Summer Stars runs from Tues 4 June to Sat 31 August. Get Reading! Now that school is over you can still spark your imagination, join in activities and take part in our exciting Summer Stars challenge.
In this episode of the DCLA podcast, The Long Gaze Back authors Bernie McGill, Lia Mills and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne read from their work and talk with Sinéad Gleeson about the anthology, their work, and being a female author in Ireland today.Recorded at Blanchardstown Library on 12 April 2018, with thanks to Fingal Libraries.
In this episode of the DCLA podcast, Looking Forward, Gazing Back, writers June Caldwell and Sinéad Gleeson and theatre maker and campaigner Lian Bell of #WakingTheFeminists movement discuss the practices, processes and contexts of Irish women’s writing today.
The latest Dublin City Libraries and Archives podcast is the first of a two part episode, "Selected Shorts", we hear actors Rose Henderson, Susie Lamb, Katie O'Kelly and Geraldine Plunkett perform readings from The Long Gaze Back – stories by Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Lia Mills, Christine Dwyer Hickey and Anne Devlin.
In this episode of the Dublin City Libraries and Archives podcast Lia Mills talks to Sinéad Gleeson, Alan Hayes, Rob Doyle and Eimear Ryan about all things anthology.
In this episode of the Dublin City Libraries and Archives podcast; Lisa Coen, Louise Kennedy and Kathleen McMahon discuss the forgotten writings of Charlotte Riddell, Norah Hoult and Mary Lavin.
With the whole world feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic it is really heartening to see the response of those involved in the world of children's books. Many award-winning authors and picture-book makers are using their talents to bring a little bit of fun into the lives of their many fans and there are some lovely gestures, challenges and competitions from authors, illustrators and publishers alike.Author of the hilarious Pigeon series of books (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late etc.), Mo Willems has been doing an online illustration class every weekday called Lunchtime Doodle.Irish author Oliver Jeffers is reading one of his beautiful picture books every weekday on Instagram and uploading them to his website.Rob Biddulph, Official World Book Day Illustrator and author of several stunning picture books (including Kevin, Odd Dog Out and the Dinosaur Juniors Series) is doing live drawing lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10am. Children can upload their efforts with the hashtag #DrawWithRob and tag Rob on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. His social media details and this week's lessons are available on his website.The inimitable Sarah Webb, in association with the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), is filming a series of daily writing games and challenges called ‘Creative Bursts’ for children aged from approximately 9+ (or younger with adult assistance).The wonderful new podcast series We Love Books has snagged author and raconteur Dave Rudden as their resident writer to help aspiring young writers with their entries for an exciting writing competition for 3rd to 6th class pupils. Armed with writing tips from the author of Knights of the Borrowed Dark swords will definitely be drawn to fight it out for the titles and prizes.Irish comic book artist Will Sliney (who has drawn Spiderman for Marvel and more recently worked on the Star Wars comics series) is posting pictures of superheroes for children to colour in, encouraging them to draw their favourite characters and offering praise to aspiring artists. @WillSliney on Twitter and William Sliney on Facebook and use the hashtag #WeWillDrawAnd Irish publishers are joining in too. Irish Educational publishers CJ Fallon have very kindly offered free access to their e-books from now until the end of term, a gesture that should be very well received by parents up and down the country.The O'Brien Press, in association with Children's Books Ireland, are running a Design-a-Cover competition and the winner will see their artwork on the cover of a new edition of Gordon Snell's The Supermarket Ghost.And if you need a break after all that interaction why not grab some alone-time on our Tumble Books e-book resource featuring hundreds of animated, talking e-books which are free to library members. Also keep an eye out on Twitter @dubcilib and Facebook @DublinCityLibrares for #Springintostorytime where we showcase one Tumble book a day.Be sure to check out Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo by ES Redmond for a salutary warning about coughs and sneezes! Stay safe everyone.
The newly-appointed Lord Mayor Cllr. Tom Brabazon today launched the programme for the 2020 Dublin One City One Book Festival at the Mansion House. Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey joins a long list of illustrious titles as this year’s featured book in the Dublin One City One Book Festival.Dublin One City One Book is a Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Libraries, which encourages everyone to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. Previous titles have included Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Strumpet City by James Plunkett, Dubliners by James Joyce, and last year’s choice The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O’Brien.Christine Dwyer Hickey is a Dublin-born novelist, playwright and short story writer. She has published eight novels, one collection of short stories and a full-length play. Tatty was shortlisted for Irish Novel of the Year 2005, listed as one of the 50 Irish Novels of the Decade at the Irish Book Awards 2010 and was nominated for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Fiction Prize). Her latest novel is The Narrow Land set on Cape Cod in 1950.Tatty is a devastating yet hilarious depiction of a troubled family told in the vibrant voice of the little girl lost within it. Set in Dublin during the 1960s and 1970s it follows the girl’s story over a ten year period. Published by New Island, this specially produced edition of Tatty is introduced by writer and poet Dermot Bolger.A full programme of events themed around Tatty, most of which are free, takes place in April. The author Christine Dwyer Hickey will be taking part in discussions and interviews in venues across Dublin. Other events include film screenings, dramatised readings, family events and musical performances.Tatty is available to borrow from any branch of Dublin City Libraries – or indeed any public library nationally. A braille version has been produced by the National Council for the Blind.Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens, added: “Tatty is a book about a Dublin childhood, but it is also utterly universal in its themes and will appeal to anyone in our city who picks it up during our festival month this April. We work hard to choose the right book every year and we’ve struck gold with this exquisite story, so expertly woven by Christine Dwyer Hickey, one of Dublin’s finest authors.”Details of all events on www.dublinonecityonebook.ie“We want to encourage everyone in Dublin to read this one book - in order to enjoy a communal experience as readers - an idea that is truly admirable in its simplicity. We hope the book will be read by many, thousands of times between now and the end of the year and that this will lead to plenty of conversations and much discussions among book clubs, friends, family and co-workers”, said Lord Mayor Cllr. Tom Brabazon.Main EventMusic and Imagination: An Evening with Christine Dwyer HickeyThurs 23rd April, 7.30pm Liberty Hall Theatre, Eden Quay, Dublin 1Free. Booking: www.eventbrite.ie Two tickets per booking onlyJoin us for an evening with Christine Dwyer Hickey, author of this year’s Dublin One City One Book. Christine is one of Ireland’s most popular writers and her novel, Tatty, teems with the raw energy of working-class Dublin life. She will be discussing the book with well-known literary critic and journalist, Niall MacMonagle. Musical interludes will be contributed by pianist Leonora Carney, trumpeter Colm Byrne and piper Donnacha Dwyer. Your host for the evening will be Mary Kennedy.
A childhood memory of the library called THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME by Martina Devlin
I was lucky enough to discover my favourite place at the age of five. I’ll never forget my first visit there. My father was mysterious about it – he told me we were going on an outing, just the two of us, but didn’t reveal where. “Wait and see,” he said. When you’re in the middle of a family of seven, you don’t expect much one-on-one attention. Already this was a red letter day. But another upgrade was to follow.He propped me on the bar of his bicycle, told me to hold tight to the handlebars, and away he pedalled. We’d fret about safety issues today. But I’ve never experienced a feeling to match being perched on the crossbar of an enormous black Raleigh bicycle, your father’s body slotted round yours, keeping the wind off. And his legs doing all the work. I was the Queen of Sheba.But I still hadn’t a notion where we were headed. Landmarks careered past. We didn’t stop at my school, or the newspaper shop for his “Irish Press”, or the bus depot where he worked. Instead, we braked outside a building I’d never noticed before. He swung me down and in we went. The building had a smell. Not a pong, exactly, but a distinctive whiff: that musty, fusty, reeking-of-promise tang that only comes from books.Then my nose stopped twitching and my eyes started popping. I was in a room with walls entirely covered in books. Shelf after shelf of them. I never dreamed such a place existed! It was the Omagh town library. My father led me to the children’s section and, as he told my mother later, “let me at it.” He took himself off to another part of the room, lined with those peculiar books grown-ups seemed to like, although they had no pictures.Meanwhile, I feasted on stories about talking rabbits and lost puppies. But in jig-speed, it was time to go home. With a heavy heart, I closed over the book I was reading, wondering when I’d be allowed into this Emerald City again.“Sure, bring the book with you,” said my father, “and pick another to go with it.” My mouth dropped open. Was he buying me two books? It wasn’t my birthday. Christmas was months away.Sometimes, he’d come home from work with books. If he was scheduled to drive the Omagh to Belfast route, he’d use his meal break to visit second-hand bookshops there and buy what he could afford. But those books were mildewed, with long words I couldn’t grasp and a woeful shortage of talking rabbits and lost puppies. I didn’t quite grasp this unexpected largess either.But I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We went to the desk, where my father filled out my borrower’s form. I was given to understand that the books were mine to read for several weeks and when I left them back – this is where the prospect became quite, quite dazzling – I could choose some more.Here was my Eureka moment. I sensed – dimly, because I was only five – that a world existed beyond my wildest imaginings. But I could access it. A library ticket was my open sesame. After that, I went to the library with my big brothers and later on my own. Never again on my father’s bicycle, just the two of us. A man with a large family volunteers for a lot of overtime and only partly, I suspect, for the money.In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy taps her ruby slippers together three times, chants “there’s no place like home” – and is back in Kansas in a heartbeat. There couldn’t be a faster way home than that. But there’s a road equally short.Wherever I am, however I’m feeling, I’m always at home the moment I open a book.#This story has previously featured on Sunday Miscellany. BiographyMartina Devlin is an author and journalist. She has had ten books published, including a collection of short stories Truth & Dare, and a novel about Ireland’s last witchcraft trial The House Where It Happened (optioned for film and on the syllabus in a third-level college). Prizes include the Royal Society of Literature's VS Pritchett Prize and a Hennessy Literary Award, and she was shortlisted for three times the Irish Book Awards. A current affairs commentator for the Irish Independent, where she writes a widely-read weekly column, Martina has been named columnist of the year by the National Newspapers of Ireland. Currently, she is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin, where she has been awarded a bursary for her research into the work of Somerville and Ross. This year her first play was performed, What Would The Countess Say? about Countess Markievicz. She tweets @devlinmartina and her website is www.martinadevlin.com