Tuesday 2 June 2015

LISTOWEL 2015 - AFTERS

Another Listowel Writers' Week put to bed, exhausted by good talk, food and chats. I facilitated the three day short fiction workshop (with a great group of people), did two readings and a panel. And attended the opening night awards ceremony. Busy busy.

A few pics from the week is the most I have time for; I've to give  talk to a writing group in Athlone today and I'm busily writing articles for US and Canadian newspapers and such for Miss Emily promo. Six weeks exactly to pub day!

I managed to get to a few readings in between my own hectic schedule of events. Highlights: Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín and Dennis Lehane. And meeting my co-reader Alex Preston. Each of whom read/spoke with passion and verve. Some quotes I jotted down:

'Writers live in the shadows and work in silence.' Colm Tóibín

'I'm often surprised by my characters - I don't live in a goggle-eyed state, but I like to be surprised. I like an unexpected but right thing to happen.' Anne Enright

'The hard stuff is having to crawl into dark spaces and write them.' Dennis Lehane

On authors who are novel-to-film moaners (about their own book): 'It's like the guy coming out of the whore house saying he doesn't feel loved.'

On that happy note, I'm off to write yet another piece about my beloved Emily :)

Juno and me at our B&B, Gurtenard, waiting to got to the Kerry Award ceremony
Signing copies of The Closet of Savage Mementos for Anne Enright and Colm Tóibín
The five Novel of the Year shortlistees with the man from Kerry & judge Gerald Dawe
Shortlistees with Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín and Seán Lyons, Director of Writers' Week and judge Gerald Dawe
Flowers on the table at the pre-awards dinner at the Listowel Arms Hotel
Anne Enright doing the official opening speech
Caoilinn Hughes and Ger Reidy receiving their Piggott Prize shortlistee prizes (listees got an engraved pen and a cheque)
Judge of the Kerry Award, Gerald Dawe, saying lovely things about our shortlisted books for the Kerry Prize
Winner of the Kerry Award, Eoin MacNamee, accepting his prize
Anne O'Neill, myself and Alex Preston at our reading/discussion event
Newly engaged writers Tanya Sweeney and David Butler
Our B&B, Gurtenard
Myself and Patrick O'Keeffe - fellow listees!
Juno on the Alice chair
O'Connor's - yay!
A drink in John B. Keane's bar
Juno with dancers at the children's festival - she had a brilliant time

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