Ennis, County Clare, IRELAND, 18th January 08 – A number of Galway literary and academic figures have been confirmed as participants in the Ennis Book Club Festival 2008.
Ireland (Press Release) January 18, 2008 --
Ennis, County Clare, IRELAND, 18th January 08 – A number of Galway literary and academic figures have been confirmed as participants in the Ennis Book Club Festival 2008, details of which were announced this week.
Director of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) Marion Coy will join Loughrea-based bilingual writer Nuala Ní Chonchúir and award-winning crime novelist Ken Bruen at the second annual festival from 29th February to 2nd March.
The three-day programme of events, supported by Clare County Library, is expected to attract hundreds of book club members and book lovers from all over Europe and North America to the County Clare capital. The Festival programme will feature author visits, readings, lectures, workshops, exhibitions and cookery demonstrations, musical entertainment and chocolate tasting in various venues around Ennis.
Commenting at the official launch of the Festival programme of events, Ms. Frances O’Gorman, Festival Chairperson, expressed delight that Galway would be well represented at this year’s festival.
“Galway can boast a remarkable intellectual and artistic tradition, which is why no literary event would be complete without the involvement of some of its writers. The experience and reputations of Marion Coy, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Ken Bruen will no doubt add to the Festival. It can be said they are thoroughly deserved of their placing alongside other high profile contributors”, added. Ms. O’Gorman.
Contributors will include British author Joanne Harris, who wrote the best seller ‘Chocolat’; Roddy Doyle, a Dublin dramatist, screenwriter and Booker Prize winning author of ‘The Commitments’, ‘The Snapper’ and ‘The Van’; Hugo Hamilton, winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; Morgan Llywelyn, an esteemed author of historical fantasy, fiction and non-fiction books; Dermot Bolger, the author of eight novels and winner of the Samuel Beckett Award; and Nuala O Faolain, Irish Times columnist and author of ‘Are You Somebody?’
Other festival participants will include Neven Maguire, an award winning celebrity chef; Lorna Landvik, actor, playwright and author of the best selling novels ‘Patty Jane's House of Curl’ and ‘The Tall Pine Polka’; Fintan O’Toole, broadcaster and journalist; Meda Ryan, historian and author of ‘Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter’; West of Ireland-based author David Rice; Ré O Laighlís, the biggest selling contemporary writer in the Irish language; and poet Mary O’Donnell.
The inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival, held last March, featured authors Patrick McCabe, Edna O'Brien and Booker Prize winner Ann Enright. Literary enthusiasts from all over North America and Europe attended the event, including members from many of Ireland’s 150 Library Book Clubs and 300 Private Book Clubs.
Marion Coy was appointed Director of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in October 2002, becoming the second Director of the Institute. The NUI Galway graduate began her career in GMIT as a lecturer in communications. In 1993 she set up a new Department of Humanities and successfully lobbied for the establishment of an arts-based campus in the city, Cluain Mhuire, which offers courses in film, television, art and design. She has delivered numerous papers and addressed national and international conferences on a wide variety of topics.
Ken Bruen was born in Galway in 1951. After turning down a place at RADA, he spent 25 years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, SE Asia and South America. An unscheduled stint in a Brazilian prison where he suffered physical and mental abuse spurred him to write. The first of Bruen’s Jack Taylor novels, The Guards, was short-listed for four Crime Awards in the US in 2004, winning the Shamus in October and film rights have attracted the interest of David Soul. Bruen now lives in Galway city with his wife and daughter.
Living in Loughrea, Nuala Ní Chonchúir's first stand-alone poetry collection (bilingual), Tattoo:Tatú, was published in September 2007. Her second fiction collection, To the World of Men, Welcome, was published in 2005, both by Arlen House. She has won the inaugural Jonathan Swift Award (2007), the Cúirt New Writing Prize, RTÉ Radio's Francis MacManus Award and the Cecil Day Lewis Award, all for fiction. Also in 2007, she wrote a collaborative play, 'Departure', for Turtle Shell Productions in New York.
Tickets for all Ennis Book Club Festival 2008 events are now on sale at Glór Box Office (065 6843103/info@glor.ie). For further details on the Ennis Book Club Festival 2008 see ennisbookclubfestival.com. Alternatively email info@ennisbookclubfestival.com or contact 00353879723647 / 00353857758523.
-ENDS-
Note to Editors:
- To arrange an interview please contact Mark Dunphy of Dunphy Public Relations on 0035386-8534900 or email media@dunphypr.com
- High-resolution images of participants are available on request.
Director of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) Marion Coy will join Loughrea-based bilingual writer Nuala Ní Chonchúir and award-winning crime novelist Ken Bruen at the second annual festival from 29th February to 2nd March.
The three-day programme of events, supported by Clare County Library, is expected to attract hundreds of book club members and book lovers from all over Europe and North America to the County Clare capital. The Festival programme will feature author visits, readings, lectures, workshops, exhibitions and cookery demonstrations, musical entertainment and chocolate tasting in various venues around Ennis.
Commenting at the official launch of the Festival programme of events, Ms. Frances O’Gorman, Festival Chairperson, expressed delight that Galway would be well represented at this year’s festival.
“Galway can boast a remarkable intellectual and artistic tradition, which is why no literary event would be complete without the involvement of some of its writers. The experience and reputations of Marion Coy, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Ken Bruen will no doubt add to the Festival. It can be said they are thoroughly deserved of their placing alongside other high profile contributors”, added. Ms. O’Gorman.
Contributors will include British author Joanne Harris, who wrote the best seller ‘Chocolat’; Roddy Doyle, a Dublin dramatist, screenwriter and Booker Prize winning author of ‘The Commitments’, ‘The Snapper’ and ‘The Van’; Hugo Hamilton, winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; Morgan Llywelyn, an esteemed author of historical fantasy, fiction and non-fiction books; Dermot Bolger, the author of eight novels and winner of the Samuel Beckett Award; and Nuala O Faolain, Irish Times columnist and author of ‘Are You Somebody?’
Other festival participants will include Neven Maguire, an award winning celebrity chef; Lorna Landvik, actor, playwright and author of the best selling novels ‘Patty Jane's House of Curl’ and ‘The Tall Pine Polka’; Fintan O’Toole, broadcaster and journalist; Meda Ryan, historian and author of ‘Tom Barry: IRA Freedom Fighter’; West of Ireland-based author David Rice; Ré O Laighlís, the biggest selling contemporary writer in the Irish language; and poet Mary O’Donnell.
The inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival, held last March, featured authors Patrick McCabe, Edna O'Brien and Booker Prize winner Ann Enright. Literary enthusiasts from all over North America and Europe attended the event, including members from many of Ireland’s 150 Library Book Clubs and 300 Private Book Clubs.
Marion Coy was appointed Director of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) in October 2002, becoming the second Director of the Institute. The NUI Galway graduate began her career in GMIT as a lecturer in communications. In 1993 she set up a new Department of Humanities and successfully lobbied for the establishment of an arts-based campus in the city, Cluain Mhuire, which offers courses in film, television, art and design. She has delivered numerous papers and addressed national and international conferences on a wide variety of topics.
Ken Bruen was born in Galway in 1951. After turning down a place at RADA, he spent 25 years as an English teacher in Africa, Japan, SE Asia and South America. An unscheduled stint in a Brazilian prison where he suffered physical and mental abuse spurred him to write. The first of Bruen’s Jack Taylor novels, The Guards, was short-listed for four Crime Awards in the US in 2004, winning the Shamus in October and film rights have attracted the interest of David Soul. Bruen now lives in Galway city with his wife and daughter.
Living in Loughrea, Nuala Ní Chonchúir's first stand-alone poetry collection (bilingual), Tattoo:Tatú, was published in September 2007. Her second fiction collection, To the World of Men, Welcome, was published in 2005, both by Arlen House. She has won the inaugural Jonathan Swift Award (2007), the Cúirt New Writing Prize, RTÉ Radio's Francis MacManus Award and the Cecil Day Lewis Award, all for fiction. Also in 2007, she wrote a collaborative play, 'Departure', for Turtle Shell Productions in New York.
Tickets for all Ennis Book Club Festival 2008 events are now on sale at Glór Box Office (065 6843103/info@glor.ie). For further details on the Ennis Book Club Festival 2008 see ennisbookclubfestival.com. Alternatively email info@ennisbookclubfestival.com or contact 00353879723647 / 00353857758523.
-ENDS-
Note to Editors:
- To arrange an interview please contact Mark Dunphy of Dunphy Public Relations on 0035386-8534900 or email media@dunphypr.com
- High-resolution images of participants are available on request.
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