French win book club of the year award

A book club in Nimes in the South of France has been named Book Club of the Year and will be presented with the award this weekend at Ennis Book Club Festival.
The club will be represented by Hélène Granon, who has been a book club member for 15 years.
“We are a group of more than 15 people, mostly women,” she said. “We meet on the fourth Friday of each month. Most of the members are English or Irish, one is Swedish, one is Dutch. Just now I am reading Light of Evening by Edna O’Brien. I must say I have wonderful Irish friends and they make me read Irish books.”
Hélène also takes part in organising a festival of cinema in Nimes every year. Last year, it was devoted to Irish cinema and received some support from the Irish Government. “Belonging to the book club is something very important for me. People from different countries talking about a book in the English language,” she said.
Poet, playwright and broadcaster Vincent Woods will launch the sixth Ennis Book Club Festival in Glór theatre on Friday night at 7pm and events continue until Sunday. The opening night will also see bestselling UK author Patrick Gale launch his 14th novel, A Perfectly Good Man. As events get underway in Ennis, organisers will also keep a close eye on an important awards ceremony in Edinburgh, where Ennis Book Club Festival is in the running for the EDGE 2012 awards.
“Of course we are hoping to win,” said Frances O’Gorman of Clare County Library, who will represent Ennis at the ceremony and conference, which is organised by Edinburgh City Council. “The fact that Ennis Book Club Festival is the only Irish entry to be nominated is already a victory for us,” she added. The EDGE awards are designed to reward innovation and creativity in library services and Ennis has been nominated for the Social award, which celebrates library engagement with community groups.
“Saturday is an endurance test of pure pleasure for book lovers,” says festival chairperson Ciana Campbell. “We start at 9.30am with a literary quiz in the Rowan Tree Café and end with the Festival Club close to midnight in the Old Ground Hotel. During the long day, writers, poets and performers can be found in nine venues all over Ennis. It might sound exhausting but really, it is very entertaining and great fun. The full programme details are available online www.ennisbookclubfestival.com,” said Ciana.
Saturday’s events include an interview and reading with popular author Shelia O’Flanagan; Barnardos director Fergus Finlay and former National Library director Dr Pat Donlon will advise on 10 Books You Should Read; local historian Sean Spellissey will lead a walking tour of Ennis and there will be poetry readings from Joseph Woods and Paula Meehan.
Journalist, Peter Murtagh and his daughter, Natasha will discuss their book Buen Camino, which traces their 900km journey on the pilgrim route to the shrine of St James in Compostela in Northern Spain. Social commentator Maureen Gaffney will encourage us to flourish in difficult times.
Also on Saturday, Doireann Ní Gríofa will present a bilingual poetry reading in Irish and English, Dr Margaret Kelleher will discuss 19th century Irish literature, Image & Likeness, Brian Mooney’s latest book will be launched by Clare Three-legged Stool Poets and there will be readings from Clare Youth Theatre.
At 8pm in Glór on Saturday night, Sean Rocks of RTÉ’s Radio 1 Arena programme, will present readings and interviews with short story writer and novelist Kevin Barry and the celebrated English novelist and children’s writer Lynne Reid Banks. Her first novel, The L-Shaped Room, is now regarded by many as a classic.
The annual Sunday Symposium packs a huge early morning crowd in Glór. Chaired by Caimin Jones, this year’s panel will discuss the influence of People & Place on the written word. The best part is when the audience mixes it with the panellists, who this year include well-known travel writer and presenter Manchán Magan, playwright, novelist and columnist Michael Harding, Catriona Crowe from the National Archives and award-winning novelist and short story writer Christine Dwyer Hickey.
Another Sunday highlight is the Literary Lunch at 1.30pm in the Old Ground Hotel, which features a dramatisation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wonderland Productions. Also on Sunday, Clare Three-legged Stool Poets will present awards in their primary school Haiku writing competition and Jane O’Brien & Clare Youth Theatre will dramatise historical and literary scenarios from Ennis’s past in another walking tour of the town. On Sunday afternoon author Fred Johnston will present a bilingual reading in Irish and French.
Festival tickets are still available. Booking for all events in all venues is through Glór box office. To book, ring 065 6843103 or email boxoffice@glor.ie