LooseLeaves: There are many ways to celebrate the anniversary of a writer's birthday. Given that summer is in full flight, the National Gallery's decision to fête the 150th anniversary of the birth of George Bernard Shaw on Wed, July 26th, with a tea party seems particularly seasonal - and apt to the man himself.
A presentation by actor Alan Stanford, on the theme of "Celebrating George Bernard Shaw" will precede tea in the Shaw Room - to the strains of music by the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The event, which starts at 2pm, is open to the public and is free.
The gallery is also offering free tours this month, on weekdays at 3pm. These tours will highlight paintings purchased through the Shaw Fund, which was started as a result of the playwright's bequest to the gallery in 1950 in honour of the priceless part he felt the institution had played in his education. He loved the gallery and felt he owed it "much of the only real education I ever got as a boy in Éire".
Marie Bourke of the gallery sums up the institution's attitude to Shaw by saying that "his gesture of leaving the gallery a third of his estate - 'drafting the will was more trouble than 10 plays' - is the supreme act of this most good-humoured of Irishmen to whom we are eternally grateful".
An exhibition, the George Bernard Shaw Anniversary Tribute, devoted to his association with the gallery, will run until the end of the year to help visitors understand the significance of the connection. It's curated by Adrian Le Harivel, who has written the accompanying brochure. The famous statue of GBS (1856-1950) by Prince Paul Troubetzkoy which used to be out on the front lawn - where Shaw wanted it to be - is now at the heart of the exhibition.
Events later in the year include a talk on Sunday, Sept 3rd at 3pm by Leah Benson on Shaw and the gallery, and Prof Nicholas Grene of Trinity College talking on Man or Superman: George Bernard Shaw on Thurs, Oct 5th at 6.30 pm, followed by supper in the Wintergarden restaurant. Tickets for this event will be available from the gallery shop.
Yeats for youngsters
Starting today and running until August 26th, the National Library will host a series of children's events to coincide with its exhibition Yeats: the life & works of William Butler Yeats. The idea is to introduce younger folk to WBY through poetry and storytelling mornings and creative workshop afternoons on seven consecutive Saturdays throughout the summer. Given his huge interest in fairy and folktales, it's an inspired idea.
The programme on Saturday mornings will feature storytelling with Jack Lynch and Liz Weir; musical storytelling with Toby Kinsella and poetry with poet Terry McDonagh, author of Boxes, a collection of poems for children. Workshops for children aged eight and over will highlight the varied aspects of WBY's life and works with mask-making and model-making, and book, story and poetry workshops with, among others, artists Margot Jones and Sherra Murphy.
Admission to everything is free. All are welcome to today's storytelling event which starts at 11am. To book a space for this afternoon's creative workshop, tel. 01- 6030302 or e-mail cmcdonnell@nli.ie .
Biography of the Boss
Charlie Haughey's life through cartoons - that's what's on offer this week from The Currach Press. The cartoon biography is called Charlie: A Life in Words and Pictures, a new illustrated biography of Charles J Haughey. Written and illustrated by cartoonist Aongus Collins, it tracks the former taoiseach's ups and downs over 30 years.
Many words - and photographs and films - have been churned out on the man since his death; given gubu and the nature of some of the episodes in his life, cartoons seem not at all inappropriate for the telling of the Haughey tale.
A win for 'Wolves'
Some of the children's books that flood onto the books desk make you want to be five all over again. One such was Wolves by Emily Gravett (left), her first picture book, which has won the Kate Greenaway medal. Meanwhile, the cream of children's book awards, the Carnegie medal, has gone to Mal Peet for his novel Tamar.