Cork World Book Festival is back for 2023, and will welcome Irish and international writers to Cork for an extravaganza of books and writing this April, including:
Paul Muldoon
María Jesús Quirós Pindado
Stav Poleg
Mara Faye Lethem
Carys Davies
David Constantine
Queering the Green: Paul Maddern, Eva Griffin and Jane Clarke
Sara Baume
Sophie White
William Wall
Tadhg Coakley
Shane Hegarty
Yairem Jerez Columbié
Saturday 15 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 1.00 pm| Free
- Kids event: Leona Forde – Milly McCarthy is a Complete Catastrophe
Leona Forde is a proud English and History teacher at Kinsale Community School, Cork. She will present her debut novel “Milly McCarthy is a Complete Catastrophe” the Saturday before the launch of the festival.
Tuesday 18 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 9.30 am | Free
- Kids event: J.P. Quinn – The Tree at UCC
J.P. Quinn is Head of UCC’s Visitors’ Centre. His job is to tell the stories of University College Cork, welcome people to the college, and find new ways to share the university’s unique history and culture in different ways.
His first children’s book, A Bee At UCC was published in 2021, telling the story of sustainability at UCC through the eyes of a small bee Booley, who lives on the campus.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am | Free
- Kids event: Shane Hegarty – The Shop of Impossible Ice Creams (3rd-5th class)
Shane Hegarty was a journalist and editor of the Irish Times and worked in radio and the music business before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of the bestselling middle-grade series, Darkmouth – which is currently being developed into a big screen animation and was nominated for the Waterstones Prize. Boot was his first series for younger readers. He lives near Dublin with his wife and a brutally honest young readers focus group – otherwise known as his four children.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 7.00 pm | Free
Launch of the 19th Cork World Book Festival by Cllr Deirdre Forde, Lord Mayor of Cork, followed by:
- Opening night: David Constantine & Carys Davies, presented by Sarah Harte
Frank O’Connor; 120 years.
Munster Literature Centre presented the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award between 2005 and 2015. It was the biggest short-story collection prize in the world at the time, and brought accomplished international writers in contact with new and emerging Irish short story writers. David Constantine and Carys Davis, both winners of the prize, are in conversation with Sarah Harte. Liadain O’Donovan, daughter of Frank O’Connor will be in attendance.
David Constantine was for thirty years a university teacher of German language and literature. He is an editor of Hölderlin, Goethe, Kleist and Brecht, who has published a dozen volumes of poetry, two novels and six collections of short stories, the most recent of these (2022) being “Rivers of the Unspoilt World”. His “Tea at the Midland” won the 2013 Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. In 2020 he was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Carys Davies’s debut novel “WEST”’ was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, runner up for the Society of Authors’ McKitterick Prize, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year for Fiction. Her second novel “The Mission House” was The Sunday Times 2020 Novel Of The Year. She is also the author of two collections of short stories, “Some New Ambush” and “The Redemption of Galen Pike”, which won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize. Her new novel, “Clear”, will be out in 2024.
Sarah Harte is a prize-winning author. In 2020, she was a runner-up in The UK Bridport Short Story Prize. She was also longlisted for The Fish Short Story Prize. In 2019 she won The Bryan MacMahon short-story award. She was also highly commended for The Sean O’Faolain short-story prize. In 2018, she had two stories shortlisted for The UK Bridport Prize. In 2017, she was highly commended for The Manchester Fiction Prize. She has previously had two novels published by Penguin Ireland. She is a columnist with The Irish Examiner.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 8.30 pm | Free
- Michael Magee in conversation with Paul Burgess
Michael Magee is the fiction editor of “The Tangerine” and a graduate of the PhD Creative Writing programme at Queen’s University, Belfast. His writing has appeared in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, The Lifeboat and in The 32: An Anthology of Working Class Writing. Close to Home is his first novel. Michael Magee’s debut novel explores masculinity during the latter days of the Troubles.
In conversation with Paul Burgess he will discuss Close to Home.
Thomas Paul Burgess is an academic, novelist and musician from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His published works include A Crisis of Conscience: moral ambivalence and education in Northern Ireland (1993), The Reconciliation Industry: community relations, community identity & social policy in Northern Ireland (2002), The Contested Identities of Ulster Protestants (2015) and The Contested Identities of Ulster Catholics (2018). His memoir ‘Wild Colonial Boys; A Belfast Punk Story’ will be published by Manchester University Press later this year.
Wednesday 19 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am| Free
- Méabh Collins – Freya Harte is Not a Puzzle (Young Adults)
Méabh Collins is a writer and scholar from Dublin. She holds an M. Phil in Children’s Literature from Trinity College Dublin, where she is currently pursuing a PhD. In recent years, she has worked as a primary school teacher and in children’s and Irish language publishing. She lives in Dublin with her husband and their rescue greyhound. Meabh reads from her first novel Freya Harte is not a Puzzle this World Book Fest 2023.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 1.00 pm | Free
- Launch of The Unfinished Book of Poetry
The Unfinished Book of Poetry 2023 features new poems from young writers across Cork City. This is the 19th edition of this anthology, showcasing original works from exciting young voices.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 2.30 pm | Free
- Announcement of World Book Fest 2023 Teen Short Story Competition Winners by Cork City Libraries’ Teen Committee
Cork City Libraries’ Teen Committee announce winners and present prizes for the World Book Fest Teen Short Story Competition 2023.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 3.30 pm | Free
- Launch of Teen Graphic Novel 2023
The Teen Graphic Novel Project gives 14 – 18 year olds the opportunity to work on a collaborative project. Young writers and artists are guided through the process from initial story idea to a finished comic that is launched on Teen Day. Workshops are facilitated by Mari Rolin and Colin O’Mahoney.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 4.00 pm | Free
- Teen Graphic Novel Workshop
The Teen Graphic Novel Workshop, a comic book from Cork teenage artists and writers, has been an initiative of Cork City Libraries since 2009, looking at Self-publishing Comics and Zines. Writer Colin O’Mahoney and Illustrator Mari Rolin, talk through options for putting your work out there, zines, comic books, or short stories, both in print and digitally.
Colin O’Mahoney is a writer, freelance editor and workshop facilitator. He’s passionate about storytelling and board games.
Maru Rolin is a brazilian illustrator and linguist based in Ireland, she works with both traditional and digital mediums, being interested in all “quirky” and fantastic tales. Her goal is to convey a narrative in every piece and to create interesting tales within each new one. Her artwork is published online and anthologies in Ireland, US and Brazil.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 4.30 pm | Free
- Translating a Snowflake
Author Louise Nealon and her German translator Anna-Nina Kroll in conversation.
Louise Nealon is a writer from Co Kildare. She is the author of “Snowflake”, a novel published in 2021. She is currently working on her second novel.
Anna-Nina Kroll is this year’s University College Cork/Literature Ireland Literary Translator in Residence. She holds a degree in Literary Translation from Düsseldorf University and has translated over 30 works of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature from English to German including authors like Patricia Highsmith, John Irving, Carmen Maria Machado, and Dick Bruna. In recent years, Irish literature has become her main focus. She has translated all of Donal Ryan’s work, Louise Nealon’s “Snowflake”, and Anna Burns’ “No Bones”. Her translation of Burns’ Man Booker-winning “Milkman” was awarded the Förderpreis zum Straelener Übersetzerpreis in 2021.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 7.00 pm | Free
- Book Launch: Empty Bed Blues by William “Bill” Wall
When Kate Holohan’s husband dies suddenly, the extent of his disastrous financial speculation is revealed – together with a mistress and a secret love-nest in the small Italian fishing port of Camogli. Unwilling to take on the ocean of debt and deceit she has inherited, Kate abandons her home and teaching job and flees to Italy in the hope of making a new life. Over three seasons, William Wall conjures the colours, tastes and scents of Liguria, as Empty Bed Blues explores the intersection of friendship, love, language, politics, debt and capitalism, all told with humour, sensitivity and gold standard storytelling.
It will be presented by Professor Claire Connolly.
William “Bill” Wall is the author of seven novels, five collections of poetry and three of short fiction, winner of: the 2022 Premio Internazionale Lettarario Carlo Bo/Giovanni Descalzo; the 2021 Premio Lerici ‘AngloLiguria’; the 2021 Premio di Conza Poesia; the 2017 Drue Heinz Prize for Literature (USA). He has also won The Patrick Kavanagh Award (Ireland) for poetry; the Doolin Prize for poetry (Ireland); the Virginia Faulkner Award (USA) and The Sean O’Faoláin Prize (Ireland) both for short fiction; and several Writer’s Week prizes (Ireland). He’s the first Poet Laureate of his native city, Cork. He holds a PhD in creative writing from the School of English, University College Cork. He has a particular interest in Italy and has read at several festivals, including the Tratti Festival at Faenza, the Festival Internazionale di Poesia di Genova and at the Pordenone Legge festival (near Venice). In 2014 he was part of the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange which gave readings at various places in Italy, including Sant Agata de Goti, Rome, Lugo di Romagna and Bologna. He was an Irish delegate to the European Writers’ Parliament in Istanbul 2010. On many literary occasions in Italy and in Monaco, he participated as a Writer in Residence. He collaborated with artist Harry Moore to produce the Shadowlands exhibition and book in 2008.
Claire Connolly is a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Former professor at Cardiff University. For 2022-2023 she also serves as a Vice President of the RIA. She currently leads the ERDF-funded project, Ports, Past and Present (2019-2023; portspastpresent.eu), sits on the board of the Irish Research Council and is a member of the Editorial Board for Cambridge Studies in Romanticism.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 8.00 pm | Free
- For the Love of the World: Eco Writing with Emma Must, Eoghan Daltun and Grace Wells, presented by Keith Payne
Things being so urgent, when you
open a book its leaves should take you
back to the forest they came from …
(‘Vestige’)
writes Grace Wells, as in tune with the environment around her as are each of these authors. Each as savage and passionate in their concern for the world we inhabit, and that perhaps, with their work and words, we might just make a better place for all living things.
Grace Wells is an award-winning eco-poet and environmental writer living in Ennistymon, County Clare. Winner of the Eilís Dillon award and the Shine Strong award, her third collection of poems “The Church of the Love of the World” was published by Dedalus Press in 2022. Wells was selected by Poetry Ireland and Clare County Council as Poet Laureate for Ennistymon in 2021, which propelled her into writing a book-length poem about the
town, its past, present and future, “Everyone Has a Different Ennistymon” which was published by Doolin Arts in January 2023. She is a regular volunteer with Hometree, the native woodlands charity that is currently planting the Wild Atlantic Rainforest Project. Wells assists Hometree in the creation of publications and books such as “Under Summer Pastures, Explorations & Essays from Ireland’s Temperate Rainforests”.
Emma Must is a poet living in Belfast. Formerly a full-time environmental campaigner, in 2021 she completed a PhD in English (Creative Writing) at Queen’s University in Belfast, focusing on ecopoetry and ecocriticism. Her first full-length poetry collection, “The Ballad of Yellow Wednesday”, was published by Valley Press in December 2022. Her poem “Toll” won the Environmental Defenders Prize in the 2019 Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry; her debut poetry pamphlet, “Notes on the Use of the Austrian Scythe” (2015), won the Templar Portfolio Award. In 1995 she was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for Europe, for her efforts towards land protection.
Eoghan Daltun is a sculpture conservator, a farmer and, above all, a rewilder. Reared in Dublin, he has travelled widely (hitchhiking alone to Istanbul and back at the age of 20, sleeping in fields along the way, for example), as well as living abroad in London, Paris and Prague. He spent seven years studying sculpture in Carrara, Tuscany. In 2009 he sold the cottage in Kilmainham he had rebuilt mostly single-handed from a ruin – dating back to at
least the 1750s – using the original stone; the proceeds went to buy a long-abandoned 73-acre farm overlooking the Atlantic near Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula, West Cork. Much of the land was covered in wild native forest which, although very beautiful, was ecologically wrecked by severe overgrazing and invasion by a host of alien plant species.
Over the years since, Eoghan has brought life in all its explosive vibrancy back to the land, with new temperate rainforest spontaneously forming where previously there was only barren grass. Restoring such an incredibly rich ecosystem has taken him on a fantastic journey of discovery, lifting a curtain to reveal a whole universe of wonders beyond. Rewilding most of the land, and High Nature Value farming the rest, there has been plenty of time to reflect deeply on the ecological crisis unfolding at terrifying speed all around us, and its solutions. He lives on the farm with his two sons Liam and Seánie, their collie dog Charlie, and three Dexter cows: Maggie, Nelly and Minnie.
Keith Payne is the 2021-22 John Broderick Writer in Residence and has published seven collections of poetry in translation from Galician and Spanish as well as “Broken Hill” his debut collection. He was a previous awardee of the Irish Chair of Poetry Bursary award, is director of the La Malinche Readings between Ireland and Galicia and co-editor of “A Different Eden: Ecopoetry from Ireland and Galicia”, (Dedalus Press, 2021). He was awarded the Artist in the Community Scheme 2021 from Create.
Thursday 20 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 10.00 am| Free
- Kids event: Graffiti Beag – What Colour Is the Rain?
George Hanover, A.K.A. Graffiti Beag nurtures imagination, creation and self-expression with “What Colour Is The Rain” for early years children.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am | Free
- Adiba Jaigirdar – A Million To One (Young Adults)
Adiba Jaigirdar is an award-winning, critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Henna Wars and Hani & Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating. A Bangladeshi/Irish writer and former teacher, she has an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, England and a BA in English and History from UCD, Ireland. She is the winner of the YA book prize 2022, the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2021, and was a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary awards.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 6.00pm | Free
- Molly Twomey & Jim Crickard, presented by Stan Notte
Molly Twomey grew up in Lismore, County Waterford, and graduated in 2019 with an MA in Creative Writing from University College Cork. She has been published in Poetry Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, The Irish Times, Mslexia, The Stinging Fly and elsewhere. She runs an online international poetry event, Just to Say, sponsored by Jacar Press. In 2021, she was chosen for Poetry Ireland’s Introductions series and awarded an Arts Council Literature Bursary. Her debut collection, “Raised Among Vultures”, was published in May 2022 with The Gallery Press.
Jim Crickard is a poet living in Cork City, originally from North Kerry. His poetry is camp, entertaining work exploring culture, sexuality and identity. He is the reigning Munster Poetry Slam Champion and placed third in the All Ireland Poetry Slam (2022). A poem he wrote was included in the Cork Words 3 Anthology, thanks to Cork City Library. In 2022, he was invited to perform in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Glór, Ennis. An installation of his poem “Sex in the Housing Crisis” was placed in Tramore Valley Park, by Cork City Council and Cork City Library. In 2020 his work was broadcasted on RTÉ Arena and he performed the First Fortnight Festival. He represented Cork in the Cork-Coventry Twin Exchange. As part of the exchange, he released a chapbook, “Southern Syllables”, co-authored by Molly Twomey. In 2019 Poetry Ireland selected him for Versify and he performed at Dublin Fringe. He placed second in the 2019 All Ireland Poetry Slam Final. He won the Cuirt Spoken Word Platform in 2018 and was awarded a slot to perform in “Electric Picnic”. Twin Skies Cork Coventry Twin Cities Anthology (2021), Automatic Pilot (2018), A New Ulster (Ireland, 2019), O’Bheal Five Word Anthology (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021).
Stanley Notte is a writer, poet, artist and performer whose work has appeared in numerous print and broadcast media outlets. As a performer, Stanley has provided support for Stephen James Smith (Coughlans, 2018) and Linton Kwesi Johnson (Live At St Lukes, 2019), and appeared at a wide range of Irish Festivals. In 2019 completed a mini tour of Munster performing at The Limerick Fringe Festival, De Barra’s Spoken Word, Clonakilty, Tra Tales, Waterford and Coliemore House, Cobh.
His poetry film “Peter and the Wolf (Aladdin Sane?) – After David Bowie” was shortlisted at the Cork Indie Film Festival in 2016, screened at the Dublin Bowie Festival in 2017, and long listed at the Rabbit Heart Festival 2018. His poetry film “Mrs Xavier after The Frank And Walters” placed third in the Doolin Writers Video Competition in 2019. His Cork, “Boi! Nothing But A Ghost Town” music video was screened at the CorkIndie Film Festival in 2021. In 2017 Stanley was chosen to perform in the UK as part of the Twin Cities cultural exchange between O’Bheal (Cork) and Fire and Dust (Coventry). Between 2014 and 2018 Stanley co-founded and curated Solstice Sounds, a bi-annual magazine that was Ireland’s only regular spoken word publication.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 7.00 pm | Free
- Intimate Republics with Peter Sirr, Stav Poleg and Adrian Duncan
The street, its ramblers and the homes that contain us are each Intimate, little republics. Join authors Peter Sirr, Stav Poleg and Adrian Duncan as they reveal page by page the layers of the physical space we inhabit, our built environment and the place we call home.
Stav Poleg‘s debut poetry collection, “The City”, was published by Carcanet in spring 2022 and was chosen by the Financial Times as one of the best Summer Books of 2022. Her poetry has appeared on both sides of the Atlantic, in The New Yorker, Kenyon Review, Poetry London, Poetry Ireland Review, PN Review and elsewhere. A selection of her work is featured in New Poetries VIII (Carcanet, 2021). Her graphic-novel installation, “Dear Penelope: Variations on an August Morning,” created with artist Laura Gressani, was acquired by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Her theatre work was read at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and the Shunt Vaults, London, and most recently at Kettle’s Yard gallery, Cambridge. She serves on the editorial board of Magma Poetry magazine and teaches for the Poetry School on a range of subjects including poetry inspired by the Divine Comedy, the Odyssey and the cinema of Fellini.
Adrian Duncan is an artist and award-winning writer based in Ireland and Berlin. His debut novel “Love Notes from a German Building Site” was published by The Lilliput Press and Head of Zeus in 2019 and won the 2019 John McGahern Book Prize. Duncan’s second novel, “A Sabbatical in Leipzig” was published in 2020 and was shortlisted for the Kerry Novel of the Year Award. His third novel, “The Geometer Lobachevsky”, was published in April 2022 with The Lilliput Press (IRL) and Tuskar Rock Press (UK). In 2020/21 he exhibited, in collaboration with Feargal Ward, a large-scale film/sculptural installation work titled “The Soil Became Scandinavian”, at VISUAL, Carlow. In 2022 Ward’s and Duncan’s short film “Lowland” was selected in competition for Cork International Film Festival. His short film “Prosinecki” will receive its world premiere at Rotterdam (IFFR), 2023. Throughout 2022/23 Duncan will present a new body of work and writing about his long-term research project on the subject of Bungalow Bliss. It has appeared as a book titled “Little Republics: The Story of Bungalow Bliss”, published by The Lilliput Press in 2022 and a solo exhibition in the Irish Architectural Archive curated by Askeaton Contemporary Arts. He is a contributing editor to Paper Visual Art Journal (IRL/DE).
Peter Sirr lives in Dublin and is a member of Aosdána.. The Gallery Press has published his eleven poetry collections since “Marginal Zones” (1984), most recently “The Gravity Wave” (2019) which was a Poetry Society Recommendation and winner of the 2020 Farmgate Café National Poetry Award. “Intimate City: Dublin Essays” (2021), reflects a long standing attachment to and obsession with the Dublins of past and present.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 8.00 pm | Free
- Sara Baume & Sophie White, presented by Eimear Ryan
“Where I End” is the first literary novel from author, journalist and podcaster Sophie White. Its themes of motherhood, loss, trauma and madness resonate through White’s unique and disturbing tale. Sara Baume’s rich and vivid novel “Seven Steeples” like White’s takes place in a remote location in Ireland. It speaks to the times we live in, asking how we may withdraw and how better to live in the natural world.
Sara Baume is the author of three novels which have received multiple awards and been widely translated. Her first book of non-fiction, handiwork, was shortlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize, and her third novel, Seven Steeples, was shortlisted for the 2022 Goldsmiths Prize. She is based in West Cork where she works also as a visual artist.
Sophie White is a writer and podcaster from Dublin. Her first book “Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown” (Gill, 2016) was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Her bestselling “Filter This” (Hachette, 2019) was also shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards. Her third book, “Unfiltered” (Hachette, 2020) has been described as ‘such fun – gas, clever stuff’. Her fourth book is the non-fiction bestselling essay collection “Corpsing: My Body and Other Horror Shows” published by Tramp Press in 2021. She has been a columnist for the Sunday Independent for nine years, currently writing her weekly “Nobody Tells You” column for their LIFE magazine. She also has been nominated three times for Journalist of the Year at the Irish Magazine Awards. White has also dabbled in stand up and created the mini cooking series “Recipes For Actual Real Life” commissioned by RTE and transmitted exclusively on their online player. She is co-host of the chart-topping podcasts, “Mother Of Pod” (comedy, 300,000 downloads) and “The Creep Dive” (comedy, over 1 million downloads). She has a First Class Honours Degree in Sculpture from NCAD.
Eimear Ryan is the author of a novel, “Holding Her Breath” (Sandycove 2021), and a memoir, “The Grass Ceiling” (Sandycove 2023). Other writing has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly and Winter Papers. She is a co-founder of the literary journal Banshee and its publishing imprint, Banshee Press. She lives in Cork.
Friday 21 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 9.30 am | Free
- Kids event: Fiona Sherlock – Write Your First Murder Mystery
Fiona Sherlock is a 33-year-old writer from Bective in County Meath, Ireland. Her third mystery novel “Supper for Six” will be published on June 23rd by Hodder Fiction/Hachette. A weekly columnist for the Sunday Independent, the Irish Writer’s Centre selected her as part of the Evolution 2022 programme, and she was 2021 Meath Writer in Residence.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am | Free
- Serena Molloy – Wider Than the Sea (Age 9+)
Serena Molloy was born in Wexford, Ireland, and is an English teacher who has taught in different schools across the UK. She settled in Galway with her family, where she can see the sea every day. Serena endured her own struggle with dyslexia as a child, until an inspirational teacher changed her life. Her novels are a celebration of neurodiversity, empathy and the power to change.
Triskel Christchurch | 5.00 pm | Free
- Unravel the mystery of Irish Crime Writing
Sam Blake and Tadhg Coakley, in conversation with Michelle Dunne, discuss their recent books and the rise of crime writing in Ireland.
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634759/events
Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin writes crime as Sam Blake, the multiple No 1 bestseller shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the Year three times. Her seventh bestseller, The Mystery of Four, is in shops now and her YA debut Something Terrible Happened Last Night is due 4 May 2023. Find out more at www.samblakebooks.com. Vanessa is the founder of Europe’s biggest writing resources website, the award winning writing.ie, the Writers Ink online writing group and Murder One, Ireland’s International Crime Writing Festival. Vanessa is a board member of the Society of Authors, and a fellow of the RSA. Having developed a range of initiatives in the writing world, she is a champion for emerging writers, working with agents and publishers, both in the UK and Ireland, spotting new talent.
Vanessa joined the Board of the Crime Writers Association in 2021 and takes a dynamic lead in organising National Crime Reading Month.
Tadhg Coakley, originally from Mallow, living in Cork city. He’s the author of “The First Sunday in September” (Mercier Press, 2018) a novel in stories shortlisted for the Mercier Press fiction prize; “Whatever It Takes” (Mercier Press, 2020) a crime novel set in Cork city, which is the 2020 Cork One City, One Book choice; and the autobiography of Denis Coughlan, called “Everything” (Hero Books, 2020) co-written. His fourth book “The Game: A Journey into the Heart of Sport” (2023) was shortlisted as Sports Book of The Year. His new book “Before He Kills Again”, a follow up of “Whatever It Takes”, will be published in February 2023. He also wrote many short-stories, articles and essays for The Stinging Fly, The Winter Papers, The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times, The Honest Ulsterman, Quarryman, Silver Apples and elsewhere.
Michelle Dunne, born and raised in the harbour town of Cobh, Co Cork, joined the Irish army at the age of 18, where she went from recruit, to infantry soldier, to Peacekeeper with the UN, to instructor back home in Ireland. Taking a less than conventional route to writing has stood her in good stead when portraying the darker side of life as a crime writer. Dunne’s latest book, “The Invisible”, follows on from her first crime novel, “While Nobody is Watching”, which both feature former soldier Lindsey Ryan.
Triskel Christchurch | 6.00pm | Free
- A Celebration of Debut Novels by 2 Cork writers
Eleanor O’Kelly-Lynch and Michelle McDonagh celebrate their debut novels, presented by Alison Driscoll.
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634763/events
Eleanor O’Kelly-Lynch grew up by the sea in Dungarvan, Co Waterford. She moved to Cork at seventeen to study in UCC and get a Degree in Arts and a Higher Diploma in Education. Throughout her career in teaching, in radio and as a business owner, she carried the dream of writing a novel. “The Girl with Special Knees” is her first book with a sequel to follow. Eleanor lives in picturesque Glanmire with her husband and daughter.
Michelle McDonagh has been writing stories since she was a child in primary school. After over 20 years as a journalist freelancing for The Irish Times and other publications, she took a step back from journalism to focus on writing her first novel. Her debut novel There’s Something I Have To Tell You was published by Hachette Ireland on April 13th, 2023.
Alison Driscoll is a writer and workshop facilitator from Cork. She was awarded a scholarship to pursue her passion for creative writing and completed the MA Creative Writing in UCC. Her work has been published online and in print.
Triskel Christchurch | 7.00 pm | Free
- Mary Noonan & James Finnegan, presented by Dean Browne
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634764/events
Mary Noonan lives in Cork and teaches French literature at UCC. Her first poetry collection, “The Fado House”, was published in 2012 by Dedalus Press was shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for a First Collection (2013) and the Strong/Shine Award (2013). The manuscript won the Listowel Poetry Prize in 2010. A limited edition pamphlet, “Father”, was published by Bonnefant Press in 2015. Her second collection, “Stone Girl” (Dedalus Press, 2019) was shortlisted for the Derek Walcott International Poetry Prize in 2020. She was poetry editor of the online edition of the literary journal Southword, 2016-2018, judge of the Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize (2017) and poetry mentor for Dedalus Press, summer 2021.
James Finnegan, Dublin born, was the second-prize winner in the 2022 Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition and was shortlisted in the 2021 Bridport Poetry Prize and in the 2018 Hennessy Literary Awards for Emerging Poetry. A sonnet, “The Weather-Beaten Scarecrow”, was published in The Irish Times in August 2021. James, who taught in St Eunan’s College for thirty-three years, holds a doctorate of philosophy in living educational theory from the University of Bath, and is now retired and has grown into a deeper commitment to reading and writing poetry since Nov 2014. A second collection of poems, “The Weather-Beaten Scarecrow” (Doire Press, 2022), was published with Doire Press in September 2022.
Dean Browne was raised in Tipperary and lives in Cork. His poems have appeared widely in magazines and journals including Banshee, Bath Magg, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry and The Stinging Fly. His pamphlet “Kitchens At Night” was selected for the Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition and was published by Smith|Doorstop in 2022.
Triskel Christchurch | 8.00 pm | Free
- Queering the Green: Anthology of LGBTQ+ poetry from Ireland
Queering the Green (Lifeboat Press: ed. Paul Maddern) brings together 31 of the most distinctive Irish poets to emerge since 2000 and represents the multiplicity and vibrancy of the queer experience in 21st Century Ireland. The critically acclaimed anthology addresses the exclusions of the past, speaks to the diversity of the present, and points towards the radical possibilities of the future.
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634766/events
Jane Clarke is the author of two poetry collections, “The River and When the Tree Falls” (Bloodaxe Books 2015 & 2019), as well as an illustrated chapbook, “All the Way Home”, (Smith|Doorstop 2019). Jane’s awards include the 2016 Hennessy Literary Award for Poetry and the 2016 Listowel Writers’ Week Poem of the Year. She grew up on a farm in Roscommon and now lives with her wife in the uplands of Co. Wicklow. Jane’s third collection “A Change in the Air” will be published by Bloodaxe Books in May 2023.
Eva Griffin is a poet living in Dublin and a UCD graduate. Her pamphlets, “Fake Hands / Real Flowers” (2020) and “one last spin around the sun” (limited edition, 2021) were published by Broken Sleep Books. Her works have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Abridged, Anthropocene, PERVERSE, Icarus and elsewhere, including anthologies published by Lifeboat Press, New Binary Press and Peach Mag. She has been featured on the RTÉ Poetry Programme and the Words Lightly Spoken podcast. Eva was chosen as a Dublin Book Festival Young Writer Delegate by the Irish Writers Centre in 2019, and in 2020 she was selected as a Poetry Ireland Introductions Series poet by Vona Groarke. She has also received mentorship from poet Rebecca Goss in 2022 thanks to an Arts Council Agility Award.
Paul Maddern was born in Bermuda and has lived in Ireland since 2000. He is the editor of “Queering the Green: Post-2001 Queer Irish Poetry” (Lifeboat Press, 2021) and has four publications: “Templar Poetry: Kelpdings” (2009); “The Beachcomber’s Report” (2010); “Pilgrimage” (2017); and “The Tipping Line” (2018). He is the recipient of two Bermuda Government Literary Awards and his poem, “Effacé”, is on the Northern Irish GCSE syllabus. He was teaching Fellow in Creative Writing with the University of Leeds for three years and now owns and operates The River Mill Writers Retreat in Co Down.
Saturday 22 April
Grand Parade |10.00 am – 4.00 pm
- Book Market on the Grand Parade
Pop along to the annual Book Market at the Grand Parade where you will find a fantastic array of literary finds from some of the finest book sellers in the city and county. There will be food to go and some tasty produce and craft stalls as well so be sure to drop down to us! For more information about participating in this event you can find us as Goldiefish on Facebook or email roseanne@goldiefish.ie
The Cork World Book Festival Market is produced by Goldiefish Markets, who gather some of the country’s finest food and craft producers together to create the perfect festival markets.
Outdoors | 11.00 am – 12.30 pm | Free
- Walk the Line: Cork City Walk with International Poets resident in Cork
To know a poem, you walk it; to know a city, you read it. From Cuba, Romania and Germany come three poets who call Cork their own, who walk the line through our one city, our one art and invite you to join them. (Starting at City Library, Grand Parade Outdoor event. Duration: approx. 60 mins).
Yairen Jerez Columbié grew up in Havana, Cuba, and lives in Ireland. She writes in Spanish, English and Catalan. Her first poetry collection, Fósiles de lluvia [Fossil Rain], was published in 2022 by Betania through a Trinity College Dublin Association and Trust Grant. Her poems have appeared in The Poetry Review, Anthropocene and Revista Temporales, among others. She is the author of the book “Essays on Transculturation and Catalan-Cuban Intellectual History” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), and of essays on critical theory, cultural studies, ecocriticism and interdisciplinary environmental studies. She works as Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies and Intercultural Communication at Trinity College Dublin.
Rosalin Blue, poet and translator, born near Cologne, and schooled in Münster and Hildesheim, Germany, has been performing since 1995. Since 2000, her poetic home is Ó Bhéal in Cork, and she has performed in many venues in the city and county, as well as across Ireland. Her poetry has been anthologised in “On the Banks”, “A Journey Called Home”, and “Cork Words 2”, and published in magazines including Southword, Revival, Crannóg and A New Ulster. Since 2020 she facilitates the Blue Mondays Writing Group and has co-edited/published their 2021 anthology. Books: “In the Consciousness of Earth” (Poetry), Lapwing, 2012; August Stramm, “You Lovepoems” (Translation from German), Münster 2015. Currently she is working on an album.
Constantin Calugaru was born in Cegani, Romania in 1956. He has been writing poetry all his life, but publicly only since the Romanian Revolution in 1989. He has published two books of poetry in Romania: “Essence” (2014), and “Irish Poems” (2018), written since he came to live in Cork in 2015, published this year in Romania. He likes Ireland, its landscape and people, and is in the process of writing a second collection, based on his experiences here.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 9.30 am – 10.30 am | Free
- Get Published with Deirdre Nolan
Publishers in Ireland accept direct submissions, unlike the big publishers in the UK. Find out in this in depth discussion what an editor is looking for in your submission package and how you can increase your chances of success. Find out the most commonly made mistakes and why following guidelines is imperative. Previously with Gill Books and now heading up Bonnier’s new Irish imprint Eriu, commissioning editor Deirdre Nolan is in conversation with Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin about what she’s looking for and how you can reduce your chances of rejection.
Deirdre Nolan is a highly motivated publisher with over 20 years’ experience in the industry. She is the Publishing Director of Eriu, the new Irish imprint of Bonnier Books, publishing adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction. She is enthusiastically commissioning stories that are of interest to Irish readers and have international potential. She previously worked for Gill Books and New Island, and completed a stint as a journalist that made her realise books are more fun.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am – 12.00 pm | Free
- First Page Pitch is back!
The 10 selected writers from the First Page Pitch submissions will read their pitch and get feedback from Vanessa McLaughlin, Polly Nolan and Deirdre Nolan. It is incredibly useful to hear pitches, openings of books and what the agents think of them – tune in to perfect your own approach, find out what works and what doesn’t!
Submission to patricia_looney@corkcity.ie, deadline: 5.00 pm Friday March 31, 2023.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 11.00 am | Free
- Kids event: Mariá Jesús Quirós – Al Gets Lost in Spain
Mariá Jesús Quirós is a preschool room leader and after school teacher at Generation Education Ireland, at Glounthaune, Co. Cork. She reads from her first title “Al Gets Lost in Spain” at the Children’s and Young People’s Library, for World Book Fest 2023.
Carnegie Courtyard off Tuckey Street | 12.00 pm – 2.00 pm | Free
- Spoken Words and Music 2023
In keeping with our love of words and all things books, Goldiefish Events are delighted to be hosting musicians and spoken word artists on Saturday 22nd April, 2023, at the Carnegie Space at the Cork City Library as part of the Cork World Book Festival. The multi-talented DJ and songwriter, Ronan Leonard, will be MCing and doing a short DJ set with solo performances from classical guitarist Colin McLean, singer-songwriter Hánt and the poet Molly Twomey.
Ronan Leonard, of This Is Cork, is amongst many things an entertainer and tour guide. Having been the online commentator of The Saint Patricks Day Parade he will bring that same energy and wit to World Book Day and will be selecting songs to fit the mood… He’s one of the many PROSE you’ll see during the course of the day!
Colin McLean has been performing throughout the country for the past 15 years. He has played classical guitar in every major concert hall in Ireland including National Concert Hall, Cork Opera House and the Concert Hall Limerick. He has toured with many different groups encompassing various genres. He has played concertos with orchestras and given solo, duo, trio, and quartet recitals both at home and abroad. He regularly tours with Fandango Duo and the Colin McLean Latin Trio and was one of the founding members of the Irish Guitar Quartet.
Hánt is the moniker of Dylan Howe, a professional multi-instrumentalist (Piano, Guitar, Tenor Saxophone, Trumpet, Cello, Bass, Mandolin, Theremin, Autoharp, Kalimba, Melodica) songwriter and arranger. Since leaving the Cork School of Music he has been performing with his own band, Rowan, and other artists such as Ariel Posen, Adam Neely, Tiz McNamara, Badly Drawn Boy, LYRA, The Frank & Walters, The Stunning, TOUCAN, Clare Sands, and many others.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 12.45 pm – 1.45 pm | Free
- How Publishing Works with Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin and literary agent Polly Nolan
Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin discusses the role of an agent, why you need one and what happens when your manuscript is accepted with literary agent Polly Nolan. Find out how authors get paid and understand the process from contract to shelf. Polly Nolan has worked as both an editor and an agent and has huge experience across the industry. With top tips for approaching an agent, find out how understanding the industry will increase your chances of success. After almost twenty years’ commissioning and editing children’s books at some of the UK’s top publishing houses, Polly moved to agenting in 2013 and quickly built a talented and successful list of clients. In 2020, she started her own agency and consultancy, PaperCuts Ltd, which represents authors writing for children from 5 to YA as well as offering advice to anyone needing help with their work. Always on the lookout for a good story, arrestingly told, Polly has a particular love of MG, especially MG that makes people laugh. Find out more at www.papercutsltd.com.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 1.30 pm | Free
- Eibhlís Carcione – Welcome to Dead Town, Raven McKay (10–12-year-olds)
Eibhlís Carcione is a children’s author and teacher. A bilingual poet, writing in Irish and English, her three poetry collections in Irish, “Tonn Chliodhna” (2015), “Eala Oiche” (2019), and “Bean Roin” (2023) are published by Coisceim. She lives in Cork City with her husband, daughter and two faithful canine companions. “Welcome to Dead Town, Raven McKay” is her debut novel.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 2.00 pm – 2.45 pm | Free
- Fergus Cronin: Debut short story collection by Doire, presented by Jamie O’Connell
Fergus Cronin is a native of Dublin. He has had a variety of occupations ranging from water engineering to theatre. In 2004 he moved to north Connemara in Galway. He now divides his time between Dublin and the West. He completed an MPhil degree in Creative Writing at the Oscar Wilde Centre in TCD in 2014. His stories have been published in Surge, a Brandon Books collection of new writing from Ireland, in “The Old Art of Lying”, (an anthology of work from the Oscar Wilde Centre), the Manchester Review and the Irish Times.
Jamie O’Connell is the author of the best-selling novel, “Diving for Pearls” (Doubleday UK), which was runner-up for The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize (The Society of Authors 2022) and short-listed for The Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year (The Irish Book Awards 2021). To date, his work has been Highly Commended by the Costa Short Story Award and the An Post Irish Book Award Writing.ie Short Story of the Year. He has been long-listed for BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines Short Story Competition and short-listed for the Maeve Binchy Travel Award and the Sky Arts Futures Fund.
Triskel Christchurch | 3.00 pm – 3.45 pm | €5 or €8 when you also book Paul Muldoon
- Joseph O’Connor My Father’s House – A literary thriller
Based on an extraordinary true story, “My Father’s House” is a powerful literary thriller from a master of historical fiction. ‘Beautifully crafted, his razor-sharp dialogue is to be savoured, and he employs dark humour to great effect. The plot twists keep on coming until the novel’s coda, where a final joyful conceit is revealed’. Lucy Popescu, The Guardian. Joseph O’Connor will be presented by Mary Morrissy.
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634768/events
Joseph O’Connor, born in Dublin, is novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and broadcaster. He is the author of nine novels including “Star of the Sea”, “Ghost Light” (Dublin One City One Book novel 2011) and “Shadowplay” (June 2019). He has also written two collections of short stories, “True Believers” and “Where Have You Been?”, several warmly received stage plays, six non-fiction collections and hundreds of radio diaries. His novel “Star of the Sea” sold more than a million copies, becoming a UK Sunday Times number one bestseller. Among his awards are the Prix Zepter for European Novel of the Year, France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, an American Library Association Award, and the Irish Pen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature. His work has been translated into forty languages. In 2014 he was appointed Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the
University of Limerick. A frequent and acclaimed broadcaster, Joseph has worked with many musicians, including Paul Brady, The Chieftains, Camille O’Sullivan, Mel Mercier, Martin Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionáird, composer Brian Byrne and Scullion. He has performed spoken-word pieces at major venues including the National Concert Hall, New York’s Lincoln Centre, the Barbican Centre, London, and the Royal Albert Hall. He is currently working on his next novel entitled “My Father’s House”, inspired by the real-life story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who saved many allied prisoners and Jewish Romans from the Nazis.
Mary Morrissy is an award-winning Irish novelist and short story writer, author of three novels, “Mother of Pearl”, “The Pretender” and “The Rising of Bella Casey”, and two collections of short stories, “A Lazy Eye” and “Prosperity Drive”. With her twenty-years experience of teaching creative writing at university level in the US and Ireland, she now offers one-to-one creative mentoring and editing and appraisal services for writers. She also has thirty-years of experience as a journalist, having worked as a reporter, feature writer and sub-editor on three of Ireland’s national dailies. Morrissy is an elected member of Aosdána, Ireland’s academy of artists and writers.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 4.15 pm – 5.00 pm | Free
- The Limits of my Language are the Limits of my World
Award-winning Galician poet and translator Jesús Castro Yañéz will be joined by Keith Payne, Irish translators and poets Matthew Geden, Jordan McCarthy, Jean Curtayne and Catherine Ronan for a showcase of some of the best in contemporary European poetry. A multi-lingual event that’ll be music to your ears!
Jesús Castro Yáñez (A Pastoriza, 1992) is a galician writer and the author of the poetry collections “Os nomes e os himnos” (2016), “Ultramarino” (2017) and “/\/\/\” (2017), the latter being part of the international project “Poetry will be made by all!”. He compiled and translated into galician language the selection “Campo de plumas” (2021), a poetry anthology from queer authors around the world and throughout the ages. Castro Yáñez’s work is included in several anthologies, such as “13. Antología de la poesía gallega próxima” and has been partially translated into Greek, English, Finnish and Slovenian.
Matthew Geden has lived in Kinsale since 1990. He has published several collections of poetry including “Fruit” (SurVision Books, 2020) and “The Cloud Architect” (Doire Press, 2022). He was Writer in Residence at the Nanjing Literature Centre in China during November 2019 and is currently Writer in Residence for Cork County Library and Arts Service.
Jordan McCarthy is a writer from Youghal, living in Cork city. His poems and stories have appeared in Cork Words, Swerve Magazine and Poetry in the Park. He has made four radio documentaries under the Sound and Vision scheme for CRY104FM, including “Leading The Field”, which received a CRAOL/BAI accredited award. Jordan is the producer and presenter of The Leeside Lives Podcast.
Catherine Ronan holds a degree in French and Applied Psychology from University College Cork and has been writing poetry since childhood. A member of multiple poetry collectives, she performs on open mic to international audiences, is a regular attendee at Ó Bhéal and is part of the DeBarra’s Spoken Word Team. She won the 2021 Winter Solstice Poetry Competition and co-curated Bandon as Poetry Town for Poetry Ireland. She has been published in multiple anthologies including “Woman Scream”, “Cork Words 2”, “Swerve”, “Blue Mondays”, “Inside my 5km”, “Love Volume 2” and “a World Transformed”. She curated poetry for Culture Night and Poetry Cafés in Bandon showcasing local poets from 8 to 80 years of age – an eclectic mix from spoken word to memoir. In 2023, she is undertaking a course in ‘Poetry in Translation’ with Writer in Residence for Cork City Council, Keith Payne, and will perform her translations of Arthur Rimbaud and Donall Cahill. She is working with local musicians who are composing original music to accompany her poetry. Her work is being exhibited as part of the Poetry in the Park and Heritage Projects. She was longlisted for Cúirt New Writing in 2023.
The City Library, Grand Parade | 5.00 pm – 5.45 pm | Free
- When I Sing, Mountains Dance
Please join internationally acclaimed Catalan author Irene Solà Sáez and her award-winning translator into English, Mara Faye Lethem, as they read and discuss the creative process behind this multivoiced book, which Ali Smith described as “fine-tuned to a kind of astonished and astonishing connectivity that’s an act of revolutionary revitalisation up against the odds of any despairing.” They will be presented by Helena Buffery.
Irene Solà Sáez (born 17 August 1990) is a Catalan writer and an artist. She has exhibited her work at the CCCB in Barcelona and the Whitechapel Gallery in London. Her first book of poems, “Bèstia” won the 2012 Amadeu Oller Prize and her novel “Els dics” the 2017 Documenta Prize. In 2019, she was awarded the Premi Llibres Anagrama de Novel·la for “Canto jo i la muntanya balla” (When I Sing, Mountains Dance). The same year, she also received the Núvol Prize, and the Cálamo Prize for the Spanish edition of the book. In 2020, she won the European Union Prize for Literature and the Maria Àngels Anglada Prize.
Mara Faye Lethem is an award-winning translator of contemporary Catalan and Spanish prose, and the author of “A Person’s A Person, No Matter How Small”. Her recent translations include books by Patricio Pron, Max Besora, Javier Calvo, Marta Orriols, Toni Sala, Alicia Kopf, and Irene Solà. She is currently translating the collected short stories of Pere Calders as part of her PhD at the University of St Andrews.
Helena Buffery lectures on contemporary Hispanic culture at University College Cork. Her research interests are in modern and contemporary Hispanic theatre and performance, translation studies and Catalan studies. She has published widely in these fields and recently completed an AHRC-funded project entitled “Staging Exile: Migration and Diaspora in Hispanic Theatre and Performance Cultures”.
Triskel Christchurch | 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm | Free
- REIC Irish Language Spoken Word le Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin, Julie Goo, is Ben Mac Caoilte. Le bean an tí Ciara Ní É
Filíocht ó bhéal, rap, amhránaíocht, scéalaíocht agus neart eile a bhíonn le cloisteáil ag imeachtaí REIC. Anocht cuirfidh bean an tí Ciara Ní É fáilte roimh Shéamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin, Julie Goo, is Ben Mac Caoilte, agus beidh mic oscailte ann. Bí ann go luath le do spás a chinntiú!
REIC (pronounced ‘wreck’) is a multilingual spoken word event featuring poetry, rap, music and storytelling. It is a welcoming space where Gaeilge is encouraged. Featuring readings by guest poets and open mic slots, audience participation is encouraged! Turn up early to sign up and secure your space!
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634767/events
Súil Amháin – rapper agus file as Lios Tuathail. Bantum ó Chorcaigh agus Rob Mulhern ó Ghaoth a bheirt léiritheoirí ceoil. Tá an-suím aige sa bhéaloideas agus rapálann sé i meascán mearaí do Ghaelscoilis, crua-Ghaoluinn na mbard, nathaíocht Chorca Dhuibhne agus Béarlachas gan dealramh. Tá dúil mhór aige i gcomics Alan Moore, scannáin Tarkovsky, filíocht INNTI agus kinder buenos.Tá sé ag obair ar albam fé láthair le Bantum agus beidh a chéad project iomlán le Tuath (Rob Mulhern) á eisiú i mí na Bealtaine aige. Tá físeán nua acu amuigh fé láthair d’amhrán dar teideal “MURDER MACHINE” a stiúraigh Danny Sparkes.
Julie Goo is an award winning bilingual Spoken Word poet from Cork City. She has performed her work on stages across Ireland and abroad for over a decade. Her debut collection “DÁNA” was published by Coiscéim (under the name Julie Field) in 2021 and launched as part of Cork World Book Fest. A generous Artist Bursary in 2023 from the Cork City Council has enabled Julie to start work on her English Language “Julie Goo Collection of poetry”. Goo enjoys being one half of Cork alternative music duo shelovescalpol, where she combines bilingual lyrics and song to trip hop/hip hop beats by DJ Millis.
Ben MacCaoilte is a bilingual poet writing in both Irish and English. Ben released his first poetry album on the Crannóg Media label in 2020 called “Beyond the Apple Tree” exploring people, places and lives that mattered. Since its release, Ben has been published in a number of journals including The Waxed Lemon and Much More Than Words. Ben has supported artists such as Declan O Rourke, Emma Langford and Stephen James Smith. In 2021, Ben was commissioned by the Waterford Gallery of Art as part of the “Ekphrasis Project”. Ben has performed at many events such as The International Writers Festival, the centenary of the Royal Irish Regiment and the So Say So Sessions in Wexford Arts Centre curated by Stephen James Smith. In 2022, Ben released his follow up album “Lifting the Gate” and in 2023 staged his poetry installation at Smock Alley Theatres Scene and Heard Festival.
Triskel Christchurch | 8.00 pm – 9.00 pm | €5 or €8 when you also book Joseph O’Connor
- Paul Muldoon Howdie Skelp – A call to Poetry
‘A “howdie-skelp” is the slap a midwife gives a newborn and is the title of the latest collection of poetry by Ireland Professor of Poetry Paul Muldoon (2022-2025). In “Howdie-Skelp”, Paul Muldoon summons the ghosts of T.S. Eliot and Dante to tell stories about our splintered realities, where the wasteland is everywhere and nowhere and Virgil is an immigrant waiter offering overpriced steak tartare. With cheeky poignancy and almost biblical satirical force, Muldoon captures the arrhythmia of our time….’ Kit Fan, The Guardian. Introduced by poet Thomas McCarthy.
https://triskelarts.ticketsolve.com/shows/873634771/events
Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for thirty-five years. He is the author of fourteen collections of poetry including “Howdie-Skelp”, published by FSG and Faber and Faber in 2021. Among his awards are the 1972 Eric Gregory Award, the 1980 Sir Geoffrey Faber Memorial Award, the 1994 T.S. Eliot Prize, the 1997 Irish Times Poetry Prize, the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, the 2003 Griffin International Prize for Poetry, the 2004 American Ireland Fund Literary Award, the 2004 Shakespeare Prize, the 2006 European Prize for Poetry, the 2015 Pigott Poetry Prize, the 2017 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry, and the 2020 Michael Marks Award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Thomas McCarthy, born at Cappoquin, Co. Waterford and educated at University College Cork. He worked for many years at Cork City Libraries. His collections of poetry include “The Sorrow Garden”, “The Last Geraldine Officer”, “Pandemonium and Prophecy” (Carcanet Press, UK) . He has won The Patrick Kavanagh Award, O’Shaughnessy Award and Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize as well as The Ireland Funds Annual Literary Award. A former Editor of Poetry Ireland Review and The Cork Review, he is a member of Aosdána. His literary diaries, “POETRY, MEMORY and the PARTY: Journals 1974-2014”, was published in 2022 by The Gallery Press, Dublin.
Sunday 23 April
The City Library, Grand Parade | 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm | Free
- Fiction at the Friary presents Rapid Fire Fiction
Rapid Fire Fiction is a special one-off Fiction at the Friary event, involving 20 emerging writers who will read short extracts from their work and – together – will write an entirely new story, start to finish, before your eyes. Come and listen to the readings, watch writing in action, and hear Cork actor Kevin Power read aloud the brand-new story that emerges. Drinks will be provided, as well as jelly beans, hula hoops and marshmallows. Do come along for what promises to be a quirky and fun-filled afternoon! Special Guest: Inni-K , “One of Ireland’s most exciting artists”, Irish Times.
Kevin N. Power lives in Cork. Former teacher and lecturer in Ireland, Germany and Austria, he is also an actor, director and radio presenter. His stories, articles and poems have appeared in Irish, American and Austrian publications. His plays have been performed in Cork and Germany. He has written pantomime scripts for Everyman Palace/CADA. He currently presents the music programme Campus Classics on UCC Radio 98.3fm on Fridays at 10 a.m.
Inni-K, aka Eithne Ní Chatháin, is a singer, song-writer & multi- instrumentalist from Kildare, her music draws on her extensive background in folk and traditional Irish music, even as she ventures into new musical territories. It combines ethereal vocals with deft musicianship, evocative lyrics (bilingual at times), and a unique approach to song-writing. New Album “Iníon” Out Now!
Fiction at the Friary is a free monthly fiction event open to all: readers, writers, aspiring writers, anyone who loves a good story. It takes place on the last Sunday of every month and each event includes readings and interviews with invited guest authors, writing exercises, a free book raffle, an open mic, and lots of jelly beans. These events are informal opportunities for writers and readers to meet and chat. Fiction at the Friary aims to promote and support the writing and reading of fiction in Cork and to support emerging writers from a diverse range of backgrounds and communities.
Madeleine D’arcy is a fiction writer based in Cork City, Ireland. Her début short story collection, “Waiting For The Bullet” (Doire Press, 2014), won The Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Prize 2015 (UK). Her second collection of linked short fiction, “Liberty Terrace” (Doire Press, 2021), won a FAPA President’s Prize 2022 (US). Madeleine is also a recipient of the Hennessy Literary Award for First Fiction and the overall Hennessy Literary Award for New Irish Writer, as well as a number of other awards. In 2021 she was appointed to the Arts Council of Ireland Peer Panel. From 2017 to 2022 she co-curated Fiction at the Friary, a free monthly fiction event in Cork City, with fellow-writer Danielle McLaughlin.
Danielle McLaughlin is a writer based in Cork County, author of the short-story collection “Dinosaurs on Other Planets” by The Stinging Fly Press. In 2019, she was a Windham-Campbell Prize recipient, and won The Sunday Times Audible Short-Story Award. “The Art of Falling”, her first novel, was published by John Murray in February 2021 and was shortlisted for The Dublin Literary Award 2022. She was mentor for the 2022 Irish Writers Centre Young Writer Delegates.
Poetry in the Park installations in 6 city parks will feature work from participating poets.
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Cork World Book Fest 