March
Louis de Paor
Louis de Paor, file clúiteach Gaelach Corcaíoch a chaith seal san Astráil ó 1987 go 1996. Bhí chonaí air i Melbourne agus é mar léachtóir san ollscoil i Sydney. While in Australia he won a number of awards and fellowships. Born in Cork, Louis de Paor is currently Stiúrthóir of Ionad an Léinn Éireannaigh, NUIG, Galway. His collections include Aimsear Bhreicneach/Freckled weather, Corcach agus dánta eile, Proca solais is luatha, Ag Greadadh bas sa reilig. He has also written on the stories of Máirtín Ó Cadhain and his 2007 film Mise, Seán Ó Riordáin was very well received.
Central Library, Grand Parade, Tuesday 24 March at 7.30p.m.
Reading the Diaspora
Exile comes naturally to the Irish. It is in our bones, in the DNA of our culture, in song, story and poem. From the Bás Bán
(Death without Blood) of the Christian scholars of the Dark Ages to the Wild Geese of France, the Irish fallen at Fontenoy and Cremona, to the heart-rending details of Angela’s Ashes and Irish New York in the 1950s, to the labourers of Cricklewood and Camden Town, we have ten thousand stories to tell and a million stories left untold. In March we will read into the Diaspora. With our Constant Readers we will examine the evidence our ancestors left in books, we will interrogate the meaning of ‘home’ and ‘exile.’ We will be conscious too of our new Constant Readers, the new Irish communities who have a new Irish story to tell, a global story of exile and refuge.
One of the most fascinating and challenging new writers of the Diaspora is Cork-born JOSEPH O’NEILL, author of the now famous Netherland (Fourth Estate, 2008). O’NEILL is also author of The Breezes (1996) and This Is The Life (1991) as well as the complex Blood-Dark Track: A Family History (Granta, 2001). O’NEILL is a new kind of Irishman, multi-layered, complicated, global. O’NEILL’S themes are not just the dear little shamrock, but the ‘mutable, multiform eggplant,’ ‘the crepelike saffron dosa’ and the SoHo ‘much-maligned meal-in-a-flatbread’ of his marvellous New York Magazine columns.
Central Library, Grand Parade, Monday 9 March at 7.30p.m.
Constant Readers on Tour
To celebrate the Year of the Constant Reader, Cork City Libraries is running a day trip to the Ennis Book Club Festival on Saturday March 7th. The trip is open to book club members and library members. The trip costs e15 and this covers bus and a ticket to see John Boyne and Salley Vickers in the Glór Theatre, Ennis. To book your place contact Peggy at 021 4924917, or email Peggy Barrett at peggy_barrett@corkcity.ie. Visit www.constantreader.ie and www.ennisbookclubfestival.com for further information.
March Events
| 6-8 | Constant Readers on Tour – Cork City Libraries will take a busload of book club members to take part in the Ennis Book Club Festival |
| 9 | Joseph O’Neill – see above |
| 14 | Big Book Swap: exchange books you no longer need for others you haven’t read yet; foyer of Central Library, all day |
| 14, 16 | St Patrick’s Special: Capt O’Neill Tunes: the Cork Connection |
| 24 | Louis de Paor – see above for details |
| All month | Readers’ Choice We ask readers to nominate their 10 favourite Irish novels of the past 10 years |
| All month | One Shandon, One Book Pupils in 6 schools in the Shandon area read Michael Smith’s Ice Man the life of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean |
Book Club Events
| Library | Book Club | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Central Library | LV Book Club |
2.30pm, 30 March 11.15am, 14 March |
| Hollyhill Library | Hollyhill Readers | 7.00pm, 19 March |
| Frank O’Connor, Mayfield | Mayfield Reading Circle | 11.00am, 11 March |
| Douglas Library | Douglas Reading Circle Douglas Night Owls |
11.00 am 14 March 6.45pm, 6 March |
| Tory Top Library | Tory Top Road Book Club | 11.00am, 31 March |
| Bishopstown Library | Lucky Dip Club | 11.00am, 6 March |