LiteratureThe Lit Review

The Lit Review |65| Words Conference

By Conor O'Donovan
Was it for this that the wild geese spread
The grey wing upon every tide…?

Yes, sadly. But at least we have this week’s Lit Review!

 

Lit Events

The sun is out, and so is some new Irish fiction.

This Sunday at 3pm, New Island Books are holding a reading at the National Museum of Ireland. The book in question, Dermot Bolger’s The Lonely Sea and Sky, follows the story of 14 year old Jack aboard the Kerlogue, taking to sea to support his family after the death of his father. What are your plans for the summer?

The International Literature Festival is also ongoing.Though many events are booked out, there are still tickets available for Olivia Laing and Amy Liptrot on Thursday evening, Jim Sheridan on Saturday and A L Kennedy on Sunday.

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Gorse are running an event at a secret location on Friday. (The smart money says its your place.) Speakers from a range of different disciplines feature, with discussion focusing on the intersections between writing and other forms of art and culture.

There are also a host of free events: The Bookshop Band will be in town on Saturday and Sunday and there is also a host of free Roald Dahl themed events on Saturday.

To the victors, the spoils. Meet The Mark and The Void and The Improbability of Love.
To the victors, the spoils. Meet The Mark and The Void and The Improbability of Love. Source

Lit News

Paul Murray and Hannah Rothschild, have been declared joint winners of The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. As it stands, it is the only prize in the United Kingdom for comic literature. Murray and Rothschild will be presented with pigs named after their respective novels, a case of Bollinger champagne, and P.G Wodehouse’s complete bibliography at the awards ceremony on the 6th June.

Situations

The deadline for the Munster Literature Centre’s Fool for Poetry Competition is fast approaching. Entrants have until the 31st of May to submit their manuscripts (18-24 pages). There are cash prizes, publication, free copies of said publication and a reading at next year’s International Poetry Festival up for grabs.

The Hourglass Magazine are also accepting submissions until the 31st, for their Literary Magazine competition. The categories are Best Essay, Short Story and Poem, with an $1000 cash prize for each. The competition has an “international format” with “no geographical constraints”, so submissions are accepted in any of the BCMS languages, as well as English.

The Runt, a literature and art zine based in Dublin, are taking suggestions for the theme of their next issue on Twitter.

The Twitterary Review

This week on Twitter, The Lit Review has been doing some investigative work.

Thomas Morris has been taking it all in his stride.

Last Thursday was the Words Conference (#wordcon), Ireland’s first national literature conference. The topic of discussion was the treatment of writers at literary festivals.

Louise O’Neill reflected on the place of such festivals in her professional career.

Nuala O’Connor revealed the challenges involved from the writers point of view.

Meanwhile, keynote speaker Joanne Harris questioned attitudes towards the arts in general.

O’Neill also emphasised the positive side of the festival experience.

‘John Banville’ was also on hand.

It’s hard to tell if this is, in fact, a complaint.

See you next week!

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Conor O'Donovan 51 posts 0 comments

Conor writes and interviews people about books and storytelling. He grew up in Cork where a piece on the view from his bathroom window made it into his school yearbook. He studied English at Trinity and now works as Literature Editor for Headstuff. Spin him a yarn at [email protected]

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