In tomorrow’s Irish Times, Seán Hewitt writes about his acclaimed new memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, and Louise Nealon, June Caldwell, Olivia Fitzsimons and Kerrí Ní Dochartaigh talk to Joyce Butler about the influence of dreams on their work.
Reviews are Diarmaid Ferriter on Cathal Brugha: An Indomitable Spirit by Daithí Ó Corráin & Gerard Hanley; John Banville on Reiner Stach’s The Aphorisms of Kafka; Martina Evans on the best new poetry; Karlin Lillington on The Digital Republic: On Freedom and Democracy in the 21st Century by Jamie Susskind; Keith Duggan on Inside Qatar by John McManus; Enda Delaney on Charles Macklin by David O’Shaughnessy; Una Mannion on The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton; Paddy Woodworth on Sounds Wild and Broken by David Haskell; Roisin Kiberd on The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett; Niamh Donnelly on The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley; Helen Cullen on Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott; and Sarah Gilmartin on Blue Hour by Sarah Schmidt.
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Edna O’Brien has won the Pleasure of Reading Prize for her “bold, brave and sometimes visionary” body of work. The £10,000 prize, which recognises an author, writing in English, who brings pleasure through their writing, is shared between the author and a charitable Give a Book project of their choice. The prize takes its name from a 2015 anthology by Give a Book’s patron Lady Antonia Fraser, published by Bloomsbury. O’Brien was chosen by Bloomsbury authors Louise Kennedy and Benjamin Myers alongside last year’s winner Ali Smith.
Luke Cassidy’s Iron Annie Cabaret will take to the stage of the Boys School at Smock Alley Theatre on July 21st, 22nd & 23rd. A piece of monologue theatre featuring live music, the Cabaret—no frilly dresses or silly dancing, mind—toured twelve venues around the country last year. This summer will see performances in Smock Alley, as well as Belfast’s Accidental Theatre (July 29th & 30th), The Spirit Store, Dundalk (August 6th) and the Edinburgh International Book Festival (August 24th).
Iron Annie, the novel, which was recently shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, tells the story of Dundalk woman Aoife, a wheeler-dealer type from the border, and her unlikely romance with the well-heeled Annie, before the pair take off for the UK to offload several kilos of cocaine on the sly. In adapting his novel to the stage, Luke focused on the seduction storyline, collaborating with musicians working on bringing the emotional texture to life, with original songs composed for the Cabaret. Punk rock will be performed by Dundalk based band False Slag, with folk music performed by Annie June Callaghan. The production stars Georgia Cooney, and is directed by Rhiann Jeffrey.
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Dubray, Ireland’s leading dedicated bookseller, is opening a new store in early July on Henry Street in Dublin which will be located at the ILAC Centre. Dubray opened their Grafton Street shop in 1990 and 32 years later they are taking their place on Henry Street, one of Dublin’s premier shopping streets.
The opening of the new store on Henry Street marks the company’s third new store in Ireland in six months, having recently opened new shops on Patrick Street in Cork and in the Dundrum Town Centre in November. Dubray began as a single shop in 1973 in Bray and has now grown to have 11 stores in Ireland with nine shops in Dublin.
Maria Dickenson, general manager, said: “We are delighted to be opening our new store at the ILAC Centre, on Dublin’s landmark shopping street. With eight shops in the south of the city, it has long been our wish to take Dubray to the Northside, and our experienced team of booksellers look forward to creating a new haven for booklovers in Dublin City Centre”
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Christodoulos Makris is curating the closing event of the European Poetry Festival 2022 in partnership with festival director SJ Fowler. The European Camarade: Ireland takes place at Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Co Kildare, this Saturday, July 9th, at 7pm. Free entry, but booking is essential. Taking part are Máighréad Medbh & Samuel Vriezen, Róisín Power Hackett & Anna Belkovska, Nick Roth & SJ Fowler, Ella de Burca & Michael O’Mahony and Christodoulos Makris & Serena Braida.
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Independent Irish publisher Little Island Books has announced a collaboration with Black & Irish on a book titled Black and Irish: Celebrating Black Irish Legends, Trailblazers and Everyday Heroes. The book will be published to mark Ireland’s Black History Month in October 2023.
Covering historic and current figures from the worlds of the arts, sport, business, politics and social activism, Black and Irish will also celebrate everyday heroes: lesser known figures making a difference in Irish communities today. The target audience is teenagers and the book is also expected to have significant crossover appeal among an adult readership.
Black & Irish founder Leon Diop said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Little Island to bring this book to life. Black & Irish has been focused on showcasing the stories of black and mixed-race people from all over Ireland and we are delighted that we can now do this in the form of a book. It is critical that as our communities become more diverse, they also become more aware and empathetic to others. We hope our book will be able to drive those values in every Irish person here and abroad.”
Little Island Publisher Matthew Parkinson-Bennett said: “We couldn’t be more excited to work alongside the dynamic Black & Irish team who are already making waves in Irish culture. This landmark book will be so important for young people in Ireland and will be of great interest to Irish communities around the world.”
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The CWA’s National Crime Reading Month, spearheaded by bestseller Sam Blake, was the biggest campaign to date, with over 100 events across the UK and Ireland this June.
Ambassadors included Ian Rankin, Anthony Horowitz and L J Ross, who helped the campaign reach an online audience of over 80 million; features ran in the Telegraph and across BBC radio, with a Twitter campaign #PickUpAPageTurner. With launch events in London, a packed evening in Dublin’s Hodges Figgis and Cork City Library, Ambassador Steve Cavanagh took things online with a host of big names. Blake said: “NCRM shows the incredible appetite for this genre, and the positive role it can play in encouraging reading. The online events, podcasts and interviews are still available at www.crimereading.com”
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Ambit Pop 247, the new issue of iconic arts & literary magazine Ambit, sees renowned counter-culture cartoonist Savage Pencil take the reins as guest editor. Best known for his artwork for leading avant-garde musicians such as The Fall, Sunn O))), Sonic Youth and more, he’s taken an anti-celeb approach to elevate the artistic talents of friends he’s met over the years. These include musician Sharon Gal’s meat collages, 70s punk Gaye Black’s photographs of black metal bands, and riveting poetry from Aviva Dautch. On a counter-culture educational mission, Ambit has continued to showcase rebellion in poems, stories and art since 1959.
