Summer Reads

Arminta Wallace, writing in The Irish Times on Saturday, July 4th, recommends top-notch crime novels with a strong sense of place for reading on the beach this summer. With settings from Alaska to Venice, this collection of thrillers should have something for everyone wherever you’re heading this summer. See http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0704/1224250018658.html

Indian Classical Concert at The Courthouse Gallery

The Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon, presents Sougata Roy Choudhruy and Debojyoti Sanyal on sarod and tabla on Thursday July 9th at 9pm. Tickets on Door- 10 euro or children 2 euro. Sougata Roy Chowdhury & Debojyoti Sanyal are a new generation of Classical Indian Musicians. These Kolkatta musicians are both disciples of the great masters of the North Indian Classical tradition. This duo has had several highly acclaimed and extremely successful tours of France, Germany, Austria and Ireland since 2002. With over 20 years of experience each on their instruments, these highly accomplished musicians are part of the new generation of up and coming Classical Indian musicians. Sougata, student of the late Dhyanesh Khan, plays the sarod. He also teaches a growing number of students who come from all parts of the world to study the subtle art of Indian music under his guidance. Debojyoti, a student of Pandit Shankar Ghosh, plays the tabla, the unique hand drums famous for their delicate and rich sound.

Books and CDs on Miltown’s famous son

This week, Miltown Malbay becomes the traditional music capital of Ireland during the annual Willie Clancy Summer School where Irish music enthusiasts come together to play music, to learn music, to dance, to teach and to listen. Clare County Library has a collection of books, CDs and cassette tapes that will be of interest to those attending the summer school. A Touchstone for the Tradition: the Willie Clancy Summer School by Tony Kearns and Barry Taylor is the story in words and in pictures of the origins of the Willie Clancy Summer School and its development over thirty years and of the contribution of the school to traditional music. The Dance Music of Willie Clancy by Pat Mitchell contains the tunes of Willie Clancy for those wishing to learn to play. The library also holds volumes 1 and 2 of The Pipering of Willie Clancy – recordings by RTE of Clancy’s pipe and whistle playing from 1958 until his death in 1973. Willie Clancy: the Minstrel from Clare also contains recordings of his piping and whistle-playing as well as his singing. The songs range from the comic and bawdy to the sentimentally patriotic.The instrumentals range from jigs and reels to the slow airs for which Willie was justly famous. The library holds two collections of recordings made at recent summer schools in Miltown. Rogha Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy – Selected Recordings from the Willie Clancy Summer School 2007 features musicians such as Martin Hayes and Noel Hill. Ceol agus Foinn Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy – Music and Songs From the Willie Clancy Summer School contains a selection of music and song recorded by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta at the school in the years up to 2007. Artists include PJ Crotty, Micko Russell, Joe Ryan, Seán Ryan, John McEvoy and Paddy Canny. These CDs can be listened to in Miltown Public Library and are also available for borrowing from there and from other libraries throughout the County.

Quest Seekers Children’s Summer Reading Challenge - Promotional Materials for the Visually Impaired

Summer Reading Challenge Quest Seekers Promotional Packs for children who are visually impaired are available through all branches of Clare County Library. Packs contain super-sized fold-out posters with 18+ font size and large stickers. Visually impaired certificates are over-brailled and Braille handout sheets with instructions are included. Clare County Library invites parents of visually impaired children to request these special packs at their local library. The supply of these materials is in keeping with Clare County Council’s promotion of positive actions to achieve equality of access to all services.

Willie Clancy at the Kilrush Fleadh Cheoil in 1967

Every year, in early July, the town of Miltown Malbay in West Clare becomes an international centre for traditional musicians. The town reverberates to the sound of flutes, fiddles, accordians, concertinas and especially uilleann pipes. The celebration is in memory of Miltown Malbay's famous son, the late Willie Clancy. More info...

The Whale wins Samuel Johnson prize

Leviathan, or The Whale by Philip Hoare has been named the winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2009. Hoare has had a life long obsession with whales inspired by the literary classic Moby Dick. Leviathan is part natural history, part literary criticism, part economics and part memoir but at its heart is the author's lifelong obsession for all things whale. Jacob Weisberg, chairman of the judging panel, predicted that Hoare's genre-defying book would become nothing less than "a classic". He commented: “What made Leviathan stand out in a shortlist of wonderful reads was Philip Hoare’s lifelong passion for his subject and his skill in making his readers share it. His prose is dream-like and rises to the condition of literature.” Hoare's book saw off competition from a shortlist that also included Ben Goldacre's book version of his Guardian column Bad Science which was the favourite to claim the award. The others were Liaquat Ahamed's Lords of Finance, an examination of the Great Depression; David Grann's The Lost City of Z, about the British explorer Percy Fawcett; Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonder and a book praised for making quantum physics accessible and interesting - Manjit Kumar's Quantum.

The Kate Greenway Medal

The Kate Greenway Medal was established in 1955 for distinguished illustration in children’s books. It is named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her fine children's illustrations and designs. The winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice. The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Winner 2009 is Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner.
The shortlist was;
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico illustrated by Angela Barrett
Varmints by Helen Ward illustrated by Marc Craste
Little Boat by Thomas Docherty illustrated by Thomas Docherty
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham illustrated by bob Graham
The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
The Savage by Dave McKean illustrated by Dave McKean
Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner illustrated by Catherine Rayner
Molly and the Night Monster by Chris Wormell illustrated by Chris Wormell

Carnegie Medal

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Carnegie Medal has been awarded for children’s writing in the UK for the past 72 years. There is no cash reward for the author, but it is however the most prestigious reward in the world of children’s publishing. Librarians throughout Britain nominate titles for the long list. Subsequently twelve librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group meet to discuss the long list and agree the titles for the shortlist. There was a strong Irish presence in this year’s excellent shortlist, with two of this country’s top selling, award-winning writers, Eoin Colfer and Kate Thompson nominated. Thompson’s Creature of the Night won this year’s CBI/Bisto Book of the Year Judge’s Special Recognition Award. The winning book was Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd. Siobhan was born to Irish parents grew up in London and had strong links with Ireland, visiting Waterford and Wicklow many times in her youth. She drew on these experiences for the setting of her award-winning novels before her untimely death in 2007. This year’s CBI/ Bisto Book of the Year Prize was awarded posthumously to her for Bog Child. The London Eye Mystery also by Siobhan Dowd was the 2008 Bisto Book Award Winner.
The complete shortlist was;
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks
Airman by Eoin Colfer
Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
and
Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson
All seven books explore the theme of teenage boys growing up, set against a variety of backgrounds in a variety of genres encompassing historical, fantasy and adventure writing.
“What really stands out in all the novels on our shortlist is the capacity of each author, in their very different ways to empathise with young people, and really get inside their heads”, comments Joy Court, Chair of the 2009 Judging Panel. “Each book lays bare the thorny process of turning from child to adult and the moral dilemmas, ambivalent relationships and confusing feelings that characterise the business of growing up. These are characters young readers will identify with and books that really do have the power to influence young lives.”

New Children’s Laureate

Anthony Browne was announced as the UK’s new Children’s Laureate in June 2009. He pledges to raise the profile of picture books and encourage adults as well as children to draw. The multi-award winning author/illustrator whose picture books are known world wide, is the second illustrator to be named Children’s Laureate. The first was Quentin Blake, ten years ago. Picture books by Anthony Browne available in Clare County Library branches include:
Gorilla
King Kong
Little Beauty
My Dad
Willy the Wimp
Willy and Hugh
Willy the Dreamer
My Mum and
Zoo

Free lunchtime concert in Courthouse Gallery

The Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon presents a free lunchtime traditional music concert as part of the Riches of Clare 2009 series. The concert will take place this Friday, 3rd July 2009 at 1pm in the gallery. Performers include Conor Crimmins, Caitlín Nic Gabhann and Damien O’Mhuiris. Admission is free and all are welcome. For more information please see www.richesofclare.com and ennistymoncourthousegallery.blogspot.com