This year’s Red Line Book Festival runs from October 14th to 19th. There is a fantastic line-up for this year’s festival with the usual big names in attendance including Christine Dwyer Hickey, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Dermot Bolger, Catherine Dunne, Theo Dorgan, Paul Lynch and many more.
The full programme of events is here, but I’m going to highlight a few workshops and events which may be of interest to you.
CONTEMPORARY VOICES
with Rob Doyle, Oona Frawley and Daniel Seery in conversation with Sarah Davis-Goff.
Tuesday 14th October 2014 at 8.15pm; Loose End Studio, Civic Theatre
Booking at Civic Theatre Box Office:
Book Online or Tel 01 462 7477; boxoffice@civictheatre.ie
Admission €8/€6
Wed 15th October 2014 at 7.00pm Lucan Library
MEET THE AUTHOR: CHRISTINE DWYER HICKEY
Booking @ 01 621 6422; Lucan@sdublincoco.ie
Admission Free
Join award winning writer Christine Dwyer-Hickey discussing her work. In her latest book The House of Parkgate Street and other Dublin Stories, Christine brings an intimate portrayal of the city and some of its people in her beautifully observed stories. An evening not to be missed!
Thurs 16th October 6pm at RUA RED Arts Centre Tallaght – Red Line Book Festival Poetry Competition prize giving and winners’ readings with judge Nessa O’Mahony.
Followed at 8pm by TREVOR BYRNE AND COLM KEEGAN IN CONVERSATION
Booking: Tel. 01 451 5860; boxoffice@ruared.ie
Admission: €8/€6 concessions
Poetry Ireland and South Dublin Libraries present Trevor Byrne and Colm Keegan in conversation. Dublin is a city of sounds, of voices, of stories. Author Trevor Byrne and poet Colm Keegan have always drawn inspiration from their home city: their uniquely vibrant imaginative work ranges across Dublin, dealing with class, economics, accents, geography, belief, drugs, family, and legends both ancient and urban. Byrne and Keegan will read from their work and discuss their distinctive approaches to writing and storytelling.
Fri 17th October #READWOMEN 2014
with Eileen Casey, Valerie Sirr and Geraldine Mills in conversation with Sue Hassett.
8.15pm Loose End Studio, Civic Theatre Tallaght
Booking at Civic Theatre Box Office:
Book Online or Tel 01 4627477; boxoffice@civictheatre.ie
Admission €8/€6
Are literary women writers undersold and undervalued by the current literary universe? In 2014 a small American literary journal vowed to cover women writers for a full year. Then, artist Joanna Walsh’s #readwomen2014 project became a popular meme on social media. Join three Hennessy award winning writers, Valerie Sirr, Geraldine Mills and Eileen Casey in this lively debate as they assess and attempt to redress male writers’ dominance in the literary world. The event is facilitated by local writer Sue Hassett.
Sat 18th October at 10.30am READERS DAY: CHAPTER ONE
presented by Ciarán Carty featuring Paul Lynch, Xiaolu Guo and Mary O’Donnell.
Booking at Civic Theatre Box Office:
Book Online or Tel 01 462 7477; boxoffice@civictheatre.ie
Admission: €8/€6
Presented by the author, editor and critic, Ciarán Carty – Chapter One of Readers Day will be a fascinating morning of conversation with award winning author Paul Lynch, Chinese novelist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo and writer and poet Mary O’Donnell.
Sat 18th October at 2.30pm READERS DAY: CHAPTER TWO
presented by Dermot Bolger featuring Donal Ryan, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and John Sheahan.
Booking at Civic Theatre Box Office:
Book Online or Tel 01 462 7477; boxoffice@civictheatre.ie
Admission: €8/€6
Presented by the novelist and poet, Dermot Bolger – Chapter Two of Readers Day will be a relaxed afternoon of conversations, music and readings with award winning writer Donal Ryan, acclaimed author Nuala Ní Chonchúir and the virtuoso musician and poet John Sheahan.
There are also some very good workshops on Saturday 18th October:
WRITING A BOOK: CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP with Dave Lordan.
10.00am – 1.00pm RUA RED
Booking at 01 451 5860; boxoffice@ruared.ie
Admission: €15
Covering plot development, theme, dialogue, setting and character, this course will suit both beginner and experienced writers. Award winning author Dave Lordan is a contributing editor for The Stinging Fly and he teaches contemporary poetry and critical theory on the MA in Poetry Studies at the Mater Dei Institute of DCU. In 2013, in association with RTE Arena and New Island Books, he designed and led Ireland’s first ever on-air creative writing course. In this workshop Dave will cover all aspects of planning, writing and editing any kind of book. His course is for the first time hosted in Tallaght and it is a must for aspiring writers, offering plenty of ideas also for the most experienced authors.
and,
WRITING ALL AROUND US: SHORT FICTION WORKSHOP with Shauna Gilligan
10.00am – 1.00pm Lucan Library
Booking at 01 621 6422; lucan@sdublincoco.ie
Admission Free. Booking Essential
This half-day interactive and practical workshop on short fiction (flash and short stories) is for writers at all stages of their career. Participants will look at how the practice of authentic character writing can be encouraged by writing using their senses. Fun writing exercises using physical prompts that tickle our senses – smell, taste, sight, touch, and hearing – will encourage minds to play freely with words in the creation of character. Author Shauna Gilligan (Happiness Comes from Nowhere, 2012) is a volunteer with Fighting Words in Dublin and teaches creative writing at NUI Maynooth and at Masters and PhD level at the University of South Wales. She has given readings and workshops on writing fiction across Ireland, the UK, Germany and the USA.
Places for both workshops are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment!
