Fleishman Is in Trouble is this week’s Irish Times Eason book offer. You can buy Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s bestselling novel for just €4.99, a saving of €6, when you buy The Irish Times at any Eason’s branch this weekend. Our review called it a a tour de force teeming with insights and humour.
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In this Saturday’s Irish Times, Róisín Ingle talks to John Boyne about his new novel, A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, and recent controversies. Reviews include Peter Goff on Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World by Michael Schuman; China: The Bubble That Never Pops by Thomas Orlik; and Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War by Bob Davies and Wei Lingling; Julia Kelly on Nothing but Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon; Philip O’Ceallaigh on Heroes and Marvels of the Middle Ages by Jacques Le Goff; Barry Pierce on The Pull of the Stars by Emma O’Donoghue; Tony Clayton-Lea on the best new music books; Ed O’Loughlin on Adam Hart’s Unfit for Purpose: When Human Evolution Collides with the Modern World; Sarah Gilmartin on A Silent Fury by Yuri Herrera, translated by Lisa Dillman; and John McAuliffe on the best new poetry collections.
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Caelainn Hogan is holding an online event this Thursday, July 23rd, at 8pm to mark the paperback release of her book Republic of Shame. The Gutter Bookshop will be streaming live readings and performances with Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney, singer Jess Kavanagh, playwright Noelle Brown and activist Rosemary Adaser. Tickets are free and all donations through Eventbrite go to support the work of The Association of Mixed Race Irish, an organisation founded by survivors. Register here.
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Working with Children’s Books Ireland and some of Ireland’s leading children’s book artists, An Post’s Re-ImagineNation competition encourages children and families from all over Ireland to re-imagine themselves as a character in a favourite book. With lots of online creative workshops from children’s book illustrators and authors, children aged between 6 and 12 years are invited to get creative, re-imagine themselves as a character inside their favourite story, and enter the competition by creating an artwork of themselves in a scene.
Leading Irish illustrators and children's book artists Fatti Burke, Jennifer Farley, Tarsila Krüse and Alan Nolan will be on hand to encourage creativity with weekly video workshops on Facebook showing the many ways children could re-imagine a story, as well as sharing tips and tricks and showing children the materials they work with. Competition details can be found at anpost.com/readerswanted
Louise Cronje of An Post said: “Building on the success of the ImagineNation playbook developed last Easter when families were in lockdown and distributed to almost 250,000 homes, we are delighted to launch the Re-ImagineNation competition for young children across Ireland. We are very pleased to partner once again with Children’s Books Ireland and some of Ireland’s best authors and illustrators. We look forward to seeing all of the artwork that the children create in the coming weeks.”
Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland said: “We are delighted to be working with An Post again on our shared ambitions of making every child a reader and encouraging children’s creativity. This competition and all the supporting artists’ workshops and activities puts an emphasis on visual storytelling and draws on the expertise of some of our most talented illustrators. We hope it will inspire and encourage children to read a book, whether that be an old favourite or a new discovery, and to imagine and create their own stories through pictures.”
