I was really looking forward to going to Dun Laoghaire last weekend to the Mountains to Sea Book Festival. I had even booked a short story seminar. I had bee dreaming of walks on the pier, sitting and reading on the pier, having an icecream on the pier and of course, going to a few talks and workshops.
But, the night before in an utterly dramatic fashion, I was struck down with a horrible unfair 3-day cold. It rendered me nearly speechless but definitely unable to move from the bed.
Simon had booked to go to poetry reading and I forced him to go. I did well. He returned full of poetic wisdom and a present for me.
Best European Fiction 2012 anthology.
Oh, and and some cute, mini key lime pie dessert things from M and S.
The 2012 Sean O’Faolain Competition has been won by Sophie Hampton who is currently studying creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Her story “White Socks & Weirdos” came first in a field of almost 1000 entries. There was a 50% increase in entries this year with UK entrants outnumbering US entrants for the first time. It’s also the first time the prize has gone to a British resident. Second place this year went to another Briton Thomas Watson of London for his story “Cafe at the V&A”. The runners-up are Dan Purdue of Britain, Maree Spratt of Queensland Australia, Ferdia Lennon of Dublin and David Mohan of Co. Dublin. All these six stories will be published in Southword next winter. Eighteen other writers have been commended for their entries.
I am heading down for the weekend, have booked my tickets for as many events as I can! Staying in the lovely Maldron Hotel, where I received a pretty good discount for accomodation when I mentioned the words “Short story festival”
Now in its second year, preparations are underway for Pen Fest 2012, the annual Carlow County Library literary festival.
The focus of this years festival is on emerging writers and will feature workshops and talks by experts in the literary field. A number of different genres will be covered throughout the weekend including
Writing poetry for Beginners with Iggy McGovern on Friday, 14th September at 7 p.m. in Carlow Library
Iggy McGovern is a physicist who also writes poety and is an Associate Professor in the School of Physics at Trinity College. He has had two collections of poetry published. The King of Suburbia was published by The Dedalus Press in 2005 and won the inaugral Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry. A second collection, Safe House, was published by Dedalus in 2010.
Screenwriting for Beginners with Ferdia Mac Annaon Saturday, 15th September at 11 a.m. in Carlow Library
Ferdia Mac Anna has worked as a television producer/director, journalist, magazine editor, screenwriter and scriptwriter, as well as songwriter and singer for many years. He has taught at various colleges and institutions and he currently lectures in Screenwriting and TV and Radio Broadcasting. He is perhaps best know for his three novels, The Last of the high Kings, The Ship Inspector and Cartoon City. His memoir, The Rocky Years is in development for a TV drama series. He has written one poem
Author, director and film maker Bob Quinn will give a talk entitled “Atlantean: from film to book and back again“on Saturday, 15th September at 4 p.m. in Carlow Library
Bob Quinn is primarily known as an independent film-maker, and has made more than 100 films, including Listen (1978); Self-Portrait with Red Car (1976); Poitín (1978); Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoire (1975); Atlantean (1985); and Budawanny (1987). He has received many awards, and two of his films are in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is also the author of Atlantean – Ireland’s North African and Maritime Heritage; Smokey Hollow, a novel; Maverick: A Dissident View of Broadcasting Today; and The Atlantean Irish: Ireland’s Oriental and Maritime Heritage. He is a member of Aosdána, and lives in Connemara.
Writing for Children with Herbie Brennanon Sunday, 16th at 2 p.m. in Carlow Library
A professional writer whose work has appeared in more than fifty countries, Herbie Brennan is enjoyed by children and adults alike. Herbie has an well-established career writing for the children’s market — from zany picture books to teenage fiction and from game books to school curriculum non-fiction. His teenage novel, Faerie Wars, also rocketed to international success. Herbie lives in an old County Carlow rectory with his wife the author, painter, therapist and crystal expert Jacquie Burgess.
An Evening with Carlow Writers’ Co-Op on Sunday, 16th at 4 p.m. in Carlow Library
Carlow Writers’ Co-Op are a group of Carlow based writers who meet every two weeks to share and explore all styles of writing. Established for a number of years and closely affiliated with Carlow County Library Service, the group will provide an evening of readings to close Pen Fest 2012.
Stay tuned to the Pen Fest page for news of workshops, lectures, participants and booking. For further information contact John at jshortall@carlowcoco.ie or phone 059 9129713. Details can be found here.
Five poetry collections announced for the Dun Laoghaire Book Festival. I just love the covers of poetry books! Yes, I know its superficial and its what’s inside that counts but they do entice you to pick them up!
The five finalists are John Montague, Moss Cannon, Bernard O Donoghue, Mascara Woods and Michael Longley.
I wouldn’t fancy being the judges! Best of luck to all five, who are already outstanding.
Dun Laoghaire mountains to sea book festival, which runs from 4-9th September.
Get those tickets booked. No, really, go now!
Kevin Barry is reading with Maeve
Higgins, interesting? Is Kevin trying out being a comedian?
The annual Mountains to the Sea Festival is coming up from the 4-9th September. Some brilliant names and workshops like Kevin Barry, John Banville and Derek Landy. Go see their website at http://www.mountainstosea.ie/ for more details.
I’ll be there if you are not!
I got to meet and chat with Kevin Barry,author of “City of Bohane: at West Cork Literary Festival. I’ve uploaded the interview as it is. Kevin was so generous with his time and I think you will find lots of practical, solid advice for the writers out there. I’ve certainly taken it on, since the festival, I’ve focussed myself to writing a new story every day. The idea is that over the year, I’m bound to find a couple of good ideas to run with. And, it happened today! I made a kernel of something that I think I can turn into something, story like! It also occurred to me that writers are mostly inclusive and motivating folk. I don’t know any other aspect of the media world that would be so giving of their time and help. And yes, Kevin has described himself as having a gigantic ego but he absolutely hasn’t. I miss Bantry and all the writers, cannot wait to return next year. In the meantime, we have the Cork Short Story Festival to look forward to, which I will be covering. Kevin is reading at this too. Those Cork people really have it worked out, don’t they? If you haven’t had the pleasure to read “City of Bohane”, I insist you get it and devour it! You can buy it here. This edition is the new,swankier cover. I have only got the old, orange original. Anyway, you just want to listen to Kevin. Enjoy! Listen here. kevinbarry1 I will upload part 2 after a few days!
I was becoming very sad…my last day at Bantry but was also really excited/nervous. Simon had got me tickets to hear Kevin Barry read that evening for my birthday. I had also managed to grab a few minutes with Kevin. I’ll upload the interview I did with him but in those 20 minutes, there are a huge amount of advice and tips for would be writers. He was very generous with his time and extremely easy to chat with, which is good.
Derek, our friend had recommended that we go listen to Gerard Dawe read from his new book “Selected Poems”. so, when I finished up with Kevin, we made our way to Bantry Library. Slightly late but brave, we skulked at the back until a nice librarian offered us a seat. When we went up to buy his book, Simon got chatting with Gerard. Gerard is a fellow of Trinity College Dublin, he is associate professor in English and Creative Writing, and inaugural director of the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing at Trinity College. Turns out, he is also childhood friend with Simon’s Uncle, Eon, who now lives in Canada. Yes, we know, Ireland is such a small place. Simon was chuffed with this connection!
The main event was at 8:30 with Kevin Barry and Sri Lankan author, Romesh Gunesekera. Claire Kilroy compered the event, she did a fantastically relaxed job of it! Kevin read from his new short story collection “Dark lies the island” He read just one story, everyone loved hi. He reads as well as he writes, very dramatically and full of humor and emotion. It was one of my favourite moments of Bantry 2012. Romesh read from his novel “Prisoner of Paradise”. Afterwards, Claire interviewed them with some questions from the audience. Kevin and Romesh seemed to gel really well together, even though their writing is totally unconnected. They gave lots of practical advice and wisdom, Kevin was the same as when I spoke with him-motivating and encouraging.
Was beyond sad to leave the next morning early. But, I will absolutely be back, that is a promise! Bantry is a superb little town, people are friendly, food is delish and the literary talent is pretty good too!
We had to check out and check in again due to a long and uninteresting story which I can tell you about, if you really want to hear! We took a walk along the marina, I wanted to reach the Hollywood-style sign that spelt out BANTRY on the hill across from our hotel, the Maritime. We reached it in record time of about two minutes and it started to rain. So, back to the car and up,up,up to Bantry House. We could/should have walked it but I didn’t want to wreck my hair.
Bantry House is gorgeous, apparently it is one of the Top Twenty Houses to visit in the World or Europe. We stood and posed for couple photos and got some nice shots of the gardens. We were getting hungry so attempted to head into the Tea Rooms, which looked rather nice as they overlooked the view of Bantry and the marina. The lady on the desk told us we normally would have to pay €5 to get into the gardens and you couldn’t visit the TeaRooms without seeing the gardens…hmmm. What she said before was quite pointless as then she told us we didn’t have to pay as the rain would mean we couldn’t get a proper look at the Gardens.
So, we went to the TeaRooms free of charge except I don’t think anyone would have cared if we had paid to see the Gardens or not.
We grabbed a quick bowl of soup and I felt all virtuous as previous lunches had involved too much food. When we were finished, we took off into the town again to have a little stroll around the shops and streets. At precisely, 2:53, Simon informed me that we needed to check in to our bedroom. Great.
It was great! In our room, (it’s my birthday on Monday) Simon had organized a big, fat chocolate cake with my name iced all it, a bottle of something bubbly and cold in a bucket of ice…these products were situated in the top of the Maritime Hotel, in one of the Penthouse Suites! Wowee, we had a stunning view of the bay and the Hollywood sign. Life is good!
I didn’t want to leave the room but a very nice and well mannered and tuned out author, Jamie O Connell was reading from his book in MA Murphy’s. Plus, the flyer promised prosecco so the choice was clear! As well, as Jamie reading, there were two other poets. All three are published with Bradshaw publishing. There was a great atmosphere and Jamie read one of his very comic short stories ” On eating grass”. It was hilarious and we all laughed along to the perfectly captured voice of a child who has a crazy life. You can read this very story here on the Lonely voice blog http://lonelyvoiceiwc.wordpress.com/2011-2/february-2011/on-eating-grass-by-jamie-o-connell/
I got to chat to Jamie after, a very nice, pleasant and unassuming guy. He currently working on his first novel but I hope he intersperses that with some more short stories!
I had to get back to the suite, the view from the balcony was calling me. Nah, let’s be honest, it was the iced bottle of something calling me! Derek joined us for a special “Julie’s fish and chips” takeout. Nice. We talked about dreams of living in Bantry for 6 months,then London and then New York for the remainder, one day, we said. In the meantime, we’ll enjoyed what we have!
I had gained enough nerves to read at the Open Mike and with a freshly cooked short story about a horrible man and my well-read Kitty stories, I made my way to the Open Mike. Michael Parkinson had just been interviewed, all the tickets had sold out but we didn’t really mind.
I read 2 of my Kitty stories and my new one about a principal. A sweaty principal who hates his job and life and doesn’t stop to think he should really let it go. No one booed me or walked out so I was happy! Simon and Derek got up to read twice and local comedian, Martin got up to read about his struggles dealing with a paranormal universe. It must be difficult, alright.
I left the lads with music and general song singing, I was tired and happy. I had read at Bantry.
Tomorrow, Kevin Barry is reading and I hope to meet with him to ask him a few questions. Tune in!
I’ve heard so much about Bantry and the West Cork Literary Festival that is held there every year. Our good friend, Derek from our writing group is always telling us to go, this is his fourth year in attendance. But, it is only my first so I was over the top excited when we hit the beautifully “everything an Irish town should look like” Bantry.
The first thing that caught my eye was the Hollywood-esque white letter signs spelling out BANTRY 2012. Placed on the hill above the marina and directly across from where we were staying, in the Maritime Hotel. Lovely idea. Most of the workshops and talks are held in the Maritime Hotel so the backdrop of the marina and the white sign make for ultimate photo opportunities! And, I used this prop well, taking hundreds of photos at different angles!
A stroll around the town of Bantry and a bit of letter writing
The weather was stunning when we arrived, we walked about, taking in the vibe-outdoor cafes with homemade ice cream, seafood eateries and old school pubs. We randomly came across a cute Coffee Shop called Organico, plenty of space and nice food. We got a spelt scone and strong coffee and sat and read. Bliss. As part of the festival, Organico are encouraging people to write letters. So, I received a complimentary writing pad, nice pen and wrote a letter to my family in Canada, something I’d been meaning to do for ages. The Coffee shop had left a letter box for any post, saying they would post it for me too! What a nice idea! It felt strange to write, my handwriting is appalling as I am so used to typing but I think my family will be happy to receive it!
Dr Diarmuid Ni Mhuirithe and his research on the death of Anglo Irish language
We decided we would go to one of the afternoon talks, Dr. Diarmuid Ni Mhuirithe was giving a lecture on Hiberno English or Anglo Irish, depending which side of the fence you are on! I did my Irish and English degree in U.C.D and Diarmuid had been the lead lecturer in the field of Hiberno English, he was one of the guys I really enjoyed attending and learning about the history of how we speak English and why. The talk was good, with lots of funny examples of phrases that we use and what they mean in standard English! There was a question and answer at the end and Simon asked him about where the word “craic” came from. Simon seemed to have hit Diarmuid’s raw nerve. Diarmuid spat out the answer( in a nice way) he told us that craic, in fact is a Scottish word and it simply means “good chat”. He seemed annoyed that this word has been changed into an Irish way of getting drunk. Diarmuid ended his talk by saying that Hiberno English would be dead very soon, adding that he didn’t really know how to save it. Simon and I debated this very subject later on, coming to the conclusion that language only stays alive if it is needed and is in flux all the time. Still makes me sad though as I hope that Hiberno English is not replaced by some other random culture or sayings.
Fish Anthology 2012 launch
Fish were launching their 2012 anthology of stories and poems. Fish is an Irish publishing company that runs( among other services) an annual competition. Prizes are pretty nice, but the biggest one has to be reading at the Bantry Festival and being published in their anthology. The evening was really enjoyable, I loved the mix of genres and voices, we heard poetry, flash fiction, memoirs and short stories. We never heard more than a page, which is perfect for my attention span! I bought the anthology for €10, an excellent price for the amount of excellent and diverse reading you will get. Go pick up a copy on the fish website and even better, enter the competition next year! They offer a critiquing service, for a fee, which might be a good idea to start off with.
Seafood eating and a drink with a Welsh man
After this event, we headed off for a bite to eat. We ended up in a place called “The Fish Kitchen”, which was divine! Service was warm and chilled out, while we waited for our table, the owner sent us across the road to the pub, Ma Murphy’s. This pub is the real deal, reminding me of my own local, childhood pub, Dinny’s Ferry Bar and shop in Rossport, Mayo. We had a quick drink in Ma Murphy’s, chatting to the lovely Welsh man who owns the place. When our table was ready, the owner from “Fish Kitchen” nipped over to us, telling us to come along! The food was excellent. I went for haddock and chips, Derek went for monkfish and Simon went for trio of fish. We finished off with proper home-made desserts, me a chocolate mousse, Derek a baked lemon cheese cake and Simon an Eton mess. I’d recommend this place.
A shy Rozzie just didn’t get to read at the Open Mike!
Then it was back to the hotel for the Open Mike session, which is held every night as part of the festival. Most of the Fish anthology winners took up the audience and all wanted to read, which is fair enough but us newbies were dying to have a go too so we waited! Derek read some of his poems and did very well, Simon even got the courage up to read some of his Jewish poems and he did extremely well.
Simon reads his stuff!
He read like a pro, giving some little details to add to the understanding. I know I am biased but he has some interesting things to say about religion and the effect it can have on people’s lives, sometimes negatively. It was nearly 2 in the morning and I hadn’t plucked up the courage to read. I am going to try again tonight! Wish me luck!
