Lilliput adds two new names for 2012
The Lilliput Press has two new names for 2012: the debut novelist Donal Ryan and Mike McCormack, author of a New York TimesNotable Book of the Year, Getting It in the Head.
Ryan's novel, Johnsey, will be published by the Lilliput Press early next year. His second, The Spinning Heart,will be published later in the year. Lilliput has acquired the rights to Getting It in the Headas well as to McCormack's new collection of short stories, Forensic Songs.
“I think it’s important, where possible, to keep Ireland’s best writers in Ireland,” says Antony Farrell of Lilliput. “Mike McCormack is a neglected writer, and we really want to connect him with the readers who love great Irish literature; it’s obvious to me that these readers exist.
“I am very proud to be publishing Mike McCormack, and equally to have discovered Donal Ryan, the most interesting new author I have read in some time. Ensuring that great writers like Donal and Mike get published is why were in this business.”
Kavanagh estate awards poets €8,000 windfall
The trustees of the estate of Katherine Kavanagh have awarded the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh fellowships to three Irish poets: Eileen Casey, Mark Granier and Michael O’Loughlin. It’s a welcome windfall for the trio – normally just one fellowship is awarded each year, but a “one-off windfall” has made it possible to give out three awards, of €8,000 each, in memory of the poet (left) this time around.
Casey was born in the midlands and has lived in Tallaght since the 1970s; her most recent book, From Bone to Blossom(Altents Publishing, 2011), is a collaborative work with the visual artist Emma Barone. Granier was born in London in 1957; his third collection, Fade Street, was published by Salt in 2010. And O'Loughlin, born in Dublin in 1958, lived in Spain and the Netherlands for many years before returning to Ireland. His most recent collection, In This Life,was published this year by Liffey Press.
Sign on for creative writing classes
If finally writing that book is a New Year’s resolution, you need to sign up for creative-writing classes before you wimp out again. Those who live in the Galway area might want to investigate the two months of weekly workshops in story writing, poetry and memoir with Kevin Higgins and Susan Millar DuMars at Galway Technical Institute. The new terms will begin on Monday and Tuesday, January 16th and 17th. To book a place in either class, contact the institute at Father Griffin Road in Galway or book online at the GTI’s website, gti.ie.
Playwright is guest editor at magazine
The Stinging Flyhas announced that the poet, short-story writer and playwright Dave Lordan (below) is to be the guest editor for its summer 2012 edition.
He has been a regular contributor to the magazine over the past few years. The magazine is also seeking submissions for this particular issue. Its annual submission period opens on January 1st. Work from Irish and international writers is welcome, but all work submitted must be previously unpublished.
The postal address is The Stinging Fly, PO Box 6016, Dublin 1. Email submissions are not accepted. You'll find more details at stingingfly.org.
