This article is from page 24 of the 2011-01-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 24 JPG
DETAILS of the 2011 Ennis Book Club Festival will be announcned in the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis tonight, Tuesday, January 11, at 7.30pm.
The festival will run at venues around Ennis from March 6-11. The programme will include authors’ readings, lectures, music, workshops, exhibitions and more.
Among the contributors to last year’s festival were Lionel Shriver, prolific journalist and Orange Prizewinning author and Joseph O’Connor, journalist, screenwriter and author of ten Irish number one bestsellers
Supported by Clare County Library, the three-day programme of events is expected to attract hundreds of Book Club members and book lovers from all over Europe and North America. The festival programme features author visits, readings, lectures and workshops, exhibitions, walking history tours, musical entertainment and chocolate tasting in various venues around Ennis.
It also includes a ‘Book Club of the Year Award’ and a professional development workshop for library staff.
The winning Book Club (up to a maximum of six people) will receive a prize of free weekend passes to festival events and overnight accommodation at the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis.
The inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival was held in 2007. Past participants have included Patrick McCabe, John Boyne, Carlo Gébler, Edna O’Brien, Joanne Harris, Brian Keenan and Roddy Doyle.
Previous festivals have also attracted literary enthusiasts from all over North America and Europe, including members from many of Ireland’s 150 Library Book Clubs and more than 300 Private Book Clubs, thus proving that literature and books are still thriving in Ireland.