Madeleine Keane

‘N

EVER put all your eggs in one bastard,” said Dorothy Parker, bon viveur and mistress of the bon mot. A new installation, Wit’s End, which recalls and reimagines the life, work and lonely death of the New York writer opens on Tuesday at the Smock Alley Theatre. Writer and artist Christina Reihill has recast Parker’s life resurrecting her from the filing cabinet (in which her ashes laid unclaimed for 15 years) and through words, images, sound and objects finds a new path away from alcoholism and despair for the troubled author. The RHA’s Patrick Murphy will do the honours on Tuesday. The installation continues until St Patrick’s Day. Admission free. The Ides of March always signals fiesta time for book lovers with a litany of literary festivals announcing their line ups. Mountains to Sea gets the ball rolling in Dun Laoghaire on March 22 with an impressive cast of writers, including Joanna Trollope, Kate Summerscale, Moshin Hamid and Roy Hattersley. Wexford’s litfest may be a relatively new baby on the block at only four years old, but under the dynamic auspices of writer Carmel Harrington it is making its presence felt. Taking place from May 19-21 in Enniscorthy, aptly the festival pays annual tribute to the town’s most distinguished author with the Colm Toibin International Short Story Award. I was honoured to be asked to judge this along with the wonderful Donal Ryan and the indefatigable Ms Harrington. www.wexfordliteraryfestival.com. Lastly, a final reminder about my six-week travel-writing course which starts on Wednesday at the Irish Writers’ Centre. I’ll take you on a voyage round this rich, rewarding art, teaching research, fact-checking, how to create compelling prose, blog and pitch to editors. Two places left so visit www.irishwriterscentre.ie now!