I’m only just back from France, having attended the Etonnants Voyageurs festival in St Malo, and then gone on to take a week with the family on the west coast of Britanny. I’ll do separate posts on those two, when I get a chance.
Unfortunately, I didn’t win either of the awards I was up for; the Prix Imaginales went to Cornelia Funke for ‘Reckless’ and the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire went to Arthur Slade for ‘La Confrérie de l’Horloge’ (‘The Hunchback Assignments’ in English version). Congrats to both!
Goddammit, always the bridesmaid, never the bride . . .
But no sooner was I back in Ireland, then I was heading down for three days of events in primary schools in Tipperary, organized by the library service and Poetry Ireland. Yesterday I was in Ballyporeen and Burncourt, today was Clogheen and Ballylooby (great name!) and tomorrow it’s Birdhill NS, Newport Convent and Rearcross NS. I’m back again on Monday to visit Mullinahone.
I’ve got some kind of throat infection and it’s making things really awkward – anybody who’s been to one of my sessions will know how rowdy I can get. I’m running a workshop in the Irish Writers’ Centre over the weekend too, and tomorrow night I’m attending a launch of an art exhibition I’m taking part in as part of the Pink Ribbon campaign, in Kells, and it’s hard to see when my voice is going to get a chance to recover before next week.
After a very long couple of months, I’m absolutely knackered, and really looking forward to the summer and staying put for a while. I love my car, but I’m starting to feel as if I’m becoming car-seat-shaped. I’ve got a few events lined up in July and August, but I’m finally going to get a chance to do some writing – and not talking – as well as getting on with the editing of ‘Merciless Reason’, which has been on the shelf for way too long. I’m reading back through it now, not having worked on it in ages, and I’m pretty happy with how it’s going. The designer has started work on the cover now too, so I should have something to show before too long. I love James’s work, so I’ve got high expectations. Seeing the reception to the first two Wildenstern books in France, I’m eager to get the third one out there – hopefully some time next year. ‘Merciless Reason’ is scheduled for release in Ireland and the UK in January.
Coming soon, posts on Etonnants Voyageurs, the holiday, and word from Conor Kostick on his new book, ‘Edda’, the conclusion of his epic trilogy, ‘The Avatar Chronicles’. I’ve just finished reading it, and it’s got all the winning ingredients of the first two, including some theories that are liable to wreck your head if you gave them too much thought. Thanks Conor; as if my brain wasn’t overloaded enough at the moment . . .
