Loose Leaves SadhbRoll up, roll up, the 16th annual Trinity College Dublin Second-hand Book Sale starts this Thursday and continues until Saturday. More than 30,000 books, journals, paperbacks, CDs and other material will be up for grabs, donated as usual by staff, graduates and friends of the college.
This year's sale is said to be strong on history, Ireland, military history, biography, music, health and medicine, foreign languages, art history, English literature, natural history, and includes the libraries of several retired staff of TCD. One of the highlights will be the auction of rare books at 7pm on Thursday, conducted by auctioneer John De Vere White, which includes a first edition of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (London, 1939). The sale catalogue makes fascinating reading in itself. Included are: a collection of books by or about Enid and Walter Starkie; a study of the Huguenots in Ireland entitled L'Influence des Huguenots Français en Irelande aux XVIIe et XVIIIe Siècles by Albert Carré (Les Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1937); a collection of works on the Scots-Irish, a collection of pamphlets on Thomas Davis and a lot comprising three works on banking in Ireland. The book sale is a charity event; funds raised by last year's one were used to buy books, journals, maps and other research materials for the college library and smaller specialist departmental libraries. The sale starts in the Exam Hall, Front Square, at 5.30pm on Thursday and continues on Friday from 10am to 6pm, and on Saturday from 10am to 2pm. Admission is €3 on the first night (which with great civility includes a glass of wine); free on Friday and Saturday. All books will be half the marked price on Saturday and a clearance auction will take place at 2.15pm at which everything must go. Details from the book sale office, tel: 6082276; e-mail: booksale@tcd.ie
Book on the Big Fellow
Some legends never die and the prospect of a major new biography of Michael Collins by an eminent historian is decidedly something to look forward to in the autumn. Following Frank O'Connor, Tim Pat Coogan, T. Ryle Dwyer and Ulick O'Connor, who have all added to the store of books on the Big Fellow, Peter David Hart will soon weigh in with Mick: The Making of Michael Collins. Hart holds the chair of Irish studies at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada and is the author of two previous books on Irish political history. Macmillan publishes what it dubs as the biography of "the most gifted, ruthless and powerful politician of modern Irish history" in October.
Synge school back on song
Good news on the summer school circuit - the Synge Summer School, which focuses on Irish drama, is back after a hiatus of a few years. The school, which ran annually from 1991 to 2002, under the directorship of founder Nicholas Grene and then Adrian Frazier, wasn't held in 2003 because, among other considerations, international travel was badly hit in the aftermath of 9/11. The school's new director is Anthony Roche of UCD and this year's theme is 101 Years of Irish Theatre. It will run from June 26th to July 2nd in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow. Lectures include Anne Fogarty on Tragedy and Feminism in Lady Gregory's History Plays; Nicholas Grene on Place in Irish Drama; Adrian Frazier on Hollywood Irish: Abbey Actors in the Movies; Declan Kiberd on Different Deirdres; Robert Tracy on Brian Friel's Rituals of Memory and Melissa Sihra on Transformative Moments of Being and Becoming in the Theatre of Marina Carr. There will be readings by Brendan Kennelly and Marina Carr, tours, theatre visits, and other high jinks. E-mail the director at avroche@eircom.net or see www.wicklow.ie/syngesummerschool
Calling parent poets
The Annie Deeny Memorial Prize was launched by poet Fleur Adcock last May to honour Deeny, a teacher and mother of six children who, although she wrote, never sought to have her work published. The idea is to encourage someone in a similar situation, preferably a parent, to write and to publish and on offer is a two-week residency in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan, plus €250. Applications should be sent to The director, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, Newbliss, Co Monaghan. Closing date is June 30th. Full details are on the centre's website, www.tyroneguthrie.ie
Errigal celebrates
Letterkenny-based Errigal Writers cross-Border group is to celebrate its 10th anniversary from April 29th to May 1st by holding a poetry festival. Although composed mostly of poets, some of its members write short stories and plays. Among the poets reading at the festival are Eva Bourke and Macdara Woods.
There will also be workshops and the launch of the Errigal Writers' Anthology.