FOUR FICTION FRIDAYS Readings
FOUR FICTION FRIDAYS was a series of lunchtime readings by four of Ireland's most important literary voices writing today, Jennifer Johnston, Carlo Gébler, Kevin Barry and Paul Murray, which was held every Friday lunchtime in May 2011 in the Dublin City Public Library in the ILAC, Dublin 1 as part of the annual Bealtaine Festival.
The first reading saw novelist Jennifer Johnston reading from her work and engaging in a Q&A session. Carlo Gébler read from his (at the time) forthcoming novel, The Dead Eight. Kevin Barry gave a spirited reading from his debut novel, City of Bohane which was published by Jonathan Cape in 2011. The series ended with Paul Murray reading from his bestseller, Skippy Dies, to a diverse and interested audience.
See photographs of the readings here
Ireland Literature Exchange (ILE) was delighted to have this opportunity to present four of Ireland's leading authors to a Dublin audience at the Central Library in the ILAC. With the support of ILE, these writers have, between them, works in translation in French, Italian, German, Czech, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Slovene and Croatian, with many more translations to come.
Speaking at the launch of the readings, Sinéad Mac Aodha, director of Ireland Literature Exchange, said:
This series of readings organised in co-operation with Dublin Public Libraries and the Bealtaine Festival, helps ILE to reach a local audience and to remind that audience that many books by Ireland's major writers are available in translation not just around the world but also through the Rosetta Collection in Ireland's local public libraries.
Jennifer Johnston (1930) was born in Dublin. She is a novelist and a dramatist, her most recent novel being Truth or Fiction, published in 2009 by Headline Review.
Born in Dublin in 1954, Carlo Gébler was brought up in London and studied at the University of York and the National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield. His novels include How to Murder a Man (1998) and A Good Day for a Dog (2008). His books for children are well-known: Caught on a Train (2001) was short-listed for a Bisto prize. Carlo Gébler is a member of Aosdána and lives in Enniskillen, where he currently is writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry.
Kevin Barry was born in Limerick in 1969 and now lives in Sligo. His first collection of short stories, There Are Little Kingdoms, won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2007. He has written about travel and literature for The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and many other publications. His debut novel City of Bohane is set in 2054 in the fictional city of Bohane in the West of Ireland.
Born in Dublin in 1975, Paul Murray studied English Literature in Trinity College. He later completed a postgraduate degree in Creative Writing at East Anglia University. His riotously funny début novel, An Evening of Long Goodbyes (2003), was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award and for the Kerry Irish Fiction Award. Skippy Dies (2010) was long-listed for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Neil Jordan is set to direct the film adaptation.