IRISH PEN DINNER - PICS & AFTERS

Sebastian Barry

My husband and I went to the Irish PEN Dinner to honour Frank McGuinness on Friday night. He received the 2014 Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature. The event was held in the very swish surroundings of the Royal Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and we had fun getting dressed up and sallying forth. We were welcomed with a delicious glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and we sat in the beautiful Formal Bar, saying hello to the (few) people we knew and spotting the celebs among the guests.

Frank McGuinness

I don't personally know Frank, but I'm a member of Irish PEN and was happy to be there on his big night. Sebastian Barry, a long standing friend of Frank's, gave the award speech and it was theatrical and moving, as you might expect. (Sebastian B, who seems to be getting younger as the years pass, however he does it, has a novel out this year - The Temporary Gentleman.) He called Frank, 'the fullest example of a gifted man' with 'an admirable and exemplary biography'. He also said he was 'the perfect example of the artist and the man'.

Vanessa Fox O'Loughlin, Vice Chair of Irish PEN and Director at writing.ie

Frank thanked the Abbey, other theatres, his agent and all of his publishers, singling out his poetry publisher Peter Fallon as 'a gentle leader'. He spoke of Íde Ní Laoghaire, his editor at Brandon, and said she is 'the most wise and watchful and, in the best possible sense, threatening of editors'. By the time he thanked his parents (no longer living), saying 'I salute you tonight' the whole room was dabbing at their eyes.

Me enjoying wine in the Formal Bar

We were at the young people's table (it seems!), though as middle-agers how we ended up there I do not know. It was lovely to chat to the fabulous youngsters at our table (mostly MA candidates from UCD), one of whom has also just secured a deal with Penguin. We both vowed to get penguin tattoos on our ankles ;)

At each PEN event an empty chair is placed in the room to symbolise writers who can't be present because they are imprisoned, detained, disappeared, threatened or killed.

It was a lovely night of fancy clothes and not-too-fancy chatter, made all the nicer by the beautiful surroundings and glow of good feeling towards Frank McGuinness.

MINISTER TO VISIT IWC - SEBASTIAN BARRY WILL READ

Lakeside horseshoe, Annaghmakerrig

A quick 'Hello!' from Annaghmakerrig where work on my book is going well and I am meeting various lovely writers, composers, translators and artists. Also eating FAR too much and enjoying the sun and lakeside walks.

Anyway, I just tuned in to tell y'all about this, which I won't make becasue I am going to see the lovely Emma Donoghue read at the Galway Arts Festival. Can't wait!

Anyway, this:

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, TD, will visit the Irish Writers' Centre on Wed 20 July at 7.00 pm to unveil a plaque acknowledging the financial support of his Department and celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Centre.

The dual celebration will include a special guest reading by Sebastian Barry. It will continue with readings from selected writers and writing groups who have been using the Centre on a regular basis over the past couple of years. A reception before and afterwards will ensure that this is going to be an extremely enjoyable occasion, and everyone is invited to join in this celebration.

COSTA SUPPORTS WRITING

Thanks to my fellow blogger Total Feckin' Eejit for sending me Frothy Tales by Costa Coffee Writer-in-Residence Davey Spens. We don't have Costa in this neck of the woods but I've always admired their support of literature.

Lucky Davey decided in November 2007 (!) to leave his job and write a novel. Somehow he landed the job of first ever Writer-in-Residence at Costa and, as part of that, he wrote his Frothy Tales, most of which are amusing flashes based on his observance of coffee drinkers. They are light, fluffy and bite-sized, but the book only costs €1.50, and the proceeds go to improve the lot of coffee growers.

In other Costa-related news, Sebastian Barry has won the overall Costa Award - Costa Book of the Year - for The Secret Scripture. Yay! Well done, man. But it was irritating to hear Arts Minister Martin Cullen saying: “The award is due recognition for the incredible talent and creativity that has been fostered by the Irish literary community."

Yes, well, the Irish literary community has gained its successes largely without the support of the State, Minister, as you cut the funding to the only Writers' Centres in the East and the West of the country, and literature in general is the poor relation in the arts. So maybe you might reconsider those cuts in the light of our writers' international reputation and support those who are still up and coming.

POSTSCRIPT

By way of a postscript to what I wrote above this morning, in the Irish Times today Sarah Bannan, head of literature at the Arts Council, said the award to Barry, who has received a number of grants from the Art Council in the past, was "proof that investment in the artistic community has borne fruit". Pity then that the Arts Council doesn't do more of that investing.

Fine Gael's Olivia Mitchell hit the mark more clearly when she said Barry’s win “highlights the depth of talent in Ireland’s literary community and the continuing need to aid writers”.

WINNERS & WORKSHOPS

Irish author Sebastian Barry has won the Costa Novel Award category for his novel The Secret Scripture. Congrats to him! More here.

The Western Writers’ Centre in Galway - Ionad Scríbhneoirí Chaitlín Maude, Gallimh - is hosting two literary-media workshops in the Irish language.
Ailbhe Nic Giolla Bhríghde, on the 17th January, runs ‘An Introduction to writing for Television,’. Then on the 31st January, Diarmuid de Faoite runs a workshop on where theatre and television crossover. Fees are €20 per session. Places are limited. Details from the Western Writers' Centre at westernwriters@eircom.net or 091 533594 and 087 2178138.

And it's business as usual at the Irish Writers' Centre in Dublin. They have announced their spring 2009 workshops, featuring John Boyne, Cormac Millar and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill as tutors.