PAGETURNER
MUCH fun was had in the sun last weekend in lovely Enniscorthy which hosted the third annual Wexford Literary Festival. I’d been honoured to launch it in April so it was great to rejoin the gang as part of an industry panel — two writers, a blogger and a copy-editor discussing the path to publishing. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay for the keynote event the following day — the inaugural Colm Toibin Short Story Award. That the town is justifiably deeply proud of their famous literary son was reflected in the generous prize fund of €1,800. First prize went to English writer Holly Atkinson for Skunk & Beastie. The competition attracted more than 300 entries from all over the world and Toibin praised the “well-crafted stories” and their “wonderful use of voice and rhythm”.
***** MY own locale opens its doors the weekend after next. The small start-up that was the Dalkey Books Festival has become quite the glamorous behemoth as evidenced by this year’s heavyweight line-up. Elif Shafak, Bob Geldof, Janine di Giovanni et alia will join John Banville, Donal Ryan and Danielle McLaughlin for a fabulous four-day fiesta covering books, ideas, film, stress, world affairs and poetry. All put together by DBF’s redoubtable organisers David McWilliams and his wife Sian Smyth. As the delightful seaside village thrums with super restaurants, delis and pubs, there’ll be culinary riches to match the cultural menu. And it all kicks off on Bloomsday!
***** SPEAKING of the great man, UCD’s James Joyce Research Centre has teamed up with the British Embassy to present three evenings of poetry and song in the James Joyce Tower in Sandycove.
From Tuesday next through Thursday 9th June at 7pm, poets Moya Cannon, John F Deane, Greg Delanty, Mary O’Malley, Gerard Smyth, and Vincent Woods will be joined by singer Fran O’Rourke, Professor of Philosophy at UCD, and leading Irish classical guitarist John Feeley for an evening of Joycean words and music.
Feeley and O’Rourke will perform Irish traditional songs featured in Joyce’s writings while the poets, all former writers-in-residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, will give readings touching on Joyce’s life in the City of Light. Tickets (€15) for Poetry and Song in the Tower are on sale from the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire.
******** FINALLY, concluding a non-stop month of literary shenanigans which opened last Wednesday with venerable Listowel Writers’ Week, book lovers will make for Hay.
That’s the Hay Festival up in Kells, Co Meath which runs from 23-26 June. Among the highlights of a hectic programme are novelists Hanif Kureishi and Jax Miller, historians Ronan Fanning and Catriona Crowe, and politicians John Bruton and Eamon Gilmore. I’m looking forward to chatting to effervescent hotelier Francis Brennan about life, love and happiness — along with books, the things that really matter.