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Nominees for the Hennessy Literary Awards 2016

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For over four decades The Hennessy Literary Awards have been a linchpin for successive generations of Irish writers to announce their arrival on the national and international stage. The Hennessy Literary Award for new Irish writing recognises excellence in writing short fiction and poetry. It has found a new home at The Irish Times and here is this year’s exciting shortlist:

Emerging Poetry

Liz Quirke For Nurture and Juno

Alan Weadick For Hunger’s Mother and Neglect

Paul Balfe For Curtains, Grotto, Don’t Buy a Damaged One andFuture Tense

Siobhán Flynn For In my Mother’s house nothing went to waste,Joining the women and My inner child is a teenage boy

Jane Clarke For Isobel, The Blue Bible, and Every Tree

Aoife Lyall For For Sale, Dublin Puzzle, and Hooks & Eyes

First Fiction

Tony McGuinness For The Ghent Altarpiece

Anne Griffin For Grace 

Justin McCarthy For Caseload

Ríona Judge McCormack For Some Strange Moon

Celine Naughton For Dreams of Flying

Niamh Donnelly For How to Float

 

Emerging Fiction

Roisín O’Donnell For On Cosmology 

Natalie Ryan For The Lodger

Ruth McKee For Fixing Things

John Murphy For In the trees. In the Rain. All around

Chris Connolly For Right or Good

Niall McArdle For 19 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’

For more on each author and their work, check out The Irish Times! 


Anne Enright Event in New York April 28th

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ann_enright 140x210An Irishwoman Abroad: Maeve Brennan and the Streets of New York

 Time: April 28,  7:00pm EDT

 Location: Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, 58 West 10th Street

 Contact:  212-998-8816; creative.writing@nyu.edu

Cost: Free of charge

Laureate for Irish Fiction, Man Booker Prize Winner and NYU Creative Writing Program Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, Anne Enright is the acclaimed author of six novels, three short story collections, a book of essays, and most recently The Green Road (W. W. Norton, 2015). The lecture is presented by the Arts Council of Ireland and is part of the Laureate for Irish Fiction programme.

Anne Enright is the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction, the highest honour for an Irish writer of prose fiction. The Laureateship has been developed to acknowledge the work of a writer of national and international distinction, to promote Irish literature nationally and internationally and to encourage the public to engage with high quality Irish prose fiction. The Laureate for Irish Fiction programme is an initiative of the Arts Council and is supported by University College Dublin (UCD), New York University (NYU) and the Irish Times. Over the Laureate’s three-year term, she will teach creative writing to students at University College Dublin and New York University, will spend time developing her own work, and will participate in a number of major, public events and promotions. The Laureate receives a total of €150,000 over the three years.

The public programme is curated by the Laureate for Irish Fiction, based around the themes and priorities that she has identified. In Anne Enright’s case, she is concentrating on nurturing the short story form at home, the translation of Irish work into other languages for publication abroad and on highlighting the work of libraries in encouraging and sustaining readers.

Carlow Arts Festival Reveals 2016 Programme

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Carlow Arts Festival runs this year from the 10th to the 19th of June and incorporates three festivals Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas (June 10-12) , Barges on the Barrow (June 14-16) a floating mini-festival and The Big Weekender a four day music, art, street spectacle and family fun from the 16th to the 19th June.

They are proud to announce Le Galaxie DJs, Hothouse Flowers with Lisa Lambe, David Kitt, Abandoman, Foil, Arms & Hog, Happenings with Grease, Fidget Feet Aerial Spectacle, Barges on the Barrow, Chrissie Hynde and Kate Tempest @ Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas, and so much more.

For those with a focus on writing and the arts, highlights include appearances include Martin Amis, Joseph O’ Neill and Simon Callow. For all the details and where to go to find out more and book, keep reading.

 

10 -19 June 2016

Carlow is home to the first big cultural event of Summer 2016 – the 37th Carlow Arts Festival. Supported by the Arts Council, this year it’s more than a festival – it’s three festivals in one, celebrating all the very best of cultural Carlow. Get inspired at the Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas (June 10-12). Then sail up-river with Barges on the Barrow (June 14-16) a floating mini-festival that will deliver a cargo of music and fun events at Carlow’s riverside towns from June 14-16. Finally, they’re delighted to announce a brand new arrival – The Big Weekender!

The Big Weekender (16-19 June) is the grand finale of Carlow Arts Festival – a four-day splash of music, art, street spectacle and family fun in the historic heart ofCarlow Town. The Big Weekender Festival HQ is centred on the beautiful lawns of Carlow College St Patrick’s, next to the cathedral. A specially-built Festival HQ Pavilion will be the place for comedy, top music acts and more. Pop next door for the best of contemporary art at VISUAL, then grab a bite at the Festival HQ food village.

Pay What You Can: Carlow Arts Festival is the first arts festival Ireland to introduce a pay-what-you-can scheme. Money’s always too tight to mention, so the festival is holding back a number of tickets for each performance on a pay what you can basis. These will be released on a first-come-first-served basis 30 minutes before each show. Festival-goers simply pay what they are able to afford, and enjoy the show! They’re also introducing Tenner Thursday (June 16) – a full night’s musical entertainment for just €10 in the Festival HQ Pavilion, featuring Black Wing Bird, Treelan and BARQ. The vast majority of events at Carlow Arts Festival 2016 are free, but for those that are not this is part of their way of making sure the arts are accessible and inclusive for all.

Family Fun is a big focus of this year’s Carlow Arts Festival. The family highlight is the aerial acrobatics of Fidget Feet on Saturday night against a backdrop of a breathtaking fireworks display. The Big Weekender also includes circus, storytelling and kids workshops. Grease outdoors brought to you by the wonderfulHappenings is the big screen offering on Friday night. Bring a picnic and take part in the free games set up on the lawn around the Festival HQ Pavilion.

Announcing details of Carlow Arts Festival 2016, the incoming Festival Director Jo Mangan said: “I’m delighted to be announcing my first programme as festival director. I’m particularly excited about our first Big Weekender. We’ve concentrated our programme over four days right in the historic heart of Carlow. I think that will create a real buzz for people in the town and visitors alike. We wanted to make sure this year’s festival has something for all ages. There’s loads to do and see for kids, like Fidget Feet’s spectacular acrobatics, an open air movie, free activities and workshops. Then at night the adults can let their hair down with comedy, music and theatre in the Festival HQ Pavilion and roving festival clubs.”

Full programme details for all strands and tickets available from www.carlowartsfestival.com.

Programme Highlights

Music, Comedy and Performance: At Festival HQ Pavilion comedy highlights come from the award winning comedy rap of Abandoman, Foil, Arms and Hogand Aindreas De Staic. Music fans can get up to speed with current music from Le Galaxie and David Kitt and relive the best of Irish with the Hothouse Flowers, supported by Lisa Lambe. Carlow Choral Society at the Cathedral and Glen Austin and RTE Contempo Quartet round out the classically inspired performances. A Wagnerian Dance and Opera performance comes from Irish Modern Dance Theatre called Heroestheatre is represented by Breach and Quinn (Alan Howley and Jack Cawley) and a funky little show from the UK called In Good Hands by Farnham Maltings and Catherine Ireton which takes place in the local hairdressers. Afternoon gigs include Dublin Ukulele Collective and Vittels and Fiddles – Sunday Hootenanny.

Visual Arts: The festival’s SITE WORKS strand brings art out into the open with four exciting new works.  They include an event inspired by the 70s blockbuster film Close Encounters of The Third Kind by Loitering Theatre. This unique light and sound performance is happening at the ancient Brownshill Dolmen near Carlow Town. Another almost agricultural Visual Art event features a 1960’s Ford Tractor and a Piper by Steve Maher called Follow me up toCarlow. This performance art work features a customised bagpipe connected to the exhaust of a tractor – that’s played by a piper.

Barges on the Barrow: Barges on the Barrow will see barges containing cultural cargo including the wonderful Little John Nee a.k.a Sparkplug Callaghan. He will be joined by other musicians and performers at the ultimate unique small-scale pop-up festival. Follow the barges as they wind their way from South Carlowto Carlow town. Bring a picnic to an encounter with boats, music sessions, riverside performances, walks, talks and food, with the Barrow River as the star of the show.

Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas. The spoken word element of Carlow Arts Festival is The Borris Festival of Writing & Ideas. This marks the fifth year of stimulating dialogue and discourse, with intriguing minds from all over the world from 10 to 12 June. Many speakers are writers, but artists, film-makers, political commentators, musicians, architects, and regular people who have experienced the extraordinary also take part. Taking place in the surrounds of Borris House at the foot of the Backstairs Mountains, highlights of this year’s event include includes Martin Amis, Chrissie Hynde, Michael Chabon, Joseph O’Neill, Bruce Robinson, Simon Callow, Rory Stewart, Lloyd Grossman,  Dominic West & many more.

Carlow Arts Festival, the first big cultural event of Summer 2016, runs from Friday 10 June to Sunday 19 June. Visit www.carlowartsfestival.com for the full programme and ticket details.

For more information:
carlowartsfestival.com/
facebook.com/CarlowArtsFestival
twitter.com/CarlowArts\

The Bookshop Band Returns to Ireland

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bookshop-band-2-webcropThe Bookshop Band return to Ireland to release their first new album of the year.
 
The Bookshop Band, who write songs inspired by books, are touring bookshops, libraries and festivals in Ireland this May / June. They will be releasing “Curious and Curiouser” – the first of ten new book-inspired albums they will be releasing this year. This will be the band’s forth trip to Ireland, having been featured on RTE’s The Book Show and also on TG4’s Imeal arts series. 
 
“We’ve had such wonderful audiences when we play in Ireland – they seem to really appreciate the link these songs have to stories. It’s always been such a pleasure to play in Ireland and we’re really looking forward to this tour”. Ben Please (band member). 
 
The band will be launching their album Curious and Curiouser (they are releasing ten albums this year!) whilst on tour in Ireland. Like all their albums it is inspired by books, with this one being inspired by the fantastical worlds that authors create, including songs inspired by Alice in Wonderland, David’ Mitchell’s “The Bone Clocks” (the song was recently featured on BB6 Music in the UK) and Shakespeare’s “A midsummer Night’s Dream“.  The album also features readings by Radiohead artist Stanley Donwood and Irish actress Fiona O’Shaughnessy. 
 
The band will also bring a sneak preview of the 2nd album of the year “We Are The Foxes” – inspired by stories of living in cities, with album-artwork by Irish illustrator Jacob Stack. 
 

 “I was enchanted and enthralled by The Bookshop Band. What a great, clever, literate musical night! Ian Rankin 

Do check them out on tour and spread the word. They are touring between the 25th May and the 3rd June and may well be in a bookshop or library near you. Details are on Facebook here and below.
 
MAY
25 – KILKENNY – City Library (056 7794175) Doors 7pm
27 – CORK – Vibes and Scribes (021 427 9535) Doors 6pm
28/29 – DUBLIN – Dublin Int. Book Fest – various venues (01 2225455)
30 – TIPPERARY – Sheela Na Gig, Cloughjordan (0505 42123) 8pm
31 – DINGLE – Dingle Bookshop (066 915 2433) 8pm
JUNE
1/2 – LISTOWEL – Writers’ Week – various venues (068 21074)
3 – MEATH – Blackbird Books, Navan (046 9072399) 8pm
4 – NORTHERN IRELAND – Bookfinders, Belfast (028 9032 8269) 7.30pm
 
For more info, please contact Ben!

Hay Festival Kells 23-26 June

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At Kells this year, John Bruton will join Ken Murray in a wide-ranging discussion about international politics. Eamon Gilmore will reflect on his years in the Dail while Mary Black will entertain as only she can do. There will be antiquarian book auctions, walking tours of Kells and Headfort Demesne, along with walks to the megalithic cairns of Loughcrew and the Girley Bog while the less active can enjoy afternoon tea in the Headfort Arms Hotel. The irrepressible Frances Brennan may even call into the famous hotel with a few tips while he is in town.

This year Kells is particularly honoured to be welcoming the new Children’s Laureate PJ Lynch who will talking with the first ever Children’s Laureate Siobhan Parkinson in a very special Laureate-filled event. 

At the centre of all these activities will be a celebration of books and once again the picturesque Meath town will welcome some of the best known names in contemporary literature. Joining the British writer Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette, The Buddha of Suburbia, Love and Hate) will be Patrick McCabe (The Butcher Boy), Kevin Barry (Beatlebone), Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies), Jax Miller (Freedom’s Child), Liz Nugent(Unravelling Oliver), Oona Frawley (Flight), Vanessa Ronan (The Last Days of Summer). Sinead Gleeson will talk with Lisa McInerney, one of the contributors to her anthology of short stories by Irish women writers,  The Long Gaze Back.

Playing with the notion that the Book of Kells was the first graphic novel, Irish Times journalist Karlin Lillington and comic-book writer Maura McHugh have curated The Image, a series of talks and workshops by Rhianna Pratchett(Tomb Raider), Michael Carroll (Judge Dredd), Paul Bolger, Maeve Clancy, Allan Cavanagh, Damien Marshalland Maura McHugh. 

The festival will mark the 25th anniversary of the first entry in Zlata’s Diary of the Bosnian Civil War with a visit from the author Zlata Filipovic. Roisin Ingle will discuss her hugely popular Irish Times column and Paul Kimmagewill discuss cycling and the topical issue of drugs in sport.

Returning to Hay Festival Kells will be US dramatist Matthew Spangler (The Kite Runner, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner). Chelsea Flower Show winner Mary Reynolds will examine our use of land through sustainable, natural agriculture and gardening.

History

The centenary of the Somme will be marked by lectures from Brian Ervine and Myles Dungan. Prof. Ronan Fanning will discuss Eamon de Valera, and Tony Bucher from San Francisco will look at some of the Irishmen who helped to shape the city. The Easter Rising will be  discussed by Catriona Crowe, Padraig Yeates, Sinead McCoole, Joe Duffy (Children of the Rising) and Gene Kerrigan (The Scrap).

Dick Farrelly Centenary 

Kells native Dick Farrelly wrote The Isle of Innisfree, heard first in John Ford’s classic The Quiet Man. Farrelly’s contribution to contemporary culture will be discussed by his son Gerard, there will be performances of his work by Gerard and his partner Sinead Stone, a talk by Des McHale and a screening of The Quiet Man.

Listings and online ticket bookings are available at hayfestival.org/kells

Media Partnership RTE Supporting The Arts

Tickets can be purchased online through hayfestival.org/kells, or ph 046 924 0055.

Never Give Up: Kathleen Watkins Publishes Age 82!

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Pigin CoverKathleen Watkins is set to become a first-time author, just as she turns 82 this October! Gill Books will publish Pigín of Howth on 14 October – a children’s book based on the stories Kathleen told her grandchildren as they were growing up.

Pigín is a popular pig about town: friendly, curious, impeccably dressed and the most mannerly pig you could ever hope to meet. His adventures in Howth and beyond include friends Sammy Seal, Sally Seagull, The Badger of Ballsbridge and the fairies who live in Howth Castle — but Nanakit is his best friend.

The Pigín stories first began years ago when Kathleen’s grandson, Cian (now 11), was just 3 years old. After every story book in the house had been read and re-read – Cian’s granny (aka Nanakit) introduced him to her friend, a little piglet called Pigín. From then on Pigín stories were a constant request from all five beloved grandchildren.

Kathleen WatkinsKathleen first mentioned the stories to publisher Nicki Howard of Gill Books in September 2013 at the launch of husband Gay Byrne’s book The Meaning of Life and from there work began on preparing the stories for print.

‘We are delighted that Pigín will be the first children’s character for Gill Books,’ said Nicki Howard, ‘London has Paddington; New York has Eloise; Paris, Madeline. We think it’s about time Dublin had its own favourite and Pigín has all the makings of a future classic’.

Kathleen says of this new direction in her life, ‘I can’t believe the stories created in my imagination are about to come to life. I hope Pigín and his friends will be as loved by families all over Ireland as they were by me and my grandchildren. It’s a dream come true and a nice surprise to suddenly embark on a new career at my age!’

Pigín of Howth will be Gill Books’ first fiction on its children’s list following the runaway success of last year’s Irelandopedia and this spring’s launch of Naturama and YA debut Oasis by Eilís Barrett.

Illustrated by Margaret Anne Suggs, Pigín of Howth will contain three standalone stories – Pigs Can’t Fly, but They Can Swim!, Pigín’s Magical Midnight Adventure and A Day to Wear a Top Hat – and will be published on 14 October 2016.

Do you have a talented 12 year old? CASTING CALL for NOËL A New Musical by Eoin Colfer

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Noël is a new musical by acclaimed writer Eoin Colfer and composer Liam Bates, which will run in the Wexford Opera House this December. Noël tells the charming story of a young girl who is distraught at the disappearance of her mother. On a journey to find her, Noël meets a motley crew of characters who want to help: Nick, a disillusioned homeless man with a secret, forms a bond with the child. In helping Noël, Nick rediscovers his belief in the magic of Christmas and in himself.

The production is currently looking to cast the lead role of Noël, and will be holding auditions on Thursday 30th June in Bow Street Academy.  A feisty but vulnerable 10-12-year-old girl, the hopeful should have an excellent singing voice (range: C3-G4) and acting skills (theatre/performing experience a big plus). Auditions will take place on June 30th,  to apply please send a CV and headshot to Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting with Maureen Hughes via casting@bowstreet.ie.

Speaking about the show, Eoin Colfer said: “I am delighted that this Wexford born project is being nurtured and produced by a fellow Wexford man and a classmate to boot. Michael Londra and I have been searching for a project to collaborate on for years and Noël is the perfect vehicle. We are both very excited by the prospect of discovering a new musical star to light up the stage this Christmas.”

Written by bestselling author Eoin Colfer, with music composed and conducted by Liam Bates, this exciting staged concert production will be directed by Ben Barnes and is produced by Emmy® nominated Tenor Michael Londra and Broadway producer Steve Peters via their company VenuWorks Theatricals. Performances will run in the Wexford Opera House from 19th December, 2016.

Producer Michael Londra, who tours globally and played on Broadway, is delighted to search Ireland for new talent. “As a kid in Wexford, I saw how creative Eoin was. Now I witness that all over the world seeing his books in every country I am on tour in. We’ve wanted to work together for the longest time and Noël is that project. Coming home to do it makes it even more perfect but then I get to take what we make in Wexford and put it on the world stage. First though, we’ve to find a perfect Noël.”

Print Express Flash Fiction Competiton

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Print Express love to celebrate all things design –  and they’re fans of pretty much everything print too, including stories. In the past they’ve run short story competitions, poetry competitions and more, and they’ve decided to celebrate stories by running the Print Express Flash Fiction Competition.

Flash fiction is typically short, punchy stories that are characterised by their tight word counts. The shorter word count requires more creativity in order to tell a gripping, engaging story in so few words.

For this competition they’ve opted for no more than 150 words in which to tell your tale. It’s completely free to enter, and the winner will get a £100 Amazon voucher – the theme of the story is completely up to you (provided it’s family friendly).

As always, there are some rules:

– The story has to be family friendly
– It has to be your own work
– It can be no longer than 150 words
– By entering your story, you’re agreeing to allow us to publish it on our site
– By entering, you retain full copyright but give us a non exclusive license to publish it on our website
– It’s free to enter, and it’s open to all

To enter, email your flash fiction over to us at competitions@printexpress.co.uk.

The deadline for entries is July 31st, 2016 and the winner will be announced shortly after. Good luck!

http://design.printexpress.co.uk/the-print-express-flash-fiction-competition/


United Agents Open House

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London based literary agency United Agents are running an open house, seeking new talent in August 2016, here are the details!

united agents

Dream it into being – the strange relationship of imagination and reality

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Go outside and eat a leaf, tear off your clothes and swim underwater, stick your fingers in mud, stand at the edge of a crevasse and feel yourself sway, in summer, autumn cram strawberries, raspberries, blackberries into your mouth, see the stain on your fingers, eat carrots whole from the ground, lie in a darkened room with your favourite song blaring, dance until you sweat from head to toe, in winter make angel patterns in the snow, feel frost in your teeth. Stand in wind, rain, sun, turning your face upward, outward.

When we read, we read in a dream. We make places in our minds, we create the vague outlines of characters, scenes. At present I am reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled, a strange and at times infuriating book ‘almost certainly a masterpiece’ it says on the cover. It is written in the manner of a dream, those sequences that lead one to the next without satisfying resolution, companions are left in mid-event, journeys are endlessly impeded, truncated, thwarted and then distant places are suddenly in the same building. The main character of The Unconsoled is omniscient, as we are in a dream.  We feature as protagonists dreams but we are also a dream’s ineffectual creators. We try to do things and don’t quite succeed, although always aware of an underlying plot thread, a narrative stream, a place where we want to be taken.

In dreams we might feel emotions strongly, wake up due to sorrow, ominous prescience or fear but the feeling of a dream is not like reality, the feeling I have spoken of of rain, air, mud, water, life.

When writers write, we try to make things real, to evoke colours, characteristics, light, smell, mood but when we read, we read in that same sketched reality as a dream. We travel, following that unspoken narrative stream the author has created, this impetus that we sense is underlying, that by convention we hold to exist. But is it convention or something more fundamentally and physiologically essential? Because when we dream we tell ourselves stories, and we know instinctively that it is a story shaped thing, a thing with a purpose, even if we never get there. Similarly in writing fiction we make the shape of stories, we follow a forward momentum and like Ishisguro’s dream-like work we can subvert expectation, we can undo all the doing, we can draw places that are like reality but are never quite so, or we can undo reality by coming very close and then veering off into speculation or seeing the world through the eyes of a unique and original character who’s vision we struggle to comprehend.

As writers we are often closed off to the elements, often to interactions, we dwell more in the life of the mind. We try to evoke life while we watch the grass from inside the windows, hear children shout on the street like distant nostalgia. But we try to make paths through the soup of the subconscious, through the maze of memory, the endless byways of association, to make meaning out of the waterfall of human perception, culture, context, history.

As readers, books we have finished reading become like half-remembered dreams. The successful ones ring true, this nodding resonance, we found a mirror for ourselves, be it old, cracked, mottled. We go out into the sun and in our subconscious we find an archetypal meadow which segues into a post apocalyptic town in which we are constantly searching. We sit in a chair in the summer sun and doze and dream of ourselves in the chair, the book fallen from our hands.

Note: This article originally appeared on my personal blog.

Dalkey Creates Writing Festival Short Story Competition

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dalkey createsThe third Dalkey Creates writing festival will take place 13th – 16th October 2016 in the beautiful seaside town of Dalkey, Co. Dublin but this year, it’s a little different.

The opening event will be an Open Mic held on the evening of Thursday 13th October in Finnegans pub, Dalkey, watering hole of the rich and famous. This is a fantastic opportunity to read your work aloud to a real, live (and possibly tipsy) audience, in the very place that the town’s own writing queen, Maeve Binchy, loved to sit and think up wonderful stories for us to read. And considering how a certain Oscar-winning screenwriter lives up the road, who knows who might be listening?

In addition, the Dalkey Creates team are running their first ever short story competition, with a fantastic first prize of €1,000 and a guaranteed spot for the winning writer at the Open Mic where the story will be read for the masses. Writing opportunities like this don’t come along too often, so get polishing your stories and you can enter at www.DalkeyCreates.com – closing date is 2nd September 2016, and the entry fee is €15.

As ever at Dalkey Creates, there are fantastic opportunities for writers of all types and abilities to attend one and two day workshops with the cream of Irish writing instructors in such areas as screenwriting, TV writing, cookery books, blogging and tomes more.

Dalkey Creates writing festival is one little festival you do not want to miss. Bookings for all the classes, workshops and events and the details for the short story competition are at www.DalkeyCreates.com.

Suffering From Writers Block? Can You Help In A New Study?

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Ireland has a long literary tradition with writing courses provided in colleges, universities and other educational and community settings across the country. Websites, blogs, literary magazines and writer’s groups are full of excellent support and advice for writers, however, they predominantly concern themselves with the nuts and bolts of writing; style, plot, characterization, sense of place, voice, and rarely address the psychological aspects of writing.

Writer’s block can strike at any time and can be for one of two reasons, a problem with story or a psychological block. When it’s the latter, writer’s block is used to describe an inhibition or behavioural pattern preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece of writing or being able to start it in the first place, examples of such are fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionism and many more all causing inaction. How many writers give up writing because they cannot get past these blocks? If you are interested in identifying and tackling your writer’s block read on…

Maria Fingleton is a Master’s student who is seeking six experienced writers to take part in a group coaching programme as part of her research on the impact of coaching on creative writers with writer’s block. The coaching will be provided in 4 weekly 1.5 hourly sessions on Saturdays in September in a South Dublin city location (Uppr. Baggot St.). Writers must be experienced, have writing goals, are committed to change, are experiencing writer’s block, and are available for all 4 sessions in September. Interviews will be held following the completion of the programme to capture the experiences of the writers. All information used will be anonymous and not attributable to participants.

The coaching is provided free of charge by Maria Fingleton who has completed her professional training and practical coaching experience as part of the MSc. in Personal and Management Coaching (UCC) with her thesis remaining. Maria is a member of the Association for Coaching and abides by the Global Ethics Code of the AC and EMCC. She uses an integrative coaching approach which includes mindfulness and positive psychology. Please note the coaching will not look at the writers’ work in any shape or form.

Maria holds an MA in Creative Writing and this programme brings two of her passions together, coaching and writing. This research could prove beneficial to resource providers around the country seeking to provide a more holistic approach to teaching and supporting creative writers, and to creative writers themselves.

If you are a writer and would like to take part email mariafingleton@hotmail.com  before 5pm Sunday 28thAugust 2016 to be included in the random selection process for the programme. Writers will be contacted immediately after with full details.

Carlow Arts Festival Reveals 2016 Programme

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Carlow Arts Festival runs this year from the 10th to the 19th of June and incorporates three festivals Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas (June 10-12) , Barges on the Barrow (June 14-16) a floating mini-festival and The Big Weekender a four day music, art, street spectacle and family fun from the 16th to the 19th June.

They are proud to announce Le Galaxie DJs, Hothouse Flowers with Lisa Lambe, David Kitt, Abandoman, Foil, Arms & Hog, Happenings with Grease, Fidget Feet Aerial Spectacle, Barges on the Barrow, Chrissie Hynde and Kate Tempest @ Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas, and so much more.

For those with a focus on writing and the arts, highlights include appearances include Martin Amis, Joseph O’ Neill and Simon Callow. For all the details and where to go to find out more and book, keep reading.

 

10 -19 June 2016

Carlow is home to the first big cultural event of Summer 2016 – the 37th Carlow Arts Festival. Supported by the Arts Council, this year it’s more than a festival – it’s three festivals in one, celebrating all the very best of cultural Carlow. Get inspired at the Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas (June 10-12). Then sail up-river with Barges on the Barrow (June 14-16) a floating mini-festival that will deliver a cargo of music and fun events at Carlow’s riverside towns from June 14-16. Finally, they’re delighted to announce a brand new arrival – The Big Weekender!

The Big Weekender (16-19 June) is the grand finale of Carlow Arts Festival – a four-day splash of music, art, street spectacle and family fun in the historic heart ofCarlow Town. The Big Weekender Festival HQ is centred on the beautiful lawns of Carlow College St Patrick’s, next to the cathedral. A specially-built Festival HQ Pavilion will be the place for comedy, top music acts and more. Pop next door for the best of contemporary art at VISUAL, then grab a bite at the Festival HQ food village.

Pay What You Can: Carlow Arts Festival is the first arts festival Ireland to introduce a pay-what-you-can scheme. Money’s always too tight to mention, so the festival is holding back a number of tickets for each performance on a pay what you can basis. These will be released on a first-come-first-served basis 30 minutes before each show. Festival-goers simply pay what they are able to afford, and enjoy the show! They’re also introducing Tenner Thursday (June 16) – a full night’s musical entertainment for just €10 in the Festival HQ Pavilion, featuring Black Wing Bird, Treelan and BARQ. The vast majority of events at Carlow Arts Festival 2016 are free, but for those that are not this is part of their way of making sure the arts are accessible and inclusive for all.

Family Fun is a big focus of this year’s Carlow Arts Festival. The family highlight is the aerial acrobatics of Fidget Feet on Saturday night against a backdrop of a breathtaking fireworks display. The Big Weekender also includes circus, storytelling and kids workshops. Grease outdoors brought to you by the wonderfulHappenings is the big screen offering on Friday night. Bring a picnic and take part in the free games set up on the lawn around the Festival HQ Pavilion.

Announcing details of Carlow Arts Festival 2016, the incoming Festival Director Jo Mangan said: “I’m delighted to be announcing my first programme as festival director. I’m particularly excited about our first Big Weekender. We’ve concentrated our programme over four days right in the historic heart of Carlow. I think that will create a real buzz for people in the town and visitors alike. We wanted to make sure this year’s festival has something for all ages. There’s loads to do and see for kids, like Fidget Feet’s spectacular acrobatics, an open air movie, free activities and workshops. Then at night the adults can let their hair down with comedy, music and theatre in the Festival HQ Pavilion and roving festival clubs.”

Full programme details for all strands and tickets available from www.carlowartsfestival.com.

Programme Highlights

Music, Comedy and Performance: At Festival HQ Pavilion comedy highlights come from the award winning comedy rap of Abandoman, Foil, Arms and Hogand Aindreas De Staic. Music fans can get up to speed with current music from Le Galaxie and David Kitt and relive the best of Irish with the Hothouse Flowers, supported by Lisa Lambe. Carlow Choral Society at the Cathedral and Glen Austin and RTE Contempo Quartet round out the classically inspired performances. A Wagnerian Dance and Opera performance comes from Irish Modern Dance Theatre called Heroestheatre is represented by Breach and Quinn (Alan Howley and Jack Cawley) and a funky little show from the UK called In Good Hands by Farnham Maltings and Catherine Ireton which takes place in the local hairdressers. Afternoon gigs include Dublin Ukulele Collective and Vittels and Fiddles – Sunday Hootenanny.

Visual Arts: The festival’s SITE WORKS strand brings art out into the open with four exciting new works.  They include an event inspired by the 70s blockbuster film Close Encounters of The Third Kind by Loitering Theatre. This unique light and sound performance is happening at the ancient Brownshill Dolmen near Carlow Town. Another almost agricultural Visual Art event features a 1960’s Ford Tractor and a Piper by Steve Maher called Follow me up toCarlow. This performance art work features a customised bagpipe connected to the exhaust of a tractor – that’s played by a piper.

Barges on the Barrow: Barges on the Barrow will see barges containing cultural cargo including the wonderful Little John Nee a.k.a Sparkplug Callaghan. He will be joined by other musicians and performers at the ultimate unique small-scale pop-up festival. Follow the barges as they wind their way from South Carlowto Carlow town. Bring a picnic to an encounter with boats, music sessions, riverside performances, walks, talks and food, with the Barrow River as the star of the show.

Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas. The spoken word element of Carlow Arts Festival is The Borris Festival of Writing & Ideas. This marks the fifth year of stimulating dialogue and discourse, with intriguing minds from all over the world from 10 to 12 June. Many speakers are writers, but artists, film-makers, political commentators, musicians, architects, and regular people who have experienced the extraordinary also take part. Taking place in the surrounds of Borris House at the foot of the Backstairs Mountains, highlights of this year’s event include includes Martin Amis, Chrissie Hynde, Michael Chabon, Joseph O’Neill, Bruce Robinson, Simon Callow, Rory Stewart, Lloyd Grossman,  Dominic West & many more.

Carlow Arts Festival, the first big cultural event of Summer 2016, runs from Friday 10 June to Sunday 19 June. Visit www.carlowartsfestival.com for the full programme and ticket details.

For more information:
carlowartsfestival.com/
facebook.com/CarlowArtsFestival
twitter.com/CarlowArts\

The Bookshop Band Returns to Ireland

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bookshop-band-2-webcropThe Bookshop Band return to Ireland to release their first new album of the year.
 
The Bookshop Band, who write songs inspired by books, are touring bookshops, libraries and festivals in Ireland this May / June. They will be releasing “Curious and Curiouser” – the first of ten new book-inspired albums they will be releasing this year. This will be the band’s forth trip to Ireland, having been featured on RTE’s The Book Show and also on TG4’s Imeal arts series. 
 
“We’ve had such wonderful audiences when we play in Ireland – they seem to really appreciate the link these songs have to stories. It’s always been such a pleasure to play in Ireland and we’re really looking forward to this tour”. Ben Please (band member). 
 
The band will be launching their album Curious and Curiouser (they are releasing ten albums this year!) whilst on tour in Ireland. Like all their albums it is inspired by books, with this one being inspired by the fantastical worlds that authors create, including songs inspired by Alice in Wonderland, David’ Mitchell’s “The Bone Clocks” (the song was recently featured on BB6 Music in the UK) and Shakespeare’s “A midsummer Night’s Dream“.  The album also features readings by Radiohead artist Stanley Donwood and Irish actress Fiona O’Shaughnessy. 
 
The band will also bring a sneak preview of the 2nd album of the year “We Are The Foxes” – inspired by stories of living in cities, with album-artwork by Irish illustrator Jacob Stack. 
 

 “I was enchanted and enthralled by The Bookshop Band. What a great, clever, literate musical night! Ian Rankin 

Do check them out on tour and spread the word. They are touring between the 25th May and the 3rd June and may well be in a bookshop or library near you. Details are on Facebook here and below.
 
MAY
25 – KILKENNY – City Library (056 7794175) Doors 7pm
27 – CORK – Vibes and Scribes (021 427 9535) Doors 6pm
28/29 – DUBLIN – Dublin Int. Book Fest – various venues (01 2225455)
30 – TIPPERARY – Sheela Na Gig, Cloughjordan (0505 42123) 8pm
31 – DINGLE – Dingle Bookshop (066 915 2433) 8pm
JUNE
1/2 – LISTOWEL – Writers’ Week – various venues (068 21074)
3 – MEATH – Blackbird Books, Navan (046 9072399) 8pm
4 – NORTHERN IRELAND – Bookfinders, Belfast (028 9032 8269) 7.30pm
 
For more info, please contact Ben!

Hay Festival Kells 23-26 June

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At Kells this year, John Bruton will join Ken Murray in a wide-ranging discussion about international politics. Eamon Gilmore will reflect on his years in the Dail while Mary Black will entertain as only she can do. There will be antiquarian book auctions, walking tours of Kells and Headfort Demesne, along with walks to the megalithic cairns of Loughcrew and the Girley Bog while the less active can enjoy afternoon tea in the Headfort Arms Hotel. The irrepressible Frances Brennan may even call into the famous hotel with a few tips while he is in town.

This year Kells is particularly honoured to be welcoming the new Children’s Laureate PJ Lynch who will talking with the first ever Children’s Laureate Siobhan Parkinson in a very special Laureate-filled event. 

At the centre of all these activities will be a celebration of books and once again the picturesque Meath town will welcome some of the best known names in contemporary literature. Joining the British writer Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette, The Buddha of Suburbia, Love and Hate) will be Patrick McCabe (The Butcher Boy), Kevin Barry (Beatlebone), Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies), Jax Miller (Freedom’s Child), Liz Nugent(Unravelling Oliver), Oona Frawley (Flight), Vanessa Ronan (The Last Days of Summer). Sinead Gleeson will talk with Lisa McInerney, one of the contributors to her anthology of short stories by Irish women writers,  The Long Gaze Back.

Playing with the notion that the Book of Kells was the first graphic novel, Irish Times journalist Karlin Lillington and comic-book writer Maura McHugh have curated The Image, a series of talks and workshops by Rhianna Pratchett(Tomb Raider), Michael Carroll (Judge Dredd), Paul Bolger, Maeve Clancy, Allan Cavanagh, Damien Marshalland Maura McHugh. 

The festival will mark the 25th anniversary of the first entry in Zlata’s Diary of the Bosnian Civil War with a visit from the author Zlata Filipovic. Roisin Ingle will discuss her hugely popular Irish Times column and Paul Kimmagewill discuss cycling and the topical issue of drugs in sport.

Returning to Hay Festival Kells will be US dramatist Matthew Spangler (The Kite Runner, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner). Chelsea Flower Show winner Mary Reynolds will examine our use of land through sustainable, natural agriculture and gardening.

History

The centenary of the Somme will be marked by lectures from Brian Ervine and Myles Dungan. Prof. Ronan Fanning will discuss Eamon de Valera, and Tony Bucher from San Francisco will look at some of the Irishmen who helped to shape the city. The Easter Rising will be  discussed by Catriona Crowe, Padraig Yeates, Sinead McCoole, Joe Duffy (Children of the Rising) and Gene Kerrigan (The Scrap).

Dick Farrelly Centenary 

Kells native Dick Farrelly wrote The Isle of Innisfree, heard first in John Ford’s classic The Quiet Man. Farrelly’s contribution to contemporary culture will be discussed by his son Gerard, there will be performances of his work by Gerard and his partner Sinead Stone, a talk by Des McHale and a screening of The Quiet Man.

Listings and online ticket bookings are available at hayfestival.org/kells

Media Partnership RTE Supporting The Arts

Tickets can be purchased online through hayfestival.org/kells, or ph 046 924 0055.


Never Give Up: Kathleen Watkins Publishes Age 82!

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Pigin CoverKathleen Watkins is set to become a first-time author, just as she turns 82 this October! Gill Books will publish Pigín of Howth on 14 October – a children’s book based on the stories Kathleen told her grandchildren as they were growing up.

Pigín is a popular pig about town: friendly, curious, impeccably dressed and the most mannerly pig you could ever hope to meet. His adventures in Howth and beyond include friends Sammy Seal, Sally Seagull, The Badger of Ballsbridge and the fairies who live in Howth Castle — but Nanakit is his best friend.

The Pigín stories first began years ago when Kathleen’s grandson, Cian (now 11), was just 3 years old. After every story book in the house had been read and re-read – Cian’s granny (aka Nanakit) introduced him to her friend, a little piglet called Pigín. From then on Pigín stories were a constant request from all five beloved grandchildren.

Kathleen WatkinsKathleen first mentioned the stories to publisher Nicki Howard of Gill Books in September 2013 at the launch of husband Gay Byrne’s book The Meaning of Life and from there work began on preparing the stories for print.

‘We are delighted that Pigín will be the first children’s character for Gill Books,’ said Nicki Howard, ‘London has Paddington; New York has Eloise; Paris, Madeline. We think it’s about time Dublin had its own favourite and Pigín has all the makings of a future classic’.

Kathleen says of this new direction in her life, ‘I can’t believe the stories created in my imagination are about to come to life. I hope Pigín and his friends will be as loved by families all over Ireland as they were by me and my grandchildren. It’s a dream come true and a nice surprise to suddenly embark on a new career at my age!’

Pigín of Howth will be Gill Books’ first fiction on its children’s list following the runaway success of last year’s Irelandopedia and this spring’s launch of Naturama and YA debut Oasis by Eilís Barrett.

Illustrated by Margaret Anne Suggs, Pigín of Howth will contain three standalone stories – Pigs Can’t Fly, but They Can Swim!, Pigín’s Magical Midnight Adventure and A Day to Wear a Top Hat – and will be published on 14 October 2016.

Do you have a talented 12 year old? CASTING CALL for NOËL A New Musical by Eoin Colfer

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Noël is a new musical by acclaimed writer Eoin Colfer and composer Liam Bates, which will run in the Wexford Opera House this December. Noël tells the charming story of a young girl who is distraught at the disappearance of her mother. On a journey to find her, Noël meets a motley crew of characters who want to help: Nick, a disillusioned homeless man with a secret, forms a bond with the child. In helping Noël, Nick rediscovers his belief in the magic of Christmas and in himself.

The production is currently looking to cast the lead role of Noël, and will be holding auditions on Thursday 30th June in Bow Street Academy.  A feisty but vulnerable 10-12-year-old girl, the hopeful should have an excellent singing voice (range: C3-G4) and acting skills (theatre/performing experience a big plus). Auditions will take place on June 30th,  to apply please send a CV and headshot to Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting with Maureen Hughes via casting@bowstreet.ie.

Speaking about the show, Eoin Colfer said: “I am delighted that this Wexford born project is being nurtured and produced by a fellow Wexford man and a classmate to boot. Michael Londra and I have been searching for a project to collaborate on for years and Noël is the perfect vehicle. We are both very excited by the prospect of discovering a new musical star to light up the stage this Christmas.”

Written by bestselling author Eoin Colfer, with music composed and conducted by Liam Bates, this exciting staged concert production will be directed by Ben Barnes and is produced by Emmy® nominated Tenor Michael Londra and Broadway producer Steve Peters via their company VenuWorks Theatricals. Performances will run in the Wexford Opera House from 19th December, 2016.

Producer Michael Londra, who tours globally and played on Broadway, is delighted to search Ireland for new talent. “As a kid in Wexford, I saw how creative Eoin was. Now I witness that all over the world seeing his books in every country I am on tour in. We’ve wanted to work together for the longest time and Noël is that project. Coming home to do it makes it even more perfect but then I get to take what we make in Wexford and put it on the world stage. First though, we’ve to find a perfect Noël.”

Print Express Flash Fiction Competiton

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Print Express love to celebrate all things design –  and they’re fans of pretty much everything print too, including stories. In the past they’ve run short story competitions, poetry competitions and more, and they’ve decided to celebrate stories by running the Print Express Flash Fiction Competition.

Flash fiction is typically short, punchy stories that are characterised by their tight word counts. The shorter word count requires more creativity in order to tell a gripping, engaging story in so few words.

For this competition they’ve opted for no more than 150 words in which to tell your tale. It’s completely free to enter, and the winner will get a £100 Amazon voucher – the theme of the story is completely up to you (provided it’s family friendly).

As always, there are some rules:

– The story has to be family friendly
– It has to be your own work
– It can be no longer than 150 words
– By entering your story, you’re agreeing to allow us to publish it on our site
– By entering, you retain full copyright but give us a non exclusive license to publish it on our website
– It’s free to enter, and it’s open to all

To enter, email your flash fiction over to us at competitions@printexpress.co.uk.

The deadline for entries is July 31st, 2016 and the winner will be announced shortly after. Good luck!

http://design.printexpress.co.uk/the-print-express-flash-fiction-competition/

United Agents Open House

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London based literary agency United Agents are running an open house, seeking new talent in August 2016, here are the details!

united agents

Dream it into being – the strange relationship of imagination and reality

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Go outside and eat a leaf, tear off your clothes and swim underwater, stick your fingers in mud, stand at the edge of a crevasse and feel yourself sway, in summer, autumn cram strawberries, raspberries, blackberries into your mouth, see the stain on your fingers, eat carrots whole from the ground, lie in a darkened room with your favourite song blaring, dance until you sweat from head to toe, in winter make angel patterns in the snow, feel frost in your teeth. Stand in wind, rain, sun, turning your face upward, outward.

When we read, we read in a dream. We make places in our minds, we create the vague outlines of characters, scenes. At present I am reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled, a strange and at times infuriating book ‘almost certainly a masterpiece’ it says on the cover. It is written in the manner of a dream, those sequences that lead one to the next without satisfying resolution, companions are left in mid-event, journeys are endlessly impeded, truncated, thwarted and then distant places are suddenly in the same building. The main character of The Unconsoled is omniscient, as we are in a dream.  We feature as protagonists dreams but we are also a dream’s ineffectual creators. We try to do things and don’t quite succeed, although always aware of an underlying plot thread, a narrative stream, a place where we want to be taken.

In dreams we might feel emotions strongly, wake up due to sorrow, ominous prescience or fear but the feeling of a dream is not like reality, the feeling I have spoken of of rain, air, mud, water, life.

When writers write, we try to make things real, to evoke colours, characteristics, light, smell, mood but when we read, we read in that same sketched reality as a dream. We travel, following that unspoken narrative stream the author has created, this impetus that we sense is underlying, that by convention we hold to exist. But is it convention or something more fundamentally and physiologically essential? Because when we dream we tell ourselves stories, and we know instinctively that it is a story shaped thing, a thing with a purpose, even if we never get there. Similarly in writing fiction we make the shape of stories, we follow a forward momentum and like Ishisguro’s dream-like work we can subvert expectation, we can undo all the doing, we can draw places that are like reality but are never quite so, or we can undo reality by coming very close and then veering off into speculation or seeing the world through the eyes of a unique and original character who’s vision we struggle to comprehend.

As writers we are often closed off to the elements, often to interactions, we dwell more in the life of the mind. We try to evoke life while we watch the grass from inside the windows, hear children shout on the street like distant nostalgia. But we try to make paths through the soup of the subconscious, through the maze of memory, the endless byways of association, to make meaning out of the waterfall of human perception, culture, context, history.

As readers, books we have finished reading become like half-remembered dreams. The successful ones ring true, this nodding resonance, we found a mirror for ourselves, be it old, cracked, mottled. We go out into the sun and in our subconscious we find an archetypal meadow which segues into a post apocalyptic town in which we are constantly searching. We sit in a chair in the summer sun and doze and dream of ourselves in the chair, the book fallen from our hands.

Note: This article originally appeared on my personal blog.

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