As we say farewell to the Kilkenny Arts Festival for another year, consolation is at hand. We may soon be drawn back to the sunny south-east. Hubert Butler is to be commemorated on his home turf: a centenary celebration in his honour is being held at Butler house in Kilkenny, from October 20th to 22nd.
Butler (1900-1991) is one of the more esteemed literary sons of Kilkenny, and remains something of a neglected gem in Irish literature. As a master of the essay, he follows in the by-no-means Lilliputian steps of Swift, his four collections being informed by his Protestant pluralism and wide travels.
If you're new to the man and the work, however, there is no need to fear. There'll be enough capable guides to navigate you through the two days of celebrations. With a keynote speech by historian Roy Foster and contributions from Edna Longley, Tim Robinson, John Banville, Christopher FitzSimon, Fintan O'Toole, and Nicholas Grene, you'll be reeling with ideas and intellectual stimulation by the weekend's close.
One of those behind the celebration, Robert Tobin, describes Butler as a diamond of Irish literature that was overlooked. He considers Butler's Swiftian polemical side to be similar to that of Orwell, but adds that the October weekend promises to be a good party as well as everything else. It is a birthday celebration, after all.
Further information from 056-51500, or at kinair@iol.ie. The fee for the full weekend's activities is £30.
Sadbh remembers the privilege of helping Allen Ginsberg contribute a poem to The Great Book of Ireland a number of years ago when he was visiting this country as a frail old man, just two years before he died, and is happy to hear that a similar project is afoot, this time as Gaeilge.
A little electronic epistle, otherwise known as an e-mail, informs Sadbh that Leabhar Mor na Gaeilge, or The Great Book of Gaelic, will bring together 155 poets, visual artists, calligraphers, and typographers from Ireland and Scotland in a project reminiscent of an older Scottish-Irish collaboration, The Book of Kells.
While the Scottish leg of the project is already in train, with names such as William Neil and Aonghas MacNeacail involved, the Irish part of the collaboration is scheduled to be launched sometime in October. Irish language poets Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill and Cathal O Searcaigh will be among those representing the written word, while Felim Egan and Daphne Wright will form part of the Irish visual contribution. Meanwhile, director of Poetry Ireland, Theo Dorgan, is the consultant editor of the book.
Sadbh hopes we'll all get to see the finished product displayed somewhere, and that it doesn't disappear into the vaults of some anonymous collector in California. Trinity, or Kells, might offer a venue, so long as they don't argue over it.
Speaking of Trinity College, we hear that its degree course in creative writing is thriving. The amazing thing is that there aren't many more such courses around the country: similar ones are run-of-the-mill in US universities, but don't seem to have caught on so widely here. Then again, maybe we're such a talented bunch we don't need them. With such courses, other Irish universities could boast publications such as Dogs Shot from Cannons, an anthology of the work of Trinity students from the M. Phil in Creative Writing, which goes on sale today.
With support from consulting editor and novelist Mary Morrissy, and poets Gerald Dawe and Brendan Kennelly, this is one anthology in which the standards are guaranteed to be high. Priced £5.99, it's available in bookshops around Ireland, or can be purchased online at www.tcd/ie/OWC/ cannondogs
Sadbh is a little sceptical when the invention of the PC is compared with the invention of the Gutenberg press, and when she's told that the crisp, yellowed pages of a good book may soon give way to virtual volumes. However, it would seem that this day is drawing nearer, as a young Irish start-up company has become partners with Microsoft in a worldwide electronic book venture.
Dublin-based Estuary Technologies Ltd has already brought out 30 e-books, having published its first in 1997. Run by David Joyce and Cathel Fay, the company is one of 30 publishers globally which have signed publishing deals with Microsoft.
So far the company has limited its publishing to books on business, interviewing techniques, and stress management, but it could be some time before you are downloading 10 or more novels onto one handheld device. A portable Tolstoy? Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.
The judges in the 2000 Thomas Cook/ Daily Telegraph Travel Book Award are nearing the final stage of their deliberations. Before them are six contenders for consideration, and with a prize of £7,500 sterling, they'd better be sure of their final choice, to be announced in London on September 19th.
With accomplished prose writers such as Jonathan Raban in the running, there's clearly stiff competition for this year's prize.