PROGRAMME AVAILABLE

The programme and tickets for the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival 2014 are available on the festival website:  www.mountainstosea.ie. The  brochures will be available widely in libraries and bookshops in the coming weeks. Check out our Press Release on our Home Page to catch a flavour of what we have in store for you this year. After a pre-festival reading by Martin Amis on Wednesday 27th August, the weekend of 11th-14th September is packed with over 40 events for you to enjoy. Lynn Barber, Lee Child, Anthony Cronin, Kamila Shamsie, David Mitchell, Michael Symmons Roberts, Eoin Colfer, Sinéad Morrissey, Xiaolu Guo, Vona Groake and Yasmeen Ismail are just some of the many authors, poets and illustrators joining us in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown this year. And we know you'll be intrigued by the Poetry Shed! We look forward to seeing you at the festival and sharing our new venues with you. THE IRISH TIMES POETRY NOW AWARD - SHORTLIST 2014 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is delighted to announce this year's official shortlist for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award. This coveted award will be presented at the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival on Saturday 13th September 2014 at dlr LexIcon, the new central library and cultural centre in Dún Laoghaire. The shortlisted poets are: Tara Bergin This is Yarrow(Carcanet), Nick Laird Go Giants (Faber & Faber), Sinéad Morrissey Parallex (Carcanet), Conor O'Callaghan The Sun King (Gallery Press) and Billy Ramsell The Architect's Dream of Winter (Dedalus Press). Our judges for this year's award are Katie Donovan, Nessa O'Mahony and Chris Morash. The Award is made possible by the generous support of The Irish Times.

SHINE/STRONG POETRY AWARD -   SHORTLIST 2014 Congratulations also to all the poets shortlisted for the Shine/Strong Poetry Award. They are: Tara Bergin This is Yarrow (Carcanet), Paula CunninghamHeimlich's Manoeuvre(Smith/Doorstop), Martin Dyar Maiden Names (Arlen House), Nicki GriffinUnbelonging (Salmon Poetry) and Jim Maguire Music Field (Poetry Salzburg). The Shine/Strong Award is presented annually to the author of the best first collection of poems published by an Irish poet in the previous year. The Shine/Strong Award is presented in memory of Rupert and Eithne Strong and is made possible by the generous support of Shine, the national organisation dedicated to upholding the rights and addressing the needs of all those affected by mental ill health. The Award will be presented at the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival on Sunday 14th September 2014. Our judge for this year's award is Mary Shine Thompson.