Hourglass Readings

To the Irish Writers Centre last night for the 5th in the series of ‘Hourglass Readings’, a terrific idea by Irish novelist Dermot Bolger where he interviews a fellow writer while an hourglass sitting on the table between them counts the minutes ticking away.

Last night it was Claire Kilroy’s turn to be interviewed before a packed room and we were treated to a chapter from her third novel, which is due to be published next May.

Two weeks from now, one of Ireland’s best writers, Glenn Patterson, will be interviewed in the same series. Glenn, Claire and I were in a hotel fire together in Delhi earlier this year - more about that after Glenn’s reading, I think! Tickets can be booked here.

Library Voices

Another reading last night, this time in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin’s coastline as part of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council’s programme entitled ‘Library Voices’. I’d never been inside County Hall (left) before although I’ve walked past it a thousand times in my life. A magnificent building and a beautiful room to read in. I read two sections from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and despite the fact that I could feel my voice going halfway through the second one (don’t know why) it seemed to go well. A terrific and very responsive audience, full of questions. My favourite part of any reading is always the Q&A with the audience afterwards, it’s the most spontaneous and fun element of these events. Many thanks to Bert Wright for running the show in his typically lively and warm fashion and for conducting the on-stage questions too and to all the librarians who have worked so hard to ensure that the programme of readings are successful.

Most of the readings in this series have already happened (Jodi Picoult, Joe O’Connor, Hugo Hamilton) but there’s another one coming up next week (Cathy Kelly) The website is here if you’re interested in getting some tickets.

Dublin Writers Festival

I spent last night at the Project Theatre in Dublin where I read with New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones as part of the opening night of this year’s Dublin Writers Festival. The festival, which runs until Sunday night, has an excellent programme, pairing Irish writers with visiting writers from abroad. Last night’s reading, which was chaired by fellow novelist Claire Kilroy (that’s the 3 of us in the picture on the left) was a lively affair. Lloyd’s most recent novel, MISTER PIP, has been rightly celebrated around the world and we got into an interesting discussion on the role of Charles Dickens in our work. The fact that both our novels are for the most part set in the South Seas adds a further dimension to connect the books. I very much enjoyed hearing him read from his book. I read THE BOOK OF FAME recently too, which includes scenes set in Dublin’s Landsdowne Road rugby pitch. All of Lloyd’s books are steadily being brought into print on these islands - and a good thing too. I’m hoping to attend some of the other events in the festival over the next couple of days.

Listowel Writers Week

I spent Friday - Sunday in Listowel, Co Kerry, at the annual Writers Week literary festival. Before arriving, I stopped off in Dingle, at the Dingle Bookstore, where I gave a reading from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY to customers of this excellent local bookshop and was made feel very welcome. Many thanks to Camilla for inviting me (and for offering me a free book from the shelves afterwards!)

I drive to Listowel in time for the Amnesty event, which was being run in conjunction with the short stories being published every Saturday in the Irish Times. Four of the writers involved gave readings - Lia Mills, Carlo Gebler, Kevin Barry and myself - and afterwards there was what could only be called a very lively Q&A session with those attending on the subject of the writer’s role in relation to continuing human rights abuses around the world. The night ended, as so many of these events do, with a great gang talking into the night in the bar - great fun.

I attended John Banville’s reading on Saturday, a great treat as he read from a work-in-progress. Then on Sunday I read from MUTINY to an audience who, happily, were full of questions about that novel and not the previous one!

This was my first time at Listowel Writers Week and I enjoyed every minute of it thoroughly. A warm atmosphere in the hotel, a very professionally run festival, interesting writers and great audiences made up a terrific few days in Kerry.