In tomorrow’s edition of The Irish Times, expect to find an interview with author Sarah Crossan as she converses with Niamh Donnelly about her transitioning from a teaching role to a writer and discusses her new novels, which delve into the realms of illicit love relationships and sexual figurines. An opinion piece by Richard Ford scrutinises the US presidential contest between Trump and Biden, criticising both contenders as “old men, lost in their prattle, incapable of defeating anyone”. Conor Niland, a professional tennis player, speaks to Lauren Murphy about his autobiography, The Racket. In addition, a Q&A section features Michelle McDonagh, who wrote Somebody Knows.
Critiques include pieces by Chris Kissane focusing on Tyler Anbinder’s work, Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Formation of Irish New York, and Ian D’Alton dissecting Edward Burke’s Ulster’s Lost Counties: Loyalism and Paramilitarism since 1920. Other reviews to look out for cover new translations by Michael Cronin, The Ghost Mountain by Ronan Hession reviewed by Val Nolan, Aimée Walsh’s Exile by Nicholas Allen, All the Rage by Virginia Nicholson critiqued by Anna Carey, and Dana Mattioli’s The Everything War: Amazon’s Relentless Crusade for Global Domination and Corporate Transformation, reviewed by Karlin Lillington. Also review articles on The Eighth House by Linda Segtnan, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel (reviewed by Alice Kinsella) and Around the World in 80 Years by Ranulph Fiennes (assessed by John Walshe). As well as Vinson Cunningham’s Great Expectations, given the once over by John Boyne and Colm Tóibín’s Long Island, reviewed by Mia Levitin.
In notable literary news, Niamh Connolly, a gifted Irish author, has been honoured with the Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries Writing Prize 2024. Chosen from a whopping near-3,000 submissions, Connolly’s novel-in-progress, titled Game Theory, set in County Cork, spans themes of death, companionship, financial divergence, communication troubles and solitude. Connolly’s win provides her with representation by Curtis Brown, a £5,000 cash incentive, and a spot on a six-week online course with Curtis Brown Creative. She’s also set to participate in a bespoke two-week course in writing development with Curtis Brown Creative in July, together with the 15 other writers who were longlisted for the Discoveries 2024 competition.
Connolly is currently pursuing an MA in creative writing, focusing on prose fiction, at the University of East Anglia. She also holds a BA in English and history from University College Cork. In other news, Zeynep Kazmaz is now recognised as the Discoveries Scholar. Her novel titled ‘Viscid Residue’ inspects a relationship between two individuals of starkly diverse backgrounds, delving into the struggle of a woman trying to establish her home and identity while grappling with immigrant experiences in London.
The Discoveries initiative is currently in its fourth annum and is organised by the Women’s Prize Trust with assistance from Curtis Brown literary agency and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school, all members of The Curtis Brown Group, and Audible. This initiative’s main focus is to discover and nurture nascent female writing talents from the UK and Ireland.
A group of judges led the panel, including acclaimed novelist and playwright Kate Mosse CBE, who is also the Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Other judges include Jess Molloy, a literary agent at Curtis Brown; Anna Davis, the founder and managing director of the Curtis Brown Creative writing school, and award-winning writers Natasha Brown and Rowan Hisayo Buchanan.
Simultaneously, the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs have disclosed six titles shortlisted for the 2024 Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction. The shortlist includes works such as ‘All Down Darkness Wide’ by Seán Hewitt, Eoghan Daltun’s ‘An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: A Personal Journey into the Magic of Rewilding’, ‘Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara’ by Vona Groarke, Finola O’Kane’s ‘Landscape Design and Revolution in Ireland and the United States, 1688–1815’, ‘Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism, and the Early Modern World’ by Jane Ohlmeyer and ‘The Celestial Realm’ by Molly Hennigan.
Both the public and publishers nominated titles through the RIA’s online portal, from which the jury panel selected the awarded titles. The jury was particularly focusing on distinctiveness, superior writing quality, and the value added to knowledge or public discourse. As a tribute to late French author Michel Déon, who lived in Ireland from the 70s until he passed away in 2016, the prize eligible categories incorporated autobiography, biography, cultural studies, history, literary studies, philosophy, and travel. Authors, regardless of their nationality but residing in Ireland at the moment of nomination and had published a non-fiction book from April 12th, 2022 until April 8th, 2024, were eligible for the prize.
Moso Sematlane was the recipient of the Stinging Fly/FBA Fiction Prize 2024. The prize, now in its third run, offers an annual €2,000 reward for an up-and-coming fiction writer published in the previous year’s The Stinging Fly. It is sponsored by Felicity Bryan Associates. ‘A Fern Between Rocks’, Sematlane’s award-winning tale, was his debut publication, featured in the Stinging Fly’s 48th issue (Volume 2), produced in the summer of 2023. Author Mike McCormick (Solar Bones), The Stinging Fly contributing editor and author Mia Gallagher (Beautiful Pictures of the Lost Homeland), and Felicity Bryan’s agent, Caroline Wood, judged the award. Felicity Bryan’s Agent Angelique Tran Van Sang and The Stinging Fly’s programme manager Eoin Rogers chaired the panel.
Being bestowed with this prize took Sematlane by surprise. He said, “Receiving an award for a story that was already a highlight of my career for being published in The Stinging Fly last year, was pleasantly surprising and exceeded my expectations. I am grateful for this recognition and deeply touched by it. The joy of writing this story and seeing it continue to affects others fills me with immense satisfaction. While the story may not belong to me in the way it once did, I consider it an honour that short fiction from Lesotho can be recognized on such a grand stage.”
Presenting their statement on the winning entry, the adjudicators commented that A Fern Between Rocks is a beautifully authored tale about a youthful man who has just moved to Lesotho and is fascinated by an individual he notices at a jazz pub. With an evocative, transporting subtlety, the narrative is not only touching but also filled with an intense sense of yearning, all signs of a writer of incredible maturity and a substantial understanding of the place.
The story unfolds further upon each read; it’s an immensely gorgeous composition with nuanced shocks that take some time to sink in. It features a tender rhythm around its motifs like war, masculinity, desire, loss, community, and perhaps the efficacy of art to weave disparate elements into cohesive fragments that hold meaning, mirroring the nature of jazz.
Also receiving praise from the judging panel were the works of Greg Thorpe, titled Stars, and The Big Why by Brendan Killeen.
In related news, famed author and ex-diplomat Eamon Delaney has been leading exhilarating new walking tours in Dublin that lure tourists into an interconnected web of artists, political leaders, and historic events. James Joyce is one of the primary focuses of these tours with a planned route through Phibsborough and Eccles Street, known for its profound associations, particularly with Joyce’s internationally acclaimed novel, Ulysses.
Delaney also conducts a tour through Westland Row, the north side of Merrion Square, and Lincoln Place, locations bound tightly with three significant literary figures – Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde. Enthusiasts will be taken through their lives and their work exploring attributions at assorted sites. The succeeding tour, scheduled for 25 May, starts at 11 am and is priced at 15 euros.
The tour will cover places such as Sweny’s Chemist on Westland Row, Holles Street hospital from the Oxen and the Sun chapter of Ulysses, Oscar Wilde’s pair of residences, Finns Hotel where Joyce met the love of his life, Nora Barnacle, and other unique places including Samuel Beckett’s father’s office where young Beckett composed his debut novel, and the home of avant-garde modernist-cubist artist, Mary Swanzy.