. In 1968, the year after Kavanagh died, Paddy O'Brien, the head barman at McDaid's, suggested the poet's friends commemorate him where there was beer and water. On March 17th, 1968, Murphy, and some 20 others including Pearse Hutchinson, John Jordan, Liam Brady, and Macdara Woods met in McDaid's and made the slow trip over to Kavanagh's canal-bank seat near Baggot Street to pay him homage. For many years, the speaker on these occasions was John Jordan, until his death, whereupon Macdara Woods took over. A new generation of Irish writers is beginning to join the annual melee, including Pat Boran. The midday starting-point has since moved to Grogan's pub, on South William Street. Sadbh is assured women are also welcome.
Dead Cat Bounce. What that? It's the title of a first novel from Monaghan-born Damien Owens (28) who now writes for SmartForce, an e-learning company. Monaghan writers seem to have a predilection for putting animal references in their book titles: think pig and Pat McCabe's The Butcher Boy, for instance. Dead Cat Bounce isn't out until next January, but it's attracting attention already because of the big bucks it got when the rights were auctioned last week by Dublin's Lisa Richards agency. Hodder & Stoughton forked out "a healthy six-figure sum" for two books from Owens, and will publish them under its Flame imprint. The dead moggy book is about Joe, a lad who lives in Dublin and works in PR. Since Owens himself has worked in PR along the way, it'll be interesting to see an Irish-set novel which deals with the world of press releases, spin, launches, and the meeja.
In the money - Monaghan novelist Damien Owens
Oxfam has long been a place where you can pick up little sartorial gems and fairly-traded coffee and jams, but not necessarily the first port of call that comes to mind when you think of books. However, in Britain, Oxfam shops have branched out over the years in several different directions: shops that sell only furniture, or retro clothing - or books. The bookshops have proved particularly successful, and in university towns such as Oxford are exceptionally well-stocked and fertile hunting grounds for great bargains. The first Oxfam Bookshop in Ireland opened its doors before Christmas on Dublin's Parliament Street. So if you have any books you don't want any more, head up there with them under your oxter. The day Sadbh visited, she noted the Crime and Thriller section was one of the largest, but was assured by manager Molly McGuire that it had "nothing to do with the fact we're located just across from the Courts". The bookshop will be officially opened later this month by broadcaster David Hanly, who donated many of his own books to the shop.
It has been translated into Danish, German, Swedish, Dutch, French, and Japanese and now there's an Irish version of Under the Hawthorn Tree. Marita ConlonMcKenna's novel about three young children who are left alone after the Famine, and who, rather than go to the workhouse, make a journey across Ireland to try to find their grand-aunts, has been a bestseller since its publication in 1990. Now O'Brien Press has brought out an Irish language version, Faoin Sceach Gheal, translated by Maire Nic Mhaolain, which will be in the shops very soon for a fiver.
Mention the name of the University of Villanova, Pennsylvania, and most folk will think of long-distance runners - Sonia O'Sullivan, Marcus O'Sullivan, and Eamon Coghlan all won scholarships to this august institution. With the establishment of the grand-sounding Charles A. Heinbold Chair of Irish Studies, the folk at Villanova are hoping to diversify their reputation. First to sit in the hot seat is poet and publisher Peter Fallon, who returns to Ireland for short intervals to keep the Gallery Press millwheel turning. "I'm teaching two courses there," he told Sadbh. "Creative writing and contemporary Irish literature - Friel, Heaney, and Muldoon. Both Heaney and Muldoon will be coming to read at Villanova while I'm there." Fallon - who was awarded an honorary doctorate at the university last month - took up the post in January, and will hold it until May. Next year's holder will be Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill.