The programme for the first John McGahern International Seminar, which takes place in Co Leitrim later this month, has been announced.
A summer school is being organised by Leitrim County Council and NUI Galway to honour the writer, who died in March 2006. It will begin in Carrick-on-Shannon on July 26th with an opening address, John McGahern: the Novel and the Story, by Prof Declan Kiberd, of University College, Dublin.
Seminar sessions will take place in Carrick-on-Shannon, Aughawillan, Ballinamore and Mohill over three days with speakers including Prof Sylvie Mikowski, University of Reims, France; Dr James Whyte, NUI Galway; Dr Eamon Maher, IT Tallaght; and Fr Liam Kelly.
The summer school will include a boat trip on the Shannon and Boyle rivers and a bus tour of Aughawillan and Ballinamore.
John McGahern spent his early years in south Leitrim and north Roscommon, but he lived most of his working life near Fenagh in Co Leitrim, where he combined writing with farming.
The actress Marie Mullen will perform a series of readings, and the award-winning documentary John McGahern: A Private World will also be screened.
The co-ordinator of the seminar, Dr John Kenny of NUI Galway, said that the events would be a "fitting testament" to McGahern's legacy.
McGahern wrote six novels, several collections of stories, and an autobiography, Memoir, published shortly before his death.
He was posthumously honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2007 Irish Books Awards.
A schedule of events is available at www.nuigalway.ie/iss/John_McGahern.html
