Friday 9 October 2009

Great Irish Book Week

Great Irish Book WeekGreat Irish Book Week was launched on October 1st at the National Library. The Great Irish Book Week will take place from Saturday the 24th to Saturday the 31st October 2009 with the aim of "rekindling the nation's passion for books". The campaign will focus primarily on promoting Irish published books. Irish book publishers will collaborate with booksellers across the island of Ireland, to help attract more people to bookshops and encourage readers to support local authors and publishers. An independent panel of booksellers has selected 30 new fiction, poetry, Irish language and non-fiction books to showcase the best new Irish books. The list includes books by Joseph O’ Connor, Alice Taylor, Eddie Hobbs and many others. Anyone buying a book displaying the special Great Irish Book Week sticker will receive a free 210-page paperback book, which contains extracts from the 30 recommended reads. Authors will also be participating in events in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast. “Literature is Ireland’s greatest export and as a nation we have always been fascinated by books. However, in recent years there has been a decline in the number of book published in Ireland” said Alan Hayes, President of Publishing Ireland, the national association of book publishers. Mr Hayes added that local publishers play a vital role in fostering emerging talent. “Before many of our finest writers, such as Joseph O’ Connor and Eoin Colfer, went on to international fame they were given their first break by Irish publishers. Without a vital national book sector emerging authors may never see their work published, and we will be the poorer for it as a nation,” he said. The RTE Guide will be running a competition on October 13th where readers will get a chance to win the 30 Great Irish Books. For a list of the books, see http://www.greatirishbookweek.com/.

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