LIMERICKLITERARYFESTIVALin honour of Kate O’Brien

22nd - 25th, February 2018

Introduction 4

Stanzas Poetry Group Performance & Open Mic 6

Poetry Readings by Alice Kinsella 7

Official Opening by Billy Keane 8

As Music and Splendour, by Martha O’Brien 9

Getting a Novel Published Workshop 10

Graphic Novel Discussion 11

Deirdre Sullivan 12

Kit de Waal 13

Festival at a Glance 14

Fergal Keane 16

Kevin Barry 17

Lisa McInerney 18

John MacKenna 19

Kevin Barry and Blindboy Boatclub 20

Jana Fischerova 21

Desert Island Books 22

Kate O’Brien Key Note Lecture 23

Tickets 24

Acknowledgements 26

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Belltable Arts Centre

Limerick City Gallery of Art

Dolans

Narrative 4

Chez Le Fab

�e Granary, Limerick City Library

Ormston House

No.1 Pery Square Hotel

Limerick-based graphic novel Savage Town - will join John Byrne to discuss their work and the world of comics and graphic novels at Ormston House Cultural Resource Centre.

Join us in Dolans from 7 pm for Festival Club, where two separate evening events will take place in collaboration with The Limerick Spring Festival of Politics and Ideas. Dolans will host an evening of readings and conversations with Blindboy Boatclub and Kevin Barry, in Dolans Warehouse at 7.30 pm. The Revolution will not be Spotified will begin at 9.30 pm. It will present an amazing night celebrating the power of protest music and performance featuring the finest live musical taken from Limerick and beyond. On Sunday 25th February, in Belltable we welcome Jana Fischerova who will present her lecture, The Prohibition of Mary Lavelle as a Turning Point in Kate O’Brien’s Career.

Desert Island Books returns in collaboration with Dolans. It will

be presented by Pat Shortt, Roisín Meaney and Lisa Harding. Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen authors of Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling, will present a conversation about their book for the Key Note Lecture. This will be moderated by novelist and academic Sarah Moore Fitzgerald.

The Kate O’Brien Award 2018, willbe presented to the best novel/short story collection by a debutIrish female writer.

The Limerick Literary Festival in honour of Kate O’ Brien is kindly supported by the Arts Council Festivals Investment Scheme and Limerick City and County Council Festival and Events Grant Scheme.

We gratefully acknowledge our sponsors, supporters and friends.

We hope you will enjoy the 2018 edition, which celebrates writers, artists, books and readers.

T he festival, formerly known as Kate O’Brien Weekend,

is this year celebrating its 34th edition, Bridging the Gap. The festival celebrates both emerging and established writers, who often address a variety of social topics throughout their writing. The festival continues to celebrate the life and works of the Limerick author, whilst attracting prominent local, national and international participants to share their literary works.

On Thursday 22nd February, Chez Le Fab will host an evening with poetry group Stanzas Prose and Poetry. Stanzas will present original writing based on and inspired by the writings of Kate O’Brien. This will be followed by an Open Mic session for guests to share their poetry and short stories. On Friday 23rd February, AliceKinsella will read from her debut poetry collection, Flower Press in Limerick City Library (The Granary). This collection of poetry explores the growth of love in childhood, the loss of innocence,

and the fallout of that loss.

The festival will be officially opened at 6 pm in Limerick City Gallery of Art, by author and columnist Billy Keane. It will be followed by As Music and Splendour recital with mezzo-soprano Martha O’Brien. There will be a new Festival Club at No. 1 Pery Square Hotel and Spa, to meet with participants and visitors after Friday’s events. On Saturday 24th February, inLimerick City Gallery of Art, wewelcome writers Deirdre Sullivan,Kit de Waal, Fergal Keane, KevinBarry, Lisa McInerney and JohnMacKenna, who will present aseries of talks about and readings from their work.

Academic and a novelist, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and novelist Dan Mooney, will deliver a workshop, Getting a Novel Published - from Pitch to Publication at Narrative 4.

Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett - the creators of the internationally-acclaimed, 5

Alice will read from her new debut collection Flower Press.

Alice Kinsella was born in Dublin and raised in Mayo. Her poetry has appeared at home and abroad, in publications such as A New Ulster, Banshee Lit, Boyne Berries, Headspace Magazine, Hungry Hills Wild Atlantic Words Anthology, Icarus, Lagan Online, Live Encounters Magazine, Poethead, Poetry NI Holocaust Memorial Anthology, Skylight47, The Fem literary magazine, The Galway Review, The Irish Times, The Lonely Crowd, The Ofi Press, The Pickled Body, The Rochford Street Review, The Stony Thursday Book, and The Sunday Independent. Her work has been listed for several competitions including Over the Edge New Writer of the Year Competition 2016, Jonathan Swift Awards 2016, and Cinnamon Press Pamphlet Competition 2017.

She was SICCDA Liberties Festival writer in residence for 2017 and received a John Hewitt bursary in the same year.

Her first collection, Flower Press is forthcoming on February 22nd 2018 by The Onslaught Press.

Readings, featuring Alice Kinsella

Friday 23rd February, 11am - 12pmThe Granary, Limerick City LibraryFree Event

Stanzas is an event for emerging writers to come together, share their work, and meet like-minded people. As part of the Limerick Literary Festival, Stanzas will present original writing based on and inspired by the writings of Kate O’Brien.

Following Stanzas’ poetry performance, join in and share your own poetry and short stories with us during our Open Mic session.

Stanzas Poetry Group Performance

Thursday 22nd February, 7pm Chez Le FabFree Event

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Martha O’Brien is a Limerick-born mezzo-soprano studying under Sinead Campbell Wallace in the Conservatory of Music & Drama, where she received a First Class Honors BMus degree in vocal pedagogy and was awarded the Nuala Levins Trophy for Pedagogy.

In opera, Martha has played the role of Joacim in a staged production of Handel’s Susanna in Smock Alley Theatre as well as Cherubino in le nozze di Figaro, Zelatrice in Suor Angelica and JouJou in The Merry Widow. Martha recently performed in The Second Violinist by Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh with Wide Open Opera at both the Galway International Arts Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival.

Other notable engagements include Opera Theatre Company’s production of Don Giovanni with translation by Roddy Doyle and their revival of the 1907 Irish opera Eithne by Robert O’Dwyer.

Martha is a vocal/pre-instrumental teacher in the Dublin School of Music as well as choral director for Twitterbugs children’s choir. Upcoming engagements include Irish National Opera’s inaugural production of The Marriage of Figaro.

As Music and Splendour, a Recital by Martha O’Brien

Friday 23rd February, 7pmLimerick City Gallery of Art€17 (€14 concession)

Billy Keane is a columnist with the Irish independent and has built a huge following over the 15 years he has been writing for the paper. Billy covers all the bases from his sports columns to life and general. His columns are usually humorous and at times acerbic but always entertaining.

Keane is the author of a highly acclaimed novel, The Last of The Heroes and he co- wrote Rucks Mauls and Gaelic Footballs with Moss Keane. Billy ghosted Billy Morgan’s autobiography Rebel Rebel. His latest novel The Ballad of Mo and G was a bestseller.

Keane is a gifted communicator who sees humour in the strangest places. Billy runs the family pub John B Keane’s in Listowel and had the honour of being the only bar ever to host Prime Time.

Official Opening by Billy Keane

Friday 23rd February, 6pm - 7pmLimerick City Gallery of ArtFree Event

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Following on from the month-long exhibition of their work in Ormston House, Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett - the creators of the internationally-acclaimed, Limerick-based graphic novel Savage Town - will join John Byrne to discuss their work and the world of comics/graphic novels in general.

Declan Shalvey is an Irish artist best known from his work on the Moon Knight relaunch with Writer Warren Ellis for Marvel Comics. He has worked on many other series for Marvel such as Venom and Deadpool as well as work with other publishers such as Conan for Dark Horse Comics and Northlanders for DC/Vertigo.

Philip Barrett is an illustrator, designer and comic artist originally from Co. Donegal and currently based in Galway. In 2012 he illustrated the O’Brien press children’s book best-seller Where’s Larry? and in 2016 illustrated the follow-up Where’s Larry This Time? His illustrations and comics have appeared in publications as diverse as the Irish Times and Rabble. Philip specialises in live-drawing and has provided illustrated reports at events for Google, TEDx Dublin, IRDG and the Dublin Writers Festival among others.

Graphic Novel event by Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett

Saturday 24th February, 3pm - 5pmOrmston HouseFree Event

Getting a Novel Published - from Pitch to Publication

Saturday 24th February, 11am - 1pmNarrative 4€30 (€25 concession)

Dan Mooney is a writer, air traffic controller and amateur actor. His first novel Me, Myself and Them won the Luke Bitmead Bursary Award in 2016 and has since been bought by Harper Collin’s imprint Park Row books and is scheduled for publication the US this June.His second novel A Rock and a High Place, a bleak comedy about suicide and friendship is due out in Ireland and the UK in April this year.

Two hour workshop with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald & Dan Mooney.

Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is an academic and a novelist, and this year at UL she has been Acting Course Director for the MA in Creative Writing working in collaboration with Donal Ryan. Her first novel, Back to Blackbrick was published in 2013. Her second novel, The Apple Tart of Hope, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Prize and the CBI Book of the Year Award. She has researched extensively on the writing process across a range of contexts and has designed and run writers’ retreats in Ireland, the UK and the USA. Sarah is also part of the team that delivers the annual UL Frank McCourt Creative Writing Summer School.

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Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the 60’s and 70’s.

Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for 2017.

Kit de Waal

Saturday 24th February, 11am - 12amLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

Deirdre Sullivan is from Galway now living in Dublin and working as a teacher.

She has established a reputation as a leading Irish YA author following her hugely praised Tangleweed and Brine, which won the YA Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2017. Her previous novel, Needlework, won the Honour Award for Fiction at the Children’s Books Ireland Awards and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016.

Her Primrose Leary series was also widely acclaimed; two of the Prim books were shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland awards; and the final one, Primperfect, was also shortlisted for the European Prize for Literature.

Deirdre Sullivan

Saturday 24th February, 10am - 11amLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

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�ursday, February 22nd Friday, February 23rd Saturday, February 24th Sunday, February 25th

Chez Le Fab

�e Granary, Limerick City Library

Limerick City Gallery of Art

Ormston House

Narrative 4

Dolans

Belltable

Stanzas Poetry Group Performance7:00pm

Readings withAlice Kinsella11:00am

O�cial Opening &As Music and Splendour6:00pm - 8:00pm

Graphic Novel Discussionwith Philip Barrett & Declan Shalvey3:00pm - 5:00pm

Jana Fischerova,Desert Island Books & Kate O'Brien Lecture11:00am - 3:00pm

Getting a Novel Published - from Pitch to Publication11:00am - 1:00pm

Blindboy Boatclub and Kevin Barry 7:30pm�e Revolution will not be Spoti�ed 9:30pm

Guest Lectures,10:00am - 5:00pmSee Page 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19

Kevin Barry is the author of the novels Beatlebone and City Of Bohane and the story collections Dark Lies The Island and There Are Little Kingdoms.

His awards include the IMPAC Dublin City Literary Award, the Goldsmith’s Prize, the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature.

His stories have appeared in the New Yorker and Granta and many other journals and has been translated into 16 languages. He also writes screenplays, plays and radio plays. His play Autumn Royal tours in 2018, while his first feature film, Dark Lies The Island, is also due out.

Kevin Barry

Saturday 24th February, 2:00pm - 3:00pmLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

Fergal Keane was born in London and educated in Ireland. He is one of the BBC’s most distinguished correspondents and an award-winning broadcaster and author.

He has reported for the corporation from Northern Ireland, South Africa, Asia and the Balkans. He has been awarded a BAFTA, been named reporter of the year on television and radio, winning honours from the Royal Television Society and the Sony Radio Awards, most recently for his Radio 4 series Taking a Stand.

Keane has won the George Orwell prize for literature, the James Cameron Prize and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the US Overseas Press Association. He is the author of a number of bestselling books including Letter to Daniel and his memoir All of These People. His latest, Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love (2017) is published by William Collins.

Fergal Keane

Saturday 24th February, 12:30pm - 1:30pmLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

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John MacKenna is the author of nineteen books - novels, short-story collections; poems; memoir; biography and children’s books. He has also written a dozen plays for stage and radio.

A native of Co Kildare, he was educated at St Clement’s College Limerick and UCD. Having taught for a number of years he worked as a senior producer and presenter in RTE for twenty-three years. He currently teaches creative writing at NUI Maynooth.

He is a winner of the Irish Times, Hennessy and C Day Lewis Awards as well as a Jacobs Radio Award for his documentaries with Leonard Cohen.

His most recent publication is Once We Sang Like Other Men (New Island)

John MacKenna

Saturday 24th February, 4pm - 5pmLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

Formerly an award-winning blogger, her work has featured in Winter Papers, The Stinging Fly, Granta and BBC Radio 4 and in the anthologies The Long Gaze Back (New Island), Beyond The Centre (New Island) and Town and Country (Faber).

Her debut novel The Glorious Heresies (John Murray) was published in 2015 and explores salvation, shame and the legacy of Ireland’s twentieth-century attitudes to sex and family. The Glorious Heresies won the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and the 2016 Desmond Elliott Prize. It was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award, longlisted for the 2016 Dylan Thomas Award, and named as a book of the year by The Irish Times, Sunday Independent and Sunday Business Post. It has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Czech, Serbian, Polish and Danish.

Lisa’s second novel, The Blood Miracles, was published by John Murray in April of 2017. She is currently a contributing editor at The Stinging Fly.

Lisa McInerney

Saturday 24th February, 3pm - 4pmLimerick City Gallery of Art€14 (€12 concession)

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The Prohibition of Mary Lavelle as a Turning Point in Kate O’Brien’s Career

Jana Fischerova holds a PhD in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama from University College Dublin.

Her work has been largely comparative. Her research interests include twentieth-century writing, mainly Irish and Czech, but also British and (Soviet) Russian. She is particularly interested in the relationship between literature and society, and in the subject of literary censorship.

Jana is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies, Trinity College Dublin, and she also teaches English and Irish literature on the Access and Lifelong Learning programme at University College Dublin. She is currently editing a volume of Kate O’Brien’s essays and journalism.

Jana Fischerova

Sunday 25th February, 11am - 12pmBelltable€14 (€12 concession)

Limerick Literary Festival in honour of Kate O’Brien and Limerick Spring present Kevin Barry and Blindboy Boatclub for an evening of readings and conversations in Dolans Warehouse.

Blindboy Boatclub is Ireland’s foremost satirist and most original comic voice. As one half of the Rubberbandits, pioneers of the aesthetic movement ‘Gas C*ntism’, he has released numerous hit singles, represented Ireland a the Venice Biennale, headlined the Globe theatre and garnered critical acclaim from all corners of the theatre and comedy worlds. Blindboy also campaigns in support of a variety of social issues, including male mental health.

Kevin Barry Bio : See Page 17

Kevin Barry and Blindboy Boatclub

Saturday 24th February, 7:30pm Dolans€10 SOLD OUT (Entrance available with Weekend Pass)

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The Revolution will not be Spotified

A night of live music, celebrating the power of protest music and performance. Featuring the finest live musical taken from Limerick and beyond. Saturday 24th February, 9:30pm, Dolans (Upstairs)€5 (Entrance Included with Weekend Pass)

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen created the Facebook page Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling which lead to them writing the novel of the same name. They originally conceived of the Aisling character when they shared a flat together in Stoneybatter. Observing certain traits, characteristics and quirks of a very particular type of Irish girl they recognised and identified with, they set up the Facebook page to gather their comical observations and it has since become a phenomenon, taking on a life its own. Like Aisling, both are ‘from down the country’.

Emer (@EmerTheScreamer) is a former Editor of The Daily Edge while Sarah(@SarahJayBee) is a Features Editor for The Gloss Magazine.

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen will deliver the Limerick Literary Festival in honour of Kate O’Brien Key Note Lecture. They will present a conversation about their novel Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling. The lecture will be moderated, with the opportunity for the audience to ask questions at the end of the discussion.

Key Note Lecture presented by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

Sunday 25th February, 2pm - 3pmBelltable€17 (€14 concession)

Lisa Harding is an actress, playwright and writer. She has performed at the Abbey, the Gate, the Lyric theatres among others and on RTE, playing Connie in Fair City. Her short story Counting Down was a winner in the inaugural Doolin Writer’s Prize in 2013. Other stories have been published in The Dublin Review, Bath Short Story Award Anthology and Headstuff. She has just been awarded an Arts Council Bursary for her second novel, Overspill.

Pat Shortt is an Irish actor, comedian, writer and entertainer. With Jon Kenny he created ‘D’Unbelievables’, Ireland’s most popular comedy duo. An actor of note, Pat has appeared on stage with Druid Theatre Company, in movies including Man About Dog (2004), Garage (2007), The Guard (2011) and Television including Father Ted, Killinaskully (2003-8), Mattie (2009–11) and Smalltown (2016).

Roisin Meaney is the author of several bestselling novels, including Two Fridays in April, After The Wedding, The Last Week of May, Love in the Making and One Summer, as well as several books for children. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German and Italian.

Desert Island Books, presented by Lisa Harding, Pat Shortt and Roisin Meaney

Sunday 25th February, 12pm - 1:30pm, Belltable€14 (€12 concession)

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Kevin Barry and Blindboy Boatclub Sold out! (entrance available with Weekend Pass)

The Revolution will not be Spotified €5

Jana Fischerova - The Prohibition of Mary Lavelle as a Turning Point in Kate O’Brien’s CareerStandard Ticket €14, Concession Ticket €12

Desert Island Books with Pat Shortt, Roisín Meaney & Lisa Harding Standard Ticket €14, Concession Ticket €12

Kate O’Brien Lecture - Emer McLysaght and Sarah BreenStandard Ticket €17, Concession Ticket €14

Tickets can be purchased at the Lime Tree Theatre. Box Office: 061 953400 or online at www.limetreetheatre.ie

Tickets may be purchased at the door for individual sessions, while tickets are still available. Concession tickets are available for student, senior and un-waged purchases.

Please note that ticket capacity is limited at all events, tickets will be issued on a first come first served basis. Please allow time to purchase tickets on the door as no late comers will be permitted once an event commences. To book tickets for The Revolution will not be Spotified, please see www.dolans.ie

Weekend Pass

February 23rd to February 25th | €132/€112

Available via box office only. Please call 061 953 400 for further information and to book your Weekend Pass.

The Festival Weekend Pass allows entry to all of the events during the Limerick Literary Weekend, at the Limerick City Gallery of Art, Dolans and Belltable.

Sunday Ticket

February 25th | €42/€37

Available via box office only. Please call box office on 061 953400 for further information and to book your Sunday Ticket which covers all events in Belltable on Sunday, 25th February.

Individual Ticket Prices

As Music and Splendour, Martha O’Brien Standard Ticket €17, Concession Ticket €14

Deirdre Sullivan | Kit de Waal | Fergal Keane | Kevin Barry | Lisa McInerney | John MacKenna Standard Ticket €14, Concession Ticket €12

Workshop by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and Dan Mooney, Getting a Novel Published - from Pitch to PublicationStandard Ticket €30, Concession Ticket €25 (Weekend Pass does not cover this workshop) 25

Thank you to all our funders, sponsors, supporters, participants, friends and visitors for their generosity and support of Limerick Literary Festival in honour of Kate O’Brien. A special thank you to Limerick City Gallery of Art and to Úna McCarthy Director/Curator and Siobhan O’Reilly Care of Exhibitions/Collections, for their generosity in accommodating Friday and Saturday’s events. Also a special thank you to the Limerick Culture and Arts Office team for their invaluable support. Funders : Arts Council, Limerick City and County Council

Sponsors : O’Mahony’s Booksellers, Bella Italia, David Punch & Co Solicitors, Ferguson’s Hearing Aid Clinic, Fines Jewellers Limerick, GEON Engineering, Brian Geary Car Sales, Irish Handcrafts, Leahy & Partners Solicitors, O’Donnell Boutique, Piccola Italia, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Savins Music Centre, Tadgh Kearney Jewellery, Conlans BMW. Supporters : Limerick City Gallery of Art, Culture and Arts Office, Lime Tree Theatre, No.1 Pery Square Hotel and Spa, Dolans, Chez Le Fab, Ormston House, Narrative 4, Limerick Spring Festival of Politics and Ideas, Limerick City Library, University of Limerick MA in Creative Writing, Crescent Bookshop, Stanzas: Poetry, Prose & Art, Lawless Flow-ers, Country Choice, Kleiser Pianos.

Organising Committee : John Byrne, Valerie Dolan, Anne Marie Gill, Marie Hackett, Vivienne McKechnie, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, Eileen O’Connor, Darren O’Dea, Donal Ryan, Denise Whelan

Festival Administrator: Eimear Redmond

The Limerick Literary Festival in honour of Kate O’Brien is proudly supported by the Arts Council Festivals Investment Scheme and Limerick City and County Council Festival and Events Grant Scheme.

Design/Layout : www.juleshackett.com

www.limerickliteraryfestival.com