In The Irish Times tomorrow, there are new short stories to enjoy by Donal Ryan, newly crowned author of the 2024 Irish Book of the Year for Heart, Be at Peace, in the Ticket and by The Good Son author Paul McVeigh in the Magazine.
Reviews are Kevin Power on the best Iiterary magazines for fiction and poetry; Brian Maye on Revolutionary Times by Mike Cronin and Mark Duncan; James Kelly on Caricatures and the Irish: Satirical Prints from the Library of Trinity College Dublin c. 1780-1830 by Nicholas K Robinson; Oliver Farry on Kaput: The End of the German Miracle by Wolfgang Munchau; Mei Chin on Didion & Babitz by Lili Anoli; Karlin Lillington on Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World’s Deadliest Crooks by Geoff White; Claire Hennessy on the best new YA fiction; Ruby Eastwood on The Land in winter by Andrew Miller; Miriam Balenescu on She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark; Adrienne Murphy on Eve in Ireland: Controlling and Silencing Irish Women, 1922-1972 by Ailish McFadden; Maurice Casey on Patriot by Alexei Navalny; and Patsy McGarry on Vatican Spies by Yvonnick Denoel.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is Three Little Birds by Sam Blake, just €5.99, a €6 saving. Next weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is The Outsider by Jane Casey, just €5.99, a €5 saving.
The Ambassadors of the Francophonie in Ireland, working in partnership with Literature Ireland, have announced their 2025 shortlist for their annual literary Award, the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande.
A prize of €1,500 is awarded by the ambassadors to the winning Irish author, and a visit to Ireland is arranged by Literature Ireland for the translator. The aim of the prize is to promote French language and cultural and linguistic diversity, but also to celebrate literary translation into French.
The shortlisted works, all first published in French this year, are
A Ghost in the Throat (Un fantôme dans la gorge) by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, translated by Elisabeth Peelaert (Éditions Globe)
The Pages (Les Pages) by Hugo Hamilton, translated by Charles Bonnot (Éditions Phébus).
Glorious Exploits (Un Acte de Gloire) by Ferdia Lennon, translated by Jean Esch Éditions (Buchet Chastel)
A Spy in Canaan (Un espion en Canaan) by David Park, translated by Cécile Arnaud (Éditions La Table Ronde)
The winning author and translator pair will be announced in March at the launch of the Francophonie Festival in Ireland, a month dedicated to the celebration of French language and cultural and linguistic diversity.
The Sligo Park Hotel will welcome Yeats enthusiasts from around Ireland and overseas when it hosts the 30th Yeats winter School early next year.
The three-day programme of events celebrating the life and work of poet William Butler Yeats and his brother, the painter Jack Butler Yeats, will take place at the hotel from January 24th to 26th.
Attendance at the Yeats winter School includes two nights’ bed and breakfast with dinner on one night and entertainment. Speakers include: James Pethica, the Director of Yeats winter School and a teacher of Irish Studies and Modernism at Williams College in Massachusetts, and the author of a number of books on WB Yeats and Lady Gregory. He is currently working on an authorised biography of Lady Gregory for Oxford University Press; Anne Margaret Daniel, a literature and humanities teacher at the New School University in New York City; Iggy McGovern, a poet and former lecturer in physics at Trinity College Dublin.
“We are delighted to welcome the Yeats winter School back to Sligo Park Hotel for another weekend of relaxation, lectures, music, and a tour of Yeats Country,” general manager Gerard Moore said: “The Sligo Park first hosted this event 30 years ago and it is heartening to see that it continues to occupy a special place in Sligo’s cultural calendar all these years later. William and Jack Butler Yeats are icons of the arts in Ireland and internationally, and key figures in the identity of Sligo. The international make-up of our attendees is testament to their incredible impact in literature and visual arts around the world and I’m delighted that that the Sligo Park can facilitate this celebration of their lives and work.”
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The Strokestown International Poetry Competition 2025 will be judged by the award-winning poet, Jane Clarke.
With a prize fund of €2000 and a shortlist of five poets; shortlisted poets will be invited to read their poem at this year’s Strokestown International Poetry Festival 2025 (2-4 May) and where the winner will be announced on Sunday 4 May and presented with a cheque for €1,000.
Established in 1999, former winners include Vona Groarke, Paddy Bushe, Maureen Boyle and Jane Robinson. To apply, visit strokestownpoetryfest.ie. The site is currently accepting entries and the closing date is January 31st.
