OLDER READERS with a flair for creative writing who need encouragement to put pen to paper may be interested in adding No Shoes in Summer to their Christmas gift list.
Written entirely by over-65s, the material for this book was compiled by the students at Grange Community College in Dublin; it is a rich anthology of prose, poetry, musings, reminiscences and autobiographical fragments.
The subject matter is wide and covers Ireland in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, school days, first Communion, memories of Christmas and experiences of war. Contributors explore work, play and traditions.
The compilation, which began as a classroom project, is a prize-winner in the Guinness Living Dublin awards and it is published by Wolfhound Press (£8.99, paperback).
The idea for the anthology came from teacher Mary Ryan, who asked her students to invite their grandparents and elderly relatives to write down stories of childhood and growing up in Ireland. Submissions from elsewhere around the country were then added.
Sociologists and those interested in Ireland's past will also derive much pleasure from this compilation, which has a foreword by the late novelist Eilis Dillon.
