Lucy Steeds' The Artist wins Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Reviews are Paschal Donohoe on Nature Capital: The Value of the World Around Us by Partha Dasgupta and Slow Down or Die: The Economics of Degrowth by Timothee Parrique, translated by Claire Benoit; Andrew Lynch on The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes by William Kelleher Storey; Siobhán Long on Beating Time: the Story of the Irish Bodhrán by Fintan Vallely; Vona Groarke on the best new poetry collections; Miriam Balanescu on Pan by Michael Clune; Emily Formstone on News of the World and An Aran Keening by Andrew McNeillie; Declan Burke on scifi; Ruby Eastwood on Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar; Paul Gillespie on Etain Tannam's British-Irish Relations in the Twenty-First Century, The Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and the Totality of Relations; Brigid O'Dea on Migraine by Samuel Fisher; Matthew O'Toole on The Root of All Evil by Cormac Moore; and Seamus Martin on The World of the Cold War by Vladislav Zubok.
This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
Eason offer
Lucy Steeds was named winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025 for her novel The Artist, tonight at the Waterstones flagship bookshop in Piccadilly.
Set over one sweltering summer during the 1920s, The Artist focuses on an enigmatic painter, the young British journalist set on penning a piece on him, and the artist's seemingly unworldly niece. As the young man sets out to write his piece on the great and terrifying painter, tensions between the three come to a dramatic conclusion.
The prize consists of £5,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to the winner's writing career. Last year's winner, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, shot into the bestseller charts after the announcement and the Irish author went on to be nominated for the Waterstones Book of the Year, the Nero Book Awards, the BAMB fiction award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. The book also featured on the BBC's Between the Covers, won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and The Authors' Club 2025 Best First Novel Award.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Head of Books, says: 'It is a great pleasure to announce that Waterstones booksellers have chosen Lucy Steeds as the winner of the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for her novel The Artist. From a shortlist of six stunning books, The Artist stood out for its atmospheric, sensory prose, and its headily evocative sense of time and place. It is a stylish, elegant treat of a novel which seamlessly transports the reader to sun-soaked southern France, weaving mystery with romance, while delving into the complex nature of artistry.
'Lucy Steeds is a writer of staggering, rare talent: she is able to conjure vivid brushstrokes, sticky heat, and the smells and tastes of Provence, through words on the page. This is a gorgeously claustrophobic novel to be fully swept away by: The Artist has something for readers of all taste and heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice. We can't wait to see what Lucy Steeds does next.'
Steeds said: 'My inspirations were twofold: firstly, I was fascinated by the concept of Art Monsters. These tyrannical figures who act abominably to the people around them in order to create great art. I was less interested in the art we've gained from these monsters, and more interested in the art we've lost. What could have been created if these tyrants weren't crushing everyone around them? Secondly, how much colour, texture, smell, and taste was it possible to convey on a page? How intensely could I evoke heat? Was it possible to create a painting using words instead of a brush? I wanted to write a book that felt alive.'
Also shortlisted were Confessions by Catherine Airey and Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin.
Trinity College Dublin's Icarus magazine launch
On August 27th, The Irish Writers Centre will host the launch of Icarus magazine's 75th anniversary issue.
Ireland's oldest active arts magazine will celebrate the occasion by featuring work from prominent former contributors and editors, while also promoting the work of Trinity College's brightest student writers and artists.
Icarus has been a platform for many notable Irish writers since 1950, with past editors including David Norris, Brendan Kennelly, Derek Mahon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Vona Groarke, Michael Longley and Sebastian Barry.
The magazine has also featured work from Eavan Boland, Seamus Heaney, William Burroughs, Paul Durcan, Thom Gunn, Colm Toibín and Simon Armitage over its long and decorated history.
Icarus has appeared frequently in Irish Times coverage, for example, in 1994, David Norris stated 'Icarus was and has remained an important forum for literary talent', speaking to a legacy that continues to be fulfilled.
Icarus Issue 75.3 will mark the anniversary by including an exciting variety of new and unseen work by some of the biggest names in Irish writing and poetry, while republishing many of the greatest works contributed by student writers over its history, some of whom went on to define a generation of Irish life and culture.
The special edition will, as always, spotlight the most engaging work by current student writers and artists of Trinity College as well. Icarus has always been at the cutting edge of Irish literature, encouraging many students to begin their writing journeys, something the editors, Cat Grogan and Louise Norris, wish to continue with this exciting issue.
*
Mary O'Malley has been shortlisted for the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize with her collection The Shark Nursery, along with fellow Carcanet authors Gillian Clarke, who is shortlisted with The Silence, and Christine Roseeta Walker with Coco Island.
The full shortlist is available
here
.
Honouring the work of St Lucian Nobel Prize poet Derek Walcott, the prize is offered annually for a book of poetry by a non-US citizen published anywhere in the world. It includes a $2,000 honorarium. This year's winner will be announced in October. The judge for this year's award is Ishion Hutchinson.
*
Literature Ireland and Atelier Samuel Beckett have announced a pilot literature residency for French and Irish artists at Atelier Samuel Beckett, supported by Literature Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conjunction with the Centre National du Livre in Paris and the Irish Embassy, France.
Atelier Samuel Beckett is an artist residency founded by Judy Hegarty Lovett and Conor Lovett, set in a country house on the banks of the river Seine just outside Paris.
The shared residency will take place from October 13th until November 7th and includes return travel from Ireland to France, living expenses, and self-catering accommodation.
Details on how to apply are
here
. The closing date for applications is August 20th.
*
The Banagher Brontë Group, founded in 2023, is hosting the Irish launch of Let Me In: The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar, by Ann Dinsdale and Sharon Wright. Kay Sheehy, recently retired RTÉ Radio 1 presenter and producer, will launch the book. Dinsdale is the principal curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire, home of the Brontës, as well as author of many books on the literary family and Sharon Wright is the author of The Mother of the Brontës, the biography of Maria Brontë.
The launch, on August 16th, is part of a gala garden party in Charlotte's Way, Banagher, formerly Hill House, home to Arthur Bell Nicholls, husband of Charlotte Brontë. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and included in your ticket is a signed copy of the book, a buffet meal, musical entertainment and a great Brontë day out.
The group has a three-day programme of events celebrating the Brontë/Irish connection as part of Heritage Week, August 16th-18th. This festival is a must for Brontë enthusiasts and would be a great introduction for you to the Banagher Brontë Group. If you would like to find out more, visit the
website
.
*
The literary strand of Clifden Arts Festival 2025 offers a powerful programme of talks, readings and conversations from 17–28 September in the heart of Connemara.
Historian Diarmaid Ferriter reflects on Ireland's transformation since the 1990s in his lecture The Revelation of Ireland 1995–2025. Branding expert John Fanning, former MD of McConnells and UCD lecturer, explores advertising, identity and storytelling in The Making of an Irish Icon: Barry's Tea.
Broadcaster John Creedon shares stories from his bestselling memoir This Boy's Heart, while Irish Times GAA columnist Ciarán Murphy presents Old Parish, his witty account of learning hurling later in life.
Poetry features strongly with Luke Morgan, winner of the 2025 Lawrence O'Shaughnessy Award, Séamus Ruttledge, and guests from Gallery Press.
Together, these voices offer insight, humour and reflection—celebrating the richness of Irish experience through the written and spoken word.
Full programme and tickets:
clifdenartsfestival.ie
*
The Inchicore Ledwidge Society will celebrate its 30th Anniversary on August 3rd at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge in Dublin. It was founded in 1995 to commemorate the soldier poet from Slane, Co Meath, who joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore in October 1914. The chairman of the Society has devoted many years to research on the poet and his works. In 1997, he added 66 uncollected poems (20 of which were previously unpublished) and he continues to gather lost poems and other material. The Society also published the prose of Francis Ledwidge for the first time in book form. In addition to the annual wreath laying ceremony and poetry reading, the society has organised an international poetry competition for the past 27 years.
*
The Irish Writers Centre, Ireland's leading resource for writers, has appointed seven new board members, reflecting a broad mix of expertise across literature, law, business, and the arts. The new appointments come as the Centre enters an ambitious phase of development under CEO Mags McLoughlin.
Joining the board are Maria Dickenson, a leading figure in the Irish book trade; BDO Ireland Managing Partner Brian McEnery; barrister Patrick Barrett; creative writing scholar Dr Gráinne Daly; IDA VP Brendan McDonald; leadership expert coach Helen Connealy; and chartered director Anne Fleck-Byrne.
They join existing board members Breda Brown, a communications consultant, Áine Denn, a tech entrepreneur, and author and solicitor Rosemary Hennigan.
Chair Breda Brown said: 'This is an inspiring group with a shared passion for supporting writers. Their combined expertise will shape the next chapter of our work across the island Ireland.'
*
Members of Femina Culpa, a Northern Ireland based poetry collective, will be reading at a variety of locations in London between 6 and 9 August. Emma McKervey, Milena Williamson and Linda McKenna have received funding from Culture Ireland towards their readings at the National Poetry Library, Keats House Museum, the Bank of England Museum and Bethlem Museum of the Mind. They will present poems from their most recent collections, published by Turas Press, Dedalus Press and Doire Press, which are inspired by their research into nineteenth century women caught up in the criminal justice system of the past.
*
Féile an Phobail, the West Belfast festival, kicks off on July 26th and runs till August 10th with a packed programme of craic agus ceol, discussion and debates, theatre, comedy, exhibitions, sports, tours and scores of local events.
Danny Morrison will be launching his updated memoir, All The Dead Voices, in Glór na Mona, Ballymurphy, on August 1st. Morrison will also be interviewing Pat Magee (Where Grieving Begins: Building Bridges after the Brighton Bomb) about the representation of Irish republicans in Troubles' fiction, film and drama. Magee's book, Gangsters of Guerrillas?, was based on 480 novels he analysed while serving five life sentences. That discussion will be in the James Connolly Visitor Centre on August 5th.
Scribes at the Rock, Rock Bar, on August 7th, features Liz Nugent (in interview); Rosie Schapp reading from The Slow Road North ('A beautiful, unsparing memoir about grief' - Irish Times); and Tim O'Grady on his new novel, Monaghan.
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Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Vona Groarke: ‘The best thing that could happen for Irish poetry is for people to buy poetry books'
Earlier this month, Vona Groarke became the 10th poet in a distinguished line to be named the Ireland Professor of Poetry. At the age of 60, Groarke is ready for a new challenge. She is finishing up her time as writer in residence at the prestigious St John's College, Cambridge, and her children are grown up. 'Suddenly the adrenaline has kicked in,' she smiles. 'Also a sense that I'm not going to live forever and whatever work I want to do, I ought to just do.' The Ireland Chair of Poetry Trust was set up in 1998 to celebrate Seamus Heaney following his Nobel Prize win, and every three years since, a poet of honour and distinction is chosen to represent the chair. Previous professors include Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill , Paul Durcan and, most recently, Paul Muldoon . Groarke describes Muldoon as a tough act to follow. She's an admirer of what he achieved during his time as professor of poetry, particularly his seminar series How To Read A Poem, which offered the reading public strategies for accessing contemporary poetry. 'It was a really clever way of not dumbing down poetry but also bringing people in.' READ MORE Groarke may be a more understated presence than the rock star poet Muldoon, but she is looking forward to bringing something fresh to the role when she begins this September. Her work speaks for itself. Over the past 30 years she has written 15 books, including nine collections of poetry, a book-long essay and her brilliant book Hereafter, a complex dialogue with her late grandmother's life as an immigrant in New York, which Groarke wrote during her time as Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library. One thing she will not be doing during her tenure as professor of poetry is force-feeding the nation poetry. 'I notice in England there's this idea of 'bringing poetry to the people' and I need to put asterisks around that idea because I think, yeah, if they want it . We're not in the business of ramming poetry down anybody's throats so if we invite them and they accept the invitation, then that's wonderful. If they don't want to accept the invitation, then we shouldn't consider that a failure. People are interested in different things. And also, if we try too hard to interest people who don't want to be interested in it, you end up sometimes compromising the art form and emphasising things other than the aesthetic element of it. I think in Ireland we're pretty good at not doing that but we need to be a little vigilant around that area, to respect the craft, to respect the aesthetic, to respect that it is an art form and it's not for everybody.' She is very much a believer in poetry as an art form first and foremost. 'There is a fashion for talking about the social application of poetry – poetry as a force for change, poetry as a force for expressing anger, a protest – and it can be those things, but we mustn't lose sight of the fact that it is also an art form and it has elements of craft and aesthetic and we lose something if we lose sight of those.' How does she feel about becoming something more of a household name as the professor of poetry? 'I feel slightly ambivalent about it,' she laughs, 'because I live alone at the base of a mountain in the countryside and I cherish that. I like the retreat aspect of my life.' Groarke was always going to be a writer. 'I think I figured out early on in life that imagination is the most important and least valued aspect of human existence.' The youngest of six children, she grew up on a farm in Ballymahon, Co Longford. She describes herself as a bit of a swot in school and even though she considered studying law (her father ran a legal practice in Longford town and four of her five siblings went into the family profession) she says it was always going to be English in Trinity for her. 'I think I just knew that I was more interested in this than I was in anything else.' Poet Vona Groarke: 'If you give [someone] a novel, it's just one world; if you give a poetry book, you give a multiplicity of worlds.' Photograph: Joe O'Shaughnessy She went to boarding school for three years in Our Lady's Bower, Athlone, before moving to Galway where she did her Leaving Cert at Taylor's Hill secondary school. During this time she lived with her older sister who was married with her own young family. 'I had never held a baby, never played with a toddler, I'd never done any of those things so it was an absolute joy for me to be living there. 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My whole life's changed' Opens in new window ] She thinks it's a little different in Ireland, where institutions such as Aosdána , of which she is a member, and the Arts Council and even the recently piloted basic income scheme for artists all offer an alternative means of financial support for writers. She thinks Irish poetry is in good health but worries a little about poets being tempted away by the bright lights of novel writing. One of the issues, she thinks, is agents (Groarke has never had one) encouraging poets to expand into other forms. Another is big poetry prizes being awarded to debut collections. 'I think it's actually really bad for the profession and for the poets themselves, because if you've won the TS Eliot Prize with your first book, I'm not saying you only write for prizes, but if you've already achieved what most of us spend careers trying to get on the shortlist for, then it does kind of make you feel like, where do I go next? What's next?' 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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Lucy Steeds' The Artist wins Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
In The Irish Times this Saturday, Vona Groarke, the new Ireland Professor of Poetry, talks to Edel Coffey; Peter Guralnick tells Peter Murphy about completing his biographical trilogy with The Colonel and the King: Tom Parker, Elvis Presley and the Partnership that Rocked the World; Breandán Mac Suibhne uncovers the inspirations for some of Brian Friel's characters; and there is a Q&A with writer Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick. Reviews are Paschal Donohoe on Nature Capital: The Value of the World Around Us by Partha Dasgupta and Slow Down or Die: The Economics of Degrowth by Timothee Parrique, translated by Claire Benoit; Andrew Lynch on The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes by William Kelleher Storey; Siobhán Long on Beating Time: the Story of the Irish Bodhrán by Fintan Vallely; Vona Groarke on the best new poetry collections; Miriam Balanescu on Pan by Michael Clune; Emily Formstone on News of the World and An Aran Keening by Andrew McNeillie; Declan Burke on scifi; Ruby Eastwood on Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar; Paul Gillespie on Etain Tannam's British-Irish Relations in the Twenty-First Century, The Good Friday Agreement, Brexit and the Totality of Relations; Brigid O'Dea on Migraine by Samuel Fisher; Matthew O'Toole on The Root of All Evil by Cormac Moore; and Seamus Martin on The World of the Cold War by Vladislav Zubok. This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan, just €5.99, a €6 saving. Eason offer Lucy Steeds was named winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2025 for her novel The Artist, tonight at the Waterstones flagship bookshop in Piccadilly. Set over one sweltering summer during the 1920s, The Artist focuses on an enigmatic painter, the young British journalist set on penning a piece on him, and the artist's seemingly unworldly niece. As the young man sets out to write his piece on the great and terrifying painter, tensions between the three come to a dramatic conclusion. The prize consists of £5,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to the winner's writing career. Last year's winner, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, shot into the bestseller charts after the announcement and the Irish author went on to be nominated for the Waterstones Book of the Year, the Nero Book Awards, the BAMB fiction award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. The book also featured on the BBC's Between the Covers, won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and The Authors' Club 2025 Best First Novel Award. Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Head of Books, says: 'It is a great pleasure to announce that Waterstones booksellers have chosen Lucy Steeds as the winner of the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for her novel The Artist. From a shortlist of six stunning books, The Artist stood out for its atmospheric, sensory prose, and its headily evocative sense of time and place. It is a stylish, elegant treat of a novel which seamlessly transports the reader to sun-soaked southern France, weaving mystery with romance, while delving into the complex nature of artistry. 'Lucy Steeds is a writer of staggering, rare talent: she is able to conjure vivid brushstrokes, sticky heat, and the smells and tastes of Provence, through words on the page. This is a gorgeously claustrophobic novel to be fully swept away by: The Artist has something for readers of all taste and heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice. We can't wait to see what Lucy Steeds does next.' Steeds said: 'My inspirations were twofold: firstly, I was fascinated by the concept of Art Monsters. These tyrannical figures who act abominably to the people around them in order to create great art. I was less interested in the art we've gained from these monsters, and more interested in the art we've lost. What could have been created if these tyrants weren't crushing everyone around them? Secondly, how much colour, texture, smell, and taste was it possible to convey on a page? How intensely could I evoke heat? Was it possible to create a painting using words instead of a brush? I wanted to write a book that felt alive.' Also shortlisted were Confessions by Catherine Airey and Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin. Trinity College Dublin's Icarus magazine launch On August 27th, The Irish Writers Centre will host the launch of Icarus magazine's 75th anniversary issue. Ireland's oldest active arts magazine will celebrate the occasion by featuring work from prominent former contributors and editors, while also promoting the work of Trinity College's brightest student writers and artists. Icarus has been a platform for many notable Irish writers since 1950, with past editors including David Norris, Brendan Kennelly, Derek Mahon, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Vona Groarke, Michael Longley and Sebastian Barry. The magazine has also featured work from Eavan Boland, Seamus Heaney, William Burroughs, Paul Durcan, Thom Gunn, Colm Toibín and Simon Armitage over its long and decorated history. Icarus has appeared frequently in Irish Times coverage, for example, in 1994, David Norris stated 'Icarus was and has remained an important forum for literary talent', speaking to a legacy that continues to be fulfilled. Icarus Issue 75.3 will mark the anniversary by including an exciting variety of new and unseen work by some of the biggest names in Irish writing and poetry, while republishing many of the greatest works contributed by student writers over its history, some of whom went on to define a generation of Irish life and culture. The special edition will, as always, spotlight the most engaging work by current student writers and artists of Trinity College as well. Icarus has always been at the cutting edge of Irish literature, encouraging many students to begin their writing journeys, something the editors, Cat Grogan and Louise Norris, wish to continue with this exciting issue. * Mary O'Malley has been shortlisted for the 2025 Derek Walcott Prize with her collection The Shark Nursery, along with fellow Carcanet authors Gillian Clarke, who is shortlisted with The Silence, and Christine Roseeta Walker with Coco Island. The full shortlist is available here . Honouring the work of St Lucian Nobel Prize poet Derek Walcott, the prize is offered annually for a book of poetry by a non-US citizen published anywhere in the world. It includes a $2,000 honorarium. This year's winner will be announced in October. The judge for this year's award is Ishion Hutchinson. * Literature Ireland and Atelier Samuel Beckett have announced a pilot literature residency for French and Irish artists at Atelier Samuel Beckett, supported by Literature Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conjunction with the Centre National du Livre in Paris and the Irish Embassy, France. Atelier Samuel Beckett is an artist residency founded by Judy Hegarty Lovett and Conor Lovett, set in a country house on the banks of the river Seine just outside Paris. The shared residency will take place from October 13th until November 7th and includes return travel from Ireland to France, living expenses, and self-catering accommodation. Details on how to apply are here . The closing date for applications is August 20th. * The Banagher Brontë Group, founded in 2023, is hosting the Irish launch of Let Me In: The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar, by Ann Dinsdale and Sharon Wright. Kay Sheehy, recently retired RTÉ Radio 1 presenter and producer, will launch the book. Dinsdale is the principal curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Yorkshire, home of the Brontës, as well as author of many books on the literary family and Sharon Wright is the author of The Mother of the Brontës, the biography of Maria Brontë. The launch, on August 16th, is part of a gala garden party in Charlotte's Way, Banagher, formerly Hill House, home to Arthur Bell Nicholls, husband of Charlotte Brontë. Tickets are available on Eventbrite and included in your ticket is a signed copy of the book, a buffet meal, musical entertainment and a great Brontë day out. The group has a three-day programme of events celebrating the Brontë/Irish connection as part of Heritage Week, August 16th-18th. This festival is a must for Brontë enthusiasts and would be a great introduction for you to the Banagher Brontë Group. If you would like to find out more, visit the website . * The literary strand of Clifden Arts Festival 2025 offers a powerful programme of talks, readings and conversations from 17–28 September in the heart of Connemara. Historian Diarmaid Ferriter reflects on Ireland's transformation since the 1990s in his lecture The Revelation of Ireland 1995–2025. Branding expert John Fanning, former MD of McConnells and UCD lecturer, explores advertising, identity and storytelling in The Making of an Irish Icon: Barry's Tea. Broadcaster John Creedon shares stories from his bestselling memoir This Boy's Heart, while Irish Times GAA columnist Ciarán Murphy presents Old Parish, his witty account of learning hurling later in life. Poetry features strongly with Luke Morgan, winner of the 2025 Lawrence O'Shaughnessy Award, Séamus Ruttledge, and guests from Gallery Press. Together, these voices offer insight, humour and reflection—celebrating the richness of Irish experience through the written and spoken word. Full programme and tickets: * The Inchicore Ledwidge Society will celebrate its 30th Anniversary on August 3rd at the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, Islandbridge in Dublin. It was founded in 1995 to commemorate the soldier poet from Slane, Co Meath, who joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at Richmond Barracks, Inchicore in October 1914. The chairman of the Society has devoted many years to research on the poet and his works. In 1997, he added 66 uncollected poems (20 of which were previously unpublished) and he continues to gather lost poems and other material. The Society also published the prose of Francis Ledwidge for the first time in book form. In addition to the annual wreath laying ceremony and poetry reading, the society has organised an international poetry competition for the past 27 years. * The Irish Writers Centre, Ireland's leading resource for writers, has appointed seven new board members, reflecting a broad mix of expertise across literature, law, business, and the arts. The new appointments come as the Centre enters an ambitious phase of development under CEO Mags McLoughlin. Joining the board are Maria Dickenson, a leading figure in the Irish book trade; BDO Ireland Managing Partner Brian McEnery; barrister Patrick Barrett; creative writing scholar Dr Gráinne Daly; IDA VP Brendan McDonald; leadership expert coach Helen Connealy; and chartered director Anne Fleck-Byrne. They join existing board members Breda Brown, a communications consultant, Áine Denn, a tech entrepreneur, and author and solicitor Rosemary Hennigan. Chair Breda Brown said: 'This is an inspiring group with a shared passion for supporting writers. Their combined expertise will shape the next chapter of our work across the island Ireland.' * Members of Femina Culpa, a Northern Ireland based poetry collective, will be reading at a variety of locations in London between 6 and 9 August. Emma McKervey, Milena Williamson and Linda McKenna have received funding from Culture Ireland towards their readings at the National Poetry Library, Keats House Museum, the Bank of England Museum and Bethlem Museum of the Mind. They will present poems from their most recent collections, published by Turas Press, Dedalus Press and Doire Press, which are inspired by their research into nineteenth century women caught up in the criminal justice system of the past. * Féile an Phobail, the West Belfast festival, kicks off on July 26th and runs till August 10th with a packed programme of craic agus ceol, discussion and debates, theatre, comedy, exhibitions, sports, tours and scores of local events. Danny Morrison will be launching his updated memoir, All The Dead Voices, in Glór na Mona, Ballymurphy, on August 1st. Morrison will also be interviewing Pat Magee (Where Grieving Begins: Building Bridges after the Brighton Bomb) about the representation of Irish republicans in Troubles' fiction, film and drama. Magee's book, Gangsters of Guerrillas?, was based on 480 novels he analysed while serving five life sentences. That discussion will be in the James Connolly Visitor Centre on August 5th. Scribes at the Rock, Rock Bar, on August 7th, features Liz Nugent (in interview); Rosie Schapp reading from The Slow Road North ('A beautiful, unsparing memoir about grief' - Irish Times); and Tim O'Grady on his new novel, Monaghan.
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Irish Independent
Vona Groarke: ‘I don't usually read for comfort. I read poetry for excitement and risk. Novels for company. Biography for nosiness'
Vona Groarke is the new Ireland Professor of Poetry, until 2028. Her ninth poetry collection is Infinity Pool, published in May by The Gallery Press. She has taught at the University of Manchester since 2007 and is writer-in-residence at St John's College, Cambridge, and with the Sligo Yeats Society. Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O'Hara won the 2024 Michel Deon Prize. She lives in Co Sligo. The books by your bedside? The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck, The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, Seduction and Betrayal by Elizabeth Hardwick, Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst, and Sara Baume's Seven Steeples. You'd almost think prose sends me to sleep, were it not for Louise Gluck's Poems 1962-2020. And Karen Solie's Wellwater. That covers a poetic multitude.
