West Cork Literary Festival

8 - 14 July 2012

Sir Michael Parkinson, John McCarthy, Anita Desai, Paul Muldoon, Romesh Gunesekera, Kevin Barry and Anita Shreve are just some of the headliners at the 2012 West Cork Literary Festival, in Bantry, West Cork. This year's festival is  celebrating the maritime heritage - from Brendan the Navigator to Wolfe Tone, from longboats, and the French non-invasion, to the forthcoming visit of the Atlantic Challenge to Bantry with The Bantry Bay Series, which will include readings and talks based on all sorts of matters nautical, as well as a reading on an Irish Navy vessel. Another theme this year is Writers in Peril; the first evening's event is an interview with journalist and broadcaster John McCarthy, who was kidnapped and held for five and a half years on his on his first foreign assignment to Beirut in 1986. Throughout the week, in association with Amnesty International the festival honours those who risk their lives in order to write, report, blog and tweet for the benefit and enlightenment of us all.   One of the innovations in the 2012 festival is Writer Idol, a fun event which affords aspiring writers the opportunity to submit their work for an on-the-spot assessment by a high-powered panel, featuring Anita Shreve, Marianne Gunne-O'Connor, actress Kate Thompson and Suzanne Babaneau, Senior Consulting Editor with Simon & Schuster.  Other highlights of this annual festival, which has attracted writers with international reputations to the beautiful West Cork town of Bantry will include Dava Sobel, Christine Dwyer-Hickey, Dermot Healy, Claire Kilroy, Chris Stewart, Noo Saro-Wiwa, Gerald Dawe, Colm O'Gorman, Theo Dorgan, Alex Scarrow and many more.  There will also be late-night readings in Bantry Courthouse with authors Liam Ó Muirthile and Michael Clifford as well as thriller duo, Nicci French, and, for a change of pace, Afternoon Tea with Jane Urquhart.  As usual, the festival is hosting a series of diverse workshops, from Flash Fiction to how to write a Comic Novel, Songwriting with Jamie Lawson, poetry with Dermot Healy, Fiction and Novel Writing with Glenn Patterson and Claire Kilroy, Journalism with Lorna Siggins, Teenage Writers workshop with Dave Lordan and the Short Story with Tessa Hadley.  The JG Farrell Award runs for the third year and invites entries from aspiring novelists from Munster. The prize for the best first chapter of a novel-in-progress is a place on Claire Kilroy's Novel Writing workshop and accommodation in the Maritime Hotel, Bantry.   The Children's Festival at West Cork has always been strong with readings, workshops and special events and this year organisers are very proud to present, Anne Fine, a distinguished writer for both adults and children. The West Cork Literary Festival, July 8th - 14th, is organised by West Cork Music in partnership with the Cork County Library and Arts Service and funded by the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland. Booking for readings or Workshops is on 027  52788 or through www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie.