Day Six

It got a little rainy this morning at The Picture Book Picnic - but we didn't let that stop our fun - it was a super morning, so thanks to everyone who came along! Over in County Hall JEREMY STRONG made us laugh when he told us about all the crazy things that his fans like to send him - carrots in skirts were the least of it.

Margaret Ward, Mary Fitzgerald & Lindsey Hilsum

We had a very topical discussion in the Pavilion Theatre with journalists LINDSEY HILSUM and MARY FITZGERALD - Democracy in the Middle East. Both Lindsey & Mary were in Libya during the revolution and spoke about their experiences reporting from a war zone. Margaret Ward was on hand to chair the discussion and put hecklers in their place.
There was not one but two canine themed book discussions - JOHN BRADSHAW talked to GAVIN FRIDAY about his book In Defence of Dogs and EILEEN BATTERSBY told Gerard Smyth about how she came to write her memoir Ordinary Dogs.

We also had two publishing events based in the wonderful world of children's publishing. At the Big Picture Panel Discussion David Maybury found out how Sarah McIntyre, David Mackintosh & Chris Judge got into this illustrating lark, while Paths to Publication explored the current trends in children's and young adult publishing: top tip -  get yourself the current copy of the Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook was something all the panellists agreed on.
When all the indoor events were taking place, some people took a chance on the weather (which paid off!) and went on the Saunter to Sandycove  - a Flann O'Brien themed meander along the coast with readings & performance. 

Poets who took part in the Transtromer Tribute

Nerys Williams, wiiner of the dlr Strong Award

It was a busy day for Poetry Now events - the Transtromer tribute in the Pavilion Theatre was a fantastic gathering of visiting and Irish poets to read the poetry of Tomas Transtromer and take part in a panel discussion. The winner of the dlr Strong Award was announced in the afternoon after a reading from the shortlisted poets  - the winner was NERYS WILLIAMS for her collection Sound Archive - Congratualtions Nerys!
We were delighted to be at the launch of Macdara Woods' Collected Poems in the Maritime Museum and we finished on a high at Last Orders with THOMAS LYNCH & JURIS KRONBERG.
There was a captivated audience for Princess of the Pen - PAULINE McLYNN, MARITA CONLON-McKENNA & JUDI CURTIN charmed all the little princesses who had come to see them and Diana Bunici kept everyone in order. Over 300 Cherub fans gathered  eagerly in the Pavilion Theatre to see ROBERT MUCHAMORE - and thanks to Robert for the uber-signing event afterwards.

Kevin barry & Maeve Higgins

DANIEL WOODRELL was on his first visit to Ireland - so we're delighted that it was to visit us! He and DECLAN BURKE read from their work and then Sinead Gleeson was asking the questions - and there was lots.
It was heaven for fans of quality TV drama to hear LISA ALBERT (Mad Men) & JEPPE GJERVIG GRAM (Borgen) tell us about themselves and the shows they write for.
MAEVE HIGGINS & KEVIN BARRY paired up to give us a hilarious event - Kevin read excerpts from his short stories and novel and Maeve gave us a sneak preview of what's in store when her book comes out in October. It was the last event of the festival in the Pavilion Theatre - and it was fantastic to finish with a packed theatre, laughing their socks off.