While Waterstone's has launched similar guides for its readers, it's great to see the Irish book chain Eason's going the same direction with its venture, Eason's Guide to Children's Books. It costs £1.99 and is edited by Sarah Webb, president of Children's Books Ireland. The cheerful little booklet covers hundreds of titles for babies up to 11 plus, including a section on reference books. There's an emphasis on Irish publishers, and the guide is illustrated throughout , making it ideal for picking out presents for the young people on your Christmas list.
Still on children's books, the Reading Association of Ireland Book Awards were presented recently. Sponsored by the ESB since 1985, two awards have been presented biennially for Irish-published children's books. Winner this year was Angels Without Wings (Wolfhound), a thriller for teenagers set in 1934 Berlin, by Mark O'Sullivan. The Special Merit Award went to Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick for The Long March (Wolfhound), the true story of Choctaw tribe members raising $170 in 1847 for Irish Famine victims. The winners received crystal trophies, but no monetary prizes: however, as Wolfhound explained, "Prizes like this help sell on translation rights."
And speaking of sales and the things publishers have to do to ensure them, Sadbh was most amused to learn from The New York Review of Books that when Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone came out in America the word sorcerer was substituted for philosopher "on the assumption that most American readers know nothing about the history of alchemy and think of philosophy as dull."
Thursday saw the high-profile launch of Prof Donal McCartney's magnus opus, UCD - A National Idea, The History of University College Dublin reviewed this week on these pages by Anthony Clare. Prof Clare is among the cast of thousands that feature in the book, immortalised in its pages for his glorious L&H and Observer Mace debating career with partner Patrick Cosgrave.
Donal McCartney has been working on the book more or less full-time since retiring in 1994, and there were so many enthusiastic acceptances to its launch that the original choice of venue, Newman House on Dublin's St Stephen's Green, had to be abandoned in favour of the much larger campus venue of O'Reilly Hall. Among the estimated 200 attending were Dr Garret FitzGerald, and Dr Paddy Hillery and Maeve Hillery. Prof McCartney has spent almost all his working life at UCD, and while putting this book together, came across references to himself in his research.
"It made me feel a little like Alfred Hitchcock," McCartney admitted cheerfully. "You know the way he used to put himself as a passer-by in his film? That's how I sometimes saw myself when I came by references to myself in documents. An occasional bit player."
On Tuesday this week, the winners of the 1999 Fallen Leaves Short Story Competition were given their loot and laurels at UCC. The competition is run by Cork Campus Radio in association with the Examiner and Cork University Press, and winning entries will be broadcast on the local 97.4 FM band. Winners were Martin Malone with `There's No Fool Like An Old Fool'; Chuck Kruger with `Yes and No'; and Frances Lombard - who is all of 16 years-old - with `The Vultures Cry Tears of Laughter'. Special mention went to Lorcan Byrne, with his intriguingly-named story, `Haydn and the Melting of Ice'. Despite dark mutterings about young people forgoing creativity for the lure of the Internet etc, Fallen Leaves received so many entries from the under-19 age-group that they will be introducing a separate category next year.
Daidi na Nollag has visited the poet and Irish Times columnist, Liam O Muirthile early this year with the good news that he is the winner of Gradam Litriochta Chlo IarChonnachta for his collection of poetry, Walking Time agus Danta Eile, his first since Diolaim Bothair (Gallery Press) in 1992. Taking as his theme carpentry, O Muirthile explores the art of crafting both wood and verse. With prize money of £5,000, this annual award, sponsored by Udaras na Gaeltachta, is unsurprisingly becoming a firm fixture on the arts calendar for Irish-language writers. O Muirthile will find his Christmas stocking full to the tune of £3,000, while Celia de Freine, poet and scriptwriter for the TG4 soap, Ros na Run, has been awarded £2,000 for her collection, Faoi Chabaisti is Rionacha.
Talk about pulling off the double! Not only did Ivy Bannister win first prize of the Francis MacManus Commemorative Trophy plus £2,000 for her story "Love" - she also won the fourth prize of £500 for a tale called "Pan, Pan, Pan". The accolades were handed out last Sunday by RTE director general, Bob Collins, in this, the 14th year of the competition which commemorates writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus. The second prize went to Claire Keegan, the third to Martin Devaney.