Cork to host major book trade conference

Cork book lovers are in for a special treat next week when Leeside plays host to this year's Irish Book Trade Conference on February 27 and 28.

Highlights of the event, being held in Cork for the first time, including a Conference Trade Show on Monday, from 1pm to 4pm. 

This will feature exhibitors including publishers, non-book suppliers and industry service providers offering booksellers and suppliers the chance to meet under one roof.

Joan Lucey of Vibes and Scribes, Cork’s last remaining independent bookstore, said it acknowledges the city’s importance as a literary hub. 

“It’s a recognition for the city that we are a city of culture,” she said. “It is fantastic that Cork has been chosen. It’s an acknowledgement of our place as a popular destination.” 

A Bookshop Tour of Cork City takes off on Monday, from 4.15pm to 5.30pm. This walking tour for conference delegates will set off from the hotel and walk the short distance to bookshops Dubray, Eason, Vibes and Scribes, and Waterstones.

The tour will be guided by Tim Clarke and John Breen of Waterstones Cork and will be joined by local author and teacher at Kinsale Community School, Leona Forde, Cork comedian and actor Tadhg Hickey, and Cork-based solicitor and crime novelist, Catherine Kirwan.

A Conference Dinner will be for the first time free to all registered delegates and is sponsored by Pan Macmillan Ireland. Starting at 7.40pm, this event includes the O'Brien Press Bookseller of the Year Award, celebrating excellence in bookselling.

On the Tuesday, from 9.45am to 10.45am, the keynote debate on The Value of Books will be led by David Shelley, CEO of Hachette UK and Ireland, one of these islands’ largest publishing groups. 

The panel comprises Nicki Howard, Director of Gill Books, one of Ireland’s leading publishers, Maria Dickenson, General Manager of Dubray Books, and Tomás Kenny of Kenny’s Bookshop and Art Gallery in Galway.

From 12.25pm to 1.10pm, the Practical Sessions for booksellers and publishers, is a whistlestop session launching a number of resources for Irish booksellers: Selling Children’s Books Effectively, Selling Books as Gaeilge, Selling Manga and Graphic Novels, Directory of Publisher Contacts, and a Directory of Non-Book Suppliers.

From 2.30pm to 3.15pm, the Bookshop Events – Back on the Road seminar will see Booksellers Association President, Hazel Broadfoot, chair an industry panel looking at practical ways to run a successful events calendar in post-lockdown Ireland. The panel includes Elaine Egan, Hachette Ireland, John Breen, Waterstones Cork, Sarah Kenny of Kenny’s in Galway, and Emma Bradshaw of the Booksellers Association. The full programme of events is online at booksellerevents.org.uk