Being the one-man band behind Irish Writers Online, I get a lot of requests for links, and of course I do my best, but being as human as the next, I find that courtesy goes a long way. Muiris Ó Meara wrote me the following email, and I’m quoting in in full because I appreciate [...]

I don’t know how many events I can make myself, but the Dublin Book Festival is on from tomorrow till Sunday.

See the schedule here.

There is a fascinating excerpt from Clean: An Unsanitised History of Washing, by Katherine Ashenburg in today’s London Times.

Excerpt from Clean: An Unsanitised History of Washing, The Times, London
In the spirit of the book, I thought I’d quote My Masculine Skin, from my last book of poems, Dialogue in Fading Light (Dublin, New Island [...]

I wrote a small afterword for Michael Augustine’s latest book in English, Mickle Makes Muckle, translated from the German by Sujata Bhatt and published by Dedalus Press . You can download some of the poems (and my afterword) in pdf, listen to Michael reading from the book at the Dublin launch, and indeed [...]

Note: some of the links in this post will bring you to amazon.co.uk
Just under a year ago, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Marion Kelly for her Parlour Review on what was then known as FM 103.2 Anna Livia, but is now known as Dublin City FM, on the 103.2 FM [...]

Banville did it, Roddy Doyle did it, John McGahern, Sebastian Barry and Colm Tóibín came close, but Anne Enright joins the tiny elite of Irish writers, and is the first Irish woman, to win the Man Booker Prize.
Wonderful.
The Gathering Wins the Man Booker
[photo credit: Joe O'Shaughnessy]

Complete List of Booker Winners
Anne Enright at [...]

Doris Lessing has won the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her citation reads:
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2007
“that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”
Doris Lessing
The citation for the IPCC and Al Gore reads
The Nobel Peace Prize 2007
“for their efforts to build up [...]

Still no shortage of book launches and readings.
Probable highlights in the next week or so are
John Montague’s memoir, excerpted in today’s Irish Times, is on Monday, Sept 24
at 18.00 in the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin, launched by Fintan O’Toole.
26 September
Mickle Makes Muckle by Michael Augustin
Venue: Unitarian Church, 112 St Stephen’s Green West, Dublin
Time: [...]

I’m very glad to report that the third issue of dublin review of books, otherwise known as drb, is now online. Already I’ve read Evelyn Conlon’s fine review of Rebecca Pelan’s 2005 book Two Irelands: Literary Feminisms North and South (Syracuse University Press), called Praise for the Microphone. The joy of reading these [...]

The Tailor (Ronan Wilmot) and Ansty (Nuala Hayes)
Yesterday was one of those days you don’t expect.
I somehow got into a discussion with some elderly people who were defensive about the good old days and the sense of spirit and community they experienced in the Ireland of the forties and fifties (and probably up [...]