Loose leaves

Spotlight on Cecil Day Lewis's birthplaceThe opening to the public by Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan of the gardens at Ballintubbert near Stradbally in Co Laois last Sunday puts on the map a great new horticultural landmark for garden lovers. But it has a great literary significance, too, because it was in the estate's 18th-century house that the poet Cecil Day Lewis was born, on April 27th, 1904. The family moved to England in 1906, but two years later his mother died there. Day Lewis conjured up Ballintubbert's sash windows, Anglo-Irish air and slate roof in The House Where I Was Born,his homage to his parents' early married life.

“Reticent house in the far Queen’s County, / How much you leave unsaid. / Not a ghost of a hint appears / At your placid windows / That she, so youthfully wed, / Who bore me, would move elsewhere very soon / And in four years be dead.”

Day Lewis who revisited Ballintubbert in the mid-1930s, was part of the group – including WH Auden, Stephen Spender and Louis MacNeice – often known as the Thirties Poets. He was also a British poet laureate and father of actor Daniel Day Lewis.

Owners Fergus and Orna Hoban have several future projects planned – one of which is, unsurprisingly, a possible literary festival. The gardens are open to the public now until October 31st. ballintubbert.com

Sebastian Barry on Booker longlist – ‘a huge honour’

Being the sole Irish writer to make the Man Booker's Butcher's Dozen of 13 novels on this year's longlist brought out the sporting side of Sebastian Barry. "It feels like a huge honour and I am, as you can imagine, very happy about it – one of those rare times a mere writer may feel he can play for his country," said the author of On Canaan's Sidewhen the longlist, whittled down from 138 books, was announced on Tuesday. Roll on September 6th, when the shortlist is announced. The winner receives £50,000, but each shortlisted writer, including the winner, receives £2,500.

Whatever happens on September 6th, festivalgoers to the Mountains To Sea Dún Laoghaire Book Festival can hear Barry read on September 11th in the Pavilion Theatre.

One exciting aspect of this year's longlist was the inclusion of books from less well known publishing houses. Sandstone Press said they were thrilled to be on the list for the first time with The Testament of Jessie Lambby Jane Rogers, who had "single-handedly dispelled the myth that the Man Booker doesn't touch science fiction". Juliet Mabey at Oneworld Publications said of Yvette Edwards, longlisted for her debut A Cupboard Full of Coats, that they were thrilled to be included on the longlist as they'd only been publishing fiction for 18 months.

Penny Thomas, fiction editor at Seren Books, who reached the longlist for the first time with another debut – Patrick McGuinness's The Last Hundred Days– said the fact that a novel from Seren, a small independent literary publisher in South Wales, was selected proved that Welsh presses were publishing novels and authors which ranked among the best; it might well be the first time a Welsh publisher had been longlisted for the Booker, said Thomas.

This year’s winner will be announced on October 18th. themanbookerprize.com, twitter.com/ManBookerPrize

UCD seeks applications for writer’s fellowship

Calling all writers: UCD is on the lookout for an Irish writer to take up a writer’s fellowship at its School of English, Drama and Film from January to June next year. Partly funded by the Arts Council, the job will concentrate on teaching fiction writing. Applications to Hilary Gow by post or email (hilary.gow@ucd.ie) by August 26th.