Barry reads ScriptureBook club members in Dublin will get to hear Booker shortlisted author Sebastian Barry read and talk about his nominated novel, The Secret Scripture, on the eve of the announcement of the winner in London on October 14th.
He's taking part in Dublin City Public Libraries Readers' Day on Saturday, October 11th, in the Civic Offices on Dublin's Wood Quay. (Members of reading groups which meet in, or are affiliated to branches of Dublin City libraries form the audience at Readers Day.) Others taking part are Salman Rushdie, Ronan Bennett, Rebecca Miller and Anita Notaro.
Experts in the field of literary criticism and awards will also speak, and one of the panel discussions is on the topic "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing; are literary awards just for writers?"
Meanwhile the library on Pearse Street has built an event around an unpublished Hercule Poirot story discovered by John Curran, to take place on November 6th. Dubliner Curran is a lifelong Agatha Christie fan and is currently writing a book about Christie's notebooks.
Canadian kudos
Irish novelist Emma Donoghue, long living in Canada, was this week longlisted for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize for fiction.
The jury, which includes iconic Canadian writer Margaret Atwood and Irish writer Colm Tóibín, selected 15 titles out of 95, from every region of Canada. Donoghue is included with her novel The Sealed Letter (HarperCollins).
The list also features David Adams Richards, Steven Galloway and Rawi Hage, who won this year's Impac award for his novel De Niro's Game and is longlisted here for Cockroach. The annual prize of $50,000 goes to the author of the best Canadian novel or short-story collection published in English. Each of the finalists gets $5,000. www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca
Poetry all over
Poetry Ireland is to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a poetry reading in every county in Ireland on October 2nd, henceforth to be known as All-Ireland Poetry Day. Details of all readings at www.poetryireland.ie/poetryday
Trevor's change
The William Trevor Short Story Competition has been transmogrified into the Mitchelstown International Short Story Competition and is now accepting entries. Writers Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Vincent McDonnell will select a shortlist of 20, which in turn will be judged by writer John MacKenna. Stories must be a maximum of 3,000 words, to be submitted by December 12th. The winner will receive €2,500, and runners up €200 each. Details can be found at www.mitchelstown shortstoryprize.com.
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