Writers Sebastian Barry and Billy Roche at Gorey library
TWO internationally acclaimed writers will be in Gorey Library this evening (Tuesday) as a special event.
Newly announced Laureate for Irish Fiction Sebastian Barry will be interviewed tonight by Wexford author and playwright Billy Roche.
The event which will be Barry’s first public appearance since he was named as the new Laureate for Irish Fiction last week by President Michael D Higgins is a ticket only event.
Sebastian Barry who penned The Secret Scripture was chosen as the new Laureate for his ‘soul-searching, heart-stopping prose which takes Irish fiction where it hasn’t been before. With transcendent insight as well as a storyteller’s ingenuity he (Sebastian Barry) teaches us to see the world differently, and to look more deeply into our own hearts. This most lyrical of myth-makers magically re-arranges our synapses.’
Speaking at the special ceremony last week announcing the three year term Sebastian Barry said: ‘I am delighted by this great honour, all the more delightful for having been decided by such a tremendous team of judges, chaired by Paul Muldoon. It’s a joyous moment, after 40 years of work. Mere longevity has given me a clear and wide perspective on the ‘fabulous generations’ now at work in Ireland. It is no burden to assert, to as many people as possible in as many places as possible, that we live in a golden age of prose writing in Ireland. And I am really happy to be the ambassador of this rather stupendous reality for a few years.’
The Laureate for Irish Fiction is an initiative of the Arts Council and is run in partnership with University College Dublin and New York University.
The role seeks to acknowledge the contribution of fiction writers to Irish artistic and cultural life by honouring an established Irish writer of fiction.
Sebastian Barry will take over from Anne Enright who held the honour for the past three years and was the first ever Laureate for Irish Fiction.
Booking for tonight’s event is essential. To book contact Gorey Library on 053 94 21481.