Loose Leaves

Remembering Carleton at Mount Jerome

Mount Jerome Cemetery, at Harold’s Cross in Dublin, has a plethora of literary associations: among those buried there are JM Synge, Sheridan Le Fanu and AE Russell. A poignant but celebratory commemoration will take place there tomorrow when a wreath will be laid on the grave of the cross-Border writer William Carleton. Born in Clogher, Co Tyrone, Carleton (above) was from a small farm background and was educated in hedge schools, one of them in the Emyvale area of Co Monaghan. A convert to Anglicanism, who wrote widely about the issues of his time, he died in Dublin in 1869.

For the past 20 years the William Carleton summer school has encouraged a wider public interest in his extraordinarily vivid slice-of-life writings. The good news is that the William Carleton Society, which closed in 1974, mainly as a result of the Troubles, has recently been re-formed. Its first public engagement will be this short commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony, the first since a group led by Benedict Kiely raised funds to restore the monument at Carleton’s grave nearly 30 years ago. Anyone who would like to attend is asked to gather inside the main gate of the cemetery at 12.45pm. You can find out more from Michael Fisher at 01-2884608.

Spring festivals to chase away the winter blues

If winter comes, spring festivals can't be far behind. Munster Literature Centre's Cork Spring Poetry Festival will run from February 15th to 18th; among the writers who will participate are Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Thomas McCarthy, Greg Delanty and Kerry Hardie. You can find out more at corkpoetryfest.net.

March, meanwhile, will bring the sixth Ennis Book Club Festival, which takes place from March 2nd to March 4th and includes the presentation of the 2012 Book Club of the Year award. Authors and speakers already confirmed include Sheila O'Flanagan, Kevin Barry, Maureen Gaffney, Fergus Finlay, Michael Harding and Catriona Crowe. The full programme will be available from the end of this month at ennisbookclubfestival.com.

Pitch your poem in praise of Michael Hartnett

Limerick Writers’ Centre, in association with Limerick County Council, is publishing a tribute to Michael Hartnett later this year. The book will contain a number of Hartnett’s poems, as well as a selection of poems written in tribute to the late poet. The centre is seeking submissions of original poetry dedicated to Hartnett. If you have written such a poem (in Irish or English) and would like it to be considered for inclusion, you can email it to limerickwriterscentre@gmail.com with ‘Hartnett’ in the subject box, together with your biographical details. The deadline for submissions is March 31st.

Do you want to hear a really good story?

Spring or not, it’s still a great time of year for stories of all kinds, whether it’s curling up with a book, tucking into a new episode of Homeland on TV, or – if you’re lucky – catching live storytellers in action. Tonight at 8pm the tellers of Story-O present an evening of storytelling at the Centre for Creative Practices, at 15 Pembroke Street in Dublin. The storytellers will present legends from around the world, as well as tales with a twist.

In addition to Irish tellers Adam Wilson and Michael Phelan, there will be representatives from France, Israel, the US and Germany.

The cost is €6 (members) or €8.50 (nonmembers). More details at cfcp.ie.