| “I am a
provincial; and in Ireland that means that although
one may have been born in a country town as
I was, one is also a countryman. Few Irish towns
are big enough to cut one off from the land
that surrounds them and most of the townsmen
have their roots in the soil.” John Broderick.
The physical landscape is as effective on the
creative soul of every writer as education or
social class. In this years Athlone Literary
Festival two experienced and critically acclaimed
Irish poets , Gabriel Rosenstock and Nuala Ni
Conchuir will come together to discuss how influential
landscape is on the writer. This fascinating
discussion on the defining role landscape plays
in all literary genres will take place on Saturday
October 8th in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.
Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a full-time
fiction writer and poet, living in Ballinsloe.
She has published three collections of short
fiction, including Nude (Salt, 2009) which was
shortlisted for the 2010 Edge Hill Short Story
Prize; three poetry collections - one in an
anthology, one a pamphlet - and one novel, You
(New Island, 2010).
Gabriel Rosenstock is the author/translator
of over one hundred books, including thirteen
volumes of poetry in Irish. A member of Aosdána
(the Irish Academy of Arts and Letters), he
has given readings in Europe, the US, India,
Australia, Japan and has been published in various
leading international journals. His selected
poems (from the Irish) have appeared in German,
English and Hungarian.
Commenting Festival Committee Member George
Eaton said “we are delighted to welcome
Nuala and Gabriel to this year’s festival.
Nuala is a writer of immense talent and ingenuity
and I have no doubt that her discussion on the
influence of landscape in writing will be an
interesting and creative event, in addition
we are extremely pleased to welcome Gabriel
Rosenstock to Athlone. He is an iconic figure
in Irish and indeed, world poetry.”
The discussion ‘How landscape affects
writing’ takes place on Saturday 8th October
at 2pm in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel at a cost
of €6. The literary festival takes place
October 7th, 8th and 9th.
To make a booking, please contact literaryathlone@gmail.com
or phone/text 086 2282760.
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