LUGHNASA FESTIVAL SHORT STORY EVENT

Donegal today - Glenties - for a short story event tomorrow with me, Mary Costello and Carlo Gébler at the inaugural Lughnasa International Friel Festival. More here.

INTL SHORT STORY DAY GIVEAWAY & DALKEY PICS

In honour of International Short Story Day, I am giving away a copy of Mother America to one reader of this blog. To win, all you have to do is tell me the name of your favourite short story writer, or short story, in a comment. Easy peasy!

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I have been too snowed under to report on the Dalkey Book Festival. Let it suffice to say it's a gorgeous festival in a gorgeous place. If I were a millionaire (har har) I'd live there - the cute village, the beautiful bay, the warm locals...

Bono showed up to hear Heaney; and Helena Nolan and Carlo Gébler showed up to hear Mary Costello and me ;) We were delighted with our large, attentive, literary audience in The Magpie Inn, a truly friendly and lovely venue with great food, organic wine and a variety of good beers. All thanks to Declan Meade of The Stinging Fly and Rachel of the Inn who organised the reading and hosted us so well.

Earlier in the day Yvonne Cassidy read beautifully from her new novel, set in Manhattan and Dublin,  What Might Have Been Me. She is already in the thick of her next New York novel, whose main character she told us is 'a bit OCD, a bit spunky'.

Mary Costello read a gorgeous, moving story from her acclaimed collection The China Factory. The story - 'This Falling Sickness'- is about a woman attending her ex-husband's funeral in Mayo, but also has the death of a child in an accident. The story I read, 'Cri de Coeur' was as jolly - death by suicide of a mother and her daughter - it isn't all about that, of course, but we were well matched. Q&A and signing afterwards.

Here are a couple of my pics of the day. See the festival's Facebook page for the ones of Heaney and Bono.

Writers rocking stripes: Myself and Helena Nolan before Yvonne Cassidy's reading (Juno in the back)

Yvonne Cassidy signing after her reading

Mary Costello reading from The China Factory

'SPELUNKER' IN ULSTER TATLER

I have a story called 'Spelunker' in this month's Ulster Tatler. It's Paris-set and is about a loner/graffiti artist who has just lost his beloved mother. Things go well for him, you'll be glad to hear!

Matthew Sweeney and Carlo Gébler also have stories in this issue, 'The Jockey' and 'The Embrace', respectively. Matthew's is about a jockey falling apart after his horse dies; Carlo's story is set in London and features two teenage brothers and their mother at a pool party with another family, when things go awry. Thanks to editor/writer Glenn Patterson for having us.

Some Ulster Tatler content goes online so if the Literary Miscellany section does, I'll be sure to link to it on the blog. Meanwhile, it's available from newsagents.

'Spelunker' will be in my collection Mother America, out 4th June!