Tag Archives: Ennis Book Club Festival

BARRING further public health crises, the Ennis Book Club Festival will have in-person events on the first weekend in March. One of these will be entitled Motherhood, Destiny and Choices: Irish and American debuts asking tough questions, to be held at St Columba’s Church on the afternoon of March 5. Among the speakers will be Galway based Edel Coffey, whose first novel Breaking Point, has just come out. It tells the story of Susannah, a working mother, pulled in different directions each day, working as a doctor, researcher and professor as well as being a wife and mother. One frantic morning, with a disrupted routine and a work emergency, she leaves her young daughter in the car on a hot New York day. When she realises her mistake, it is already too late. Another woman Adelaide is a reporter covering a subsequent negligence trial, and for her the story is a familiar one, stirring up ghosts from her own long-buried …

THERE is growing excitement that the annual Ennis Book Club Festival will take place in person this year, writes Bridget Ginnity. We can look forward to welcoming writers like John Banville, Claire Keegan, Fintan O’Toole and Michael Harding to Ennis on the first weekend in March. The core of the Festival is book clubs and this year there is an opportunity to join one of two book clubs running for a limited period from February to April. The theme of both book clubs is a very current one, the climate. One book club will read and discuss “Active Hope” by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. The second book club is based on the pope’s letter on climate change, “Laudato Si”, where he appeals for a dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our plant. The subtitle of the Active Hope book “how to face the mess we’re in without going crazy” describes the essence of the book and …

IN celebration of this Saturday’s Ennis Book Club Festival The Old Ground Hotel has put pen to paper and created the perfect ‘book lovers break’. The hotel, of course, has many literary connections of its own, featuring a cosy library area for residents and it celebrates many of the great Irish Poets throughout the hotel, particularly in the bar area where painted portraits hang of writers like Seamus Heaney and Oscar Wilde. Fittingly then they have titled their Book Club Festival offer The ‘Poet’s Package’ which includes a one-night stay in a luxurious and spacious room or suite, dinner in the acclaimed Poet’s Corner bar which features delicious fresh local Ennis produce. Guests availing of the ‘Poet’s Package’ will also receive a signed copy of ‘This is Happiness’ by Man Booker nominated novelist Niall Williams in their room upon arrival along with tickets to a book festival headline event of your choice. https://twitter.com/ebcf/status/1434833536025088004?s=20 Commenting on the upcoming Book Festival and …

A BOOKER Prize winner will be among the literary stars appearing at the Ennis Book Club Festival next month. The festival will have a day of events, live and in person, on Saturday, September 11, including an appearance by Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart, author of the acclaimed Shuggie Bain. It will feature a mix of major international, national and local authors. The day will kick off with the Beyond Borders Book Club at Ennis Museum from 11.30am with guests from Mexico and Africa, hosted by Irish poet Sarah Clancy. The launch of the Salmon Poetry Memory Book by Jessie Lendennie will take place in the afternoon, at Ennis Bookshop. Jessie Lendennie is celebrating 40 years of publishing with this publication, specially commissioned by Ennis Book Club Festival. Little John Nee will perform music and storytelling on O’Connell Square, entertaining passers-by with his original songs and writings, and creating fun, colour and a festival atmosphere. Canadian author Patrick DeWitt, acclaimed …

A NEW book celebrating the creative synergies that exist between poetry and the visual arts will be launched in Ennis in September. The Record Break Poetry Art Publication comprises 12 poems and 12 corresponding images of original visual artworks and has been compiled by Sinéad Ní Síoda. Since opening The Record Break seven years ago, Sinéad has built a community of artists, writers and musicians who gravitate towards the shop for its coffee, its collection of vinyl albums and its dedication to contemporary culture. “I hold an art exhibition annually at The Record Break,” Sinéad explained. “In 2019, we brought together 12 artists and 12 poets, and at the end of the year I decided to document the exhibition. “Creative Ireland sponsored the book and just as lockdown was setting in, we managed to get the photos taken of the pieces on the walls of the closed shop.” The relationship between the images and the poems is one that Sinéad …

A POPULAR and critical phenomenon since the publication of The Spinning Heart in 2012, Donal Ryan will be the subject of the Ennis Book Club Festival’s Bookclub Meet and Greet event on Saturday. It’s a chance for readers to have some face time with the author, as he talks about his latest novel Strange Flowers, with the conversation to be facilitated by a Festival committee member. Since publication last year Strange Flowers has proved hugely popular with readers and won glowing reviews from critics, as all Ryan’s earlier novels have. “It’s always a worry when you put a book into the world, you don’t know what way it’s going to go, but it’s been great, it’s selling well, it was great to win the novel of the year award, it’s a great feeling because it’s voted by readers, so it’s extra special,” says the Tipperary man. The themes of Strange Flowers include loss, alienation, the redemptive power of love, while …

THE full programme for the 15th Ennis Book Club Festival was announced this week. This year’s festival will be a hybrid of online events in March with live events taking place in April and September. As always Ennis Book Club Festival 2021 will offer opportunities to engage with favourite authors and features an additional programme of events for younger readers. While the festival cannot welcome book lovers to Ennis this March as ever, it will provide plenty of events to stimulate discussion and inspire reading, from the comfort of the couch. Commenting on the programme for the 2021 Ennis Book Club Festival, Artistic Director Dani Gill, says, “We have had to re-imagine the festival several times this year with the changing circumstances, and while people are having to remain at home, we hope that at least, there have been some good books on the go, and that people will engage with our online offerings next month. “A lot of work …

THIS year’s Ennis Book Club Festival will be going online, organisers have confirmed. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the popular festival’s March 2021 programme will be virtual, while there are also plans for a day of live events in glór in September. A full programme line-up is due to be announced in the coming weeks, however the EBCF organising committee have revealed some of the big names taking part this year. “We have prioritised giving our readers the chance to engage with their favourite books and writers,” said a spokesperson for the organising committee. As part of that, there will be a bookclub meet-up with Donal Ryan, in small groups, via Zoom, “to allow for intimacy and the sense of one-to-one contact with a writer”. Roddy Doyle will join the festival from home to talk about his most recent title ‘Love’. While Exciting Times author Naoise Dolan will be answering people’s questions in an online chat next March. On September 11 the festival will …