Founded to honour the memory of poet Dennis O’Driscoll, Circling The Square is now in its fifth year and has established itself as one of the country’s best poetry festivals. Thomas McCarthy said: “A festival in the Tipperary heartland, inspired by the memory of the great Dennis O’Driscoll, Circling the Square is the one place poets want to turn to year after year.”
Moya Cannon said: “In addition to being a wonderful poet and discerning critic, Dennis O’Driscoll was famous for his affirmation of poets and poetry and his commitment to excellence. With warm Tipperary hospitality, the Circling the Square festival celebrates and perpetuates his gracious and generous spirit.’
This year’s Circling The Square will take place from October 16th to 18th in Thurles, Co Tipperary – the town in which Dennis grew up – and will open with a free event in Bookworm Bookshop, at which Rita Ann Higgins and Molly Twomey will read. On the afternoon of Saturday 17th, at The Source Arts Centre, Fintan O’Toole and Mick Heaney will speak to Declan O’Driscoll at an event called Fieldwork: The Public Life of Seamus Heaney.
This will be followed by readings from Maija Mäkelä, Adam Wyeth, Katie Donovan, Stephen Sexton and Catriona O’Reilly, plus music by classical flautist Emma Roche and cellist Richard Angell. That evening, also at The Source, poets Vona Groarke, Dean Browne, Leontia Flynn, John Kelly, Martina Evans and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe will read their work. Ed Dwan Quartet, Daniel Byrne Ensemble and Emma Roche will play music interludes.
On Sunday a free event in O’Gorman’s pub, Thurles will include readings by poets Róisín Leggett Bohan, Emily Cullen, Anne Donnellan, Paddy Moran, Jaki McCarrick, John D. Kelly, Eithne Lannon, Noelle Lynskey, Eoin Devereux and Karen J. McDonnell.
Tickets can be booked at thesourceartscentre.ie
Saturday’s pages
In The Irish Times tomorrow, Bonnie Garmus tells Nadine O’Regan about her new novel, Peck & Peck, and the misogynistic reaction to her bestselling debut Lessons in Chemistry. Mahmoud Khalili talks to Tadhg Hoey about his memoir, No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention. There is also a Q&A with Eoin McNamee about his new book of collected short fiction, The Comets.
Reviews are Eamon Maher on John McGahern by Frank Shovlin; Ruby Eastwood on The Glass Cage by John Healy; Sinéad Gibney on Daniel Susskind’s What Should my Children Do?; on the best new translations; Breándan Mac Suibhne on Brian Cowen: Anatomy of a Taoiseach by Gary Murphy; Neasa MacErlean on Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body by Andrew Huberman; Andrew Lynch on Hawking: His Life and Work by Graham Farmelo; Greg Londe on O Now! By Niall Williams; Djamel White on The Boy by Mark Gyves; Henrietta McKervey on Sleepers in the Snow by Joanne Harris; Helena Mulkerns on Ply by Hernan Diaz; Dean Fee on X&Y=K by Ciaran Carson; and Declan Burke on the best new scifi.
Ilse Schwepcke Prize
Hannah Kent, author of Always Home, Always Homesick, is the winner of the 2026 Ilse Schwepcke Prize for women’s travel writing. The winner of the sister prize, Der Ilse Schwepcke Preis, for a travel book written by a woman in German, is Marianne Jungmaier for Kontinentaldrift (Continental Drift).
Irish Book Week 2026
Irish Book Week 2026, the annual celebration of the vital contribution bookshops makes to Irish culture, the economy and communities, runs from Saturday, October 17th to Saturday, October 24th.
Almost 200 Irish bookshops have registered to take part in this year’s campaign, run in partnership by Bookselling Ireland as part of their Books Are My Bag campaign and Publishing Ireland.
Events include: Irish Book Week Ambassador, Carina McNally, visiting Kerr’s Bookshop, Clonakilty, on Friday, October 23rd, at 3pm to sign copies of her historical novel, Mithim. info@kerrsbookshop.ie
Award winning author and illustrator Oisín McGann will visit Chapters Bookshop, Dublin on Saturday, October 17th, at 11am for a hands-on workshop for readers aged 10+ exploring how writers and illustrators bring creepy characters to life.
The Maynooth Bookshop will host a free illustrated historical talk with Titanic historian Alan Cleary on Thursday, October 22nd, at 6.30pm, exploring Ireland’s fascinating maritime connections from the passengers and crew to the tragic sinkings, loss of life and communities across Ireland touched by the ships.
Halfway Up the Stairs, Greystones, will host an interactive family print workshop on Saturday, October 17th, at 11am with Anne Atkins based around her new book Cackle Crackle: Letters from the Witch. This event is suitable for children aged 6+.
For further information on Irish Book Week 2026, follow Bookselling Ireland’s on Facebook and Instagram: @booksellingireland.
Sky Arts Awards
Belfast writer Wendy Erskine has been shortlisted for her debut novel The Benefactors in the Literature category in this year’s Sky Arts Awards, which will be broadcast live on Sky on Tuesday, October 13th, live from The Roundhouse, London, hosted by hosted by Grayson Perry and Rebecca Lucy Taylor (aka Self Esteem). Also nominated are Oyinkan Braithwaite for Cursed Daughters and Robert Macfarlane for Is a River Alive?
Irish Jewish lecture series
A new evening series features some of the many stories of the Irish Jewish experience. Hosted by Trinity’s Centre for Jewish Studies, the Trinity Long Room Hub and in co-operation with the Irish Jewish Museum, the series includes lectures, music and film offering new perspectives on the Jews of Ireland and their experiences.
The first session, From the Venice Ghetto to Dublin’s ‘Little Jerusalem’ and beyond by Bryan Cheyette, takes place on Tuesday, October 13th, at 6.15pm and tickets can be booked here.
On November 17th, Prof Eugenio Biagini will speak about his new book, The Minority Mind: Jews and Protestants in Catholic Ireland, 1912-1968 (Cambridge University Press, 2026). On December 15th, Katrina Goldstone presents The Aliens File: A Story of Us and Them. Jewish migration in post-independence Ireland. On Tuesday, January 26th, there is a screening and panel discussion of Der Veg Abhaile (2024), a documentary film, directed by Hannah Bloom and produced by Saul Woolfson, exploring Irish Jewish identity from the perspectives of culture and migration. On February 13th, Natalie Wynn discusses Isaac Herzog and the Irish Chief Rabbinate. On March 9th, Seán Gannon explores Christian Mission and Irish Jews. On April 13th, Trisha Oakley Kessler discusses Nationalism and the economy: Jews, Identity and Belonging in Twentieth-Century Ireland. Finally, on May 18th, Zuleika Rodgers’ subject is Jacob Weingreen: A Jewish Journey and a Trinity Story.
Polari Book Prizes
Paul McVeigh and Sarah Maria Griffin are among 12 writers longlisted for the Polari Book Prize 2026. Founded in 2019 and previously awarded to Andrew McMillan, Kate Davies, Diana Souhami, Joelle Taylor, Julia Armfield and Jon Ransom, the £2,000 prize is sponsored by DHH Literary Agency.
The Polari Prize 2026 longlist is: The Decadence by Leon Craig; Pride and Prejudices: Queer Lives and the Law by Keio Yoshida; This Is How I Fight by Rosie Garland; Green Ink by Stephen May; I Hear You by Paul McVeigh; On the Boardwalk by Martin Sherman; The Light of Day by Christopher Stephens & Louise Radnofsky; Maryville by Joelle Taylor; Our Better Natures by Sophie Ward; Well Done, You Didn’t Die by Max Wallis; Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin; and Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have by Deborah Frances-White.
The judges are literary critic Suzi Feay, Dr Gurmit Singh of Lancaster Literature Festival, Katy Jon Went of The Human Library, and Garry Wilson, CEO of sponsor EasyJet Holidays.
Sam Furlong is one of 12 writers on the Polari First Book Prize 2026 longlist.
The longlist is: The Ayatollah’s Gaze by Majid Parsa; What A Girl Wants by Roxy Bourdillon; Where You Go, I Will Go by Christina Fonthes; Altar by Desree; Summer Hours by Alessandra Thom; Pig by Matilde Pratesi; Prairie Oyster by Sophie Robinson; Crowd Work by Sam Furlong; Smoke and Silk by Fiona Keating; A Family Matter by Claire Lynch; I’m Fine by Richard Hall; Miss Veal and Miss Ham by Vikki Heywood.
This year’s shortlist will be announced on November 3rd. The winners will be announced on November 30th at the Polari Prize ceremony at Heaven nightclub, London.
Paul Auster biography
Seven Stories Press has acquired world rights to Jennifer Bartlett’s The Mechanics of Reality, the authorised biography of Paul Auster, who died on April 30th, 2024. The book will include considerable archival material from Auster’s personal papers and photographs not yet made public.
The forthcoming book, currently scheduled for Autumn 2029, has the full support of Auster’s widow and literary executor, the internationally recognised novelist and scholar Siri Hustvedt, whose memoir of her life with Auster, Ghost Stories, topped bestseller lists all over Europe in the spring.
Padraic Colum Gathering 2026
Longford County Library and Archives Services will host the annual Padraic Colum Gathering in Granard Community Library this Saturday, October 10th, from 11am to 4pm. The event celebrates the lasting contribution of Padraic Colum, one of Longford’s most important literary figures, and his wife Mary Colum, a respected writer and critic.
The programme opens with writer and film producer John Connell, who will discuss Colum’s place in Longford’s literary tradition. A highlight will be the launch of the inaugural Clíona Ní Shúilleabháin Letter-Writing Competitions, established in memory of Padraic Colum’s grandniece and long-time supporter of the Gathering.
In the afternoon, Prof Margaret Kelleher will launch her new book, Mary and Padraic Colum: Lives and the Dream, introduced by Vona Groarke, Ireland Professor of Poetry. The day concludes with music from Aoife Mulligan and visitors can also view a special exhibition of letters exchanged between Padraic and Mary Colum, recently donated to Longford County Archives.
Pádraig Ó Snodaigh remembered
This Saturday, October 10th, UCD Village Auditorium will be the venue for a day of celebration of the life and work of Pádraig Ó Snodaigh (1935-2025), publisher, historian and language activist. The event will feature poetry and prose readings, music, a keynote talk by Alan Titley and discussions of Ó Snodaigh’s contribution to publishing.
Ó Snodaigh set up the publishing house Coiscéim in 1980 and over 45 years published nearly 2,000 books in Irish. A Carlow native, he spent his working life in Dublin where he married the artist Clíodhna Cussen. In the National Museum he was responsible for 1916 holdings. His early retirement allowed him to found Coiscéim. He was Uachtarán of Conradh na Gaeilge (1974-79) and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Celtic Studies by UCD in 2019.
The discussion and celebration of his unique contribution to Irish life and letters will take place in UCD from 1pm until 9pm. SNOD 26 is free to the public but it is advisable to book through Eventbrite.
Little Island launch
Little Island is publishing He Loves Me (Not) by Máire Zepf, originally published in Irish as Nóinín by Irish indie Cois Life, when it won the main Book of the Year prize at the KPMG–Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2020, the first and still the only Irish-language book to do so. Now translated into English by the author, Little Island is proud to bring this terrific YA verse novel to to a new audience for the first time. For the launch event on October 8th, at 6pm, in the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, Máire will be in conversation with fellow former Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, Shirley-Anne McMillan (author of Little Island’s 2023 YA title Grapefruit Moon).
Flashes from the Dark
Emma Dabiri presents a programme on Jamaican poet Ferdinand Levy this Sunday, October 11th, at 6pm on RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Listen. Levy enrolled as a medical student at Trinity College Dublin in 1933, and in 1941 published his only collection of poetry, Flashes from the Dark, believed to be the first collection by a black poet published in Ireland. His poems range in theme from life in Ireland to racism, colonialism, the beauty of the Caribbean and the vitality of Harlem, and they brought to the grey streets of 1940s Ireland the rhythms and language of the Harlem Renaissance.
Oliver Jeffers
HarperCollins Children’s Books, celebrates the 50th overall translation deal for Oliver Jeffers’ iconic collection of award-winning picture books.
The 50th language signed was Indonesian rights for three books: Here We Are, I’m Very Busy and Where to Hide A Star. His global sales now exceed 22 million copies worldwide.
He will be appearing at the Dublin Book Festival on Saturday, November 7th and will be signing books in Eason Dundrum on Friday, November 6th and Kennys Galway on Sunday 8th. He will be signing in No Alibis Belfast on December 20th.
TS Eliot Prize shortlist
Judges Leontia Flynn (chair), Ishion Hutchinson and Daisy Lafarge have chosen the T.S. Eliot Prize 2026 shortlist from 174 poetry collections submitted by 65 British and Irish publishers. The adventurous list comprises poets both well-known and less familiar, including writers of multiple collections, one previously shortlisted poet, two second collections and one debut. Poets hail from Canada, Ireland, Jamaica and the US.
Ireland is represented by Cork poet Billy Ramsell for Render, published by Banshee Press. Also shortlisted were: Killing Spree by Jorie Graham; Hide Me Under the Blood by Keith Jarrett; and I Shall Be Satisfied by Imani Mason Jordan; Sleep Gate by Sylvia Legris; Behold by Shara McCallum; The House of Broken Things by Kim Moore; Gravity Archives by Andrew Motion; Cafés by Holly Pester; and The Channel by Jana Prikryl.
Flynn said: “Though very different in voice, style and preoccupation, these ten collections share a determination to meet the challenges faced in difficult times with closer attention to language. Linguistic disruption, personal reflection, humorous lyricism – or indeed all these things at once – can be found in this work. Each of these books reminds us why, when nothing else makes much sense, it’s to poetry we turn to reorient ourselves.”
The winner of the £25,000 prize will be announced at the Wallace Collection, London, on January 18th. The shortlisted poets will each receive £1,500. Last year’s winner was Karen Solie for her collection Wellwater (Picador Poetry).
