Man Booker International shortlist
Cesar Aira, Fanny Howe and Amitav Ghosh are among the 10 finalists for the 2015 Man Booker International Prize. This year’s shortlist sees the greatest proportion of translated works since the inaugural award in 2005, with eight books nominated for their English translations. Hungary, Lebanon and Guadeloupe are among the countries with featured authors. Awarded every two years, the £60,000 prize has been won by authors such as Alice Munro, Chinua Achebe and Lydia Davis. American author Phillip Roth won the prize in 2011 amid controversy following the resignation of one of the judges. This year’s judging panel includes the writer and academic Prof Marina Warner (chair); the novelist Nadeem Aslam; the novelist and Oxford professor Elleke Boehmer; editorial director of the New York Review Classics series, Edwin Frank; and Wen-chin Ouyang, Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at SOAS, University of London. The winner will be announced at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on May 19th. A separate award for translation, worth £15,000, will also be made where applicable.
The finalists:
César Aira (Argentina)
Hoda Barakat (Lebanon)
Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe)
Mia Couto (Mozambique)
Amitav Ghosh (India)
Fanny Howe (United States of America)
Ibrahim al-Koni (Libya)
László Krasznahorkai (Hungary)
Alain Mabanckou (Republic of Congo)
Marlene van Niekerk (South Africa)
Folio winner announced
The Indian-American writer Akhil Sharma has won the second Folio Prize for Fiction for his autobiographical novel Family Life. The book took Sharma 13 years to complete, nine of which he spent struggling to write the story through a process he has likened to “chewing stones”. The plot centres on a family of Delhi emigrants, whose hopes of the American dream are radically altered when their eldest son is left mentally and physically disabled after a swimming pool accident.
Sharma received the £40,000 award from a strong shortlist of authors including Colm Tóibín for Nora Webster, the American writer Jenny Offill for her second novel Dept of Speculation, and Scottish author Ali Smith for the bookies’ favourite How to Be Both. The inaugural Folio Prize, which celebrates outstanding fiction irrespective of form, was won last year by the American short story writer George Saunders for his collection Tenth of December.
Praising Family Life for its humour and compassion, William Fiennes, chair of the judging panel, said: “It is a masterful novel of distilled complexity: about catastrophe and survival; attachment and independence; the tension between selfishness and responsibility. We loved its deceptive simplicity and rare warmth.”
Michael Longley reading
Former president Mary Robinson will introduce the poet Michael Longley at an event at the Ballina Arts Centre in Mayo on Friday, April 10th, at 8pm. Described by Seamus Heaney as "a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders", the Belfast poet will read from his acclaimed series of Mayo Poems. Introductions by Robinson and Fr Enda McDonagh, retired professor of moral theology at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, will precede the readings. Tickets are €15/€12 with concession. More information at ballinaartscentre.com.
Fiction workshop in Killarney
The award-winning writer Claire Keegan will host a one-day fiction workshop in Killarney on Saturday, April 25th. The event is organised by The Lightning Bug, a free monthly short story night in Cork. The masterclass will cover narrative structure, beginnings and endings, tension, character, dialogue and setting. It will also examine the rise and fall of narrative and the difference between good and bad fiction. The class is suitable for all levels, whether experienced or aspiring writers. The non-profit event runs 10am-4pm in a central Killarney venue and costs €60, which includes a sandwich lunch and teas and coffees. Places are limited to 20 attendees. Email lightningbugpress@gmail.com for questions or bookings.
Spoken word poetry
A spoken word poetry night takes places on the first Tuesday of every month in DeBarra’s Pub in Clonakilty, Cork. The pSoken Wrod group was established by the writer Nick Smith and has been running since October 2013. Guest readers have included the English poet Adam Wyeth, local poets Michael Ray and Afric McGlinchey, and short story writers Nick Smith and Mary Rose McCarthy. The open mic is open to all forms of performance, with past sessions featuring harpists, ukulele players, singers, poets, dramatists, stand-up comedians and fiction writers. The most recent night was based around an Irish theme, with 11 different nationalities involved.
“We are working to involve ourselves more in the community and hope to be a focal point of the new Clonakilty Organic Arts Festival in June,” says the poet Brendan McCormack, who is involved in the group. “This will be followed by a Bloomsday event, and for a July 4th celebration, we are linking live via Skype with a poetry collective in Austin, Texas.” The next visiting performers are the poet Kathy D’Arcy in April, the short story writer Danielle McLaughlin in May, and poet Ian Wild in June.
Allez les books
Crime fiction is the theme of this year’s Franco-Irish Literary Festival, which takes place at Dublin Castle and the Alliance Française on Kildare Street, Dublin 2, on April 25th and 26th. One of the main attractions will be an event with French crime writer Didier Daeninckx and John Banville, who will be donning the Benjamin Black mantle to discuss his 1950s Dublin noir series.
French writers taking part in the festival include Daeninckx, Hervé Le Corre, Jérôme Leroy, Chantal Pelletier, Jean-Bernard Pouy and Patrick Raynal. Irish crime writing will be represented by Banville, the RTÉ journalist and author Sinéad Crowley, Irish language author Anna Heussaf, Maighread Medbh, Cormac Millar, Sam Millar, Stuart Neville and Brendan McLoughlin.
Now in its sixteenth year, the festival aims to strengthen links between Ireland and France and to showcase literary talent from both countries. An education day for younger readers will take place on April 24th as part of the festival, where students will be invited to meet with writers Didier Daeninckx and Anna Heussaff at the National Library of Ireland and the Lycée Français of Ireland. More information can be found at francoirishliteraryfestival.com.
Poetry Day Ireland
Poetry Day Ireland takes place on Thursday, May 7th, with a range of events across the country. The iniative, in association with Poetry Ireland, aims to get people reading, writing, and talking about poetry. Headline events, with at least one in each province, include Paul Durcan in conversation with Tipperary hurling manager Eamon O’Shea at the Source Arts Centre in Thurles; poets and crime fiction writers Sophie Hannah and Paul Perry reading at Green Street Court House in Dublin; a Yeats event in Thoor Ballylee Castle in Galway; readings from the Poems that Make Grown Men Cry anthology in Sligo; and an event in the Verbal Arts Centre in Derry.
Poetry Ireland's Writers in Schools scheme will visit an island off the northern, western and southern coasts and approximately 10,000 patients in hospitals throughout the country will receive a menu of poems on the day. All schools will also receive a special commissioned poetry lesson plan. On Sunday, May 10th, Poetry Ireland will present Paul Durcan in conversation with Alan Gilsenan at The Gate Theatre, Dublin. On May 28th, finalists from the Poetry Aloud poetry speaking competition will commemorate WB Yeats at Listowel Writers' Week. More information is available on poetryireland.ie.
ILFD sneak preview
Two Booker winners, Jon Ronson and the writings of a Guantánamo detainee feature in the line-up for this year’s International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD). The week-long event, formerly the Dublin Writers Festival, will take place across the city from May 16th-24th. The festival’s new programme director Martin Colthorpe will announce the full programme in April.
An event with the Laureate for Irish Fiction, Anne Enright, will explore the world of her new novel, The Green Road. Another Booker winner, the Australian writer Peter Carey, will discuss his recent novel Amnesia. Journalist and author Jon Ronson will speak about his new book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, which tells the stories of ordinary people who have found themselves at the centre of a social media storm. One of the more unusual events includes live and recorded extracts from Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s Guantánamo Diary. Handwritten from his cell in 2005, and published after years of legal wrangling, the Mauritanian author has been detained at the prison since 2002. The recordings will be followed by a discussion with Slahi’s editor Larry Siems and lawyer Nancy Hollander.
Closing date for submissions for the festival’s Date With An Agent event is midnight on March 27th. A limited allocation of tickets will be available for the public to attend the talks, workshops and to network with the experts on the day.
Finally, a special pre-festival event on April 24th will see the director and writer Anthony Horowitz in conversation with Irish Times journalist Shane Hegarty, who has recently released his debut children's book Darkmouth. The pair will discuss Horowitz's life, work and how he came to create the character of teenage superspy Alex Rider. Details of how to win tickets to the event can be found at ilfdublin.com.
Contact sarah.gilmartin@gmail.com with your literary listings
