Cork World Book Fest takes place next week

THE Lord Mayor of Cork, Councillor Deirdre Forde, will officially launch the Cork World Book Fest in Cork City Library next week.

The event, which will take place on Tuesday, April 18 at 7pm, will mark the launch of the festival which runs until April 23, and will be followed by the opening night’s first event.

David Constantine and Carys Davies, both winners of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, will be in conversation with prize-winning author Sarah Harte, speaking about how the biggest short-story collection prize in the world at the time brought accomplished international writers in contact with new and emerging Irish short-story writers. Liadain O’Donovan, daughter of Frank O’Connor, will also be in attendance.

Opening night will continue with Michael Magee in conversation with Paul Burgess where Mr Magee, fiction editor of The Tangerine and a graduate of the PhD Creative Writing programme at Queen’s University Belfast, will discuss his first novel, ‘Close to Home’, which explores masculinity during the latter days of the Troubles.

Louise Nealon, author of Snowflake, will be in conversation with her German translator Anna-Nina Kroll on Wednesday, April 19, while debut novels will be celebrated in the Triskel on Friday, April 21 with Eleanor O’Kelly-Lynch and Michelle McDonagh in conversation with Alison Driscoll.

Join authors Peter Sirr, Stav Poleg and Adrian Duncan as they reveal, page-by-page, the layers of the physical space we inhabit, our built environment and the place we call home on April 20 at The City Library on Grand Parade.

On Saturday, April 22, there will be an outdoor book market at the Grand Parade with an array of literary finds from some of the finest booksellers in the city and county.

There will also be events for children and teens throughout the week, and the majority of events throughout the week are free to attend.

Fiction at the Friary will close the festival with a Rapid Fire Fiction session on Sunday, April 23 where 20 emerging writers will read short extracts from their work and, together, will write an entirely new story.

For more information, visit corkworldbookfest.com