Let the words wash over you at Kinsale’s Words by Water Literary Festival
Now in it’s third year, the Kinsale Literary Festival brings fiction, poetry, book discussions and much more to Kinsale, Co. Cork every October. Kinsale is a town that is world renowned for it’s food culture but now also for this incredible festival that is fast earning a reputation on the literary circuit. All things food and all things bookish….the ingredients for a wonderful festival set against the backdrop of the stunningly scenic harbour town of Kinsale.
As a very proud Corkonian and a lover of the written word, I am delighted to give a shout out to this wonderful festival and to share with you all just a small glimpse of some of the events that will be taking place over the few days.
‘Words by Water which will take place this year from October 3rd to 6th is building on its already strong reputation; bringing you a wider programme for 2019 with an impressive line-up of over 30 guest authors for an event that promises to have something for everyone. With a packed programme of readings, workshops, panel discussions, a sports writing extravaganza and children’s events, it really does speak to every literary enthusiast. Whether you’re a writer, reader, or graphic novel fan this is the place for you to continue your love affair with the written word or spark a new romance that will last forever.‘
Event information, including the full programme and tickets are available on wordsbywater.ie.
Crime Night
Fri 4th Oct 9 pm – 10.30 pm, The Lord Kingsale
Moderator: journalist and lifelong crime fiction fan Gráinne McGuinness
Andrea Carter is the author of The Inishowen Mysteries, a series that follows Ben (Benedicta) O’Keeffe, a solicitor who runs the most northerly law practice in the country on the remote Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal.
Andrea grew up in Laois and graduated with a degree in law from Trinity College, Dublin. She qualified as a solicitor and moved to Inishowen, where she ran her own practice. In 2006, she moved to Dublin to practice as a barrister before turning to write crime novels and completing an MFA in Creative Writing at University College, Dublin.
Her books are published by Little, Brown in the UK, Goldmann Verlag in Germany, Oceanview in the US and will shortly be adapted for television. Filming will begin in Donegal next summer.
The Sunday Times has said: ‘Carter excels in re-creating the cloistered, gossipy confines of a small Irish village…the Inishowen peninsula community where everybody knows everybody else’s business is a fine stand-in for the mannered drawing room society of a Christie mystery.’
Kevin Doyle was born in Cork. He worked as an industrial chemist for many years. His short stories have appeared in literary journals such as The Stinging Fly, Southwords and Cúirt Journal. In 2016 he won the Michael McLaverty Short Story Award. He is the author of two political crime thrillers set in Cork – To Keep A Bird Singing (2018) and A River Of Bodies (2019) – both published by Blackstaff Press. He has also written (with Spark Deeley) the illustrated children’s book, The Worms That Saved The World. He teaches creative writing part time and is currently working on the third and final book in the Cork series. See also www.kevindoyle.ie
Catherine Kirwan grew up on a farm in the parish of Fews, County Waterford. She studied law at UCC and lives in Cork where she works as a solicitor. Darkest Truth is published by Century Arrow, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK.
It would be criminal to miss this!
Cost: €12
Sinéad Gleeson and Emilie Pine
Sat 5th Oct, 2.30 pm – 3.45 pm, The Methodist Church
In conversation with Ailbhe Smyth
Sinéad Gleeson is a writer, editor and freelance broadcaster whose essays have appeared in Granta, Winter Papers, Gorse, and Banshee. Her short stories have been published in Being Various: New Irish Short Stories (Faber, May 2019), The Broken Spiral, Repeal the 8th and her poems can be found in Washing Windows? Irish Women Write Poetry, Autonomy and Reading the Future.
She is the editor of three short anthologies, including The Long Gaze Back: an Anthology of Irish Women Writers and The Glass Shore: Short Stories by Women Writers from the North of Ireland, both of which won Best Irish Published Book at the Irish Book Awards.
Her debut collection of essays, Constellations: Reflections from Life was published by Picador in April 2019, and focuses on the body, illness, motherhood, art and writing. She is currently working on a novel.
Emilie Pine is Associate Professor of Modern Drama at the School of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin. Emilie has published widely as an academic and critic on Irish studies, performance and cultural memory.
Her first collection of personal essays, Notes to Self, is winner of the IACI Butler Literary Award, the An Post Irish Award for Best Newcomer, and Book of the Year 2018.
Cost: €12
Blazing a Trail with Sarah Webb
Sat 5th Oct, 11 am – 12 pm, The Methodist Church
**Please Note – Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian for the duration of this event. This event is FREE
Find out about some of Ireland’s most remarkable women and men in this interactive family workshop which includes fun drama and dressing up (optional!)
Will you be a ground-breaking 19th doctor like Dr James Barry (aka Margaret Ann Bulkley)? An explorer like Tom Crean? Or will you be President of Ireland like Mary Robinson?And are you as brave and bold as the women and men from Ireland’s history? Come to this event and find out!
Based on the true-life tales from Sarah’s books, Blazing a Trail: Irish Women Who Changed the World illustrated by Lauren O’Neill, and Dare to Dream: Irish Dare to Dream: Irish People who Took on the World (and Won!) illustrated by Graham Corcoran (out in October), this event is a must for families who love finding out new facts!
Sarah Webb is an award-winning children’s writer and children’s book champion. Her books include A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea: Favourite Rhymes from an Irish Childhood (illustrated by Steve McCarthy), and Blazing a Trail: Irish Women who Changed the World (illustrated by Lauren O’Neill), both winners of Irish Book Awards. She won the Children’s Books Ireland Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Books in 2015
Anne Griffin
Sat 5th Oct, 12.30 pm – 1.30 pm, The Lord Kingsale
Anne Griffin is author of When All Is Said – a number 1 Irish best seller. The winner of the John McGahern Award for Literature, Anne has also been shortlisted for the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and the Sunday Business Post Short Story Competition. Anne’s work has featured in, amongst others, The Irish Times and the Stinging Fly.
When All Is Said has been published in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and will publish in eight foreign languages later this year. She’s worked in Waterstones branches in both Dublin and London and for various charities. Born in Dublin, Anne now lives in Mullingar, with her husband and son.
Cost: €12
Being Various Panel Discussion
Sat 5th Oct, 4.30 pm -6 pm, The Methodist Church
Moderator: Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She is the author of three novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and a collection of short stories, as well as editor of Being Various: New Irish Short Stories.
Awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the George Devine Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Imison Award, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Canada & Europe), the Irish Playwrights’ and Screenwriters’ Guild Award, the Edge Hill Short Story Prize Readers’ Choice Award, a Fiction Uncovered Award, a K. Blundell Trust Award and a Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018.
Nicole Flattery’s fiction, non-fiction and criticism has appeared in The Stinging Fly, The White Review, The Dublin Review, BBC Radio 4, the Guardian and the Irish Times. Her debut collection of short stories ‘Show Them a Good Time’ was published by The Stinging Fly Press in Ireland, and Bloomsbury in the UK. She is working on a novel.
Yan Ge was born in Sichuan Province, China in 1984. She is a writer and a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature. Publishing since 1994, she is the author of thirteen books. Her work has been translated into English, French, and German, among other languages. She was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China. The English translation of her latest novel The Chili Bean Paste Clan was published by Balestier Press. She has recently started to write in English. She lives in Norwich with her husband and son.
Cost: €12
Graphic Book Fair – FREE EVENT
Sun 6th Oct, 12 pm – 5 pm, Philip Gray Gallery, The Glen
The Graphic Book Fair displays the work of Irish graphic novelists and illustrators and includes demonstrations and book sales.
Teenage Book Club Discussion – FREE EVENT
Sun 6th Oct, 2 pm – 3 pm, Aperitif at The Blue Haven
Moderated by Mandy Fogarty of Kinsale Bookshop
Our teenage book club returns this year. This free event sees local teenagers review four books, chosen by Mandy Fogarty of Kinsale Bookshop. Mandy will also moderate the discussion.
This years books
List of Real Things by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin.
Step Sister by Jennifer Donnelly.
The Gifted, The Talented and Me by William Sutcliffe.
Get your kids to join in the discussion by reading some of the books before the event.
We are delighted to add that this year we will also have at least one (possibly more) of the authors involved in the event, offering the young bookworms additional insight into the writing process.
We are particularly proud of this event, as one our goals is to encourage a love of books in the next generation. Other young people are encouraged to read the books and come along and participate in the discussion.
‘We are thrilled to be presenting such an impressive literary festival line up for Words by Water 2019. We bring 35 of the best established and emerging Irish and international authors to our town by the sea to create an event that at its heart is about the love of the written word. As you dive into our programme, you’ll see incredible names like Sineád Gleeson, Donal Ryan, Emilie Pine, Rosita Boland, combined with workshops, panel discussions and a fun children’s programme. We want to build on people’s love of reading and writing but also create a new generation who feel inspired by the magic of the written word.’
– Kinsale Literary Festival, Words by Water, Committee Member Ruth McDonnell
With six distinct workshops running throughout the Kinsale Literary Festival, you will get an opportunity to learn more about how great literature is created – this is interesting whether you’re a writer who is honing your craft or you just want to get under the bonnet of your favourite books to understand how they were written – from plot development, to comics and song writing the workshops are full of opportunities to learn more about what makes writing great.
Kinsale Literary Festival Words by Water is truly a festival for all, so what are you waiting for……dive in.
I so wish I could be in Ireland for this. Kinsale is one of my favourite places and what a fabulous literary line up.
It’s a real gem of a town Jill. Lots of nooks and crannies to hide away for a bit. Thank you so much for sharing & for the support x
Sounds like such a wonderful festival! xx
In a really gorgeous location too!