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.

Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival 11-14th September 2014

Online Booking now open for

Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival

11-14th September 2014

 

Fine Writing      Fiction      Poetry      Workshops      AND Picnics!! 

Martin Amis / Lynn Barber / John Boyne / Lee Child / Eoin Colfer / Anthony Cronin / Sinéad Crowley / Vona Groarke / John Kelly / Paul Lynch / David Mitchell / Sinéad Morrissey / David Park / Don Paterson / Kamila Shamsie

These are a selection of authors appearing in the brilliant line up at this year’s Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival incorporating the dlr Poetry Now International Poetry Festival.

Bert Wright, the primary curator of this year’s festival writes,
‘Book Festivals remind us that words emanate from a specific human source, a consciousness, an intellect that is right there in front of us. We see and hear them not through a digital scrim but up close and personal and both parties are immeasurably enriched in the process’.

The 1st event will be a special pre-festival reading & public interview with Martin Amis on Wednesday 27th August. The festival weekend includes over 40 events running over 3 nights.

Friday 12th September includes poetry from Vona Groarke & Don Paterson as well as a cabaret event with dlr Writer in Residence Colm Keegan; Murderous Maths with Kjartan Poskitt; a teenage Dylan Thomas-themed workshop (including a visit to THE POETRY SHED) and a stellar reading with John Boyne and Man Booker Prize Longlisted David Mitchell.

Saturday 12th September has workshops on poetry with Don Paterson and on writing with Jane Casey, Anna Carey & Patrick Freyne plus Irish songs and film clips with students from TG Lurgan. Readings include John Kelly & Paul Lynch; Kamila Shamsie & Xiaolu Guo and a public interview with Lynn Barber. Family events include THE DAHL FACTOR, a superhero comic session with illustrator Alan Nolan AND the magical Great Teddy Bear Library Sleepover on Saturday night. THE IRISH TIMES POETRY NOW AWARD will also be presented that day and poet Michael Symmons Roberts makes his Irish debut shortly afterwards. Saturday’s finale event will be the LETTERS LIVE event in the Pavilion theatre where an array of actors, authors and musicians, will be reading ‘correspondence deserving of a wider audience’.

Workshops on Sunday 14th September include fiction with Mia Gallagher, a Haiku-writing walk with Anatoly Kudryavitsky and a masterclass on illustration with picture book artist Yasmeen Ismail. For the family, there’s a Where’s Wally Library Hunt; 2 Picture Book Picnics and a fun double Laureate event with Eoin Colfer & Aneirín Karadog. The SHINE/STRONG POETRY AWARD READING takes place, David Park & Sinéad Morrisey chat about poetry and it’s a big night for Crime Fiction fans! Liz Nugent, Jane Casey, Karen Perry, Sinéad Crowley & Lee Child will all be reading and TV fans get to meet screenwriters Jed Mercurio and Michael Hirst! For music and poetry fans, we round up a perfect weekend with Anthony Cronin reading his epic RMS Titanic poem with a thrilling music score, specially created and performed by Donal Lunny.

The shortlist for The Shine/Strong Poetry Award 2014 is announced!!

The shortlist for The Shine/Strong Poetry Award 2014 is announced!!

Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival is delighted to announce the official short-list for the Shine/Strong Poetry Award 2014, awarded annually at the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival

The shortlist for the Shine/Strong Poetry Award 2014 is:

Tara Bergin This is Yarrow (Carcanet), Paula Cunningham Heimlich's Manoeuvre(Smith/Doorstop), Martin Dyar Maiden Names (Arlen House), Nicki Griffin Unbelonging (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.

Tara Bergin was born and grew up in Dublin. She moved to England in 2002. In 2012 she completed her PhD research at Newcastle University on Ted Hughes’s translations of János Pilinszky. Her poetry was published in the bestselling Carcanet anthology New Poetries V and her debut collection This is Yarrow was published last year.

  

Paula Cunningham was born in Omagh and lives in Belfast where she works part-time as a dentist. Her chapbook A Dog called Chance was a winner in The Poetry Business Competition in 1999 and was published by Smith|Doorstop.   She has also written drama and short fiction, and has thrice held awards from the Arts Council of NI.  Her poems have been widely published and anthologised. Her first full poetry collection Heimlich's Manoeuvre was published by Smith|Doorstop in 2013. It was shortlisted for the Fenton Aldeburgh Best First Collection Prize 2013 and the 2014 Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry Prize for First Full Collection. Individual poems in the collection have also won awards.  Paula is currently working towards her next collection.

Martin Dyar won the Patrick Kavanagh Award in 2009. Nominated by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature he was appointed a fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 2013/14 and was the inaugural Ambassador for Irish Literature in Iowa City. Huckleberry Finn Day, a limited edition chapbook of his work, was published by the University of Iowa. He received his Ph.D. from Trinity College on the work of Wallace Stevens, Maiden Names was shortlisted by Carol Ann Duffy and John Boland for the inaugural Pigott Poetry Prixe in 2014. Martin is currently completing his debut novel.

Nicki Griffin grew up in Cheshire in the north west of England but has lived in East Clare since 1997. She completed an MA in Writing at NUI Galway in 2009. She won the 2010 Over the Edge New Poet of the Year prize and in 2012 was awarded a Literature Bursary by the Arts Council. She writes for Inland Waterways News and co-edits poetry magazine Skylight 47. Her first work of non-fiction, The Skipper and Her Mate, was published by New Island in 2013. Unbelonging, her debut poetry collection, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2013.  Her second collection, due in 2016, will also be published by Salmon.

After graduating in Music and English from University College Dublin, Jim Maguire worked in journalism, writing mainly about the arts. He completed an M.Phil in Creative Writing at Trinity College Dublin in 1999. For many years he lived in Korea, the setting for his collection of short stories Quiet People (Lapwing, 2008). His poems have won several awards and prizes, including the Brendan Kennelly Award, the RTE/Rattlebag Poetry Slam, The Dromineer Poetry Prize and the Strokestown International Poetry Prize. He was the recipient of an Arts Council of Ireland Literature Bursary in 2010. His occasional work for radio includes a documentary on the letters of Leos Janacek for Lyric FM. His debut collection Music Field was published by Poetry Salzburg.

More information on Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival is available on the festival website at http://www.mountainstosea.ie/ and #M2C2014

Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival - 2013

M2C 2013 festival marquee (Photo credit: Ger Holland)

 

Here's a quick round up of the 2013 Mountains to Sea dlr book festival. I've had to be brief as there were so many events, but this should give an overview of what happened during festival week. There's lots more photos on our Facebook page so please do have a browse through these also.

DAY ONE - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD
An Cathoirleach Cllr Carrie Smyth opened our first event - Sunday Miscellany. Contributers included Gemma Tipton, Sean Moffatt, Barbara O'Hogen, Leo Cullen, Bernard Farrell & Martina Devlin. Music was provided by Josh Johnson and The Gregory Walkers. It was a beautiful start to this year's festival and Martina Devlin's heartfelt tribute to Seamus Heaney deserves a special mention. This recording of Sunday Miscellany will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday September 29th.

Catriona Crowe & Margaret Atwood (PhotoCredit: Angelique Cheronnet)

  
dlr County Librarian Mairead Owens opened the next event - Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood in conversation with Catriona Crowe. This was the first of this year's events to sell out and there was a packed audience in the Pavilion Theatre eager to see her read from new novel MaddAddam followed by a lively and entertaining dialogue with Catriona Crowe.
DAY TWO - WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH
We had two schools events in the morning - Niamh Sharkey Author and Illustrator lit up the Pavilion Theatre with her Hugglemonsters while over in County Hall Patricia Forde held a special bilingual story session featuring a crazy cast of characters. Later on in the afternoon Derek Landy delighted the his fans by staging (with audience participation) the first chapter of his new book. And then spent over THREE HOURS signing books!

Niamh Sharkey & Norton Virgien with some mini hugglemonsters (Photo credit: Angelique Cheronnet)

Tea Obreht and Eleanor Catton shared the stage at a reading and Q&A chaired by Mary Corcoran - it's hard to believe two such accomplished authors are both under 30. Later on, Raja Shehadeh discussed his writing in a thoughtful and insightful interview with broadcaster Richard Crowley.

Raja Shehadeh and Richard Crowley (Photo credit: Ger Holland)

Over in The Maritime Museum Imram Féile Litríochta Gaeilge created a stunning bi-lingual poetry show exploring ‘Mountains to Sea’ and Dún Laoghaire - featuring beautiful on-screen projections by Margaret Lonergan, and music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire of The Frames and singer Máire Ní Choilm.

DAY THREE - THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH
Liz Pichon was in sparkling form yesterday and gave us not one but two kids events in Pavilion Theatre! - she got the entire audience doing some fantastic doodles.

Liz Pichon  - schools event (Photo credit: Ger Holland)

We had three very busy evening events later on
- Anne Enright was in conversation about her writing life (and pre-writing, actress life) with Declan Hughes. There was a warm rapport between the two that led to a wonderfully relaxed interview.

Anne Enright (Photo credit - Angelique Cheronnet)

- Ronan Fanning talked about his new book Fatal Path to Michael Laffan in the beautiful surroundings of The Maritime Museum.
- Housam Najjair told Mary Fitzgerald about his experience in the Libyan revolution of 2011 and read from his book Soldier For A Summer



DAY FOUR - FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH
Philip Ardagh had the children in fits of giggles at The Mill Theatre and Gary Northfield and Oisin McGann amazed and wowed the children at the Pavilion with their drawing and stories. Charlie Higson spoke about the magic of story and writing to a fascinated audience and followed it with a super signing in Eason.

Gary Northfield  (Photo credit: Angelique Cheronnet)

In the first of our Poetry Now events Eavan Boland was in the Pavilion Theatre in conversation with Siobhan Campbell - it was a fascinating interview with Eavan talking about her work at Stanford University among many other things.

Eavan Boland (Photo credit: Mark Granier)

Over in the Maritime Museum A.L. Kennedy and James Meek talked to Sophie Gorman about their latest books and engaged in a lively Q&A with the audience.

A.L. Kennedy (Photo credit: Ger Holland)

 












The next Maritme Museum event was another great Poetry Now event - David Harsent and Mary O'Donnell.
The last event in the Pavilion was a very special event sponsered by Bord Gáis Energy Book Club - Judy Finnigan in conversation with Andrea Hayes. There was a lovely surprise for the audience when Judy was joined by husband Richard Madeley (the BGE Bookclub goodie bags were hugely appreciated)

 DAY FIVE - SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH
The start of a very busy and enjoyable weekend and chock a block full of literary treats! The morning started with workshops for adults and kids and there was not one but two group tours - one by bus and one on foot led by dlr Writer in Residence Declan Hughes.
Richard Madeley entertained some very eager fans in the Pavilion Theatre while in County Hall people gathered to see who had won the Irish Times Poetry Now award. The award went to Dennis O’Driscoll’s final collection Dear Life and the award was accepted by his widow Julie O'Callaghan.
Back in the Pavilion in the afternoon Thor Gotaas talked to Diarmaid Ferriter about his book Running: A Global History arrived dressed appropriately enough in his running gear.

Thor Gotaas (Photo Credit: Ger Holland)

Over in the Kingston Hotel Patrick Ness read from The Crane Wife and spoke with Sean Rocks about his writing.
We had a wonderful panel discussion in County Hall - Great Ad-app-tations: The Picture Book & Beyond with four experts in their fields - Kate Wilson, Niamh Sharkey, Norton Virgien & Gary Northfield. A second panel later on - New Voices - discussed writing, editing & promoting a new children's writer with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Sheila Agnew, Caroline Walsh, Elaina O'Neill & Phil Earle.
 Roddy Doyle packed out the Pavilion Theatre for his event - talking to Fiach Mac Conghail about his new book The Guts while back over in the Kingston Hotel two young Irish writers - Ciaran Collins (The Gamal) and Kevin Maher (The Fields) spoke with Edel Coffey about their debut novels.
The first poetry reading of the day was Michael Longley and Jane Yeh at the Pavilion, a memorable occasion with both poets reading a Seamus Heaney poem alongside their own work.
Patrick Ness came to County Hall to do a second event, this time chatting to our Teen Curators Aaron Williams, Sinéad Gallagher and Olivia Coughlan. 

Colum McCann and Sean McCann (Photo credit: Angeliique Cheronnet)

John Balaban was in conversation with Poetry Now Curator Paul Perry at the Maritime Museum about his translations of Vietnamese poetry and his own work.
The evening finished with a sold out show in the Pavilion - Sinead Gleeson talked to novelist Colum McCann and his father, acclaimed journalist, Sean McCann.

 DAY SIX - SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH

Children's choir - The Supertones (Photo credit: Ger Holland)

We were delighted when the weather held and we were able to have our Picture Book Picnic (with Chris Judge, Gabriel Rosenstock and The Supertones) and Where's Wally? trail in the Secret Garden in People's Park as our first events of the day. Phew! There were even more workshops for kids and adults in the morning too.Jennifer Johnston and Selina Guinness were in the Pavilion Theatre talking to Marian Richardson about their books - it was wonderful to have such a great turn out so early in the day! Over in County Hall we had over 100 kids monster doodling along with Niamh Sharkey, Steve Simpson, Fintan Taite and Chris Judge.
At the Kingston Hotel the winner of the dlr Strong/Shine Poetry Award was announced after each of the four nominees read from their work - congratulations to Michelle O'Sullivan who won for her collection 'The Blue End of Stars'. Blake Morrison and Ross Skelton were in the Pavilion speaking about their memoirs with Pat Boran.

Michelle O'Sullivan (Photo credit: Mark Granier)

Over in County Hall at a riotous kids event, the fabulous Supertones sang for us while Stephen James Smith, Grainne Clear, Diana Bunici & David Maybury took turns reading from Roald Dahl's work and battled it out for the ultimate triumph of being declared the winner of The Dahl Factor - take a bow Stephen James Smith!
Family Curator Sarah Webb chatted to Cathy Cassidy about her writing, illustration and inspiration in the Pavilion. Cathy later signed books for two hours for her many fans who came to Dun Laoghaire to see her.
Maurice Riordan and Dutch Poet Laureate Anne Vegter gave a marvellous reading in County Hall while later on in the Maritime Museum Peter Conradi talked to dlr Writer in Residence Katy Hayes about his latest book 'Hot Dogs and Cocktails'.
There was a treat in store for TV fans of Nordic Noir at the Writing for Television event in the Pavilion Theatre. Screenwriters Allan Cubitt, Hans Rosenfledt & Ben Richardson spoke to Rachel O'Flanagan about their work and Hans showed a preview of The Bridge, Season 2.
Later in the Maritime Museum Sara Keating chaired a fiction event with Susan Stairs and Deirdre Madden. Our final event of the festival was Michael Harding in conversation with Tommy Tiernan with a full house in the Pavilion - a tremendous show to end the festival. 

Michael Harding and Tommy Tiernan (Photo Credit: Ger Holland)

(Also check out M2C Kids curator Tom Donegan's more detailed account of the Family and Schools programme)