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Irish Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Listowel literary festival's fresh start
In The Irish Times this Saturday, Madeleine Thien tells Edel Coffey about her new novel, The Book of Records. And there is a Q&A with Shane Tivenan about his debut short story collection, To Avenge a Dead Glacier. Reviews are Diarmaid Ferriter on Mary MacSwiney by Leeann Lane; Tony Clayton-Lea on the best new music books; Vona Groarke on the finest new poetry collections; Neil Hegarty on Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane; Helen Cullen on Audition by Katie Kitamura; Anne Griffin on The Correspondent by Virginia Evans; Kristen Malone Poli on The Gatsby Gambit by Claire Anderson-Wheeler; Oliver Farry on Robert Ferguson, Norway's War: A People's Struggle Against Nazi Tyranny, 1940–1945; Adrienne Murphy on Rebel Angel: The Life and Times of Annemarie Schwarzenbach by Padraig Rooney; Pat Carty on The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker; Mei Chin on Last Acts by Alexander Sammartino; Brigid O'Dea on Rembrandt's Promise by Barbara Leahy; and Brian Hanley on Rebel Notes: Popular Music and Conflict in Ireland By Stan Erraught. This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is Guilty By Definition by Susie Dent, just €5.99, a €6 saving. Eason offer Listowel Writers' Week proudly reaffirms its place at the heart of Irish literature festivals in 2025, embracing this year's theme, Strength in Unity. In that spirit, Listowel Writers' Week is working in partnership with Kerry Writers' Museum and St John's Theatre and Arts Centre to present the Listowel Literature Festival. READ MORE Among the highlights is the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award, one of Ireland's most esteemed literary honours. The winner will be announced on the festival's opening night, continuing Listowel Writers' Week's longstanding tradition of recognising excellence in Irish fiction. Listowel Writers' Week is also delighted to reveal the shortlist for the 2025 Pigott Poetry Prize, Ireland's largest monetary prize for a poetry collection. Poetry lovers can enjoy an evening of readings and music with actor Mark O'Regan, former RTÉ weather presenter Jean Byrne, and guest appearances by Christine Dwyer Hickey and others. This year's programme features a wide range of events, including Nature Boy, an illustrated talk by ornithologist Seán Ronayne, and a special conversation with authors Rónán Hession (Ghost Mountain) and John Boyne (Air), novels which explore resilience and redemption. In poetry, milestone birthdays of celebrated poets Paul Durcan and Rita Ann Higgins will be marked with events recognising their outstanding contributions to Irish literature. Another key event is the Frank Hayes Memorial Lecture, Memory and Forgetting: The Use and Abuse of the Past, featuring Fergal Keane, Lindsey Hilsum, Conor Brosnan and Gail McConnell. Following a period of change, Listowel Writers' Week has embraced a fresh start. A new board bringing together both returning and new members is working collaboratively with neighbouring cultural organisations to ensure Listowel remains a place where writers, readers and the general public are warmly welcomed and invited to celebrate all that is best in local, national, and international writing. The full programme is available at Gallery poet on Ondaatje Prize shortlist Kelly Michels' American Anthem, published by The Gallery Press, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place Also shortlisted are Clear by Carys Davies; Night Train to Odesa by Jen Stout; No Small Thing by London-Irish author Orlaine McDonald; Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang; and The Catchers by Xan Brooks. This year's judges are Ruth Gilligan (chair), Charlie Craggs and Roy McFarlane. Gilligan won in 2021 for The Butchers. The winner will be announced at a special event celebrating the award later this month. Bullaun Press on EBRD Literature Prize shortlist Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartchuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins and published by Ireland's Bullaun Press, has been selected as one of the three finalists for the EBRD Literature Prize 2025. Also shortlisted are The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk and Sons, Daughters by Ivana Bodrožić. Bullaun Press, Ireland's first and only publisher dedicated exclusively to literary translation, is funded by the Arts Council. Chair of the judges Maya Jaggi said: 'Resurrecting the past through an imaginative act of will, Tanja Maljartschuk's Forgottenness, translated from the Ukrainian by Zenia Tompkins, moves between two lives a century apart to explore a land carved up between empires, and the persistence of inherited trauma.' Forgottenness was also last month shortlisted for the inaugural Tadeusz Bradecki Prize 2025 , to be awarded annually for 'a book in which story-telling fiction and non-fiction writing combine in an original and exciting way'. It was one of six chosen from 97 submissions, which the judges described as 'a brilliant array of books that cross subjects, genres and cultures in provoking and free-ranging ways'. Two tales intertwined in a profound double portrait, Forgottenness painstakingly traces parallels between the historical and the contemporary, the collective and the individual. The narrator, a writer grappling with her growing anxiety and obsessive thoughts, becomes fixated on Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882–1931), a once-significant but now forgotten figure in the struggle for Ukrainian independence. Maljartschuk is an acclaimed contemporary Ukrainian writer, now working in both German and Ukrainian. Her work has been translated into more than 10 languages, and recent accolades include the Theodor Kramer Prize for writing in Resistance and Exile (2023) and the Usedom Literature Prize (2022). Zenia Tompkins, founder of the Tompkins Agency for Ukrainian Literature in Translation (TAULT), has previously translated Maljartschuk's A Biography of a Chance Miracle (2018) and The Ukraine by Artem Chapeye (shortlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize 2025). The EBRD Literature Prize celebrates outstanding literary works in English translation by writers from countries where the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development invests. The other judges are writer and editor Selma Dabbagh; translator and Associate Professor in Ukrainian and East European Culture (UCL), Uilleam Blacker; and writer and BBC correspondent, Fergal Keane. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on June 24th at the sponsor's headquarters in London. The prize of €20,000 is divided equally between author and translator. Irish Folklife Collection inspires new poetry trail The meaning of objects in the Irish Folklife Collection is being reinterpreted and reimagined this summer through a unique new poetry initiative at the National Museum of Ireland in Turlough Park, Castlebar. The poetry trail at Turlough Park was launched yesterday to celebrate National Poetry Day. Poets Sean Borodale, Martina Evans and Geraldine Mitchell were commissioned for the project. Each selected objects from the Irish Folklife Collection to work with, including a 'ghost' potato lamp; a red woollen cardigan; a sheep shears and a súgán rope. The poets created new works which will now be displayed for visitors alongside the objects in the museum galleries, offering new perspectives about the meaning and stories they represent. The poetry trail, Silent Objects/Spoken Lives, was created for the annual 'OnSight' arts initiative, the commissioning of new works of art across various mediums, providing creative responses to the Irish Folklife Collection. Lynn Scarff, director of the National Museum of Ireland, said: 'The folklife objects on display here at Turlough Park tell us many rich stories about how our ancestors lived in Ireland over centuries. This poetry trail offers us a new way to discover and imagine those stories - and what they might mean in terms of our past and our present. The poetry trail is now on display at the National Museum of Ireland at Turlough Park, Castlebar, or visit to read and listen to the poems online. Lyndsy Spence, left, Carlo Gébler and Rosalind Mulholland at the launch of Ballyscullion Park Book Festival Ballyscullion Park Book Festival line-up Ballyscullion Park Book Festival takes place from Saturday to Sunday, May 10th and 11th, in the beautiful setting of a stately home in Bellaghy, Co Derry. A celebration of writing, music and art in the heart of Seamus Heaney country, highlights include author Louis de Bernières, artist and 2023 Sky Portrait Artist of the Decade Gareth Reid, Martina Devlin, Roy Foster, Carlo Gébler, Ramita Navai, Lyndsy Spence, Owen O'Neill, John Goodall, Heidi Edmundson, Dr Caroline Campbell, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland. Rosalind Mulholland, festival director, said:'It is a privilege to host such a wide range of incredibly gifted writers across the festival weekend. From internationally renowned authors, playwrights and artists, it is shaping up to be an unforgettable two days. We also hope the festival will attract visitors from near and far as well as showcase our beautiful region as a must visit NI destination.' Tickets from £60. For further details, visit here . Female detective book launch Sara Lodge launches her book about Victorian female detectives, The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective at Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dublin at 6pm on Wednesday, May 7th, with free wine and snacks, and all are welcome. She will be in conversation with Clare Clarke, of Trinity College Dublin, who is also a doyenne of Victorian women sleuths. The book was published by Yale University Press last yeasr and will be out in paperback in August. Global Book Crawl Passport For one week, hundreds of Independent bookshops in over 50 cities around the world from Westport to Brooklyn will distribute 'The Global Book Crawl Passport' to book lovers. Over 1,000 passports will be distributed in Ireland for the inaugural global event this year. The initiative will run on for the summer – inviting readers 'to take their bookshop on holiday with them this summer'. There are also spaces for stamps from participating international bookshops when book lovers visit Malaga or Florence for example. Events will be held to celebrate the passport holders during Independent Book Week on 14th -21st June and Irish Book Week 18th-25th October. Bríd Conroy of Tertulia Bookshop believes this is just the beginning 'we know the importance of bookshops as community and cultural spaces. This is our first worldwide event, all celebrating the Global Book Crawl on the same week in April, but it will grow and grow each year as bookshops want to be part of it. In Ireland we have over 100 independent bookshops and can't wait to have them all on board'. The campaign is spreading on Instagram @globalbookcrawl #globalbookcrawl; building a global literary map, one bookshop and one post at a time.
Irish Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Jane Casey and Stuart Neville shortlisted
In The Irish Times this Saturday, John Patrick McHugh tells Edel Coffey about his debut novel, Fun and Games. And there is a Q&A with Lisa Harding about her latest novel, The Wildelings. Reviews are Oliver Farry on The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East Fawaz A Gerges; Karlin Lillington on Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams; Daniel McLaughlin on Life in Spite of Everything by Victoria Donovan; Edel Coffey on The Marriage Vendetta by Caroline Madden; Frank Wynne on the best new fiction in translation; John Boyne on Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin; Daniel Geary on Good Trouble: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972 by Forest Issac Jones; Ray Burke on Becoming Irish American by Timothy J Meagher; Helen Cullen on The Wildelings by Lisa Harding; Paraic O'Donnell on Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt; and Kevin Power on Fun and Games by John Patrick McHugh. This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, just €5.99, a €6 saving. Eason offer Jane Casey and Stuart Neville have been longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2025. Casey has been recognised for A Stranger in the Family and Neville for Blood Like Mine. Also shortlisted is Birmingham Irish author Marie Tierney for Deadly Animals. READ MORE Three former winners are vying for top honours at this year's Awards, including 2023 champion M.W. Craven, who is longlisted for his adrenaline-fuelled US-set thriller The Mercy Chair, alongside Chris Whitaker for All the Colours of the Dark, a million-copy bestseller exploring the aftermath of a childhood kidnapping, and Chris Brookmyre for the highly original thriller, The Cracked Mirror, which sees a hard-bitten homicide detective and an old lady who has solved multiple murders in her sleepy village, crack an impossible case. Highly commended in 2023, Elly Griffiths receives an impressive tenth longlisting for The Last Word, a murder mystery set at a writers' retreat. Readers are now encouraged to vote for their favourite novels to reach the shortlist, with the winner crowned on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on July 17th. * Tickets for the Belfast Book Festival are now on sale with a packed programme of poetry, fiction, crime writing, journalism, screenwriting, plus developmental opportunities and expert-led discussions and workshops. The 15th edition of the Festival will run from June 5th-12th at The Crescent Arts Centre in south Belfast. Highlights include Game of Thrones star Kristain Nairn and his new book that documents life on the set of one of the world's most popular TV shows, Sam McAlister former BBC Newsnight producer and author of Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews, as well as many other author events from Joseph O'Connor, Wendy Erskine, Tessa Hadley, Eimear McBride, Luke Harding, Darran Anderson, Eoin McNamee, Roddy Doyle, Andrea Carter, Neil Hegarty, Noreen Masud, Claire Lynch, Roisin O'Donnell, Jan Carson, Gráinne O'Hare and Thomas Morris among others. As ever, there will be a celebration of emerging talent with the announcement of the Mairtín Crawford Awards. Festival commemorative events will honour Michael Longley and Edna O'Brien. Art lovers should check out The Art of Translation, the festival's exhibition that offers a fantastic snapshot of international book design via leading Irish writers, presented in collaboration with Literature Ireland. Tickets can be be found at * The Shaking Bog festival hosts a one-day programme of events in the Glencree Valley, Co Wicklow, on May 17th, featuring a Dawn Chorus Walk with Sean Ronayne, Moth Magic with Ciarán Finch, Exploring the River Valley with Martha Burton, Wildflowers & Pollinators with Prof Jane Stout, 'What is Wild?' a talk by Mark Cocker and in conversation with Ella McSweeney, and a Concert & Reading with Jane Robinson, Lynda O'Connor & Ailbhe McDonagh. Booking is essential - The Shaking Bog Festival is embarking on a new project. Entitled Riverscapes, this creative exploration of place, heritage and nature will run from May to October. Riverscapes is a place-based initiative which will celebrate, enliven and inform the communities of both people and nature that live in and around the Glencree and Dargle Rivers. And, in turn, share this experience with the wider world. The Riverscapes project will culminate with a new film by acclaimed local film-maker Alan Gilsenan - that will not only draw on the people and habitats of this richly diverse community but will also belong to that community. It is a film that will hopefully reflect life at its most local whilst also mirroring the universal. * Penguin, Sandycove is to publish Andy Farrell's autobiography, The Only Way I Know, on October 16th. Publisher Michael McLoughlin said : " Andy Farrell is rightly seen on these islands as one of the most remarkable sports people and coaches of all time. He has played and been hugely successful in both rugby codes and as a successful coach he has brought the Ireland team to the top of the world rankings and to consecutive Six Nations championship titles. The Lions tour to Australia this summer, under his leadership, will hopefully be another highlight. I am delighted to publish this book, which is as stellar as his career." Farrell said: 'It has been a really interesting and enjoyable process reflecting on my life and career, and working with Gavin Mairs to bring it all together. I have tried to be honest and true to myself, and I hope that is reflected in the book.' * For the third consecutive year, Denis Shaughnessy, writing under the pseudonym Marco Ocram, has won First Prize for Humour at the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA) in the United States. This literary hat-trick crowns Ocram's 'Awful Truth' series of metafictional satires. Each of the three novels has now won the top prize in the humour category, a rare feat in the world of indie and international publishing. 'I was thrilled to win once, amazed to win twice, and by the third time I thought perhaps the judges needed checking,' joked Shaughnessy. 'But really, it's an honour to see readers and critics connect with something so deliberately absurd.' The awards, held annually in Washington state, draw thousands of entries from across the globe, celebrating excellence in independent and small press publishing. * Waterford Council is running the annual Molly Keane Creative Writing Award. This is a short story competition in memory of the Irish author. The stories must be 2,000 words or less, and entries must be in by noon on May 19th. Entries are only accepted via this link . * The Dublin Small Press Fair has opened a call for applications from publishers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, experimental literature, literary journals, artists' books, zines, chapbooks, broadsides, and more. The first annual fair, organised by Tim Groenland and Éireann Lorsung, will take place over two days in November in Pearse Street Library (with support from Dublin Unesco City of Literature). The fair will celebrate small-scale publishing in Ireland as well as welcoming small presses from abroad, showcasing the innovative and experimental work of small literary presses while providing a space of connection in which publishers can share knowledge and develop relationships. It will feature readings, launches, panels, and exhibitions alongside many tables of books and book-adjacent work from about thirty small and independent presses, journals, book binders, zine makers, and more. Applications are free, and the deadline is July 1st. See for more information. * John Connolly, Marita Conlon-McKenna and Elaine Feeney, will be interviewed over three separate evenings in Kennys Bookshop, Galway in May, to celebrate the launch of their new books. Tickets are available now on On May 1st, crime fiction writer John Connolly will be interviewed about his new novel, The Children of Eve, the latest instalment in his bestselling Charlie Parker series. On May 15th, Marita Conlon-McKenna will be launching her Children of The Famine Trilogy of novels (Under the Hawthorn Tree, Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home), published in one volume for the very first time! She will be joined in conversation by bookseller and author Gráinne O'Brien. Award-winning Galway poet and novelist Elaine Feeney will be launching her new novel, Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way on May 27th in conversation with Sarah Kenny. Feeney's previous novel How to Build a Boat was longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. Tickets are free but limited. To book, visit * Marty Whelan will launch Killester: from medieval manor to garden suburb by Joseph Brady & Ruth McManus on Tuesday, April 29th at 7.30pm in Killester Donnycarney Football Club, Hadden Park, Killester, Dublin 5. * The Seamus Heaney HomePlace has launched its summer programme. Highlights include comedian Frank Skinner in conversation with Belfast-based poet Scott McKendry on June 27th talking about his love of poetry, as evidenced in his acclaimed Poetry Podcast which is now in its tenth series. On August 10th, Kabosh Theatre Company presents Julie - a new one-woman play written and performed by Charlotte McCurry. Set in West Belfast in 1981, it follows a teenage girl as she navigates the loss of her sister and her family's struggle for justice. Author events include Eimear McBride (May 29th); Nathan Thrall (June 2nd); Glenn Patterson (10th); Paul Lynch (14th); On June 25th, Patterson welcome this year's Seamus Heaney Centre Fellows, author Jan Carson, poet Fiona Benson, and screenwriters Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn (Blue Lines) for what promises to be a lively conversation, offering insight into the lives and work of these four exceptional writers. The 160th birthday of WB Yeats on June 13th is marked with a performance of Sailing to Byzantium, original songs set to 12 of Yeats's poems, performed by Christine Toibin. Following a sell-out performance last year, Ruairi Conaghan returns with his one-man show Lies Where It Falls on June 19th. Finally, on August 30th, HomePlace presents a storytelling brunch: Cloak of Wisdom, featuring Liz Weir, Vicky McParland and Anne Harper.
