Loose leaves

A miscellany by CAROLINE WALSH

Sweny’s odyssey

The intrepid volunteers and lovers of James Joyce who are keeping open the great Ulysses landmark, Sweny’s Pharmacy at 1 Lincoln Place in Dublin (pictured above), are embarking on an another Joycean odyssey. From Monday they will be reading Ulysses out loud there every week. At the moment they are not sure how long the marathon will last. “As long as it takes,” says Wendy Conroy of the newly founded Sweny’s Volunteers, adding that the Ulysses Reading Group will meet every Monday between 11.30am and 1pm until they have reached the very last line.

“Ulysses unbound, Ulysses aloud! is the perfect way to get ready for Bloomsday on June 16th. If you’ve always wanted to read Ulysses and never got round to it – here’s your chance.” Reading the greatest Irish novel in one of the remaining real-life settings of the book definitely presents an intriguing opportunity – and anyone can join in – but space is limited, so potential participants need to sign up at Sweny’s before Monday. It may no longer function as a chemist’s shop but there is still plenty of lemon soap there and so, like Leopold Bloom, you can raise a cake of the “ sweet lemony wax “ soap to your nostrils and even buy some while you’re at it. And Sweny’s isn’t the only Joycean holy of holies Conroy is associated with. She grew up in the City Arms Hotel on Prussia Street, also mentioned in Ulysses.

Emerge at Cúirt

Major writers are de rigeur at the Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway which runs this year from April 20-25 but emerging writers get recognised too through the Cúirt New Writing Prize. And they really do have to be only emerging. Cúirt programme director Maureen Kennelly says they will consider entries only from writers who have not had a collection of their work published, nor even had one considered for publication. It is open for submissions of poetry and fiction, until March 26th. Poetry submissions should be of three poems, each under 40 lines; fiction up to 2,500 words.The winner will receive €1,000 at the opening of the festival. See cuirt.ie

Personal issues

“Contemporary Issues in Autobiography” is the theme for a summer reading series organised by the online journal Some Blind Alleys .The three events will combine short talks by writers who have worked in autobiography – Molly McCloskey, Carlo Gébler and Brian Dillon – with readings by young, personal essayists. The first event will take place in Dublin on April 23rd. Submissions can now be made to read autobiographical work at the July or September events. See someblindalleys.com

O’Connor and King chat

It was a huge success at last year’s Cúirt, and now novelist Joseph O Connor is on the road with musician, film-maker and broadcaster Philip King with their public conversation about the influence of Irish-American ballads in O’Connor’s recent fiction. His new novel, Ghost Light, will be published in June. Banter and readings and even some songs will feature at the three gigs; Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co Wicklow on March 18th: Séamus Ennis Centre, Naul, Co Dublin on March 19th: and Glór, Ennis, Co Clare on March 25th.

PEN panel

“A Fact-Finding Mission: Insights into the World of Non-Fiction Publishing” is the title of an Irish PEN event for writers at the United Arts Club, 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin on Thursday, March 11th at 8pm. Booking essential: admission €3 for members, €5 for non-members. Tel: 087-9660770, e-mail:irishpen1@gmail.com or see irishpen.com.