Ryan and Ross creator among headline guests at Dromineer Nenagh Literary Festival

Following the great success of his new book The Queen of Dirt Island launched recently at The Nenagh Bookshop, acclaimed local author Donal Ryan will be reading at this year’s Domineer and Nenagh Literary Festival.

This year’s event runs from September 30 to October 2 in various venues around Nenagh and Dromineer.
Ryan’s new novel has been published to great critical acclaim by critics in Ireland and the UK and he’s greatly looking forward to taking part in this year’s festival.

Also reading this year is Paul Howard whose 25th Ross O’Carroll Kelly book, Once upon a Time in Donnybrook, will be published on September 1; his appearance in Nenagh Arts Centre on September 30 will be his first event with this new book.
This book sees Ross appointed as head coach of the Irish rugby teaml. Paul will be interviewed by writer and journalist Shane Hegarty.

Three debut novelists Edel Coffey, Aingeala Flannery and Conor Habib will read together on October 1 in Nenagh Arts Centre.

Flannery’s novel is set in Tramore, while the others are set in the USA. All three writers have a background in broadcast media.

In a very special event at Solsborough House on October 2 novelist Martina Devlin, author of Edith, a biographical novel about the life of Edith Somerville, will discuss the Irish Big House with Terence Dooley, author of the recent study Burning the Big House: The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution

Hilary Dully has edited Maire Comerford’s revolutionary memoir, On Dangerous Ground. Comerford was an Irish Republican from County Wexford who witnessed central events of the Irish Revolution 1916-23 and remained a committed historical researcher, republican activist and writer until her death in 1982.

Dully will be discussing Comerford’s importance in Irish history on October 1.

This year marks the 230th anniversary of the “last gathering of harpers” in Belfast in 1792

It was at this historic event that Edward Bunting transcribed many well known airs, preserving much Irish music for posterity.

In what promises to be a very special event, poet and harper Emily Cullen and fiddler Eileen Minogue O’Brien will celebrate the legacy of that important occasion in poetry, harp, fiddle and song.

This event will also include the world premiere of a new piece commissioned by Nenagh Dromineer Literary Festival.

This year’s ever popular schools poetry competition will be judged by poet Eileen Sheehan.

Eileen, from Kerry, has read at festivals in Ireland and abroad including the Shanghai Literary Festival, the ACIS Conference in Davenport, Iowa and the Cork International Poetry Festival. One of the poems from her third collection, The Narrow Way of Souls (Salmon Poetry), is on the Leaving Certificate English Syllabus 2019-2022.

Eileen is greatly looking forward to seeing all the entries and enjoying the wonderful poetry written by third to sixth class students in Tipperary primary schools.

The poetry prize will be presented on October 1 in Nenagh Library.

For the full programme see www.dnlf.ie