Lit Review |111| Interactive, International Storytelling & Bookshop Weddings
“Kublai Kahn does not necessarily believe everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions…”
He’d be better off reading the Lit Review…
News
Welcome aboard The Irish Writer’s Centre
Until last Friday (14th July) The Irish Writers Centre were seeking ‘expressions of interest’ for new board members. Positions on the centre’s board of directors are voluntary, though directors have legal responsibilities under the Companies Act.
The board delegates policy decisions, made at eight annual meetings, to sub-committees and the centre’s management. Board members can serve a maximum of two three year terms.
Founder Director of Bray Women’s Refuge, and former Wicklow County Councillor Liz McManus is currently Chairperson.
Flann Fest
Next week (17th – 22nd July) marks the fourth International Flann O’Brien Conference. The conference is co-ordinated by the International Flann O’Brien Society. The lineup of speakers is divided into academic keynote addresses, and talks from ‘guest writers’, performers and visual artists.
This year’s edition will be hosted by the Department of English Studies at the University of Salzburg. Previous conferences have been held in Vienna and Rome.
The society boasts over three hundred members and publishes The Parish Review.
Irish Press Prize Nomination
Joanna Walsh, one of this year’s IFOBC speakers, has also been nominated for the Edgehill Short Story Prize. Vertigo, Walsh’s second collection published by Irish independent house Tramp Press in 2015, has been nominated alongside Lucy Caldwell’s Multitudes, Daisy Johnson’s Fen, Irenosen Okjie’s Speak Gigantular, and KJ Orr’s Light Box.
Previous winners of the prize include Colm Toibín, Claire Keegan, and Kevin Barry, who has also featured on the judging panel.
Walsh’s latest published work, Seed, is an interactive ‘digital novella.’ According to publisher Visual Editions Seed “The book uses a sprawling digitally-native canvas to steer the reader through their own unique reading of the book.”
Wuthering Dublin
Saturday 15th July marked the first occasion Dublin has marked “The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.” Crowds gathered at St Anne’s Park to participate in a mass reenactment of Kate Bush’s dance routine from the video to her 1978 hit.
The afternoon’s itinerary included two rehearsals and picnic, before the crowd took the stage at Dublin City Rose Festival to carry out the re enactment.
Bush famously sourced her subject matter from Emily Brontë’s novel of the same name. Opinions diverge on whether Bush’s romantic take on the novel’s grim portrayal of young love is faithful to Brontë’s original vision. The degree to which The Lit Review cares is much less ambiguous.
Situations
Applications for The Stinging Fly‘s fiction workshops, lead by short story writer and novelist Sean O’Reilly, are open until Monday 14th August.
Gill Education are currently seeking mind moulding candidates to be their new Editorial Manager. Those hoping to straddle the diverse worlds of editing and administration should apply no later than 25th July.
The Sean O’Faolan International Short Story Prize, facilitated by the Munster Literature Centre, is accepting submissions until July 31st. The winning story will be published in Southword, and its author will receive €2000(!) and a week long residency down the country. The runner up will receive €500 and publication in the same.
As previously reported right here in The Lit Review, Dead in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland’s only specifically crime fiction orientated literary festival will take place on 22nd July, in Howth. (JK it’s at the Pavillion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire.)
The Twitterary Review
We did, so you don’t have too.
We currently owe future generations a massive debt. Let’s pay it forward.
For the good of american lit, there should be a five year moratorium on men named Jonathan putting out books.
— Colin Barrett (@ColinBarrett82) July 15, 2017
This week, Irish writers continue to rub people up the wrong way.
https://twitter.com/mmegannnolan/status/886140098651312128
No such thing as modern romance?
Great turnout for #WutheringDublin at St. Anne's Park Rose Festival today. pic.twitter.com/rvnlNkz9gW
— Denise Reddy (@denredart) July 15, 2017
But seriously tho…
There was an actual real life bride & groom getting wedding pics taken in Charlie Byrne's Bookshop today. pic.twitter.com/e7JDtmSRKo
— Paul Duane (@MrPaulDuane) July 14, 2017
