Creative Bookmaking Workshops

Sandi Sexton is a talented artist and she's running workshops so you can learn to make your own books. Highly recommended.

Workshops Dates and Timetable:
Thursday Mornings 10.30am - 12.30pm
September 27, October 4, 11 & 18th

Friday Evenings 6.00 - 8.00pm
September 28, October 5, 12 & 19th

Week 1. Case Bound Notebook In this workshop the basic book binding techniques will be covered.
Folding paper, sewing sections of paper together, coverering boards with bookcloth and pasting book
block into covers.

Week 2. Chain Stitch Book Hard Cover Notebook with exposed spine. This book has two boards covered in bookcloth and the sections of paper will be stitched onto the boards using a chain stitch style binding.

Week 3. Combination Book A hard cover with concertina spine and pamphlet stitch. The book in this workshop will be made using a combination of techniques. Boards covered in bookcloth, paper folded into a concertina for the book spine, paper folded into sections and sew nonto concertina spine
using a pamphlet stich. When the book is open it resembles a star shape.

Week 4. Long Stitch A soft covered leather notebook with an exposed spine. No pasting used with this technique. Paper folded and placed into sections and stitched onto a soft leather. The stitching is exposed on the spine.

Athlone Literary Festival

Athlone Literary Festival has lots of interesting readings.

Friday 5th October

5-6pm  One act play by Martin Kelleher.
Venue : Passionfruit Theatre
7.30pm Recital by Athlone A  Cappalla
8.00pm  Reading by Paul Durcan. Paul will be reading from his new book “Praise in which I live and more and have my Being”
Venue : Shamrock Lodge Hotel

Saturday 6th  October   Venue : Shamrock Lodge Hotel

11.00am  Walking tour West Side of Athlone by Gearoid O’Brien.
Meeting point : Side of Castle.
1.00– 2.00pm  Scones and Readings from contributors to Flash Fiction competition.
3.00 – 5.00pm  Mental Illness : The Great Illusion.
Nell McCafferty in conversation with Dr Ivor Browne.
8.00pm Poetry Slam chaired by The Gombeens.

Sunday 7th October

12noon. Athlone Literary Festival Sunday Miscellany.

There are also workshops

9:30 - 4:30pm, Fri 5th, Playwriting Workshop with Thomas Conway of Druid Theatre.
10:30 - 12:30pm, Sat 6th, Creative Writing Workshop with Ann Skelly.
10:30 - 12:30pm Sat 6th, Creative Writing Workshop (11-14 yr olds) with Sinead Kilgarriff.
13:00 - 15:30pm, Sat 6th 'Me Maps' Book Making Workshop with Eilis Murphy

2:30 - 4:30pm, Sat 6th, Poetry Masterclass with Noel Monahan.

Website here

Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition

Fancy a Trip to Limerick?

White House Limerick Poetry presents the Desmond O'Grady Poetry Competition, open to all poets from all around the world.

Rules

Each poet can submit up to three poems.

Poems can be in English or Irish language and must be unpublished.

Free to Enter.

Deadline: 31st October 2012

Judge: Gabriel Fitzmaurice

A shortlist of 40 poems will be selected by the judges and author poets are invited to read them during November 2012 (10 poems per evening) at the White House Limerick Poetry Open Mic that takes place every Wednesday at White House Bar in Limerick, Ireland. Poets that cannot come to the live readings, due to distance or other impediments, can read their poems in video conference over the internet or can submit a recorded video or, if they are technology shy, can nominate someone to read in their place.

Judges will select 10 finalists that are invited to read their poems at the Final Competition Celebration at the beginning of December in Limerick. During this, the winner will be presented with Desmond O'Grady Perpetual Trophy.

More details how to enter here.

Poetry Meets Science

The physicist, Paul Dirac, certainly had a low opinion of poetry (and perhaps poets too). He said something like:

“ In science you want to say something that nobody knew before, in words which everyone can understand. In poetry you are bound to say something that everybody knows already, in words that nobody can understand.”

Now, at the risk of dissing  a Nobel prize winner,  in the Science Gallery, to boot, I don’t completely agree. Experiments with structure and with form  such as rhyme and rhythm play an important part in poetry, just as experiments  do in science,

Watch the rest of my talk at Ignite at Electric Picnic here

(Please ignore the festival hair and general dishevelment)

Seanchaí - The Kerry Writers Museum in Listowel - Creative Writing

Are you finding it hard to get started? Do you feel 'stuck' in the middle of a novel going nowhere? Or are you simply anxious to develop your writing skills for personal reasons? Whatever the answer, this Workshop will help you unlock your creativity.

Through exercises, motivational tips and an in-depth look at the writing process, participants will learn how to harness the creative energy that fuels all the stories we write. We will look at how to develop character, how to write dialogue, and how to put together all the elements of a plot.
Every short story or novel begins with a 'moment of illumination' - a memory, an old photograph, an overheard scrap of conversation. Bring along any potential sources of inspiration and begin your story in earnest during two days of total immersion in the writing process.

Catherine will read from her work on Saturday September 29th at 8pm.  Admission free to workshop participants and €5 to the general public.

Course Fees & Booking Information
Fee Per Workshop : €130.00

• The fee includes all tuition. It does not include accommodation, meals and transport to and from Listowel. 
• Light refreshments will be available at break times. 
• A non-refundable deposit of €50.00 is required when booking your course. The balance is due 2 weeks prior to commencement of the workshop.
• All payments should be made in €uro. All major credit cards are accepted. Cheques should be made payable to The Seanchaí Centre.
• Seanchaí reserves the right to cancel the course at short notice. In this event, a full refund will be made.
• Courses will run from 10 am to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday. Daily times may be subject to change, and participants will be notified of any changes prior to the workshop.
• The workshop director will agree appropriate break times with participants on arrival.
• Places are limited. Strict priority will be given to those who register 4 weeks in advance of the workshop.
• Where participants are asked to submit work, this should be done at least 2 weeks in advance of the workshop.

How to Book :
See website here

Food and Drink Writing Award

The Jeremy Mogford Prize for Food and Drink Writing 2013 will be awarded at next year’s Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival to the best short story on the theme of food and drink.

Food and drink has to be at the heart of the tale. The story could, for instance, be fiction or fact about a chance meeting over a drink, a life-changing conversation over dinner, or a relationship explored through food or drink. It could be crime or intrigue; in fact, any subject you like as long as it involves food and/or drink in some way.

The panel of judges will include Jeremy Mogford, owner of Oxford’s Old Parsonage and Old Bank hotels and Gee’s restaurant, Donald Sloan, co-founder and chair of Oxford Gastronomica and head of the Oxford School of Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University, and Pru Leith, the celebrated food writer and novelist.

Up to 2500 words in total in English and have a food and drink theme at its heart.

Entries should be submitted by email as a Word document to the mogfordprize@oxfordliteraryfestival.org

Deadline: October 1, 2012.

The winning entry will be announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival in March 2013. The winner will receive £7500.
Entrants should also supply their home address, email and telephone number, their age and profession.

All entries submitted remain the property of the entrant. However, the Oxford Literary Festival, Mogford Group and their subsidiaries/associates retain the right to publish the winning and highly commended entries without fee - including the right to print an excerpt for use on festival promotional materials, for example website/brochure and in any festival media or broadcasting coverage, without fee; and the right for entries to be read in public during the festival without fee.

So it looks like it's free to enter but only one prize.

Arts & Disability Ireland on Culture Night

There is never a dull moment when Jessica Casey is around – with her long purple nails, UGG boots, piña coladas, her dog Rosie and her plans to go to Ibiza, or to Australia, or to invent a new lipstick, or to become a farmer - or maybe a nun?

A Screening of ‘Jessica Casey – The Film’ and readings from ‘Jessica Casey and Other Works’
in Temple Bar as part of

Culture Night Friday 21st September

Arts & Disability Ireland are delighted to be presenting two related activities, readings and a film, as part of Dublin’s Culture Night on 21st September.

From 5.30pm there will be readings from ‘Jessica Casey and Other Works’, a collection of poetry by Away with Words, an innovative arts project in which people with intellectual disabilities explore creativity through writing. The readings will be given by well-known actors in locations across Temple Bar. These events will be followed at 7.45pm by a screening of animated short ‘Jessica Casey – The Film’, in Meeting House Square, which brings to cinematic life one of the main characters created by the authors of the book. There is never a dull moment when Jessica Casey is around – with her long purple nails, UGG boots, piña coladas, her dog Rosie and her plans to go to Ibiza, or to Australia, or to invent a new lipstick, or to become a farmer - or maybe a nun?

‘Jessica Casey and Other Works’ is the first formal publication of Away with Words, which was dreamed up by Claude and Mary Madec and set up as a collaboration between local writers and That’s Life (an initiative of the Brothers of Charity Services in County Galway to support people with intellectual disabilities to engage in the arts life of their communities.)

Mary Madec says, “In the individual poems… you will get many insights into how these writers see, feel, taste and hear the world they live in… Poetry also develops an ability to observe and listen to others as well as to oneself. It teaches empathy and compassion…” The book features the three poems that won First, Second and Third in the Inclusion Ireland Poetry Awards.

The12-minute animated short ‘Jessica Casey – The Film’ was created with the collaboration of members of Away with Words collective and visual artist Aideen Barry. The tour de force that is Jessica Casey was brought to cinematic life using stop motion animation and inspired by the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Many of the writers, artists and stars of this project will be in attendance for the Culture Night screening and readings.

Padraig Naughton, Director of Arts & Disability Ireland, says, “In championing the creativity of artists with disabilities, ADI is continually seeking out the very best in artistic practice from at home and abroad. ‘Jessica and Other Works’ is an exemplary Irish collaboration. First premièred at Galway’s 2012 Cuírt International Festival of Literature, ADI is delighted to showcase this beautiful film and thought provoking writing with a Dublin audience on Culture Night.”

These presentations are part of Arts & Disability Ireland’s on-going and internationally-recognised work creating lasting change in the way people with disabilities are involved with, and engage in, artistic and cultural life in Ireland. Arts & Disability Ireland is the resource and development organization for Arts and Disability in Ireland. They champion the creativity of artists with disabilities; promote inclusive experiences for audiences with disabilities and work to enhance the disability-related capacity of arts organizations.

The readings will take place in the following locations:

5.30pm – 5.45pm: Gutter Book Shop, Cows Lane, Temple Bar

6.00pm – 6.15pm: Queen of Tarts, Cows Lane, Temple Bar

7.00pm – 7.15pm: Outside Project Arts Centre, 39 Essex Street East, Temple Bar

Or look out for the hot pink umbrella’s….

7.45pm – 7.57pm: Screening of Jessica Casey, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar.

Arts and Disability Ireland would like to acknowledge the support of Salmon Poetry, publishers of ‘Jessica Casey and Other Works.’