In The Irish Times tomorrow, Bernadette Fallon looks back over 40 years of Galway’s Cúirt literary festival and ahead to this year’s event; GP Claire Gleeson talks to Niamh Donnelly about her familicide novel: “I have dealt with patients who lose complete touch with reality”. Emma Donoghue is interviewed for the Me, Myself and Ireland feature: “In Ireland we start with the slagging. That is something I really treasure”. Ronan McGreevy talks to award-winning medical author Suzanne O’Sullivan abpout her new book, The Age of Diagnosis. And there is a Q&A with author Oisín Fagan about his new novel, Eden’s Shore.
Reviews are Paul D’Alton on The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O’Sullivan and No More Normal: Mental Heath in an Age of Over-Diagnosis by Dr Alastair Santhouse; Ian Hughes on Londres 38 by Philippe Sands; Adrienne Murphy on Maybe I’m Amazed: A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs by John Harris; Martina Evans on the best new poetry; John Boyne on Fair Play by Louise Hegarty; Adam Wyeth on Gary Lightbody’s The Forest is the Path; Ray Burke on Justice for my Father by Austin Stack; NJ McGarrigle on The Big Fight by Dave Hannigan; Martina Evans on Irish Nurses in the NHS: An Oral History by Louise Ryan, Gráinne McPolin and Neha Doshi; Eamon Sweeney on Gilbert & George and the Communists by James Birch; Naoise Dolan on One Boat by Jonathan Buckley; and Kevin Power on Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is James by Percival Everett, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
From May 16th to 25th, the International Literature Festival Dublin will present a programme of more than 200 events across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, film, music and performance for all ages. The mix of global and Irish voices includes Constance Debré, Javier Cercas, Ece Temelkuran, David Park, Seán Ronayne, Wendy Erskine and many more
Want to brunch with UK journalist, podcaster, and author Daisy Buchanan, discussing her latest book Read Yourself Happy: How to Use Books to Ease Your Anxiety? Prefer an intimate live music session with Stuart Murdoch, frontman of Belle and Sebastian? How about a conversation with environmentalist Colin Butfield, Sir David Attenborough’s longtime collaborator, on how to save Earth’s last wilderness? Or perhaps you’d like to hear from renowned cultural commentators Rebecca Solnit and Roxane Gay on feminism, politics and the culture wars?
These are just some of the many voices in this year’s line-up for International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD), with tickets now on sale at ILFDublin.com.
Now in its 28th year, ILFD will once again transform Merrion Square Park into a vibrant festival village, with marquees, pop-up bookshops, food trucks, deckchairs, and a welcoming, relaxed atmosphere for all ages.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Emma Blain, said: “Dublin is synonymous with great literature and exceptional writers, so it’s fitting that our capital city is home to Ireland’s leading literary event. I encourage everyone to visit ILFD this May to experience inspiring events, fascinating discussions, and incredible creativity in one of the city’s most beautiful parks.”
The Literary Award of the Francophonie Ambassadors in Ireland was presented this week to Doireann Ní Ghríofa and her translator Élisabeth Peellaert. for her book A Ghost in the Throat, published in French last year by Éditions Globe as Un fantôme dans la gorge.
The annual selection of titles to be considered for the Award is made in partnership with Literature Ireland, the national organisation for the promotion of Irish literature abroad; the other shortlisted works were Spies in Canaan by David Park (Un espion en Canaan, Éditions La Table Ronde, 2024), Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Un Acte de Gloire, Éditions Buchet Chastel, 2024), and The Pages by Hugo Hamilton (Les Pages, Éditions Phébus, 2024).
In A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann Ní Ghríofa weaves a haunting and lyrical narrative that blends memoir, history, and poetry. The book explores the life of 18th-century poet Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, author of the poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, intertwined with Ní Ghríofa’s own reflections on motherhood, identity, and the power of language.
Ní Ghríofa was given her award by the Ambassador of Austria to Ireland, Melitta Schubert, at a ceremony at the Austrian Ambassador’s Residence in Dublin. Peellaert was presented with her translation award by the Director of Literature Ireland, Sinéad Mac Aodha.
Mac Aodha said: “We are delighted to work as Irish partners with all the Ambassadors of the Francophonie on this special literary prize which recognises the best of Irish literature and its great reach in French translation to readers across the Francophone world. Literature Ireland congratulates Doireann Ní Ghríofa on her hugely original and moving writing, which has captured so many hearts. We also congratulate Élisabeth Peellaert on her sensitive and beautiful French translation. We also commend Éditions Globe, the French publishers, for producing such a beautiful book. Comhghairdeas ó chroí libh go léir.”
Previous recipients are John Banville (2016), Edna O’Brien (2017), Lisa Mclnerney (2018), Sara Baume (2019), Paul Lynch (2020), Claire Keegan (2021), Maggie O’Farrell (2022), Colm Tóibín (2023) and Louise Kennedy (2024).
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President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to Galway crime writer Ken Bruen who died last week.
“May I join with all those who have expressed their sadness on learning of the death of the writer Ken Bruen. Ken was an accomplished writer whose work was recognised not only by his fans, but also by his peers, including his receipt of the Shamus Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year. In addition to his own writing, Ken was also of assistance to many in assisting them through workshops.
“Sabina and I would like to offer our sympathies to Ken’s wife Philomena, to his daughter Grace, and to all of his family, friends, fellow writers and readers both in Ireland and internationally.”
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Now in its 24th year, the Strokestown International Poetry Competition has announce this year’s shortlist, judged by acclaimed poet Jane Clarke. The following five poems and poets have been selected, and listed in alphabetical order: René Laennec Remembers the day he dreamt a stethoscope by Olga Dermott-Bond; Driving Across the Humber Bridge by Paul McMahon; Footfall by Winifred McNulty; On Leaving by Judy O’Kane; Americana by Matthew Wimberley.
Clarke commented: “Among the 700-plus entries, many poems stood out and warranted rereading. The five shortlisted poems shone in their exploration of relationships with both intimacy and restraint, bringing diverse people, times, and places to life through a deft use of language that evokes music and imagery.”
The overall winner will be announced on Sunday, May 4th, as part of this year’s Strokestown International Poetry Festival. For more information, visit strokestownpoetryfest.ie
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To celebrate Poland’s presidency of the Council of the EU and 21 years of EU membership, an exhibition, Tales of Poland, runs from April 16th to May 16th at the Europa Gallery, 11 Chatham Street, Dublin 2.
The spirit and innovation of modern Polish children’s book illustration is captured in the work of 21 artists. Curated in collaboration with the Polish Book Institute’s Best of Polish Books award, this youthful and vibrant collection showcases the breadth and creative curiosity at the heart of children’s books.
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The title of this year’s Hubert Butler Essay Prize is: ‘Men must endure / Their going hence, even as their coming hither’ – King Lear. Have we no more active rights over life, birth and death?
The attitude of passive acceptance of birth and death, preached by Edgar to his father in King Lear, has been variously challenged in the modern period. The nature of human rights in the matter have been hotly contested: the right to life of the unborn child as against women’s reproductive rights, the principle of the sanctity of all human life clashing with the right to a chosen, dignified death. The title for this year’s Hubert Butler Essay Prize invites reflection on the ethical questions raised by such debates.
You are encouraged to explore Hubert Butler’s writings before starting your essay. How to enter.
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For one week, hundreds of Independent bookshops in over 50 cities and towns from Westport to Brooklyn, Stockholm, Malaga to Sydney to Mexico City will distribute The Global Book Crawl Passport to book lovers. Participants are invited to take their passport and embark on an adventure through the heart of a city’s/region’s indie bookshops, gathering stamps, discovering hidden cultural gems, availing of discount vouchers and connecting with other readers.
Each participating city is organising a unique book crawl, inviting the community to explore, discover, and support local bookshops.
The initiative is the brainchild of three bookshops; Tertulia bookshop, Westport, Federico Lang, Libreria Luces, Malaga, Spain and Jessica Stockport, Greenlight Books, Brooklyn, New York who realised the power of independent bookshops when they collaborate. The Global Book Crawl is more than an event, it’s a movement. By participating, bookshops strengthen their community bonds with book lovers and through collaboration with other local indie bookshops.
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”.
Starting on April 21st, 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 will be spaces on the passport for stamps from participating international bookshops too when book lovers visit Malaga or Florence for example.
Events will be held to celebrate the passport holders during Independent Book Week on June 14th -21st and Irish Book Week, October 18th-25th.
The campaign is spreading on Instagram @globalbookcrawl #globalbookcrawl; building a global literary map, one bookshop and one post at a time.
For participating Irish bookstores, visit globalbookcrawl.org
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Vision Ireland, in collaboration with the Irish Children Bereavement Network (ICBN) have made available new Braille and audio resources for children who are dealing with the loss of a loved one. Additional resources for parents and carers have also been made available.
The launch of the accessible versions of the books coincides with International Children’s Book Day, 2025. International Children’s Book Day is celebrated annually on April 2nd. This date is chosen to honour the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. International Children’s Book Day is a day for spreading awareness about how important reading is to shaping young minds. This day aims to remind the world how significant reading is for children and why we need to encourage the love of reading in children as well as making appropriate reading resources available to every child. Vision Ireland’s Book Bridge Project centres on the conversion of existing resources into accessible formats that can be made available to blind and vision impaired children and their families/carers.
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English PEN, together with partners Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann and the Estate of Seamus Heaney, has opened submissions for the PEN Heaney Prize 2025, and announced poets Sasha Dugdale, Seán Hewitt and Zaffar Kunial as judges for the 2025 Prize.
The PEN Heaney Prize was launched in 2024 in memory of the late Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, to recognise a single-author collection of poetry of outstanding literary merit that engages with the impact of cultural or political events on human conditions or relationships. The inaugural winner was Susannah Dickey for ISDAL (Picador Poetry).
Chris Heaney, representing the Estate of Seamus Heaney, will act as non-voting chair of the judging panel. The prize celebrates work that, in the words of Heaney’s Nobel Lecture, remains “true to the impact of external reality and … sensitive to the inner laws of the poet’s being”.
The prize is open to original English-language collections and collections translated into English, published in the UK and/or Ireland, for titles published this year.
The full criteria can be found here.
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Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartchuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins (Bullaun Press, 2024) has been shortlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize 2025 and the inaugural Tadeusz Bradecki Prize 2025.
Bullaun Press is Ireland’s only publisher dedicated exclusively to literary translation, funded by the Arts Council. The independent press was recently longlisted for the 2025 International Booker Prize with their first of two titles from Gaëlle Bélem - There’s a Monster Behind the Door. This week, the same title won the Republic of Consciousness Prize. The French author’s second book in translation, The Rarest Fruit, is forthcoming this May.
Two tales intertwined in a profound double portrait, Forgottenness painstakingly traces parallels between the historical and the contemporary, the collective and the individual, between the stories of two people born on the same day, a century apart. The narrator, a writer grappling with her growing anxiety and obsessive thoughts, becomes fixated on Viacheslav Lypynskyi (1882–1931), a once-significant figure in the struggle for Ukrainian independence who has since fallen into oblivion.
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The 29th Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize is now open for submissions.
Established in memory of Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British Ambassador to Ireland who was murdered by the IRA in 1976, the prize continues to recognise outstanding work that contributes to peace and reconciliation in Ireland, fosters greater understanding between the peoples of Britain and Ireland, or Ireland north and south, or encourages closer co-operation between the partners of the European Community.
Awarded biennially, the Prize carries a value of £7,500 and is administered by the Ewart-Biggs Trust, which includes the children of Christopher and Jane Ewart-Biggs, alongside the judges’ panel, chaired by Irish historian and academic, Prof Roy Foster.
In 2024 the winner was Irish playwright and screenwriter Lisa McGee, for the third series of her acclaimed Channel 4 television comedy-drama, Derry Girls.
Foster said: “The Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize has always sought to honour works that engage with the complexities of history, identity, and reconciliation. As we invite submissions for this 29th award, we look forward to discovering works that challenge conventional narratives, deepen our understanding of past and present conflicts, and offer fresh perspectives on the evolving relationship between Britain and Ireland.”
Writers, academics, filmmakers, and creatives who have produced work that aligns with the mission of the Prize are encouraged to apply. Over the years, the Prize has been won by works of history, politics, fiction, drama, film, journalism, and memoir. Eligible works must be published or performed in the calendar years 2024 and 2025. The prize will be presented in 2026.
The deadline is December 31st but early submissions are encouraged. ewartbiggsprize.org.uk
