A Welsh night, Writers’ Week, Poems Upstairs and Inspector Bean

All things Welsh

England may be in Dublin for the Six Nations this weekend, but the Irish Writers Centre is looking to another near neighbour for cultural inspiration. As St David’s Day approaches, the centre is hosting an evening of Welsh culture on Thursday, February 26th, at its premises on Parnell Square, Dublin 1, from 7.30pm. The line-up for 66 Nautical Miles, the distance between Dublin and Holyhead, includes Nerys Williams, a poet and UCD lecturer whose first poetry collection won the Rupert and Eithne Strong Award; Simon Holloway, a Bangor-based novelist and critic; Lleucu Siencyn, chief executive of Literature Wales, poet and literary agent Jonathan Williams, and the writer and teacher Nessa O’Mahony.

"From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the 'land of song'," said Amy Herron, events co-ordinator at the centre. "Taking our cue from this, 66 Nautical Miles will welcome performances throughout the night from members of the Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir (Côr Meibion Cymru Dulyn) who will be conducted by Geraint Waters." More information at writerscentre.ie

Writers’ Week competitions

The deadline to enter the various creative writing competitions for this year's Listowel Writers' Week festival is Monday, March 2nd. A selection of the prize-winning entries, including extracts from the shortlisted Kerry Group novels and the Pigott Poetry Prize, will be published in the Listowel Writers' Week Winners Anthology, which will be available to purchase during the festival and at selected outlets. For entry details, visit writersweek.ie.

Over 50 novels and 50 collections by Irish authors and poets were submitted for adjudication for the 2015 Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award and the Pigott Poetry Prize. The Irish Times literary correspondent Eileen Battersby and the poet Gerald Dawe will judge the novel award, with critic and poet John Boland and the Welsh writer Gillian Clarke adjudicating the poetry prize. The shortlists will be announced in March and the winners, together with the category winners from the creative writing competitions, will be announced on the opening night of the festival on May 27th.

Poems Upstairs

A new series run by Poetry Ireland launches next month with a reading and interview with the poet Michael Hofmann. This first event in the Poems Upstairs series takes place on Wednesday, March 4th at 7pm in Books Upstairs on D’Olier Street, Dublin 2. A new monthly book club, the series aims to offer Dublin’s poetry and culture fans a convivial place to enjoy poetry.

The German-born Hofmann has been described in the Independent as “one of the few outstanding talents to have emerged in the past 50 years of British poetry.” Moving to England at the age of four, Hofmann has said that he writes “to bring confusion to my languages and clarity to myself”. His work, known for its dark humour, includes poetry, essays and translations of more than 70 books. After reading from his work, Hofmann will be interviewed by fellow poet Peter Sirr.

Future events include readings by established poets, well-known guest readers, new Irish poetry and a live music mix. Pulse Music/Ceol Cuisle, a sonic journey into the poetic imagination of the late west Limerick poet Michael Hartnett, will take place on Wednesday, April 1st. Directed and researched by Dylan Tighe, with original music and sound design by Seán Mac Erlaine, the performance features actor Andrew Bennett, singers Nell Ní Chróinín and Iarla O’Lionaird, and the voice of Michael Hartnett. It was first broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 in November 2014.

The May Poems Upstairs evening on Wednesday, May 6th will present readings and conversations with emerging and established writers featured in Poetry Ireland’s new pamphlet Trumpet. On Wednesday, June 3rd John McAuliffe reads from his new collection, The Way In, published by The Gallery Press.

Litríocht, ceoil agus craic

Imram, the organisation behind the Irish language literature festival, will host an evening of culture and song as Gaeilge on Saturday, March 7th in which leading writers in the Irish language will read new work and work-in-progress. The event, in association with Aontas na Scríbhneoirí, takes place in the Pearse Centre on Pearse Street, Dublin 2 from 6pm. Readers include author Éílís Ní Dhuibhne, the 2015 recipient of the Irish PEN Award, authors Lorcán S Ó Treasaigh and Orna Ní Choileán, the poet Proinsias Mac a’ Bhaird, and the poet and novelist Liam Ó Muirthile. Colm Ó Snodaigh of Kíla will sing on the night.

Other Imram events in March include an evening with well-known Irish poets and singers in support of International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8th. Poets include Celia de Fréine, Biddy Jenkinson, Aifric Mac Aodha, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, Caitríona Ní Chléirchín, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh. They will be joined by traditional singers Síle Denvir, Máire Ní Choilm and Máiréad Ní Oistín. The event takes place in McGrattan’s Pub on Fitzwilliam Lane, Dublin 2 from 8pm.

For St Patrick’s Day, singer Caitríona O’Leary will perform a collection of songs by Kate Bush, “transcreated into Irish” by Gabriel Rosenstock. O’Leary will be joined by Roger Doyle (keyboard), Adrian Hart (fiddle), Éamonn Galldubh (flute, whistles, uilleann pipes), Mark Keogh (sequencer). The show features on-screen projections of the lyrics with images created by Margaret Lonergan. The event will be held at The Boys School, Smock Alley, 6-7 Exchange Street Lower, Dublin 8 from 7pm.

Inspector Bean

ITV has announced that Rowan Atkinson is to play Inspector Maigret in a TV adaptation of Georges Simenon’s iconic detective series. Atkinson will star in two 120-minute films commissioned by the network. Maigret Sets A Trap and Maigret’s Dead Man will both be adapted from the Belgian author’s 75-book series. It’s not the first time the inspector hero has inspired adaptation, with Rupert Davies playing the role for the BBC series in the sixties and Michael Gambon cast as the lead for an earlier ITV commission in 1992. Penguin Classics began issuing new translations of the original novel series in 2013 with the publication of Pietr the Latvian. As of this month, 16 of the 75 novels have been re-issued, with the remaining 59 due at a rate of one per month.

World Book Day

World Book Day, the world’s biggest annual celebration of books and reading, takes place on Thursday, March 5th. To mark the event, Irish school children are entitled to receive a book token provided by Irish booksellers. The €1.50 token can be exchanged for one of 11 books specially published to coincide with the event. The Irish author Erika McGann is among the authors chosen this year. McGann’s adventure tale The Fairytale Trap (O’Brien Press) tells the story of an ordinary school that turns into a medieval village while preparing for a pantomime. The token, valid from March 2nd - 29th, is also redeemable against any book or audiobook of a younger reader’s choice costing €3.99 or more at participating outlets.

A number of literary events are taking place in Dublin as part of the celebrations. The live tour 'The Biggest Book Show on Earth' will stop in the capital on March 4th, with a line-up that includes authors Steven Butler, Derek Landy, David O'Doherty and Chris Judge. The venue is yet to be confirmed but more details can be found at worldbookday.com.

God, modern art and literature

The Central Catholic Library will host a series of four lectures this spring at 74 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. The first lecture in the 'Remembering and Imagining' series is Father Eugene McCaffrey's God Alone Suffices - the 500th anniversary of the Great St Teresa, which takes place on Tuesday, March 10th. Fr Gerry O'Hanlon's What Happened at Vatican II - And Afterwards is on March 31st, with lectures by Dr Gesa Thiessen on transcendence in modern art and Dr Eamon Maher on clerical figures in modern fiction taking place on April 14th and 28th respectively. All lectures begin at 6.30pm. Further details from the library office on 01-676 1264 or by emailing catholiclibrary@imagine.ie.

lexIcon events

Events at Dun Laoghaire's lexIcon next month include two exhibitions and a literary discussion with Mary Burnham of Dubray Books. The Poetry Now: 20 Years exhibition runs from March 4th - April 30th and marks the festival's 20th anniversary in 2015. The Poetry Now festival takes place during the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival from March 18th - 22nd. The display is a snapshot of brochures and photos over the past two decades. A second exhibition running for the same duration focuses on the work of photographer Ger Holland, who has photographed authors participating in Mountains to Sea and also the dlr Library Voices series. We Need to Talk About Reading is the catchy title of Mary Burnham's discussion evening on March 24th at 7pm. The March session is the fifth in an ongoing series of monthly book events. More information on all events at http://libraries.dlrcoco.ie/.

Contact sarah.gilmartin@gmail.com with your literary listings