Students urged to ‘book’ up their ideas ahead of Ennis festival

STUDENTS are being encouraged to take a leaf out of the book from one of the county’s most successful festivals. Preparations are already in motion for next year’s Ennis Book Club Festival which is set to take place from March 5 to 7, 2021.
Festival director, Dani Gill and the committee are currently working on plans for the 15th festival. Book clubs have always been at the heart of the festival’s programming and this year the festival aims to develop new audiences by setting up the TY Book Club.
Ennis Book Club Festival are inviting Transition Year classes from Clare schools to participate in a series of workshops on book clubs with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald.
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald is a professor and award winning author based at the University of Limerick. She will host three workshops with TY classes from four schools in November, December and January online.
The first workshop will give students tools and techniques to generate sharper levels of story awareness and alertness, which in turn will enhance the pleasure and delight of reading books. The workshop will also present the premise of the two novels that students will be asked to choose and read between first workshop and the following workshops: The Apple Tart of Hope and A Strange Kind of Brave.
The project is being run in association with Creative Ireland and Clare Library and offers four TY classes an opportunity to engage and share ideas about books, book clubs and the pleasure of reading.
To apply, complete an application form located on the Ennis Book Club website, www.ennisbookclubfestival.com and return to info@ennisbookclubfestival.com by 5pm on Friday, October 16.
Cora Gunter, Chair of the Ennis Book Club Festival committee says, “We look forward to the students setting up their own book clubs and discovering the pleasure of the shared reading experience.”
Dani Gill, Artistic Director, welcomes the TY Book Club’s development. “We are delighted to partner with Creative Ireland and Sarah Moore Fitzgerald in offering a meaningful creative experience for young people, through the magic of reading.”
This project has been part funded by Creative Ireland through Clare County Library service.