The 10th edition of the Stinging Fly is out now, edited by Declan Meade, and is available in bookshops for £4. After a very shaky start, this magazine now repays reading, with its consistently strong interview slot. This issue's interview is with the poet and novelist Kerry Hardie. There are some very interesting observations by Hardie on the long process of working towards a book of poems, and some honest reactions to the painful subject of bad reviews for her recent novel. Hardie gives a thoughtful and thought-provoking interview, and the issue also carries an extract from her second novel, which she is currently working on. Other contributions include fiction from Susan Knight and poetry from Eamon Grennan, Sean Lysaght and Katie Donovan.
The new catalogue from the poetry publisher, Carcanet, has just arrived on Sadbh's desk. Among the forthcoming titles are an anthology edited by Eavan Boland, as well as a new collection of her poems; a second collection from Sinead Morrissey, entitled From Here to There; and Thomas Kinsella's Collected Poems. Boland has edited A Journey with Two Maps; a critical anthology of essays about women poets from the 17th century to the 20th, supplemented by poems of the period. It also, says the blurb: "maps Boland's own journey". With the controversial fourth volume of the Field Day Anthology - which is thought to feature the women writers whom many felt were excluded from the original volumes - this could be a timely companion volume. Boland's own collection is entitled Code, which, we are told, "takes crucial new risks with language". Among the other poets who have new books on the way are Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky, Elizabeth Jennings, and Elaine Feinstein. The catalogue also carries the good news that the fine poetry magazine, PN Review, will soon be available online and "subscribers will have free password access to a huge treasure". Carcanet updates its own website monthly, so to find out more, log on to www.carcanet.co.uk
The Heinrich B÷ll Cottage on Achill is now looking for applications for residencies for 2002, with a cut-off date of the end of September. The cottage is available to writers, artists, and composers for periods of between two and four weeks. More information about the scheme and application procedure from John Mc Hugh, Secretary Achill Heinrich Boll Committee, Abha Teangai, Dooagh, Achill, Co Mayo.
Sadbh has been sent details of the Scriobh Literary Festival 2001, which takes place from September 13 to 16th in Sligo. The festival, which has moved around several buildings in Sligo in the last few years, now has a home; the newly-revamped Model Arts Centre and Niland Gallery. How many of you folk reading this know that 2001 is the European Year of Languages? Well, it is, and it's the theme of this year's festival. Among the readers will be poet George Szirtes, novelist Eoin McNamee - who has just been long-listed for the Booker - short-story writer Claire Keegan, novelist Pat McCabe, journalist Anne Marie Hourihan, poet Rita Ann Higgins, and short-story writer Eil∅s Ni Dhuibhne. The Language Factor is the title of the festival's forum, which will be looking at the experience of writers in having their work translated into other languages. The forum will be chaired by Emer O'Beirne of UCD. On the panel are Eil∅s Ni Dhuibhne, Charles Dantzig, Anatoly Kudryavitsky and Macdara Woods.
News from the Irish Writers Union of its forthcoming tribute to writer and broadcaster Sam McAughtry. On September 27th, the IWU will award McAughtry an honorary lifetime membership. Recent recipients of this award are writers Ben Kiely and James Plunkett.
A poetry competition which has been around for a long time, and been won by many poets who went on to publish fine collections, is coming around again. The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Competition is now looking for submissions for this year. They want between 20 and 30 unpublished poems, none of which can be more than 40 lines long. Entry fee is £10, and the closing date is September 30th. Write for entry forms to the Patrick Kavanagh Society, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan, or e-mail daig@eircom.net
There's also still time to get your entry into another equally established competition - the Francis MacManus short story competition. The pot this year is £4,000, and winners also have their 15 minutes of fame when their stories are broadcast on RT╔ Radio 1. Get a copy of the rules from Francis MacManus Awards, RT╔ Radio Centre, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. But don't hang about - closing date is September 14th.