Joyce's cinema rediscoveredAs downtown Dublin morphs more and more into a chic modern metropolis, old landmarks fall away - but sometimes parts of them remain.
Though the Volta cinema at 45 Mary Street, inaugurated on December 20th 1909 and managed for a short time by James Joyce, was demolished in the 1960s, it emerges that its upper floor facade survives. The Cinema Heritage Group has been instrumental in having a plaque made to mark the building's interesting earlier incarnation (it is now part of Penney's department store).
The Volta is considered to have been Ireland's first dedicated stationary cinema, operating until around 1948. John Kelleher, the film censor, will unveil the new plaque at a public ceremony next month as part of a week-long commemoration of Bloomsday. And if people want to know more, they can go on a walking tour of "Joyce's Volta and Beyond", guided by Marc Zimmermann, the founding chairman of the Cinema Heritage Group.
A Dublin family businessThis column gets an interesting mail, letter and phone correspondence, but sometimes a communication stands out. This week saw the arrival of a piece of office stationery from the firm of Beckett & Medcalf, chartered quantity surveyors, of 6 Clare Street in Dublin, the practice run by Sam Beckett's father, William F Beckett, and his partner, William Medcalf, whose grandson Geoffrey sent it on, prompted by news of the closure of Greene's bookshop, also on Clare Street.
"I was often in No 6 as a boy, though I wasn't aware of Samuel Beckett then. I never met him but I remember his father, a big, stout man," he says.
Geoffrey recalls that when people were getting off the Number 8 tram the mnemonic for the stop was always "Greene's", not Merrion Square, so central was the bookshop in the consciousness of Dubliners. His father, Norman, worked in Beckett & Medcalf until 1940, but Geoffrey still has the deed of partnership between his grandfather and Sam Beckett's father, dated 1896, which he'd like to give to any collection of Beckett memorabilia that might like to have it.
McCann's the manPlans are afoot for a collection of essays on the fiction of Colum McCann, author of Fishing the Sloe-Black River, Songdogs, This Side of Brightness, Everything in This Country Must, Dancerand, most recently, Zoli.
Born in Dublin in 1965, McCann has lived in New York for many years, making him part of an interesting generation of the Irish diaspora in the US - an aspect of his writing career that would be worth exploring critically. He has won numerous prizes, including the Rooney Prize and the Ireland Fund of Monaco Princess Grace Memorial Award. His work has been published in 26 languages but, say the originators of the forthcoming essay collection, there has not been much critical engagement with his novels and short stories.
The deadline for submissions of up to 7,500 words is June 30th 2008. Queries and submissions should be e-mailed to either Dr Eóin Flannery (eoin.flannery@ul.ie) or Dr Susan Cahill (susan.cahill@ul.ie) or sent to Dr Eóin Flannery, English Section, Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, College of Humanities, University of Limerick.
Belmullet Force fieldClaire Keegan, Michael Longley , Harry Clifton, Deirdre Madden and Francis Harvey are among the writers participating in this year's Force 12 Writers' Festival in Belmullet, Co Mayo, on June 8th-10th, directed this year by poet and Irish Pageseditor Chris Agee. Michael Coady will be conducting a fiction and memoir workshop, with Patricia Craig running a non-fiction one. Also on hand will be poet Paddy Bushe, this year's Force 12 writer-in-residence, who will hold a poetry workshop during the festival. For further details, e-mail mayoarts@mayococo.ie.
Listowel miscellanyFor the first time, RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Miscellany will be recorded in front of a live audience, during Listowel Writers' Week at St John's Theatre and Arts Centre, Listowel, at 11am next Thursday. The programme will then be broadcast at 9.10am on Sunday, June 3rd, while the festival is still running in Listowel.
Colm Tóibin, Andrew Motion and Joseph O'Connor have been commissioned to write new work for the programme and will read it for the occasion. Cyril Kelly, a native of Listowel and a regular Sunday Miscellany contributor, will also read a piece, while prize-winners at the festival will take part as well.
Free tickets for the recording will be available at St John's Theatre and Arts Centre, Listowel, on Thursday.