Programme

Authors June Caldwell, Mary Costello and Siobhán Mannion discuss their short stories in The Long Gaze Back. Chaired by Sinéad Gleeson.

June Caldwell worked for many years as a freelance journalist and now writes fiction. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast. Room Little Darker, her acclaimed collection of short stories was published in 2017. Her fiction has been published in The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Winter Papers, and The Lonely Crowd. She is a prizewinner of the Moth International Short Story Prize. Her first novel, Little Town Moone, is forthcoming from John Murray.

Mary Costello is from Galway. Her short story collection, The China Factory (2012), was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. Her novel, Academy Street (2014), was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize and the EU Prize for Literature. It won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and the overall Irish Book of the Year in 2014.

Siobhán Mannion has won awards for short fiction and radio drama, and her writing has appeared in Irish and international publications including Granta, Winter Papers, Banshee, Eighteen Bridges, Stand, The Moth and the Silver Threads of Hope anthology.  She lives in Dublin and is currently completing a first collection of stories.

Sinéad Gleeson is the editor of The Long Gaze Back and The Glass Shore, two anthologies of stories by Irish women writers.Her own collection of essays will be published in 2019 by Picador.

Authors Bernie McGill and Anne Devlin will discuss their stories in The Long Gaze Back. Chaired by author Jan Carson.

Anne Devlin was born in Belfast. David Marcus first published her stories in the Irish Press in the 1980’s. Her collection The Waypaver was published by Faber in 1986. She is best known as a dramatist, both for Ourselves Alone (Royal Court, 1985) and After Easter (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1993). She has worked extensively in TV and film. Her most recent work was the radio play The Forgotten(2009). 

Bernie McGill is the author of Sleepwalkers, a collection of stories short-listed in 2014 for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, and of The Butterfly Cabinet (named in 2012 by Downton creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year). Her new novel, The Watch House, was published in 2017. Her work has been placed in the Seán Ó Faoláin, the Bridport, and the Michael McLaverty Short Story Prizes and she won the Zoetrope:All-Story Award in the US in 2008. Her short fiction has appeared in The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines, all by New Island Books. She is the recipient of a number of Arts Council of Northern Ireland Awards and was granted a research bursary in 2013 from the Society of Authors. She lives in Portstewart in Northern Ireland with her family.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts officer based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears was published by Liberties Press in 2014, followed by a short story collection, Children’s Children in 2016. A flash fiction pamphlet, Postcard Stories, is forthcoming from the Emma Press in 2017.Her stories have appeared in journals such as Storm Cellar, Banshee and The Honest Ulsterman. In 2014 she received an Arts Council NI Artist’s Career Enhancement Bursary. She was longlisted for the Sean O’Faolain short story prize in 2015 and won the Harper’s Bazaar short story competition in 2016. 

Join authors Nuala O’Connor and Lia Mills for an evening of discussion and readings.

Nuala O’Connor‘s fifth short story collection Joyride to Jupiter was published by New Island in June 2017. Her third novel, Miss Emily, about the poet Emily Dickinson and her Irish maid was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Eason Book Club Novel of the Year 2015 and longlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award. Nuala’s fourth novel, Becoming Belle, will be published in 2018.

Lia Mills writes novels, short stories, essays and an occasional blog.  A memoir, In Your Face, describes her experience of mouth cancer treatment in 2006. Her third novel, Fallen, was the Dublin/Belfast Two Cities One Book selection in 2016, in which year she was also the Arts Council Writer Fellow in UCD and writer-in-residence at Farmleigh House.

Unfortunately due to illness, the event tonight with Angela Bourke has been postponed. Rathfarnham Castle hope to re-schedule at a later date.

A talk on Maeve Brennan, the Dublin-born author and journalist by her biographer Angela Bourke MRIA, Professor Emerita, UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore. Angela is the author of Maeve Brennan: Homesick at the New Yorker.

The Long Gaze Back authors Bernie McGill, Éilís Ní Dhuibne and Lia Mills talk with editor Sinéad Gleeson about the anthology, their work and being a female author in Ireland today.

Bernie McGill is the author of Sleepwalkers, a collection of stories short-listed in 2014 for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, and of The Butterfly Cabinet (named in 2012 by Downton creator Julian Fellowes as his novel of the year). Her new novel, The Watch House, was published in 2017. Her work has been placed in the Seán Ó Faoláin, the Bridport, and the Michael McLaverty Short Story Prizes and she won the Zoetrope:All-Story Award in the US in 2008. Her short fiction has appeared in The Long Gaze Back, The Glass Shore and Female Lines, all by New Island Books. She is the recipient of a number of Arts Council of Northern Ireland Awards and was granted a research bursary in 2013 from the Society of Authors. She lives in Portstewart in Northern Ireland with her family.

Lia Mills writes novels, short stories, essays and an occasional blog.  A memoir, In Your Face, describes her experience of mouth cancer treatment in 2006. Her third novel, Fallen, was the Dublin/Belfast Two Cities One Book selection in 2016, in which year she was also the Arts Council Writer Fellow in UCD and writer-in-residence at Farmleigh House.

Éilis Ní Dhuibne is a novelist, critic and folklore scholar. Her short story collections include Midwife to the Fairies, The Inland Ice, The Pale Gold of Alaska and The Shelter of Neighbours. Among her novels are Cailíni Beaga Ghleann na mBlath, The Dancers Dancing, and Fox, Swallow Scarecrow. The Dancers Dancing was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Ficiton and she was awarded the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature in 2015. Her stories are widely anthologized and translated. Éilís was for many years a curator in the National Library of Ireland. She teaches Creative Writing in UCD. 

Sinéad Gleeson is the editor of The Long Gaze Back and The Glass Shore, two anthologies of stories by Irish women writers. Her own collection of essays Constellations will be published in 2019 by Picador. 

Irish Writers Centre presents three writing workshops with authors , Christine Dwyer Hickey (10am) Nuala O’Connor (11.30am) and June Caldwell (1pm) Followed by a discussion The Art of the Anthology (3pm), with Sinéad Gleeson, Declan Meade and Kerrie O’Brien, chaired by Martina Devlin. This will examine the passion, philosophy and realities of curating a short story anthology.

Please note that attendance at the workshops and/or the panel event must be booked separately.

Christine Dwyer Hickey has published seven novels, one short story collection and a full-length play. The Cold Eye of Heaven won the Irish Novel of the Year 2012 and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Tatty was nominated for the Orange Prize and was one of the 50 Irish Novels of the Decade. Her short story collection, The House on Parkgate Street  was published in 2013. Her latest novel The Lives of Women, was published in April 2015.

Nuala O’Connor‘s fifth short story collection Joyride to Jupiter was published by New Island in June 2017. Her third novel, Miss Emily, about the poet Emily Dickinson and her Irish maid was shortlisted for the Bord Gáis Energy Eason Book Club Novel of the Year 2015 and longlisted for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award. Nuala’s fourth novel, Becoming Belle, will be published in 2018.

June Caldwell worked for many years as a freelance journalist and now writes fiction. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Queen’s University Belfast. Room Little Darker, her acclaimed collection of short stories was published in 2017. Her fiction has been published in The Stinging Fly, The Moth, Winter Papers, and The Lonely Crowd. She is a prizewinner of the Moth International Short Story Prize. Her first novel, Little Town Moone, is forthcoming from John Murray.

Irish Writers Centre presents The Art of the Anthology with Sinéad Gleeson, Declan Meade and Kerrie O’Brien, chaired by Martina Devlin. This will examine the passion, philosophy and realities of curating a short story anthology.

Please note that attendance at the workshops earlier in the morning and/or the panel event must be booked separately.

An introduction to Maeve Brennan’s Ranelagh and New York, with guest speaker New York author Kathleen Hill. Including a walking tour with local guide Sally Corcoran, followed by a reading by actor and musician Angel Hannigan, with music accompaniment by Audrey Trainor. Light refreshments will be served. 

Seating limited. Come early.

Kathleen Hill contributed an essay about Maeve Brennan to the anthology Nine Irish Lives (Algonquin Press), about nine Irish men and women who came to the United States and remained. She has published two novels, Still Waters in Niger, named a notable book at the New York Times , and Who Occupies This House, an editors’ choice at the New York Times.  Her memoir She Read To Us in the Late Afternoons has just been published. She teaches in the MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College near New York City. 

Evelyn Conlon with Toni Jordan. As part of Dublin’s One City One Book festival Irish author Evelyn Conlon in discussion about her own home place,  Dublin with Melbourne author Toni Jordan . Melbourne and Dublin have both been granted a City of Literature accolade and share a long history of telling tales. If you’re looking for  inspiration, love Melbourne, love Dublin and want to be part of this international conversation, join us for a chat and a bevy.  To be chaired by Christine Gordon. 

Herstory: Write your own story, or that of a woman in your family history. The tutor, Frances Browner, will help with proofreading and editing and give constructive feedback.  She will read excerpts from The Long Gaze Back, this year’s Dublin One City One Book choice. 

Frances is an experienced creative writing and history tutor who has had her work published and broadcast on radio.

Authors Niamh Boyce, Roisín O’Donnell and Elizabeth Reapy discuss their short stories in The Long Gaze Back. Chaired by the anthology’s editor Sinéad Gleeson.

Niamh Boyce won the Hennessy XO New Irish Writing Award in 2012. Her debut novel The Herbalist was Newcomer of the Year at the 2013 Irish Book Awards, and long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award. She’s just finished a novel inspired by a medieval witchcraft trial 

Roisín O’Donnell grew up in Sheffield, with family roots in Derry city. Her stories and poetry have been published internationally and have featured in The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, Young Irelanders, and The Glass Shore. Roisin’s debut short story collection, Wild Quiet was published in 2016 by New Island Books and was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award and the International Ruberry Book Award.

E.M. Reapy is from Co. Mayo. She has an M.A. in Creative Writing from Queen’s University, Belfast. Her debut novel Red Dirt was published by Head of Zeus and won Newcomer of the Year at the 2016 Irish Book Awards. She was awarded the Rooney Prize for Literature in 2017. She is currently working on her second novel. She is the Dublin City Writer in Residence.

Sinéad Gleeson is the editor of The Long Gaze Back and The Glass Shore, two anthologies of stories by Irish women writers.Her own collection of essays will be published in 2019 by Picador.

Join authors Christine Dwyer Hickey and Susan Stairs for an evening of discussion and readings.

Christine Dwyer Hickey has published seven novels, one short story collection and a full-length play. The Cold Eye of Heaven won the Irish Novel of the Year 2012 and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Tatty was nominated for the Orange Prize and was one of the 50 Irish Novels of the Decade. Her short story collection, The House on Parkgate Street  was published in 2013. Her latest novel The Lives of Women, was published in April 2015.

Susan Stairs received her Masters in Creative Writing from University College Dublin in 2009 and her story ‘The Rescue’ was shortlisted for the Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award the same year. She has published three novels: The Story of Before (2013) and The Boy Between (2015) and her third novel One Good Reason has recently been published.

The Long Gaze Back editor Sinéad Gleeson in conversation with Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, about The Long Gaze Back: an Anthology of Irish Women Writers. 

Sinéad Gleeson is a writer, editor and freelance broadcaster. Her essays have appeared in Granta, Banshee, Winter Papers and Gorse among others. Her short story ‘Counting Bridges’ was longlisted at the 2016 Irish Book Awards, and she has a short story in forthcoming Repeal the 8th anthology edited by Una Mullally. She is the editor of three anthologies including The Long Gaze Back: an Anthology of Irish Women Writers (2015) and The Glass Shore: Short Stories by Women Writers from the North of Ireland, (2016) both of which won Best Irish Published Book at the Irish Book Awards.  Her collection of essays, Constellations will be published in Spring 2019 by Picador. She is currently working on a novel. 

Lisa Coen, Louise Kennedy and Kathleen McMahon discuss the forgotten writings of Charlotte Riddell, Norah Hoult and Mary Lavin, chaired by Sinéad Gleeson. With dramatised readings by actor Ger Ryan. Followed by tea/coffee and cake.

Lisa Coen is the co-founder of Tramp Press, which published Charlotte Riddell’s A Struggle For Fame, which was the first title in their Recovered Voices series.

Louise Kennedy is a research student at Queens University Belfast. Her PhD thesis is ‘Journey Out of Print: the life and short stories of Norah Hoult’. She is working on a collection of her own stories with the assistance of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Kathleen McMahon  is a novelist, short story writer and journalist. Her first novel, This is How it Ends, was a Number One Bestseller for five weeks in Ireland and was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in the UK. It was also nominated for two Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards and for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. Kathleen is the grand-daughter of Mary Lavin.  

Sinéad Gleeson is the editor of The Long Gaze Back and The Glass Shore, two anthologies of stories by Irish women writers. Her own collection of essays will be published in 2019 by Picador.

Ger Ryan is one of Ireland’s best known actors and received an IFTA for her work on Stardust. She has been nominated twice by The Royal Television Society for her work on the Family and Amongst Women.

*Kathleen McMahon replaces Diarmuid Peavoy, who due to unforeseen circumstances, is unable to take part in the event.

Rathfarnham Theatre Group will use drama, poetry and song to explore the literary landscape of stories by some well-known Irish women.