On the face of it, you may not think that the simple act of opening a good book and delving into its pages could benefit a recovering addict. The truth is that words are immensely powerful and are precisely the right salve to apply to a wounded soul that is struggling with this disease. Reading can help addicts learn about mindfulness and provide necessary distractions when cravings to use strike. [click to continue…]
News
Oh yes……. Dublin Book Festival 2013 is getting back into gear! With that in mind, we would like to receive autumn lists from all publishers wishing to get involved as soon as possible for review for DBF 2013.
Please can you send the lists to julianne@dublinbookfestival.
‘poetry for me is the pure formulation of experience and it is so pure that not many people can engage with it at that level but when it is diluted then people get it in the broader sense. You will always find that poetry precedes prose. Poetry is first and then come all the plays and prose.’ [click to continue…]
”You get the sense from the best short story writers that they almost weigh the words, or that they let them alight and rest on the tongue or the heart, to taste them or test them, before finally settling on them.’
Mary Costello has been compared with the likes of every Irish literary giant from John McGahern to John Banville and with her debut collection of short stories having been nominated for the Sunday Independent Newcomer of The Year Award at the Irish Book Awards and the Guardian First Book Award, it seems that after years of chipping away at literary success, Mary is now well on her way. She took time out of what has become an increasingly busy schedule to talk to the DBF about what inspired The China Factory and what it means to be an ‘Irish’ writer. [click to continue…]
I started a new job in September and it was a steep and rewarding learning curve. Because of new job, I found myself neglecting my writing. I was working on two different projects, and my brain was just too busy to do them justice. I tried to write and read over and edit them at weekends, but weekends have a way of flying by in a series of delicious breakfasts and all of a sudden it was Halloween and I had a new idea and I missed writing every day, because even when it’s hard it makes me feel fulfilled and pleased in a way I get from very little else. So I decided to do Nanowrimo.
The idea with Nanowrimo, is that you try to write a novel in a month. 1,667 words a day every single day for the month of November is what you are aiming for. So far, I’m keeping up with it, even when it’s hard. And because there is so much output, you consider it less and kind of go with it. If you need 500 more words that night, you can end up lashing in a plot twist that even you weren’t expecting. Like a unicorn or an explosion. Nanowrimo isn’t for other people to read, not really. It’s just for you, to set yourself a challenge and feel proud when you rise to it. So far, there are no unicorns or explosions in my Nanowrimo book. It is a paranormal YA, so it mixes the two types of things I tend to write so far, horror stories for children and YA. I haven’t gotten as far as the bit where my protagonist finds out that she is in a world where magic exists yet. I am looking forward to it. She will probably be quite surprised.
Ideas come thick and fast when you are writing a book. They mostly grow out of other ideas. I usually start with characters, and the plot comes from the way they interact and cope with what life throws at them. But this time, I have a properly worked out plot, with a twist at the end. This makes me feel very capable in one way (“Look at me, having a plot like some sort of dashing crime novelist!”) but it means that the surprises with this book are coming from my character. I feel like I am getting to know her as I write her. Her name is Madeline and she is shy and ambitious and loyal and easily frustrated with herself and other people. I’m really enjoying spending time with her. Hopefully, once November is over, I’ll have most of a workable first draft of a thing, and my writerly discipline will have returned, allowing me to finish my half-finished things and then tweak them until they’re good enough to show people. If nothing else, it will have been a fantastic antidote for procrastination and a pleasant alternative to stupid things that suck up writing time. Like cooking and laundry. There will be a lot of sandwiches made and outfits compiled from what was left in the wardrobe by the end of the month. But it will have been worth it. Nanowrimo!!!
You can catch Deirdre telling spooky tales on Saturday, 17 November. For more information, check out our programme page-http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/category/programme/prog-by-day/saturday-17th/
THEME: DIGITAL DIVIDENDS
Details for the DBF Trade Day event have been finalised under the theme of Digital Dividends and will take place on Friday, 16 November at 10.30am in the Main Theatre. Speakers will include Interactive Media expert Zoe Faulder , Social Net Solutions, Barry O’Neill (StoryToys.com) and Kemberlee Shortland (Tirgearr Publishing). This event is aimed at providing practical advice and provocative contributions to people working in the publishing and related professions. A brief programme is outlined below and there will be additional contributors on the day, a more detailed briefing document will be circulated before the event.
10.30 – 11.30 The Seven Steps to Going Digital
Practical steps on developing a digital strategy from
rights, through production, conversion, formats to distribution and marketing
Zoe Faulder
Zoe Faulder has an MSc in Interactive Digital Media from Trinity College and
has been working in Publishing since 2008. While working in Blackhall
Publishing she helped design and implement the eBook strategy
Tea/coffee
11.45 – 12.45 Social Media Is a Component – not an Add On
It’s about communities not customers
How Social Media Can Drive Sales, Discover Content and even Source Staff
Led by Social Net Solutions (SocialNetworkingSolutions.com)
2.30 – 4.15 E is Essential – So Embrace It
Digital Opportunities and Obstacles
Practitioners and Experts Share their Experiences, Practical Insights and Other Advice.
Contributors will include Barry O’Neill, StoryToys.com, Chenile Keogh,
Publisher, Y Books,Mads Haar, Lecturer in Interactive Media and founder of Haunted Planet.com and Kemberlee Shortland of Tirgearr Publishing www.Tirgearrpublishing.com
€10 per event, or €20 for the day, per company irrespective of the number of delegates to help defray some of the costs. If you would like to attend any or all of these events, please contact stephanie@publishingireland.com
DBF There are quite a few of you from the West of Ireland at the DBF- tell me, where are you living at the moment?
DS I’m Dublin based, I’m currently living and working in Ranelagh. I go back to Galway a lot, though- to visit family and friends.
DBF A lot of writers identify a lot with where they are from. Is this true for you? Do you think there is such a thing as a distinctive ‘Irish’ voice when it comes to fiction writing?
By Afric McGlinchey
The main character in this collection is Ian, who in some stories is married to Sandra, in others, having an affair — or encounters — with Ellen. Or Denise. Or Deborah. Or Amy. He reminds me of the protagonist in Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, the wind blowing him this way and that. He often appears to be compelled, in spite of himself, to accept invitations from random strangers, curious to see what will happen.
[click to continue…]
We at the towers were finally let out yesterday to take photos and prance about holding books and what not. We also had the likes of Jimmy McGee and Fergal Quinn dropping into the Beautiful Smock Alley. Check out some of the lovely pics that have been circulating the media waves on this fine November day- including some….err not so ‘official’ images of all the high jynx!
Here is what the Irish Times were saying:
Over 148 authors will take part in this year’s Dublin Book Festival, the fifth such celebration of Irish writing and publishing.
Running from next Tuesday, November 13th, to Sunday, November 18th, the programme features over 60 events including readings, interviews, political and current affairs discussions, poetry, book-binding workshops and children’s entertainment.
Julianne Mooney, who organised the festival programme, says its central aim is “to create a community atmosphere in which to show the diversity, vitality and talent of Irish publishers and writers”.
The opening event on Tuesday, entitled Inspiring Lives, Inspiring Stories features writers Dervla Murphy and Alice Taylor in conversation with arts broadcaster Sean Rocks. To read the rest, go to the Irish Times website http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1105/breaking38.html
Check out this rather poetic looking literary moment (Makes one think of Harry Clarke?) of Sinead Moriarty and Dermot Bolger 
in the great banqueting hall in Smock Alley itself. This was all very poised and bookish and professional until something rather odd happened…..we were interrupted by an avian visitor in the shape of a pigeon! Luckily our very nice and talented picture taker Eoin Connolly was on hand to capture the very best in ‘candid moments’ and so ….yes dear readers….we captured this very special holy spirit-like moment for your awe and delectation! 
And to think that with all of this hitting the i-waves today you can only imagine what else is to come! Make sure to visit our facebook page for yet more amazing images from the day- a collection which will, we are certain be augmented as the week and indeed festival proceeds!
Don’t forget that it all kicks off next Tuesday with Dervla Murphy, Alice Taylor in conversation with Sean Rocks at 8pm. For more info about our events, interviews and generally inspiring literary information, check out our interview, news and programme pages!
DBF You grew up in the West of Ireland and indeed studied there. How much does the element of place infiltrate your writing? [click to continue…]
Up The Republic! Towards A New Ireland edited by political and cultural commentator and Irish Times assistant editor Fintan O’Toole has an interesting front cover by Jorn Kaspuhl of a man pushing Ireland out of deep water, following on from the image of the euro sinking on his previous book Ship of Fools. In this run up to 2016, whether this is possible and the reality of Ireland as a republic is addresed by eight of Ireland’s leading scholars. And it is a hefty weight of contributors made up of lecturers, poets, editors and professors so we should pay attention. [click to continue…]
My first book hit the shelves on my forty-fifth birthday. Often, people ask do I regret that I didn’t start my writing career earlier. I reply, ‘not at all,’ as my writing is largely influenced by my previous career in the international business world and my experience off-road adventure travels. However, it’s never long before the characters take over the story; as the author I used to think I was in charge! Despite the strong multicultural element, intrinsically my books reflect today’s Irish people and our modern family dynamics.
An avid researcher of the story’s backdrop, my hope is that readers will travel – from the streets of, say, inner city Dublin to the vast plains of the Masai Mara, or to a smoky jazz club in Old Quarter, Hanoi. Yet, the real theme and journey lies within the laughter, learning and tears, the reader is transported through.
You can catch Siobhan on Sunday, 18 November with other emerging bilingual authors. For more information, check out our programme page- http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/category/programme/
teacher, and my grandmother, Kitty. Each had a typewriter in the
drawing room. My grandmother had finished a detective novel on her
clunky Remington in the early 50s: now it was mine to batter with
stories that rarely got beyond the first few lines. [click to continue…]
I started this whole writing business in school, in another century and in another country. The first story I ever wrote was fairly silly and it featured a jester who couldn’t sing to save his life. Literally. The end.
All the stories I’ve written and published so far share this blatant silliness. They’re full of odd characters, feisty grannies, tapdancing shopkeepers, psycho cats, beardless ogres, and a slightly worrying amount of food references, from peas, to liquorice, to popcorn soup. [click to continue…]
Michael Clifford is a reporter and columnist with the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Times. He regularly contributes to a variety of programmes on Irish radio and television. He is author of Love You to Death: Ireland’s Wife Killers Revealed and co-author of Bertie Ahern and the Drumcondra Mafia and Scandal Nation. Ghost Town is his first novel. [click to continue…]
‘I think it’s rare for psychologists to end up on the other side of the couch, and barristers behind bars so I’m hoping I don’t end up as a serial killer.’
By day she is analyzing body language in the Central Criminal Court and by night she is on the phone with various permutations of the criminal classes. As if reporting on crime was not enough, however, Niamh O’Connor also manages to write true crime novels about it. Niamh O’Connor has indeed become one of Ireland’s best known crime authors. She is the true crime editor for the Sunday World and Her three novels, If I Never See You Again, Taken and Too Close For Comfort have introduced a refreshing heroine in feisty DI Jo Birmingham. Despite her busy and somewhat morbid schedule, the DBF managed to grab her for a few minutes to talk about what makes criminals tick and why she finds it all so exciting. [click to continue…]
Well tweeple- this is the last week of our fantabulous recipe tweeting competition so never mind the cold weather outside- this is the perfect week for you to conentrate on your winter recipe warmers! We have already got some amazing tweets in, including one for a quick roast! All you have to do is come up with your own version of a recipe under 140 characters. Sounds difficult? Well we are here to tell you that it CAN BE DONE!
How to Enter!: To enter the competition just compose your own recipe – keeping it under 140 characters and tweet it to us @dublinbookfest , for example @dublinbookfest Christmas Crunch Cake-crushed digestives soaked in rum, cinnamon, cover with nutmeg custard and choc flake, bake 4 15mins!
To give you an idea of what we are looking for, take a look at these taken from Jane Traver’s hit book ‘Tweet Treats’:
Gooey Mars Bar Sauce@mduffywriter
Boil 140ml double cream. Add 2 chopped Mars Bars and 50g choc. Lid on & turn off heat. When choc melts stir & pour on ice-cream. Yum
Clonakilty Pudding Risotto@manaboutcouch
Saute onion, garlic, chorizo. Add Arborio rice, vermouth, veg stock, cook till absorbed. Top: Clonakilty pudding, parmesan, steamed asparagus
Turkey Cranberry Parcels @janetravers
Spread turkey steaks liberaly w good cranberry sauce. Roll, tie w twine, bay leaf on each, spray oil. Roast 180c 20 mins.
P.S we LOVE the inclusion of gastric adjectives like ‘yum’! Send your tasty tweets to @dublinbookfest to be in with a chance to win a hamper full of signed cookbooks!
1 Finishing it.
2 The first phone call from what will become ‘your publisher’.
3 Opening the cardboard box that arrives unexpectedly one a Tuesday lunchtime and lifting out copy after copy of your book.
4 Falling in love with your creation as you flick through its pages for the first time.
5 Looking down at the faces in the audience at the launch and realising they’re smiling.
6 Seeing a book with your name on it on a shelf in Easons.
7 Unexpected words of praise from somebody you don’t know.
8 Changing your Twitter profile so it starts with ‘Writer and…’.
9 Suddenly realising you’ve fulfilled your dream.
10 Starting the next one…
Freya McClements’ first collection of short stories, The Dangerous Edge of Things, was published by Guildhall Press in July 2012. She will be reading from her collection as part of the Dublin Book Festival on Thursday 15th November in the Smock Alley Theatre from 12.20pm.
The list of this year’s Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Award for the Irish Book Awards has been announced. Check out the list here:
Mary Costello for the China Factory (Stinging Fly), Donal Ryan for The Spinning Heart (Lilliput Press, Doubleday Ireland), Rosemary McLoughlin for Tyringham Park (Poolbeg), Kathleen MacMahon for This is How it Ends (Little, Brown) and Maeve Higgins for We Have a Good Time Don’t We? (Hachette) and Selina Guinness for The Crocodile By the Door (Penguin Ireland).
Catch these literary whippersnappers for a special panel discussion with the Sunday Independent’s Madeleine Keane on Friday, 16 November! http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/category/programme/prog-by-day/friday-16th/
Meet Katie-one of the most integral cogs in the DBF machine! She is one of a team who has worked tirelessly over the last number of months to bring you the fabulousness that is the Dublin Book Festival! This fine (well…) morning she has stepped away from the confines of the ‘office’ to tell you wonderful people about how the experience of the DBF 2012 has affected the way she thinks about books, writing and meeting people offline as well as on! For Katie there is no substitute for human contact!
“I remained sceptical of events aimed at the unpublished for years. Surely they can teach me nothing that the almighty Google can’t I thought. Since then I moved to Dublin, studied creative writing and got dragged along to many such events by my friends. Now I am convinced that there is no substitute for actual human contact. Being able to ask specific questions in a collegial setting is so much more rewarding than reading an article about editing online. Making friends who are writers and publishers through events like these demystifies the whole process. It’s extremely motivating to pitch your idea to an editor and see them smile, or to mention your story to a writer friend and hear them say ‘Actually, my agent likes stuff like that. You should send it to them.’
With the face of publishing changing daily and the media flooded with reports of how e-readers are killing/saving reading, copyright is evil/king, and nobody/everybody needs an agent attending discussions by professionals are invaluable in allowing all sides of a debate to be aired and explored. People from all aspects of publishing and at all stages of their careers will be at the Dublin Book Festival this year and there are two events where they will come together to share their knowledge with unpublished writers, emerging authors and anyone that would like to attend.
Writers and publishers will talk books with anyone. The best thing about these events is the community; the fact that, despite locking ourselves away like hermits every day pounding out words on a laptop, when we look around the audience at these events we know we are not alone.
This year at the Dublin Book Festival there are two events aimed at writers and I would urge everyone to come along (especially as they fall in the middle of NaNoWriMo)
Inspiration for Writers: Writing for Young Adults
Inspiration for Writers: The Do’s and Don’ts of Publishing
They’re free too, so I’ll accept no excuses!”
Join the DBF in making your voice heard for those writers who can’t.
The Day of the Imprisoned Writer celebrates and supports writers who resist repression of the basic human right to freedom of expression and who stand up to attacks made against their right to impart information and insight.
On 15 November former Beirut hostage and writer Brian Keenan, poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and journalist Justine McCarthy will read from the work of writers based around the world who have been targeted because they had the courage to speak their minds. These writers challenge injustice and confront the governments and oppressive regimes who see every criticism as a threat to their power. The human voice is one of the most powerful weapons in defence of human rights and against tyranny, and the writers whose work will be profiled on November 15 have paid a very high price for their courage including:
Chinese poet Zhu Yufu was imprisoned for seven years last December, charged with ‘inciting subversion of state power’. The charges reportedly relate to a poem he wrote, as well as other online writings, interviews he gave to foreign media and donations he collected on behalf of families of people jailed for their pro-democracy and human rights activities.
Turkish human rights lawyer and writer Muharrem Erbey has been held in prison since 2009 charged with having links with the illegal PKK. Muharrem Erbey is a writer and columnist and member of the Kurdish Writers’ Association.
On 02 September Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Jila Baniyaghoob began a one year prison term because of her work as a journalist and human rights campaigner, documenting the post-election demonstrations in Iran, and state violence. Her husband, and fellow journalist, Bahman Ahmadi Amou’i is also in prison because of his work as editor of a leading business magazine.
Writers, journalists and poets often force us to confront the reality of the world we live in. They challenge the myths and the self-aggrandising propaganda to expose the truth – the violence and the repression that is inflicted on a daily basis on those who refuse to remain silent in the face of injustice.
Join us on November 15 and show your support for persecuted writers around the world.
ALL WELCOME – ADMISSION FREE
SEATING LIMITED – REGISTRATION ADVISABLE AT: http://theimprisonedwriter.eventbrite.com/
Conor Kostick is a man of many talents, writing not only non-fiction history books but also children’s science fiction novels. He is perhaps best known in this regard for his Avatar Chronicles series and has also written a book for younger readers called The Book of Curses . If all of this were not enough, he also teaches medieval history at Trinity College Conor and was the recipient of a Special Merit Award at the Reading Association of Ireland Awards in 2009 for his book Move, and for his contribution to science-fiction writing in Ireland. He has achieved international success with Epic and Saga. Conor took time out of his exceptionally busy schedule to talk to the DBF about writing, juggling family life and his work, as well as how copyright law might well be changing for the worse for today’s authors. [click to continue…]
‘Oh temptation is a constant friend! It sits on one shoulder while the responsible partner digs its nails into the other.’
Joyce Russell is most definitely a lark in that her ideas come to her best in the early morning before ‘life intrudes’ on her day! Having grown up in the Yorkshire Dales, Joyce moved to Bantry in west Cork in 1978 after falling in love with it on holidays. She went to live the self-sufficiency dream and hasn’t looked back since. She has won or been shortlisted on multiple occasions for the Sean O Faolain Short Story Award, The Real Writers International Award, and the START Chapbook prize, the Bridport Prize, the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Competition and the FISH Short Story Competition. She is a founder member of Friends of the Earth Ireland and is co-author with her husband, Ben, of The Polytunnel Book. Joyce talked to the DBF about her characters, the importance of place and what defines her most as a writer.
Gearrscéalta Gaeilge ón gcoigríoch
Seans mór gurb é Gonta an chéad chnuasach gearrscéalta Gaeilge riamh a bhfuil gach ceann de na scéalta ann suite thar lear. Tar éis dom trí no ceithre cinn de na gearrscéalta seo a scríobh, iad ar fad lonnaithe i gcathair Salvador, sa Bhrasaíl, thosaigh amhras ag teacht orm. An mbeadh margadh ann dóibh? Nach raibh litríocht na Gaeilge gafa, go príomhá, leis an saol Fódlach?
Ag aoiléacht a thug mé ag Ollscoil na Gaillimhe cuireadh ar mo shúile dom nach raibh bunús ar bith leis an tuairim seo a bhí agam. Tar éis dom ceann de na scéalta atá sa chnuasach a léamh, chuir mé ceist ar na mic léinn a bhí i láthair ar cheapadar ‘aisteach’ é, scéal i nGaeilge a bhí suite go hiomlán i ndomhan coimhthíoch. “Aisteach? Tá scéalta mar seo riachtanach!” Sin iad na focail a thug an misneach dom an chuid eile den chnuasach a scríobh.
(Tá Gonta ar fáil o Chois Life.)
Exotic shorts – as Gaeilge
My short story collection Gonta might be the first in the Irish language in which all of the stories are set abroad – in Salvador, Brazil, of all places. When I had about a third of the collection written, doubt set in. Not about the stories themselves, but about whether there would be a market for them. In my mind, the words ‘Irish language literature’ and ‘navel-gazing’ were often synonyms.
When, after reading one of the stories at a guest lecture in NUIG, I asked the students whether they felt stories set abroad but told in Irish were somehow odd, their reaction proved just how wrong I had been. “They’re not odd, there’s a dire need for them!” were the words that made me buckle down and finish the collection.
(Gonta is published by Cois Life.)
Historical Fiction and JapanHistorical fiction is a popular genre, as Hilary Mantel’s novels about Tudor England demonstrate. Most of her readers would know quite a lot about Henry VIII and have an idea about who Thomas Cromwell was; so her main task was to make well-known materials dramatic and compelling. However, Tudor England and Tokugawa Japan are very different, and unique difficulties face any fiction writer who wishes to capture the spirit of late seventeenth century Japan. How much should you explain about the culture of a time and place that is very remote from your own? How much history is too much? I decided that I wanted to write about the milieu of the great Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, a figure who is as familiar to me as any European king; yet what would my readers know about him?
Historical fiction needs to balance the ‘history’ against the ‘fiction’. One problem in writing about early modern Japan for a European audience is a almost total lack of familiarity with characters and events of that remote time and place. How much to explain becomes an issue. Include too much history, and the stories lose narrative drive; too little, and the reader may feel lost in an unfamiliar landscape. While trying to balance ‘showing’ what was happening and ‘explaining’ what it meant, I chose to make ‘story’ pre-eminent. This meant resisting the temptation to discuss topics such as the socio-economic implications of the rise of the merchant class at the expense of the samurai. The Plum Rains is for the general reader, not the specialist. For this reason, my rogue samurai and ‘pleasure providers’ were depicted within the terms of their reality as they experienced it. My goal was to write about Japan in the 1690s as if the text itself had been written then, thereby creating an aura of authenticity that would support my stories even for those readers for whom the complex historical and sociological factors of that period were unknown.
John teaches a fiction writing course in Dublin City Centre and is always looking for aspiring writers who are serious about moving their work forward into publication. If you would like to get in touch with John about this, contact him at johngivens@eircom.net.
Don’t forget to hear John reading from his latest novel, The Plum Rains on Friday, 16 October http://www.dublinbookfestival.com/category/programme/prog-by-day/friday-16th/
‘in 2005-2006, I imagined a world in which two candidates from Derry ran for the Irish presidency, the media attempted to crucify them both, while the extreme right launched attacks on a candidate because of his suspected homosexuality. I really do think I deserve the Nostradamus Award for that one.’
Garbhan Downey has been described as one of the best political satirists of the century- high praise and difficult to live up to, however, Garbhan is more than u to the challenge. As well as having published seven comedy-thrillers set in the post-ceasefire North, he has also worked as a journalist, broadcaster, newspaper editor, literary editor and released four works of non-fiction with Guildhall Press. He is currently Media Director for Derry’s 2013 City of Culture year. His latest book, Across the Line, frontlines football as the unlikely and yet likely catalyst for social disaster post ceasefire. Garbhan took the time to talk to the DBF about writing, politics, and using fiction as a weapon of cathartic revenge! [click to continue…]
‘I care a lot about language and the texture of my prose, the same way that people who like modern painters like Cezanne or Pierre Bonard will describe the surface of their painting’From farcical policemen in Cambodia/Malaysia to the poetry of the Samurai in the Edo period in 17th century Japan, John Givens is not afraid to experiment with his fiction. Originally from California, he has lived in various pockets all over the world and has, for the last number of years been living in Dublin. As well as penning highly sophisticated and gripping historical fiction and short stories, he also teaches fiction writing in Dublin. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Givens studied art and language in Kyoto for four years, and worked in Tokyo as a writer and editor for eight years. Givens’ published novels are: Sons of The Pioneers, A Friend in The Police, and Living Alone. His short story collection, The Plum Rains, was published in Dublin by The Liffey Press. [click to continue…]
This is Púca Púca who wrote the book from which Biddy Jenkinson will read. Púca Púca disclaims all responsibility for her poems.
Ba mhaith le Púca Púca bheith libh ach tá cúramaí air san saol eile. Iarrfaidh sé ar Bhiddy píosa dá scéal a léamh. Tá súil aige nach mbeidh sí bhuffásach.
Biddy will be reading at Fairytales/Síscéalta – Bilingual Author Reading with Catherine Sheridan and Biddy Jenkinson
Your 6 Compasses to Success
Everyday it’s very easy to get distracted with everything that is coming at us. To assist with this why not incorporate these six compasses into your life to ensure you keep on course.
1 – Your Vision
A vision is a statement of where you are trying to get to. It needs to reflect your own core values.
2 – Your Values
Values are those inner rules that we work with, they are what is important to us in life.
3 – Your Philosophy
How do you want to live your life? It’s not what you say, it’s what actions you take and hence your behaviour.
4 – Your Promise
What are you promising to deliver, to contribute, to give?
5 – Your Positioning
Are you doing what you love to do? What is it that you do exceptionally well?
6 – Your Engagement
In the work that you do, how much are you engaged with what you are doing? Are you consistent?
Paul Davis is the author of “EVOLVE – Look Within Yourself for Business Success” and you can catch him on Thursday, 15 November at Getting The Upper Hand For Your Business in the Recession: Finance, Marketing and Success.
‘I did think I was Buffy for a while when I was 12…………’
Laura Jane Cassidy writes supernatural mysteries for teenagers and is not afraid to be creepy. Her novels Angel Kiss and Eighteen Kisses are published by Puffin. She is also working on another series in which a group of teenagers predict the future by writing stories- the first of which she has just finished and hopes to get out some time next year. When she is not glued to her studio Laura’s favourite pastimes include wandering around Dublin bookshops and immersing herself in it’s ‘great literature scene’. The DBF met up with Laura in one of her favourite haunts- Starbucks on Dawson St. to ask her some questions and get to know this promising new voice in young adult fiction. [click to continue…]
I’m eagerly anticipating this year’s Dublin Book Festival. It will be my first opportunity to both visit and participate in such an exciting event. On Sunday November 18th I will be giving an illustration and book binding workshop for children in the Smock Alley Theatre. I have recently had my first picture book, Ghost of Shandon published by Onstream Publications. I love spooky tales that can excite and engage with children’s imaginations. The relationship between writing and illustrating is close to my heart. I love sharing this passion with children. A book that can fuel children’s imaginations and the exploration of words in relation to visual imagery can play an important role in their development and creativity. My workshop is a simple process that explores this relationship between words and images in a fun, easy going setting.
“A song, Bob Dylan once said, is just a thought. Yes, but a song
cannot become great if it is built around an ordinary thought. Every
great song contains a special kind of thought, the kind that strikes
you as having occurred just to you alone, but which, having been
uttered, offers confirmation that the heart of another is a little
like your own. Great songs unite us around thoughts that are not
immediately obvious, or already consensual, or even thoughts that seem
close to madness. But, reluctant as I am to quibble with a master, it
strikes me that ‘thought’ is close to being the wrong word. Doesn’t a
thought depend on words? Isn’t a thought a coherent piece of
reasoning, even if it ends up unreasonable? A song is more than that:
it has the music, existing in some strange relationship with the
words, coloring them, shading them, adding to them another dimension,
making them live beyond the level of logic. But, still, methinks, the
song, to become worthy of the name, always contains a reasonable
proposition, but in some far more tremendous sense than we have come
to think about. In its interweaving of words and music – and rhythm
and personality – the song goes to another place which is not so
accessible anymore by other means. Songs, poems and prayers use the
same circuits and are held in the same storehouse in the heart. The
song emerges from that space in the human heart where the ultimate
quality of reason resides, and brings it to life. It is, really, a
cry. Perhaps it is becoming the only place in the modern world, where
the most fundamental cry may still be heard.”
Catch John on Wed, 14 November in our Dancing About Architecture event with Marcus Connaughton and Paul Charles as they ask the question: ‘Is it truly possible to capture in “words” what music is about?’
This year’s Dublin Book Festival will run from 13th – 18th November with a packed programme of events, almost entirely free of charge with readings, interviews, debates, book launches and workshops for adults, children and schools – as well as a number of special guest appearances. The 2012 festival celebrations will be based in and around Smock Alley Theatre, Temple Bar which was, throughout the eighteenth century, predominantly home to printers and publishers. It is very fitting that the Dublin Book Festival which celebrates Irish publishing and Irish-published authors should return to this area.
The Festival, which has been programmed by Julianne Mooney, features a vast array of events taking place in Smock Alley Theatre and The Gutter Bookshop. From crime and literary fiction, to health, cookery and gardening to poetry and Irish language titles, there is a huge mix of genres, authors and contributors represented. The central aim of the festival is to create a community atmosphere in which to show the diversity, vitality and talent of Irish publishers and writers. The Dublin Book Festival confidently promises something for everyone and – with the majority of the events being free – there is plenty to entertain and inspire this November.
‘In conversation’ series:
Our exciting series of in conversations will give readers the chance to learn more about writers, their own inspirations and untold stories. Visitors will not only have the chance to see and hear authors in interview during the festival but we will have a more informal chat with them in the run up to the big thing in our newly created and very comfy DBF Lounge!
Children’s programme:
Wondering what to do with the children during the cold winter days? This year’s festival includes a vibrant programme for children running free events on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th November including a reading from The Nightmare Club Series with David Maybury and Oisin McGann, a bookbinding and cartoon workshop, a children’s treasure hunt around Temple Bar, a bilingual reading of fairytales reading with Catherine Sheridan and Biddy Jenkinson, storytelling with Niall de Burca and lots more. Children will be able to hang out at the Children’s Corner to read or try their hand at writing their own story.
Right so programming is well and truly under way here at the DBF towers and even this early on in the proceedings things are looking mighty exciting. Can’t give too much away but let’s just say that a fair few well known Irish faces will be in attendance taking part in discussions of all things literary! Over the course of five days, the festival will feature events across all genres, literature, cookery, gardening, history, Irish literature, music and lots more. There will be a schools programme and over the weekend in Smock Alley there will be a children’s corner, where there will be storytelling, workshops (bookbinding anyone?) and lots of fun books to read! With over 30 events there will be something for everyone and we look forward to welcoming you to the Dublin Book Festival 2012. Keep it here for more info as the events draw near and don’t forget to check our facebook and twitter pages for….yes….even MORE updates on this years literary bonanza!
For those of you who are looking at this mid-summer’s day (ish) and getting depressed with the eventual advent of winter- do not fret, for the end of the summer has its advantages! This year’s Dublin Book Festival will take place in none other than the recently refurbished Smock Alley Theatre in Temple Bar from the 14-18 November. We are seriously excited about this venue- not only becuase of its long and dramatic history (more to come on that!) but also because of the events that will sit perfectly inside this beautiful building. We will have everything from readings and performances to more ‘involved’ literary events so remember to save the date for what will be the most dynamic and cracking festival yet. Keep it here for more details and updates as well as some more general and interesting musings on all things books! We are also on facebook and twitter and so unavoidable really! Also don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter too so you won’t miss a thing!
For a better look at our new home check it out! http://www.smockalley.com/theatre/
(Image: photograph of a detail of John Roque’s map of Dublin, 1787)
