Busy programme in the Gutter
The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin has a busy programme of events this month. Tomorrow (Friday) Jhumpa Lahiri will discuss her Booker-shortlisted novel, The Lowland, at Smock Alley Theatre next Friday, September 27th, at 6.30pm as part of the bookshop's series of author talks. Tickets, at €5, are available from Smock Alley Theatre or the Gutter Bookshop. On Tuesday, the bestselling Irish author John Boyne launched his new children's book, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, about the family of a shellshocked soldier in the first World War. Yesterday, John Connolly (who reviews Stephen King's new book on this page) launched not one but two new books, The Creeps and Conquest, the latter written with his partner, Jennifer Ridyard, who launched it with him.
Patrick Kavanagh celebration
The annual Patrick Kavanagh Weekend takes place from Friday, Sept 27th to Sunday, September 29th, at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan.
The poet Brian Lynch hosts the 42nd Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Awards. Harry Clifton, winner of the award in 1981, will deliver the keynote address, Zen Master of McDaid's: The Story and the Fable of Patrick Kavanagh. Carmen Cullen, the niece of the ballad singer Delia Murphy, will celebrate her aunt's life in songs, story, comedy and a reading from Two Sisters Singing, her new novel loosely based on Murphy's life. Other speakers will include the author Dermot Healy and Anthony Cronin, Kavanagh's friend and contemporary. The weekend will also feature the launch of Apocalypse of Clay: Patrick Kavanagh's Masterpiece The Great Hunger and Ireland's Coming of Age by Prof Desmond Swan (Columba Press).
History festival in the making
The first Dublin Festival of History is at Dublin Castle from Thursday until next Sunday, September 29th. Roy Hattersley will give the keynote address; the historians Tom Holland, Diarmaid Ferriter, Ronan Fanning, Richard Overy and Robert Gerwarth also take part. dublinfestivalofhistory.ie.
Vote for your favourite bookshop
Irish booklovers are being asked to vote for their favourite bookshop at BGEbookshopoftheyear.ie until October 18th. Voters will be in with the chance to win prizes including book hampers, iPads and an all-expenses- paid trip to the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards on November 26th, where the bookshop of the year will be revealed.
Story competition for children
Rathmines Library, which celebrates its centenary next month, is organising a short-story competition for children to mark the occasion. The closing date is 5pm Saturday, Sept 29th. Call 01-4973539 for details.
