West Cork Literary Festival

In what promises to be a week to remember, the West Cork Literary Festival which opens on Sunday, July 5th, has announced a fantastic line-up of more than fifty writers. Pulitzer prize winning writer Annie Proulx, well-loved Irish author Jennifer Johnston, Liverpudlian favourite Roger McGough, bestselling crime writer Martina Cole and journalist Nell McCafferty will be featuring in the main evening readings in the Maritime Hotel throughout the week of the Festival. Closing the week on a high note, novelist and musician Louis de Bernieres, who wrote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, will perform in St Brendan’s Church on Saturday night. At the heart of the festival is a series of eleven workshops which will take place each afternoon throughout the week. Festival visitors can attend Tariq Ali’s session on History as Fiction, learn why novelist Denyse Woods writes about the Arab world, find out how to harness their creativity with writer Julie Parsons, write for the stage with Billy Roche and can even get tips on how to get published in a special panel discussion with agent Faith O’Grady and journalist Sue Leonard. Young book lovers also have the chance to meet their heroes with afternoon readings by the creator of the famous Horrid Henry books, Francesca Simon, the popular children’s writer Darren Shan, Cathy Hopkins and a special afternoon with Don Conroy, who needs no introduction to children of all ages. At the centre of the children’s festival are three children’s workshops, led by Sarah Webb, Judi Curtin, Niamh Sharkey and Marie Louise Fitzpatrick. For further details see: http://www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie