Bulgarian Ambassador visits Ballinasloe Library

On Thursday May 17th the Ambassador of Bulgaria, Her Excellency Mrs. Bisserka Benisheva, visited Ballinasloe Branch Library for the official opening of an exhibition entitled "The Cyrillic Alphabet: The New Alphabet of the European Union."
The opening reception was hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria. Also present from the Embassy was Third Secretary, Mr. Petar Semerdzhiev.

The Ambassador was welcomed to the Ballinasloe Library by Mr. Noel Treacy, TD, Minister of State, with Special Responsibility for European Affairs.

At some point of time, more than 11 centuries ago, Constantine Cyril, the Philosopher, came to Pope Adrian 11 to defend the right to existence of the alphabet he had created---it's sanctity and spiritual meaning, it's validity alongside the Hebrew, the Greek and the Latin alphabet.

Through the exhibition, one discovers not just the way and manner in which the Old Bulgarian alphabets were built, but also the beauty and meaning of a descriptive graphic and poetic symbolism, whereby space, the stars, the rise of the sun, the sea and the land were the foundations for its being brought down to earth for the needs of the enduring human communication.
In the course of his address, Minister Treacy said that "the entry of Bulgaria into the EU means that Cyrillic has now become the third Alphabet in use, in the EU and will contribute another rich and ancient strand to the cultural life of the Union." And he continued: "we are also proud of Ireland’s long association with the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, where the sacred remains of Saint Cyril are buried. For over three Centuries, the Basilica has been in the care of the Irish Dominicans."

At the opening reception, a poem entitled The Whole World, written by the Bulgarian poet Anton Baev was wonderfully read by Ballinasloe teacher John Boland. This beautiful poem describes a man who is coming back from the market, with the poet asking: "what is he carrying in his bag?" Oranges from Piraeus, it seems, lemons from Egypt, a bottle of tequila from midnight Mexico, a packet of sugar from Brazil.... And the poet concludes: "A shopping bag is enough to hold half the world in it," and he asks: "And what would you need for the whole world?" And the poet’s response is: "a kiss on the threshold when you arrive."

There is something in this poem which connects with "our enduring need for communication." There is also something of what the Spanish writer Adela Cortina describes as a "profound sense of compassion." She points out that it is important to educate citizens in all these dimensions of the heart, especially in the dimension of justice — because otherwise the game is lost before we start. This is an area of education where the public library, through a carefully selected book collection, has a vital role to play.

The heart (cordis in Latin), is the centre, the key to something: to people, for example. Traditionally, it is the home of affection, but also of intelligence, spirit, talent, and even the stomach. Because you have to have stomach, a great deal of it, to fight for justice, and to aspire to happiness, which are the two great goals of ethics. It is important to educate citizens in all these dimensions of the heart. So said Adela Cortina writing this very week in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.


Copies of Adela Cortina’s essay are available at Galway City Library and at Ballinasloe Public Library.

The exhibition and visit by the Bulgarian ambassador was made possible by the Europe Direct Information Centres.

Readers may be interested in the following books which have been added to stock at Galway City Library

The Novellas of Hortense Calisher, by Hortense Calisher
Includes The Railway Police, a dazzling story, told in her own wry first-person voice, of a social worker's frustrated progression through a series of admiring men attracted by the colourful wigs she wears, then repelled by the fact of her baldness. One day, upon seeing an obviously homeless man ejected from a train, she throws away her piles of fake hair, gives all her money to her indigent clients and goes forth to sleep in the streets, embracing the anonymity of those who have been discarded, as she now discards herself.




Last Evenings on Earth, by Roberto Bolano
"The melancholy folklore of exile," as Bolano once put it, pervades these fourteen haunting stories. His narrators are usually writers living on the margins and grappling with private (and often unlucky) quests. Set in the Chilean exile diaspora of Latin American and Europe, and peopled by Bolano’s beloved "failed generation," these stories are unimaginably gripping.



Here Is Where We Meet, by John Berger
One hot afternoon in Lisbon, our narrator, John, finds his mother, who had died fifteen years earlier, seated on a park bench. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," she tells him. And so begins a remarkable odyssey, told in simple yet gorgeous prose and with the openness to personal and political currents that has always marked John Berger's work. With its clarity and beautifully proportioned contours of fictive memory, this book makes the perfect site to encounter Berger for the first or 50th time.

John Boyne has won the CBI Bisto Book of the Year 06/07 for his book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.


The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is John's first book written for children and tells the story of a nine year old boy struggling to understand what is happening around him in Auschwitz during World War II. The novel has been shortlisted for many literary awards including the British Books Awards.



The Eilis Dillon Award went to Siobhan Dowd, for her first novel of A Swift Pure Cry.

An eagerly anticipated event on the Irish literary calendar, the CBI Bisto Book of the Year Awards are presented annually in recognition of excellence in writing and or illustration of books for young people. The awards are administered by CBI, the national organisation for children's books and sponsored by Bisto (Premier Foods Ireland). Over the last three years the total prize fund for the awards has more than doubled, with a current total prize fund of euro 19,000 as compared to euro7,000 in 2005.

Last Over The Edge: Open Reading’ before the summer break

The final‘Over The Edge: Open Reading’ before the summer break will take place on Thursday, May 31st, 6.30-8pm in Galway City Library.

This month’s Featured Readers are Maria McManus, Paddy Henry & Fergal McNally.

Maria McManus is a poet and playwright from Strangford near Belfast. Her collection ‘Reading the Dog’ was published in 2006 by Lagan Press and was runner for this year’s Strong Award. In 2005 she was awarded the Bedell Scholarship of Literature by the Aspen Writers Foundation, Colorado. Her plays include His n‘Hers, The Black Out Show and Nowhere Harder. She is currently writer-on-attachment to Tinderbox Theatre Company.

Paddy Henry writes both fiction and non-fiction. He retired to Galway in 1998 having been a soft drinks manufacture in Charlestown, Co. Mayo. He continues his life long interest in drama through his involvement with Knocknacarra Amateur Theatre Society. He is a member of the Knocknaccarra Active Retirement Writers Group facilitated by Susan Millar DuMars.

Fergal McNally moved to Galway in 2003 to study Arts. He is currently enrolled on the M.A. in Writing program at N.U.I.G. He has had poetry published in Ropes magazine and Writers Seeking Lovers, a collection put out by the M.A. in writing poetry workshop. His one act play Spilt Milk won best production at this year’s Muscailt arts festival.

There will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748.

The first Over The Edge: Open Reading after the Summer break will take place at Galway City Library on Thursday, August 30th.

An imaginative and beautifully illustrated book for children

Wolves by Emily Gravett, which won the 2006 Kate Greenaway Medal, is an imaginative, cleverly illustrated and delightful picture book for 5 to 8 year olds.
It follows a rabbit who goes to his local "burrowing" library to check out a book on wolves. As he immerses himself in the book, he fails to notice that the characters have actually come alive.

Kirkus Reviews commented "that like many postmodern picture books, the mixed-media illustrations call attention to the book itself, and establish a relationship between the deadpan text and the endearingly expressive rabbit."

Emily Gravett was born in 1972 in Brighton. She left school with few qualifications and spent 8 years living on the road before settling back in Brighton and getting a place on the BA Illustration course at Brighton University.

The following is an extract of an interview with Emily Gravett from the PanMacmillan website:

Why do you think picture storybooks have such an important place in young learners' lives?

The time that parents spend cuddled up looking at, and discussing picture books with their child can foster a warm association with books that spills over into their adult lives, but picture books are not just about producing fluent readers. Picture books teach children visual literacy, the relationship between word and image, about emotion, the physical world, and the world of the imagination. They are about getting lost in the moment. They can be exciting, or challenging, sad, or soothing, but all at the child’s pace. They can be picked up, put down, carried around and re-read hundreds of times. There’s no other medium like them. They enrich children’s lives.

There are copies of the book in our Branch Library System. Teachers may wish to note that there are 8 copies of the book in the School Library Network.

Poetry Reading at Inishbofin Library

As part of the Inishbofin Arts Festival award winning poet Yvonne Cullen will read from her own work and from the work of other poets in the local library at 5.30pm on Saturday May 12th 2007.

Yvonne Cullen's first short collection of poems, Invitation to the Air, won the American Ireland Fund Award at Listowel Writers' Week in 1997. Yvonne has won numerous other awards for her work. She has also won praise from the National Awards Council for her Writers' Workshop facilitation skills, and has been a regular Poetry Workshop leader for a number of years now. Born in Dublin, Yvonne Cullen trained as a barrister before giving up Law to become a full time writer and musician.

In order to provide opportunities for participation, after the reading there will be an Open Mic event. At this any visiting poets, aspiring poets, writers, and other performers are welcome to join us to share their work or art.

Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture being celebrated in Ballinasloe Library

An exhibition entitled "The Cyrillic Alphabet: The New Alphabet of the European Union" will go on display in Ballinasloe Library for a two week period commencing Thursday May 10th.

The exhibition will be officially opened at 7.00pm on May 10th. The opening, which is being hosted by the European Direct Information Centre and the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria will mark the Day of Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture.

The opening reception will include readings of Bulgarian poetry in English translation, and a performance of Irish Traditional Music.

City Library now open through lunch-time on Saturdays

We are pleased to announce that the City Library in Augustine Street now remains open during lunch-time on Saturdays.

The City Library, which up-to-now closed at lunch-time on Saturdays, will now be open on Saturdays continuously from 11.00am through to 5.00pm. The complete opening-times for the City Library are here.

Bealtaine Festival in Tuam Library

During the month of May, Tuam Library celebrates the Festival of Bealtaine, a celebration of creativity for older people, a festival designed to embrace life long learning.

On Tuesday 1st May: Author and Broadcaster John Quinn will read from his work in the library at 2.00. A session will also take place at 11.00 for the book club who are reading ‘Sea of Love, Sea of Loss’ for this month’s book.

John Quinn was a well-known broadcaster with RTE Radio for over twenty years, for which he won numerous awards. He is an established children's author whose work includes 'The Summer of Lily and Esme' (which won the Bisto award in 1992) and 'Duck and Swan'. His first adult novel 'Generations of the Moon' tells the story of a family saga of sectarian strife along the Border from 1926 to 1975, a powerful story of nurture working against nature. His non-fiction publications relate mostly to his radio work, 'My Education' interviews 39 people on their formative years. His gift as a maker of programmes...described as 'Interviews of rare clarity, sympathy and sophistication; doctumentaries of extraordinary atmosphere, perception and narrative grace...'

Following the untimely and tragic death of his wife Olive in 2001, he bared his soul to help others in his personal documenary on their lives together, 'A letter to Olive' . 'A letter to Olive' is published under the title 'Sea of Love, Sea of Loss'

Tuesday 15th, Tuesday 22nd and Tuesday 29th May: Seniors Tai Chi will take place at 11.00 and Beginners Meditation will take place at 12.00 in the library. For more details, please contact the library at 093 24287.

Age Action is running computer classes for beginners, every Tuesday from 10.00 11.00. To book a place, please contact Age Action at 091 527831.

All events are free to attend.

Japanese Artist exhibits his work in Spiddal Library

An exhibition by Hiroto Hakamada, a visual artist from Japan, is currently running in the Public Library in Spiddal

Born in 1968 in Okayama, Japan, Hiroto studied oil painting in Musashino Art University, Tokyo. Subsequently he studied photography and film making in Tokyo. He has held several solo exhibitions and group exhibitions in Japan. This exhibition in Spiddal is his first show in Ireland.

The grounds of his artworks are made of lead and red clay from Okayama - his hometown in the west of Japan. He printed black-and-white photographs taken in Ireland, Italy, Syria, Jordan, Singapore, China and Japan directly on the grounds. He also drew his inspiration from his childhood memories: an image of a small village deep in the mountains in Okayama where his father was born and bred, his relatives who still live there and their daily life in the mountains.

The exhibition runs until Sunday 29th of April. Spiddal library opening times are here.

THREE POETS IN A MUSEUM

Three Galway-based poets, Crannóg magazine's Sandra Bunting, playwright, poet and painter Patricia Burke Brogan, who is a member of Galway Writers' Workshop and poet and publisher Ciarán Parkes, Marram Press, will pay homage to the new Galway Civic Museum over the next couple of weeks by wandering around its exhibits and rooms and reacting to what they see through poetry.

The project, initiated by the Western Writers' Centre - Ionad Scríbhneoir Chaitlín Maud - will culminate in a series of nine poems, three poems from each writer, to be framed in an exhibition in the new museum.

"My hat is off to Breandán Ó'Heaghra of the Museum, who took to the concept immediately, and to Sandra Bunting, who worked without hesitation to gather the poets," says Fred Johnston, the Centre's manager. "Without these elements, it couldn't have happened. It was a simple idea and therefore an attractive one." It is important, he continued, that Galway's contemporary literary world is commemorated as a living element in the new Museum.

The new Galway Museum was officially inaugurated in December 2006.

Exhibition of new works in Tuam Library

Artist who depicts the current tensions between Man and Nature exhibits in Tuam Library.

The Cows Beyond, an exhibition of new works by Eithna Joyce opens on Thursday 26th April at 6.30p.m. in Tuam Public Library and runs until May 5th.

Eithna is an emerging artist and Galway County Libraries are very pleased to host her first solo exhibition since her success in ev+a 2007, Ireland’s pre-eminent annual exhibition of contemporary art. She was selected from over 500 entries to be part of 32 Irish and International artists currently on show in Limerick until 24th June. She is one of only two Irish artists who received a curatorial award from Klaus Ottmann, this years adjudicator for the ev+a exhibition.

"What are we doing to the environment and what are we leaving for the next generation?" These are the issues which Eithna Joyce ponders.

Eithna draws on a blank canvas with pen and ink and then paints in oils mixing realistic and abstract images to create a tension within the picture, mirroring the current tensions we find between man and nature.

Flosca Short Story Competition
and
Flosca Irish Language Poetry Competition

This event will feature readings by poet Louis de Paor and novelist Mike McCormack, with an introduction by Caroline Walsh, Literary Editor of The Irish Times.
Flosca Teo is a new web-based publishing company, founded by writers, with the mission to provide outlets for new work by writers in Ireland and abroad. Our website, http://www.flosca.com/, offers forums for writers to post and discuss new work online.

The April 29th reading marks the opening for submissions to the Flosca Short Story Competition and the Flosca Irish Language Poetry Competition. We will be accepting short stories (3,500 word limit) as well as original poetry written in Irish language (100 line limit). Each first, second, and third place winner will receive cash awards, as well as publication in our Prize-Winners’ Chapbook, to be launched in 2008.


Flosca was founded by fifteen writers who met while attending NUI Galway's MA in Writing programme. Members of Flosca come from Alaska, Ontario, Mayo, Offaly, Nevada, Sussex, Cork, Sligo, New York, Illinois, Clare, California and of course, Galway. We joined forces to create Flosca Teoranta in 2006 with the support of dar s na Gaeltachta. Our aim is to support writing of literary merit and to promote the best international writing in different forms – poetry, fiction, non-fiction-- through whatever channels are available to us, whether through the website or print publishing, depending on what is most appropriate. Flosca also aims to identify gaps in the competition market including Irish language, debut writing and the longer short story.

*[fluh-ska] --noun: the Irish genetive singular for flux: a flowing or flow; the flowing in of the tide; continuous change, passage, or movement; the rate of flow of fluid, particles or energy; a quantity expressing the field of force in a given area

Death of Kurt Vonnegut : Libraries and Books

Influential author Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84 after suffering brain injuries in a fall in New York.
During a career lasting more than 50 years, he wrote the classic anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse Five, detailing his experiences of the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945.

Here he is writing in 2005 from his A Man Without a Country: A Memoir of Life in George W Bush's America, published by Bloomsbury.

'I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength, who, all over this country (the United States), have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and destroyed records rather than have to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the media. The America I loved still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.And still on the subject of books: our daily news sources, newspapers and TV, are now so craven, so unvigilant on behalf of the American people, so uninformative, that only in books do we learn what's really going on.'

Vonnegut said he was often surprised to have lived for so long, having been a heavy smoker. He once joked: "I'm suing a cigarette company because on the package they promised to kill me, and yet here I am."

Cúirt International Festival of Literature

The 22nd Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway will take place from Tuesday 24th - Sunday 29th April 2007.


The programme for 2007 was unveiled recently.

On 25 April, the prose masterclass will be hosted by MJ Hyland, who was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Carry Me Down.

The poetry masterclass will be hosted by Bostonian writer Nick Flynn on 27 April, and poet Brendan Cleary will host the performance poetry masterclass on the same day.

Pete Mullineaux will be MC for the fifth annual Cúirt International Festival of Literature Poetry Grand Slam with guest performer/judge Brendan Cleary.

The full schedule of readings, events and masterclasses is available here

Over the Edge Reading in Galway City Library

The next Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, March 29th, 6.30-8pm. The Featured Readers are Michael Gorman, and four members of the Dark Gate Writers Group, Sean Donegan, Margaret Cullagh, Bernadette Tierney & Donal Grehan.

Michael Gorman was born in Sligo and educated at Summerhill College and University College Galway. His poetry collections include Postcards from Galway, Waiting for the Sky to fall and Up She Flew. One of his poems, The People I Grew Up With Were Afraid, was chosen by Pauline McLynn for inclusion in the anthology, Voices and Poetry of Ireland. He teaches poetry on the MA in Writing at NUI Galway. Michael Gorman is a hugely charismatic reader of his work; his readings are everything a good poetry reading should be.

Sean Donegan has published poems in Poetry Ireland Review, Time Haiku and the anthology, The Backyards of Heaven. A selection of his haiku will appear in an anthology to be published by Pillar Press, Kilkenny next year. He is a member of The Dark Gate Writers Group.

Margaret Cullagh is originally from Tipperary, but currently lives in Galway. She is the facilitator of The Dark Gate Writers Group. She is a writer and creative writing tutor and has read her work at both the Westside Arts Festival and the Project 06 Festival.

Bernadette Tierney is a Galway native. She was a volunteer worker for many years with the Simon Community. Her poems have appeared in Riposte. She is a member of The Dark Gate Writers Group.

Donal Grehan is originally from Mountmellick in Co. Laois and has been living in Galway for 20years. He writes poetry and short stories. His poems have been published in Bealtaine. He is a member of The Dark Gate Writers Group.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748

More Galway events in Library Ireland Week

Here are further events taking place during Library Ireland Week in libraries throughout County Galway.

Galway City Library
Tuesday 6th March 10am – 12am. Exhibition of Ceramic Work by local VTOS Students.The students will demonstrate glass painting

Tuesday 6th March 11.30 – 12.30. John Quinn, well known author of The Summer of Lily and Esme and other titles will talk to students.

Wednesday 7th March & 8pm. International Women’s Day will be marked by Amnesty International, public discussion on "Trafficking Violates Women’s Rights". Diarmuid Hogan, NUI Galway will chair the discussion.

Thursday 8th March ‘6.30. Fred Johnson, Writer and Manager of the Western Writers Centre will talk on the Uses and Abuses of Literary Workshops.

Friday 9th March @ 7 pm. Dermot Healy, Author of A Goat’s Song and The Bend for Home will read from his work.


Loughrea Library
Tuesday 6th March @8pm. Jo McDonagh, past President of the GAA will talk on the history of the GAA.

Tuesday 13th March 8.30. Concert of Choirs

Sunday 4th March @ 8pm. Maynooth Guitar Ensemble


Ballinasloe Library
Monday, March 12th @8pm. A lecture on the Battle Of Aughrim by Dr. Harman Murtagh.This is the 7th in a series of 9 lectures organized by the Historical and Archaeological Society of Uí-Mháine during the winter months.

Márta 6-17. Taispeántas éalaine ó réamhscoileanna an cheanntair le haghaidh Seachtain na Gaeilge agus Lá'L Pádraig

Europe Direct Centre open days for adults and children...call in and see how the Europe Direct Centre works, access the Europa website, browse through our selection of brochures and leaflets.

Galway events in Library Ireland Week

Here are some more events taking place in Galway Public Libraries during Library Ireland Week.

Clifden Library
5th – 10th March. Exhibition of Art and Craft Work by Local Artists

Thursday 8th March at 8pm. Holistic Health : Enjoy a cup of herbal tea and a chat with Terry Conroy An Bhean Feasa Health Store.


Saturday 10th @ 12am. Pet Care: Maureen Finneran from Animal Rescue will give a talk on pet care.

Athenry Library
Wednesday 7th March @ 8pm. Explore the mystery and benefits of Acupuncture with Mitra Rahmani a licensed acupuncturist from China.
Sarah Toward-Choi a qualified and experienced Iyengar Yoga Teacher will talk about Yoga.

Roundstone Library
Saturday 10th March 2pm. Fancy Dress Parade; All children are invited to dress up as their favourite book character.

Eyrecourt Library
Thursday 8th March. A Handbook for Local Community Heritage Groups will be launched by Cllr Michael Mullins, Mayor of the County of Galway, @ 7pm

Oranmore Library
1st – 10th March. People and Nature Photographic Exhibition ( Images of Galway)

Thursday 8th March. Biodiversity in County Galway; Elaine O’Riordan, Project Manager, will talk on the subject @ 7pm

Library Ireland Week 2007 in Galway

Library Ireland Week 2007 takes place from 5th to 11th March.
The Week celebrates and highlights the role of libraries, librarians and information professionals.

During the week various events will be taking place in libraries throughout County Galway. Details of which will be posted here over the next few days.


Tuam Library
Tuesday 6th March. Mime and Mask Workshop with Midi Corcoran 10-11 & 11.15-12.15

Wednesday 7th march. Library Open Day : all are invited to the Library, to browse, learn, have a cup of tea and a chat. Toddler group also meeting in the Library in the morning.

Friday 9th March. Galway City and County Childcare Committee and Galway County Libraries Toy Resource Project will be launched at 5pm by Mr. Frank Fahey, T.D., Minister of State, Dept of Justice and Law Reform.

Friday 16th march. To celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge:
Irish Drama Workshops with Priscilla; 10.00-11.00 & 11.15 – 12.15


Headford Library
Wednesday 7th March. Elaine O’Riordan will talk on Biodiversity and
Dolores Keane will talk on Organic Gardening

Thursday 8th March. Gordan Darcy, Celebrated environmentalist and author will give two workshops looking at aspects of the local environment. 10.00 – 12.30pm


Westside Library
Tuesday 6th March @ 6.30pm. A night with Stan - the story behind the pictures of Stan Shield’s recently published book of photographs – Stan’s Galway.

Wednesday 7th March @ 6.30 pm. A night of Classical Music – a Quartet playing a mix of classical favourites.


Portumna Library
Thursday 8th March at 7pm. Launch of Exhibition of Paintings by Local Artists. 5th – 10th March.

Monday 5th March @ 7.30. Talk and Demonstration on Holistic Health and Complementary Therapies with Trish and Rachel.

Wednesday 7th March @ 7.30pm. Library Reading Group Open Meeting

Over The Edge in Galway City Library

The next Over The Edge: Open Reading takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, March 1st, 6.30-8pm.

The Featured Readers are Enda Coyle-Green, Alan McMonagle & Aideen Henry.

Enda Coyle-Green lives in County Dublin. Widely published in magazines and anthologies, her work has also been broadcast on RTE Radio 1 and Lyric FM. Prizes for poetry include a Hennessy Award nomination in 2002. Her first collection, Snow Negatives, received the Patrick Kavanagh Award in 2006.

Alan McMonagle lives in Galway. His work has appeared in Southword, The Cuirt Annual, west47online and Crannog. Last year he took second place in the Sean O'Faolain short story competition and was also short-listed for the Fish Story award. He is currently pursuing an MA in Writing at NUI Galway.

Aideen Henry lectures at NUI, Galway. She began writing poetry quite recently and has had poems published in West 47 and Crannog magazine. Aideen has taken part many times in the Over The Edge open-mic. She is currently attending a poetry workshop at Galway Arts Centre.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are always especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

For further details contact 087-6431748.Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council

Library Success Stories 2

The Library Association of Ireland's Youth Library Group in conjunction with the Libraries in Northern Ireland are hosting a Library Success Stories 2 on Tuesday 17th April 2007 in the Iontas Arts & Resource Centre, Castleblayney, County Monaghan.

A very successful and well attended Library Success Stories Day was held on Monday 14th November 2005 in Omagh Library, County Tyrone.

Aim of the Day: A forum for the exchange of ideas and good practice in libraries
Who is it Aimed at: Frontline and support staff involved in developing or delivering projects, programmes and activities in local libraries.
What the Day consists of: It will consist of paralled workshops highlighting a range of very successful projects and activities.
End Result of the Day: Staff from different library authorities and across the border, will talk to each other and exchange ideas and good practice. Get some positive reinforcement that there are alot of worthwhile things going on in our libraries. Produce firstly in hardcopy the projects, programme and activities discussed for each participating county and secondly online - via a website with passwords etc.

Please email me to get a template for you or your staff to fill in about any project, programme or activity. (Please fill in each project, programme, activity seperately) If the template could be filled in and emailed back to me before Friday 23rd February. If you would like for your library authority to participate in this day, please forward the names of the staff to me before Friday 2nd March. Each library authority can send up to 3 staff maximum.

On behalf of the Youth Library Group, I cannot stress enough how important a day such as this is for frontline staff as I myself participated in the first library success stories in Omagh and it was wonderful to hear such fabulous innovative ideas, and most of them done with little or no money.

Deirdriu McQuaid
Youth Library Group Secretary
Library Association of Ireland

Library Ireland Week 2007

Library Ireland Week 2007 takes place from 5th to 11th March.

The Week celebrates and highlights the role of libraries, librarians and information professionals. A working group consisting of members from sections and groups of the Library Association of Ireland is currently co-ordinating events around the country and among the various library sectors. Posters, bookmarkers, a logo and a website will all feature in this year’s publicity campaign.

The LAI would like library staff in all sectors to participate in Library Ireland Week by organising an event or events. Examples of events held in 2006 include exhibitions, tours, author visits, recitals, competitions and readings. Events coinciding with LIW or which would normally be held on a weekly/monthly basis can be included in the promotion. Libraries will soon be able to register their events on a Library Ireland Week website.

Do you have a 'story' to tell about your library that would be of interest to local/national media during LIW? Are you willing to 'champion' LIW in your area – to encourage participation, to collate information about activities, or to organise a photograph of library staff from different sectors. If so contact bboardman@libraryassociation.ie

Iraq Diary of Saad Eskander

When the Saddam regime was toppled in 2003, the Iraq National Library and Archive in Baghdad was set alight and looted. Much damage was done, in particular to the library’s archive collections.

In early December 2006, after consulting the heads of his departments, Dr Eskander, the Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive re-opened the Library and Archive even though the security situation remained as bad as before.

The British Library has posted the diary of Saad Eskander, noting that it "describes the perilous and tragic situation that the Iraq National Library and Archive is operating under and which led to the institution's temporary closure" at the end of November. Eskander's concerns are simply security and survival; what most other librarians consider first-order challenges are, in Iraq, much lower priorities.

Newbery and Caldecott Awards 2007

American Library Association announces literary award winners:



John Newbery Medal For the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.

The Higher Power of Lucky written by Susan Patron, is the 2007 Newbery Medal winner. The book is illustrated by Matt Phelan and published by Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson
Three Newbery Honor Books were named: “Penny from Heaven,” written by Jennifer L. Holm and published by Random House; “Hattie Big Sky,” by Kirby Larson, published by Delacorte Press; and “Rules,” by Cynthia Lord, published by Scholastic.





Caldecott Medal winner Is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.



Flotsam, illustrated by David Wiesner, is the 2007 Caldecott Medal winner. The wordless book is published by Clarion.

Two Caldecott Honor Books were named: “Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet,” written and illustrated by David McLimans, and published by Walker, and “Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom,” illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Hyperion/Jump at the Sun.

First Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2007

The first Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2007 takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, January 25th, 6.30-8pm.

The Featured Readers are Elaine Feeney, Mary Mullen & Todd Swift. The reading is a special occasion for co-organisers, Susan Millar DuMars and Kevin Higgins, as it is the fourth anniversary of the series, which began in January 2003.

Elaine Feeney was born in Galway in 1979. She teaches English at St. Patrick’s College, Tuam. She has performed and read her poetry at various readings and festivals, including the Cuirt Festival Poetry Slam. Elaine has poems forthcoming in both The Shop and Nthposition.com. According to 2005 Patrick Kavanagh Award Winner, Dave Lordan: “Her performances are notable for their fearless confrontation with the controversial truth of women’s lives in the new Ireland.”

Mary Mullen is an Alaskan-born writer who has lived in County Galway for the last decade. Her work has been published in We Alaskans, Sunday Miscellany 2003-2004, The Stinging Fly, the Cork Literary Review, Galway Now, West47online, the Anchorage Daily News, and a chapbook ‘The Whole Building Could Be On Fire’. She is working on a collection of personal history essays and short stories. Mary is a graduate of NUIG’s MA in Writing.

Todd Swift is the Canadian-born author of three poetry collections, Budavox, Café Alibi and Rue du Regard. He currently lives in London. Todd is an editor of many poetry anthologies, including 100 Poets Against The War. He also compiled the recent audio CD Life Lines: Poets for Oxfam. His latest publication is Natural Curve, a pamphlet of poems from Rubicon Press, Alberta. He has co-edited a major collection of essays on Anglo-Quebec Poetry, Language Acts, to be launched spring 2007 in Montreal. His New and Selected Poems, 1987-2007, edited with an Introduction by Kevin Higgins, is forthcoming from Salmon Publishing in 2008.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars. For further details contact 087-6431748.Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council

On Friday, January 26th, starting at 8.pm., Aosdana poet and founder of the literary magazine, Cyphers, Macdara Woods will read from his work at The Imperial Hotel, Eyre Square, Galway. Admission is €8 and €5.

Born in Dublin City in 1942, he has been publishing his work since the early 1960s. His poetry collections include Decimal D. Sec Drinks in a Bar in Marrakesh (1970); Early Morning Matins (1973); Stopping the Lights in Ranelagh (1987); Miz Moon (1988); The Hanged Man Was Not Surrendering (1990); Notes From the Countries of Blood-Red Flowers (1994); Selected Poems (1996); Knowledge in the Blood: New & Selected Poems (2001) and The Nightingale Water (2001).

His work has been translated into more than one dozen languages. Two books of his poems have been published in Italian, Biglietto di Sola Andata (1998) and Con Pesaro City ai Miei Piedi (1999), which included an audio CD with readings by the author and music by the Italian group Militia.

In 1975, he co-founded the literary journal Cyphers with Eilean Ni Chuillean in, and Leland Bardwell and Pearse Hutchinson, and he continues to serve as its editor.

Galway County Council Arts Grant/Bursary 2007

Galway County Council promotes, develops and supports the vibrant Arts sector in Galway County and offers several grants and schemes annually, which groups and organisations can avail of.

PUBLICATION ASSISTANCE GRANT : This grant is to assist writers to publish their own original work. This grant is for new work and innovation in creative writing. Application forms are available from the Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway Tel: 091 746875 or email: bcunningham@galwaycoco.ie Fully completed application forms for all of the above schemes/ grants must be returned not later than 4p.m. on Wednesday 31st of January 2007 to the Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway.

TYRONE GUTHRIE AWARD This is a special bursary award for two artists, selected by open competition, to spend two weeks in residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, the artists’ workplace in County Monaghan. Each bursary covers all board and lodging expenses for a two-week period, plus the use of a studio if necessary. This Award is open to all art forms. Application forms are available from the Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway Tel: 091 746875 or email: bcunningham@galwaycoco.ie

Fully completed application forms for all of the above schemes/ grants must be returned not later than 4p.m. on Wednesday 31st of January 2007 to the Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Prospect Hill, Galway.

Science Friction...

A machine that electronically stores 2.5 million books that can then be printed and bound in less than seven minutes is to be launched early next year. It prints in any language and has an upper limit of 550 pages. The 'Espresso' will be launched first in several US libraries. The company behind the project predicts that, within five years, it will be able to reproduce every book ever published.

The new machine as a technological innovation promises to revolutionize how we buy books. It allows printing and binding a single copy of a book at the point of demand without human interactions. Buying a book will eventually be very similar to getting cash from an ATM. You choose a title, insert a credit card to pay for the book -- and walk away with the finished book a few minutes later. On a global scale this would eliminate shipping and warehousing costs for books (thereby also eliminating returns and pulping of unsold books) and allow simultaneous global availability of new books.

This technology and process will produce one each of ten different books at the same speed and cost as it can produce ten copies of the same book. There are two machines currently deployed at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt, and at the World Bank InfoShop in Washington DC.

Final Over The Edge of 2006 in Galway City Library

Poets Medbh McGuckian, Hugh Doyle and Cate Huguelet read to a packed house at Galway City Library

New collection of Fr Browne photos published

Father Browne's Galway is the title of the latest set of Fr Browne's photographs to be edited by Fr E.E. O'Donnell, curator of the 42,000 photographs in the collection.
This is the nineteenth book of Fr Browne's photographs to be published, and the third to be published by Currach Press.

Father Francis Browne's photographs enjoy international acclaim. In this latest collection, he showcases the magnificent sights of Galway city and county, as well as her people and customs.There are some 42,000 photographs in the Father Browne archive. This is the third volume to be published by Currach Press, with Father Browne's Trains and Railways and Father Browne's Limerick, being the earlier productions

Frank Browne was born in Cork in 1880. In 1897 he toured Europe with his camera and on returning to Ireland joined the Jesuit Order. After his two years of noviceship, he attended the Royal University in Dublin where he was a classmate of James Joyce. He is mentioned several times in Finnegans Wake. He served as chaplain to the Irish Guards in World War I, after which he suffered poor health. Two years in Australia cured him. On his return to Ireland, his priestly work took him to practically every parish in Ireland. He won numerous photographic awards and died in 1960.

Medbh McGuckian to read at December Over The Edge

The final Over The Edge: Open Reading of 2006 takes place in Galway City Library, St. Augustine Street, Galway on Thursday, December 14th, 6.30-8pm.

The Featured Readers are Cate Huguelet, Hugh Doyle & Medbh McGuckian.

Cate Huguelet was raised on Chicago’s South Side and moved to Ireland in 2005. Her writing has appeared in various publications in Ireland and the US. Her collaboration with visual artist Emma Petterson featured in the 2006 Cúirt Document exhibition. After completing an MA in Writing at NUI, Galway, Cate has relocated to Cork, where she is working on a first collection of poems.

Hugh Doyle lives in Spiddal. He was a finalist in this year’s Cúirt Poetry Grand Slam and was also selected for Mark Doty's poetry master-class during the Cúirt Festival. He has read his work at the launch of the Oxfam Life Lines poetry CD during the Project 06 festival in Galway, at the Clare Island Festival and at the Newcastle Irish festival in the UK.

Medbh McGuckian was born in 1950 in Belfast. She is one of Ireland’s most critically acclaimed poets. She has been Writer-in-Residence at Queen's University, Belfast, the University of Ulster, Coleraine, and Trinity College, Dublin. Among the prizes she has won are England's National Poetry Competition, The Rooney Prize, and The Forward Prize for Best Poem. She is the author of twelve poetry collections; the most recent The Currach Requires No Harbours was published by Gallery Press earlier this year.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

For further details contact 087-6431748.Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council, Poetry Ireland and The Arts Council

Post-Primary Essay Competition

An Chomhairle Leabharlanna in association with the Europe Direct Information Centres and The European Commission Representation in Dublin, is delighted to announce an essay competition for secondary school students for the prize of a trip to Brussels in April 2007.

Each of the eight centres will choose two winners from the essays submitted to them. There are two categories the first/second/third year category and the fourth/fifth/sixth year category.

Please submit all entries to your local Europe Information Centre –in Co. Galway they are Ballinasloe or Carraroe Libraries.

The deadline for submission of entries is by Friday 19th January 2007. The Essay can be written in English or Irish. Information on the competition and the essay theme has been circulated to all secondary schools by An Chomhairle Leabharlanna. Judging will be completed by each centre by 23rd February 2007 and winners will be announced by Friday 2nd March 2007.

Competition details and application forms are here

Libraries in the sand Manuscripts Are The Subject of Intensive Study

Researchers in Timbuktu are fighting to preserve tens of thousands of ancient texts which they say prove Africa had a written history at least as old as the European Renaissance. Private and public libraries in the fabled Saharan town in Mali have already collected 150,000 brittle manuscripts, some of them from the 13th century, and local historians believe many more lie buried under the sand.

The texts were concealed under mud homes and in desert caves by proud Malian families whose successive generations feared they would be stolen by Moroccan invaders, European explorers and then French colonialists. Written in ornate calligraphy, some were used to teach astrology or mathematics, while others tell tales of social and business life in Timbuktu during its "Golden Age," when it was a seat of learning in the 16th century. "These manuscripts are about all the fields of human knowledge: law, the sciences, medicine," said Galla Dicko, director of the Ahmed Baba Institute, a library housing 25,000 of the texts. "Here is a political tract," he said, pointing to a script in a glass cabinet, somewhat dog-eared and chewed by termites. "A letter on good governance, a warning to intellectuals not to be corrupted by the power of politicians."

Bookshelves on the wall behind him contain a volume on mathematics and a guide to Andalusian music as well as love stories and correspondence between traders plying the trans-Saharan caravan routes. Timbuktu's leading families have only recently started to give up what they see as ancestral heirlooms. They are being persuaded by local officials that the manuscripts should be part of the community's shared culture. "It is through these writings that we can really know our place in history," said Abdramane Ben Essayouti, Imam of Timbuktu's oldest mosque, Djingarei-ber, built from mud bricks and wood in 1325.

Experts believe the 150,000 texts collected so far are just a fraction of what lies hidden under centuries of dust behind the ornate wooden doors of Timbuktu's mud-brick homes.

Over the Edge - Galway City Library

The Over The Edge Open Reading Series, an evening of featured poets plus an open mic session, takes place once a month on a Thursday in Galway City Library (Hynes Buildings, Augustine Street) from 6.30-8.oopm. The next next reading will take place on 23 November.

The featured readers are Adrian White, Joan McBreen & Fiona Claire. As usual there will be an open mic when the featured readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome. The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

Adrian White moved from Manchester to Galway in 1990. He has worked as abookseller, a barman, a painter and decorator, a removal man and a car park attendant. His first novel, An Accident Waiting to Happen, was published in 2004and his second, Where the Rain Gets In, came out in March 2006. Both are published by Penguin Books. Man Dog Bitch is the title of his third book.

Joan McBreen is from Sligo and now lives in Tuam. She edited The White Page - Twentieth Century Irish Women Poets (Salmon Publishing). Joan has published three collections of poetry; the most recent Winter in The Eye - New and Selected Poems, was published by Salmon in 2003. In 2004 she launched a CD, The Long Light on the Land - Selected Poems by Joan McBreen with Traditional Airs and Classical Music.

Fiona Claire is an actress and writer who lived for many years in Los Angeles, but recently moved to County Galway. She has worked in numerous television shows, including Third Rock From The Sun, Star Trek Voyager, and King of Queens, and in films such as L.A. Confidential, and Contact. She has written a collection of fables for adults, one novel and is working on a second.

Over The Edge is now also offering a manuscript appraisal service to new writers. Fiction and non-Fiction will be assessed by Susan Miller DuMars, while poetry will be critiqued by Kevin Higgins. For information about readings and script appraisal, tel. 087 6431748 or e-mail kphiggins@hotmail.com.

T S Eliot Poetry Prize 2006

The Poetry Book Society has announced the Shortlist for the T S Eliot Prize 2006, to be awarded to the writer of the best new collection of poetry published in 2006. Now in its fourteenth year, the T S Eliot Prize is 'poetry's most coveted award'

• Simon Armitage, Tyrannosaurus Rex versus the Corduroy Kid, Faber
• Paul Farley, Tramp in Flames, Picador
• Seamus Heaney, District and Circle , Faber
• W N Herbert, Bad Shaman Blues, Bloodaxe
• Jane Hirshfield, After, Bloodaxe
• Tim Liardet, The Blood Choir, Seren
• Paul Muldoon, Horse Latitudes, Faber
• Robin Robertson, Swithering, Picador
• Penelope Shuttle, Redgrove's Wife, Bloodaxe
• Hugo Williams, Dear Room, Faber

Judges Sean O'Brien (Chair), Sophie Hannah and Gwenyth Lewis chose the following ten collections: The judges will make their final decision on Monday 15 January 2007, when the prize of £10,000 will be presented by Mrs Valerie Eliot.

The T S Eliot Prize is sponsored by the broadcaster and supported by the T S Eliot Foundation.

2007 IMPAC Literary Award - Longlist

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is open to works of fiction written in, or translated into English and published within a specified period of time.

The nomination process for the Award is unique as nominations are made by selected libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world. Participating libraries can nominate up to three books each year for the Award: the books must meet the criteria for eligibility which are distributed to libraries each year.

The longlist includes 138 novels which have been nominated for the 2007 award, with 28 of them works in translation.

There were nominations from 169 libraries around the world.

The Irish nominations, including Galway Public Libraries, are here

The short list will be announced on April 4th 2007 and the winner on June 14th 2007

The Ireland Life-Writing Archive

Many Irish people - and people connected with Ireland - have written (or are writing) about their lives. This is Irish 'Life-Writing'.
UCD is launching the Ireland Life-Writing Archive which will collect as much of this material as possible. It doesn't matter when or why you wrote about your life - we would like to include your writing in this archive. Material may be of any length, and in any written form - in English, Irish, or any other language.

The archive will include:

Life Stories/ Autobiographies
Personal memoirs
Diaries
Travel writing
Biographical Fictions

Anything written about life in Ireland will be of interest in the future. The Ireland Life-Writing Archive invites anyone who has written (or who has access to) reminiscences or life-accounts to join us in our project of preserving and archiving this valuable material. The texts you send us will be catalogued and preserved in UCD for the use of scholars and researchers; some material (only with your permission) may be published on the UCD website.

For further details, contact Dr Eibhlín Evans, The Ireland Life-Writing Project, School of English and Drama, USD Belfield, Dublin 4; tel. 01 7168530, e-mail eibhlin.evns@ucd.ie, or go to the website www.ucd.ie and follow the links.

Artist in the Community Scheme 2006

Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and community groups to work together on projects. The scheme covers all art forms. The Artist in the Community Scheme is managed by CREATE.

The aim of the scheme is to encourage intense collaboration between community groups and artists. The focus of the collaboration must be a project in which the members of the community group and the artists work together in order to realise an artistic project or an event. It is essential that consultation take place between the artist and the community group, so that both parties are involved in deciding on the nature of the project. Group ownership of the art should be maintained at every stage.

Phase One , the research and development award of up to €1,000, gives artists an opportunity to explore and develop a project in a community context. This work should constitute the preliminary stage of a project with the intention of eventually leading to a full length project. Any professional artist may approach a community group with a view to making an application for research and development. Equally, a group may approach an artist. However the research and development strand is an artist led initiative and as such artists make the application.

Phase Two is open to community organisations or groups who are planning a project of between 6 weeks and 5 months with a maximum award of €5000, and those who are planning a project of between 6 months and 9 months with a maximum award of €10,000. The artist and the community group must demonstrate that they have influenced each other significantly in the drafting of the project. It is the community organisation or group that makes the application to the scheme.

Further information Katherine Atkinson, CREATE Phone: + 353 1 4736600
Web: http://www.create-ireland.ie
Email: support@artsincontext.com

Eclectic trio of poets for October ‘Over The Edge’

Once a month Galway City Library hosts the 'Over the Edge' poetry reading evening. The October 2006 session takes place on Thursday the 26th between 6.30 and 8.00pm.
The Featured Readers are Yvonne Green, Brendan Murphy & Niamh Ní Lochlainn.
Everyone is welcome.

Yvonne Green lives in London, where she practised at the English Bar for 20 years before stopping to concentrate on her poetry. Her poems have appeared in leading UK poetry magazines such as Poetry Review, Magma, Modern Poetry In Translation, The London Magazine, European Judaism, The Jewish Quarterly and Arete. She has read her work at the The National Portrait Gallery, the Institute for Contemporary Arts and on BBC Radio 4.

Brendan Murphy was born in Liverpool to English parents and Irish grandparents. He is a graduate of Sheffield University, where he studied the History of Art, Film and Design. His first performance was a Saturday night slot with a friend at his local pub, with whom he developed an improvised repartee on the week’s news. Brendan has lived in Galway for the last eight years. He won the 2006 Cúirt Festival Poetry Grand Slam, and recently performed at the famous Green Mill in Chicago.

Niamh Ní Lochlainn grew up in Dublin with Irish as her first language, spending her summers in the West Kerry Gaeltacht. She has been living and teaching in Connemara for the last four years. She was a prize-winner in the 2005 Strokestown Poetry Competition and her first collection Guth ón dTobar, (A Voice from the Well) was short-listed for the Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish Poet at the 2006 Poetry Now Festival in Dun Laoghaire.

As usual there will be an open-mic when the Featured Readers have finished. This is open to anyone who has a poem or story to share. New readers are especially welcome.

The MC for the evening will be Susan Millar DuMars.

Over The Edge acknowledges the financial support of Galway City Council and The Arts Council

For further details contact Kevin Higgins on 087-6431748 or e-mail kphiggins@hotmail.com .

Children's Book Festival in Oranmore

Lots of New Children’s Books!
New Education Toys for use in the library!

Tues. 24th Oct. 11.00am
Inter Schools Table

Wed. 25th Oct. 4.30pm
Fancy Dress Competition

Fri. 27th Oct. 12.00pm
Special Preschool Storytime

Fri. 27th Oct. 4.30pm
Balloon Mania

Kindly sponsored by Supermac’s Oranmore

Youngest ever woman wins Man Booker Prize

At age of 35, Kiran Desai was named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Inheritance of Loss, published by Hamish Hamilton. The Indian-born writer has a strong family tie with the prize as her mother Anita Desai has been shortlisted three times since 1980 but has never won. This year, however, her daughter, Kiran, has won the acclaimed literary prize. Author of the 1998 universally praised Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard.

Desai is the first woman to win the Man Booker since 2000 when Margaret Atwood scooped the prize with The Blind Assassin. Her winning book, The Inheritance of Loss, is a radiant, funny and moving family saga and has been described by reviewers as ‘the best, sweetest, most delightful novel’. This is the first time that Hamish Hamilton has published a Man Booker Prize winner although they had two shortlisted authors in 2005.

Computers and Communications Course in Inishboffin Library

Coiste Gairmoideachais Chontae na Gaillimhe
(County Galway Vocational Education Committee)

Basic Computers and Communications

• Basic Computers including internet and email
  
• Improving writing, spelling and grammarWriting letters, forms, C.V.’s etc.
  
• Reading - for personal and work purposes
  
• Listening Skills
  

Venue: Inishboffin Library/Community Centre
Dates: Thursday 12th. October 2006
Time: Registration 7.30p.m. to 9.00p.m.

For more information contact: Teresa Gilligan at 091 555877

Murakami wins O'Connor Prize

Haruki Murakami has won the second Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award for Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, his third collection of short stories to be published in English.

The €35,000 (£23,000) prize, which is awarded to new collections published in English during the last 12 months, is the world's richest short story prize. The prize will be shared between Murakami and his translators, Philip Gabriel and Jay Rubin.

Rubin paid tribute to the famous short story writer as he accepted the prize.

"If you have read Frank O'Connor's Guests of the Nation you'll be familiar with his theme that people need to recognise each other's common humanity," he said. "Haruki's stories are similarly powerful. As a translator, I am overwhelmed and honoured and I am sure Haruki will be too."

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman topped a shortlist which spanned three continents. First collections from Irish writer Philip Ó Ceallaigh and American author Rachel Sherman were nominated alongside entries from English writer Rose Tremain, Nepal-born Samrat Upadhyay and Peter Stamm, a Swiss author who writes in German.

The award, created in memory of the Frank O'Connor, is the highlight of the annual Frank O'Connor Short Story Festival, which ran from Wednesday to Sunday last.

Man Booker Prize Shortlist

The six authors shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2006, are Kiran Desai, Kate Grenville, M.J. Hyland, Hisham Matar, Edward St Aubyn, and Sarah Waters.

The six shortlisted books were chosen from a longlist of 19 and are:
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss - Hamish Hamilton
Grenville, Kate The Secret River - Canongate
Hyland, M.J. Carry Me Down - Canongate
Matar, Hisham In the Country of Men - Viking
St Aubyn, Edward Mother’s Milk - Picador
Waters, Sarah The Night Watch - Virago

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 10th October

The Harding Books Prize for Perfect Parody!!!!!

Due to overwhelming public demand and in advance of this year’s Public Libraries Conference (November 8th-10th at the Cavan Crystal Hotel, Co. Cavan), George Harding of Harding Books will once again kindly sponsor The Harding Books Prize for Perfect Parody!!!!!

To Enter:
Write the opening paragraph of a crime novel –entitled Murder at the Library in the style of your favourite (or least favourite) crime writer

The rules are as follows:
· The competition is open to library staff only
· All entries must include the following words –
Book-seller
Exhibition
Survey
Love Letters
Promotion
Inscrutable

The judges will include Val McDermid (award-winning author of Wire in the Blood and many other critically-lauded crime novels), Simon Brett (writer, actor, producer & broadcaster) and Mike Ripley (twice winner of the CWA Last Laugh Award, journalist & critic).

Now, most importantly, the money!
First Prize - €300 and a specially commissioned wood-carving by Sligo artist, Michael Quirke.
Second Prize - €200 and a specially commissioned wood-carving by Sligo artist, Michael Quirke.


Stop Press:
Details of a second competition for those of a gentler persuasion:
Write a paragraph entitled What I Did on my Summer Holidays in the style of any Irish writer, living or dead. Once again, the competition is open to library staff but as a special dispensation to non-crime lovers, you do not have to use the magic words as mentioned above. This competition will be adjudicated by academic and writer, Ruth Dudley-Edwards.
Prize - €100 and a copy of the Times Atlas of the WorldPlease send you entries to

Brenda Frawley, c/o Dooradoyle Library, Dooradoyle Road, Limerick or by e-mail to bfrawley@limerickcoco.ie before
Friday, 29th September, 2006.

All winners will be announced and winning entries read aloud at this year’s Public Libraries Conference at the Cavan Crystal Hotel, Co. Cavan after the Banquet dinner on
Thursday, November 9th, 2006.

The Harding Books Perfect Parody Prize is kindly sponsored by George Harding of Harding Books, supplier of high quality, low cost paperback collections to libraries throughout the U.K. & Ireland