The Saturday edition of The Irish Times features an interview with Caoilinn Hughes regarding her brilliant novel, The Alternatives, conducted by Niamh Donnelly. Jo Spain discusses her recent suspense novel, The Trial, with Fiona Gartland while Hugh Linehan delves into the movie version of John McGahern’s That They May Face the Rising Sun. Debbie Hines, writer of Get Off My Neck, reveals to Keith Duggan the shocking unfairness that African Americans encounter within the US judicial system. Ali Dunworth, who wrote A Compendium of Irish Pints: The Culture, Customs and Craic, praises the traditional Irish bar. Additionally, there’s a discussion with Jonny Sweet, the author of The Kellerby Code and scriptwriter of Wicked Little Letters.
Book critiques include Molara Wood’s assessment of An African History of Africa by Zeinab Bedawi; local history overviews by Paul Clements; Mihir Bose’s judgement of Fighting Retreat: Winston Churchill and India written by Walter Reid; Declan O’Driscoll’s opinion on the finest new translations; Helen Cullen’s review of Two Hours by Alba Arikha; Edel Coffey’s thoughts on The Husbands penned by Holly Gramazio; Adrienne Murphy’s evaluation of Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O’Donnell; John Boyne’s views on Sunjeev Sahota’s The Spoiled Heart; Brian Maye’s critique of Spirit of Revolution: Ireland from below, 1917–1923; Aimée Walsh’s feedback on Juliet Daniel’s Mr and Mrs American Pie; Dean Jobb’s commentary on The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age, a work by Michael Wolraich; Philippa Conlon’s remarks on Howard Jacobson’s What Will Survive of Us; Nadine O’Regan’s reflection on He Used to Me by Anne Walsh Donnelly; and Anna Carey’s review of Seaborne, a novel by Nuala O’Connor.
Additionally, Sheila Armstrong’s initial novel, Falling Animals, has been shortlisted for the 2024 RSL Ondaatje Prize, an award that honours literary works that thoroughly capture the essence of a particular location. The novel was lauded by judge Xiaolu Guo, who noted: “This remarkable debut from a gifted raconteur perfectly captures the rhythm and poetry of the narrative. The unique Irish landscape, the enigma of ‘the man’, and the shared experience of the location captivated me.”
Judge Jan Carson extolled Armstrong’s latest novel, calling it a subtly powerful work that acknowledges the magnificence and struggles in everyday life. Her expressive and touching writing has left Carson admiring her capability as a writer. Armstrong’s narrative transitions smoothly between different viewpoints, every one more intriguing than its predecessor, Carson added. Francis Spufford, another judge, appreciated Armstrong’s first novel, which he described as wonderful. The book intermingles multiple voices around a speechless corpse on a beach and reveals a collective picture of a town on the West coast of Ireland along with the intersecting lives and deaths within it.
Armstrong is a resident of Dublin, originally from Sligo. She was in publishing for a decade and is currently a freelance editor. Armstrong’s debut book of short stories, How To Gut A Fish, made the Edge Hill Prize longlist and was released in 2022. The winning novel will be declared on May 14th.
Prominently featured authors on the shortlist include Isabella Hammad for Enter Ghost, Noreen Masud with A Flat Place, No Man’s Land by David Nash, Ian Penman for Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors, and Benjamin Myers with Cuddy.
The National Library of Ireland is hosting the second event in the Celebrating Ireland’s Booker Winners series, curated by Alan Hayes, on May 7th at 6:30pm. Legendary novelist John Banville will talk to Claire Kilroy, while Stephen Rea conducts a reading from The Sea. Banville’s acclaimed novel, The Sea, garnered the Booker Prize in 2005 and is considered a landmark in Banville’s illustrious career spanning half a century. Kilroy, an acclaimed author of five novels, has her recent work, Soldier Sailor, nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Booking in advance is strongly advised due to limited seating.
The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award, UK and Ireland’s most distinguished prize for crime fiction, has placed Irish authors Liz Nugent and Jane Casey on its longlist for their works Strange Sally Diamond and The Close, respectively.
Casey, a Dublin native, has bagged the prestigious Irish Crime Novel of the Year and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Nugent, Casey’s contemporary from Dublin, is renowned for having won four Irish Book Awards, and also holds the coveted James Joyce Medal for Literature. Nugent’s book, Strange Sally Diamond, is currently among those listed for awards.
Furthermore, for the first-ever occasion, the annual Bloomsday event dedicated to James Joyce’s magnum opus, Ulysses, will expand beyond Dublin’s boundaries to host an exclusive all-female event in Derry and Donegal, named the Molly Bloomsday. This change reflects the event’s commitment to showcasing the narrative of Molly Bloom, Joyce’s most iconic female character.
The YES festival, designed to highlight women’s creativity, will bring together budding artists from all over Europe. Scheduled from 13th to 16th June, the festival will offer a lively mix of dance, music, art, literature and food. Standout features include the global premiere of The Molly Films, with performances from notable actresses such as Dame Harriet Walter, Fiona Shaw, Adjoa Andoh, Siobhán McSweeney and Eve Hewson.
In addition to this, the festival will incorporate a unique literary festival called “No Ordinary Women”, where influential women, including past Irish President Mary Robinson, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Orla Guerin, Marion McKeone, Denise Chaila, Miriam O’Callaghan, Martina Devlin and two yet to be announced pioneering female political figures, will converse on a myriad of topics.
The grand finale of the festival, Molly Bloomsday, will transverse Ulysses’ well-known Dublin settings, portraying them across locations north of the border, in an 18-hour marathon of wide-ranging events. Among the key affairs of this day will be a unique performance by Imelda May. The Molly Bloomsday event marks the end of the ULYSSES European Odyssey project, a two-year celebration of Joyce’s masterpiece across 16 European countries.
Following the YES festival, the 2024 Belfast Book Festival will occur over a period of eight days in June at The Crescent Arts Centre, the festival’s main venue. The festival will boast dynamic activities and events for both children and adults.
The festival highlights will feature an intimate evening with novelist Margaret Drabble who will share insights from her seven-decade-long writing career in a discussion with Wendy Erskine. Colm Tóibín will also participate, discussing his eagerly awaited follow-up to Brooklyn with Festival Patron Lucy Caldwell and a multitude of other writers such as Sinéad Gleeson, Kevin Barry, Elaine Feeney, Martin Doyle, Louise Kennedy, Fergal Keane, Suzi Ronson, Nicola Tallant, AC Grayling, and Eimear Ryan.
Saturday, June 8th, is dedicated to children’s authors and will include appearances by Jacqueline Wilson, Martin Waddell, and Northern Ireland based authors Ashling Lindsay and Colleen Larmour who will be introducing their new works. The day’s proceedings will also include a showcase of Waddell’s illustrated books.
The poetry segment of this year’s festival features renowned American poet Marie Howe. Belfast’s own Dawn Watson and Scott McKendry will also join the stage. Additionally, a live version of RTÉ Sunday Miscellany will be held featuring new pieces from Jan Carson and Glenn Patterson.
Numerous free activities will be available, including film poem screenings and a Poetry Jukebox. The festival continues with the ‘Pay as you please’ model for the third year in a row.
The Belfast Book Festival, a frontrunner in panel-led curation in Ireland, boasts associates for this year’s programming that include Neil Hegarty and Mícheál McCann. ‘Panel-led curation, commonplace in many countries, has proven to be a successful approach at the Belfast Book Festival, opening doors to an array of thoughts, connections, and creative input’, mentioned Festival Director Sophie Hayles.
The Belfast Book Festival is scheduled from June 6th-13th at the Crescent Arts Centre and bookings are now open on their website.
For the second online Zoom fundraiser on Global Pay It Forward Day, taking place this Sunday, April 28 2024, from 7 pm to 9 pm Irish time, Open Mic for Gaza has added two special guests to its roster. Irish poets Paula Meehan and Theo Dorgan will be amongst the guest speakers and performers. Juvens Nsabimana, genocide survivor and Kill The Devil co-author, is also expected to make an appearance. All funds raised will benefit the Ghassan Abu Sittah’s Children’s Fund.
The Strokestown International Poetry Festival of this year will take place at Strokestown Park House, Co Roscommon, from May 3rd to 5th, across the bank holiday weekend. Festival director, Joe Woods, will be in his third year orchestrating the long-established Irish poetry event, with a promise of a distinctive mixture of international, national, and local poets recitations; bilingual displays, creative seminars, multiple book releases of poetry, screenings of poetry films, and musical collaborations.
Joe Woods expressed his pleasure in hosting two of the shortlisted poets for this year’s TS Eliot Prize, Jane Clarke and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin. The festival will also be part of the celebrations for Rita Ann Higgins’s works on the inaugural night, where she will be sharing the stage with our foreign guest, the Irish-American undertaker poet, Thomas Lynch. Other standouts include the Los Lorcas poetry show, the presentation of the rejuvenated Strokestown International Poetry Contest, judged by Enda Wyley, a keynote speech by Belinda McKeon, and a joint effort between James Harpur and pianist Duke Special, among others. Furthermore, it will also mark the launch of a fresh poetry anthology (Washing Windows IV) and the literary journal Cyphers, while showcasing seven newly published poetry collections from five Irish and two British poetry publishers.
The International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) is also on the horizon, scheduled to occur between May 17th and 26th. In its 27th year now, the ILFD is set to return to its Literary Village located in Merrion Square Park, with its most extensive programme yet, consisting of over 230 events. This includes more than 35 events tailored exclusively for children and families. The festival will present authors, speakers, creatives and performers from over 25 different nations, such as Richard E Grant, Marian Keyes, Amor Towles, Marilynne Robinson, Seanchoíche, Liz Pichon, and a host of others.
Dublin City Council along with meaningful support from the Arts Council presents a dynamic 10-day live literary event. Those who partake will have the opportunities to enter into lively debates, converse across cultures, obtain fresh insights into the world of creativity, amongst other exciting prospects- specifically designed to cater to a range of ages and interests. This gathering comprises of various central themes, inclusive of International Perspectives showcasing guest speakers from numerous countries such as the USA, Argentina, South Korea, Japan, and Nigeria; Visual Art; Classics & Retellings- a creative blend of timeless narratives with a hint of contemporary viewpoints; engaging debates on the ‘Natural versus Artificial world’, as well as performances designed to envelop viewers in the world of creativity and artistic expression, which will exhibit an array of art forms ranging from impromptu storytelling and puppeteering to musical renditions, and Gaeilge.
Moving onto an honourable accolade, the 2024 Tiziano Terzani International Literary Prize has been awarded to Irish writer and journalist Sally Hayden, for her acclaimed work ‘My Fourth Time We Drowned’. This piece has been made available in Italy through a translation by Bianca Bertola via Bollati Boringhieri publishers.
Angela Terzani Staude, who is part of the judging panel and widow of popular journalist/writer Tiziano Terzani, praised Sally’s work for its rigorous reporting while maintaining a deeply human narrative. The work provided readers with an in-depth view of the affairs transpiring within the concentration camps of the Third Millennium, situated beyond the Mediterranean, compelling them to introspect on their roles as European and Italian citizens in this humanitarian crisis.
Hayden, feeling extremely honoured to have received the prestigious Terzani Prize, said her work over the years aimed to uplift the voices of the marginalised and vulnerable people in Libya and North Africa by shining a light on the harsh realities they face. She hopes the recognition garnered from the award will heighten awareness on this tragic situation within the Italian community. A formal recognition ceremony of this achievement is scheduled for May 11th in Udine. The book ‘My Fourth Time We Drowned’ already boasts impressive accolades, such as Irish Book of the Year, the Orwell Prize, and being listed as a contender for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2022.