The Pleasure is All Mine with the Dennis O’Driscoll Awards

The poet Dennis O’Driscoll, who died on Christmas Eve 2012, is still a much-missed force on the Irish and international poetry scene. In this talk, poet Enda Wyley, who knew Dennis and admired his poetry, will discuss the compassionate, knowing, quietly charismatic and often funny attributes of O’Driscoll’s work, most poignantly present in his final collection of poetry, Dear Life, which includes the poem Memoir, from which the title of this talk is taken:

We will also present the prestigious Dennis O'Driscoll Literary Bursary Awards to this year’s awardees Ed O’Loughlin (Established Writer) and Eva Griffin (Emerging Writer) who will discuss what this award will mean to their practice and read their work.

This year’s awards were adjudicated by Maynooth University/Kildare Library and Arts Services Writer in Residence 2022/2023, Catherine Talbot.

• WhenCathain: Saturday 30.09.2023 | 11am
• WhereÁit: McAuley Place Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

This Is Not About You: Online Book Club with Rosemary Mac Cabe

Kildare author, podcaster and internet personality Rosemary Mac Cabe will be chatting with journalist Roe McDermott about her #1 Irish bestseller debut This Is Not About You: A Menmoir, a “life story in a series of love stories”.

Extra copies are available to borrow from selected Kildare branches ahead of this special book club meeting.

• WhenCathain: Monday 02.10.2023 | 8.30pm
• WhereÁit: Online
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Absent Friend with John MacKenna

Absent Friend is a book about a thirty-year friendship between singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and Irish writer John MacKenna. The book examines the roots of that friendship, which began with a first hearing of Cohen's work when MacKenna was recovering from meningitis in his late teens. Fifteen years later the pair would meet for the first time and establish a friendship that lasted until Cohen's death in 2016 and included their working together in Cohen's last months on the requiem Between Your Love and Mine.

This event has MacKenna reading from the book and talking about the friendship, while singer Katie Jacques will perform some of Leonard Cohen's songs.

• WhenCathain: Tuesday 03.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Athy Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Introducing Twiggy Woman: Oein DeBhairduin in conversation with Peadar Ó Guilín.

From award-winning author Oein DeBhairduin, Twiggy Woman is a collection of ghost stories rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveller community. These chilling tales, collected by Oein from Traveller folklore, are re-envisioned and retold for modern times. Oein’s style is lyrical and beautiful, his perspective is rich and unique and his writing appeals to a wide range of readers of all ages, backgrounds and interests.

In this exclusive preview of his new book, Oein will share some of his new work and discuss his unique style with Peadar Ó Guilín, fellow writer of curious stories.

• WhenCathain: Tuesday 03.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Celbridge Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

In the White Country: Conversations with Murt Malone

Murt (Martin) Malone will discuss his fiction writing inspired by the Middle East. Martin served five tours of duty with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and one with the United Nations Iran–Iraq Military Observer Group. Martin has written four books of fiction inspired by this time (After Kafra, The Broken Cedar, Valley of the Peacock Angel, and his latest In the White Country), novella & stories, in addition to a memoir of his time in the army, called The Lebanon Diaries.

• WhenCathain: Tuesday 03.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Newbridge Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

An Tolg Liteartha

Mórimeacht liteartha na Gaeilge ag a gcuirfidh an sárchraoltóir, Tristan Rosenstock (RTÉ), agallamh ar bhuaiteoirí na nGradam Foilsitheoireachta 2023 - Gradam Réics Carló (Leabhar na Bliana don Léitheoir Óg); Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin (Leabhar na Bliana don Léitheoir Fásta); agus Gradam de Bhaldraithe (Leabhar na Bliana do Shaothar Aistrithe go Gaeilge ó theanga eile).

Mar chuid den ócáid, labhróidh Tristan leis na criticeoirí an Dr. Liam Mac Amhlaigh & an tOllamh Tríona Ní Shíocháin (NUIM) maidir leis na leabhair buacacha agus cúrsaí litríochta na Gaeilge trí chéile.

Arna eagrú ag Leabharlanna Chill Dara i gcomhpháirt le hOllscoil Mhá Nuad, An tOireachtas agus RTÉ.

• WhenCathain: Wednesday 04.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

'Oíche Airneál' sa Leabharlann

Bígí linn i Leabharlann Nás na Ríogh le haghaidh 'Oíche Airneál' sa Leabharlann; oíche spreagúil comhrá, filíochta, amhránaíochta agus ceoil i nGaeilge. Beidh Seán de Paor ina óstach ar an ócáid. Beidh Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, údar, file agus Laureate na nÓg, Áine Ní Ghlinn, ina dteannta ar an oíche. Beidh ceol le linn na hoíche ag ealaíontóirí cumasacha áitiúla, Nuala Mac Lochlainn agus muintir Uí Mhórdha.

Join us in Naas Library for a ‘Social Night’ in the Library; an exciting evening of Irish conversation, poetry, song and music. Seán de Paor will host the event. He will be joined on the night by award winning author and musician Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, and author, poet and current Laureate na nÓg, Áine Ní Ghlinn. Music throughout the evening will be performed by local talented artists, Nuala Mac Lochlainn and the Moore Family.

• WhenCathain: Thursday 05.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Naas Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Poetry and the Possibility of Home

In this very special evening of poetry and conversation, two award-winning poets, Nithy Kasa and Annemarie Ní Churreáin, will read their work in discussion with host, Catherine Gander. In their probing, evocative, and richly imagistic poetry, both poets speak of the power of dislocation and belonging, of loss and recovery, of memory and rebuilding. This unique event explores their journeys into the poetry, secrets, and promises that notions of ‘home’ can hold.

• WhenCathain: Thursday 05.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Maynooth Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Writing Our Way to Brigit/Brigid

Join us in Kildare Town Community Library for an evening of exclusive readings and performances by participants from the Writing Our Way to Brigit/Brigid workshops.

The group is delighted to be able to share with you a curated selection of our creative writing which was written in 2023 as part of a series of linked creative writing workshops facilitated by Dr Shauna Gilligan.

Gratefully supported by Brigid 1500 Creative Arts Grant/Kildare County Council.

• WhenCathain: Thursday 05.10.2023 | 7pm
• WhereÁit: Kildare Town Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Chat LGBT: A Question of Queer Irish Literature

Katherine O’Donnell and Declan Toohey discuss and read from their debut novels which were published this year and add to the growing canon of queer Irish literature.

Slant by Katherine O’Donnell is a ground-breaking Irish lesbian love story, set across the decades from the 1980s AIDS crisis to the 2015 marriage referendum. Katherine O’Donnell’s debut delivers a headbutt to the heart that reveals and celebrates all the kinds of love needed to sustain a life.

Perpetual Comedown is the debut novel from an unforgettable new voice in Irish fiction. In breathless prose, Declan Toohey weaves a contemporary yarn of academic intrigue and youthful irreverence, sexual fluidity and neurodiversity. Experimental, trippy, hilarious, compassionate, Perpetual Comedown is a riotous reckoning in the construction of the self.

Katherine and Declan discuss their debut novels with Neil Hegarty which were published this year and add to the growing canon of queer Irish literature.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Thursday 05.10.2023 | 8pm
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Creeping It Real: The Rebirth of Female Horror

Join us for an evening with Sophie White and Rick O’Shea as they discuss Sophie’s writing. Sophie’s novel Where I End has recently won the Shirley Jackson Award which recognises “outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.” Where I End is a story of psychological and physical horror with a shattering ending. The story is concerned with family, isolation, neglect and the dangerously intoxicating nature of love.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Friday 06.10.2023 | 8pm
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Ten Books You Should Read with Eithne Hand and Gerry Stembridge

Join us for the ever popular Ten Books You Should Read! Our two guests, Eithne Hand and Gerry Stembridge will select five books each that they would recommend and why we should give them a try.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Saturday 07.10.2023 | 10am
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

The Deadwood Encore with Kathleen Murray and Ed O’Loughlin

Join acclaimed short story author, Kathleen Murray as she discusses her first novel, published by Harper Collins in 2022 and described as ‘the Coen Brothers of Carlow’ with author, journalist & correspondent Ed O’Loughlin. The Deadwood Encore tells the story of Frank Whelan, a seventh son of a seventh son, and his journey of self-discovery. It is a novel about family, secrets, old magic, and the lengths people go to find their place in the world.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Saturday 07.10.2023 | 12noon
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Saved by Words Writing Workshop

Join award-winning author Lynn Buckle for a masterclass in how to embed nature, ecology, and climate crisis solutions into your stories. Whether you write poetry, historical fiction, crime, romance, sci-fi, or literary prose, learn how words can alter the behaviour of individuals and society, towards a more sustainable way of living. Deep-dive into this specialist workshop on solution-based creative writing and help save the future of the planet through your stories.

Suitable for all levels of writing experience.

This is an ISL interpreted event. Loop system available for hearing-aid users. Wheelchair accessible.

• WhenCathain: Saturday 07.10.2023 | 2–5pm
• WhereÁit: Newbridge Library Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Tangled Webs: Book Launch with Maria McDonald

Join us for the launch of Maria McDonald’s new novel Tangled Webs:

Jane Best and Agnes Williams are known in Belfast for taking in lodgers at Riverdale House, the business they started together after losing their husbands in the Anglo-Zulu War. For forty years, they’ve welcomed young women in need of a respectable place to stay in the city—including unfortunate cases like young Iris Seoin, who’s come here to get away from her abuser. When a man shows up at the lodging house looking for Iris, he experiences a flash of recognition. He knows these two. He knows their past. And he knows what they’re hiding.

For Jane and Agnes, everything is at stake. But if they succeed in burying this blackmailer, will their secret stay buried with him?

• WhenCathain: Saturday 07.10.2023 | 5.30pm
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Poor: Grit, courage, and the Life-changing Value of Self-belief

Join Katriona O’Sullivan for a discussion on Katriona’s book Poor.

Poor is a memoir describing the impact of childhood poverty. Katriona's story recounts her journey from poverty, teenage pregnancy, homelessness to graduating with a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and becoming an award-winning lecturer whose work challenges barriers to education.

Poor is her stirring argument for the importance of giving hope, practical support and meaningful opportunities to children.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Saturday 07.10.2023 | 8pm
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online

Sunday Sessions: Judith Mok & Michael O’Loughlin in conversation with Dermot Bolger

Writer and soprano Judith Mok was born in Holland and studied at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. She has toured the world as a classical soprano, moving to Dublin in 2002, where she is a leading voice coach working with noted singers from the classical and pop worlds. Her books include the novels De Beul (2000) and Gael (2006), and her extraordinary memoir The State of Dark (2022). The State of Dark is a moving, beautifully written memoir of a second-generation survivor, as the Holocaust continues to be a living presence in European life and culture. She is married to the writer Michael O’Loughlin.

Poet, translator, critic, screenwriter and commentator, Michael O’Loughlin was born in Dublin in 1958. His poetry collections include Stalingrad: The Street Dictionary (1980), Another Nation (1996), In This Life (2011), Poems 1980-2015 (2017) and Liberty Hall (2021). He has lived in Barcelona (where he first met Judith), in Amsterdam and, since 2002, in Dublin. From the youthful collections which ushered in a new urban aesthetic in Irish poetry, to his later explorations of European history and identity, O’Loughlin has earned a reputation as one of Ireland’s most important poets, whose work has an exceptionally strong international outlook and a fierce dedication to social and historical justice.

ISL/Irish Sign Language interpretation will be available for this event.

• WhenCathain: Sunday 08.10.2023 | 10:30am
• WhereÁit: Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge Directions
• How to AttendConas Freastal ar: Book Online