Short story writers to be celebrated at West Cork Literary Festival
The well-known literary festival in West Cork is celebrating all things short story next month.
Organisers behind the West Cork Literary Festival are encouraging the public to virtually join them next month for a celebration of the short story to mark the publication of Jan Carson’s ‘The Last Resort’.
Jan will be joined by fellow Irish short story writers Lucy Caldwell, Adrian Duncan, Louise Kennedy, and John Patrick McHugh.
In Jan Carson’s new collection ‘The Last Resort’, residents of Seacliff Caravan Park visit their caravans for the first half-term of the year. In this stunning linked short-story collection, Jan explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the church and the legacy of the Troubles.
Lucy Caldwell’s ‘Intimacies’ charts the steps and missteps of young women trying to find their place in the world. These are stories of love, loss, and exile, of new beginnings and lives lived away from home. ‘Intimacies’ offers keenly felt and subtly revealing insights into the heartbreak and hope of modern life.
‘Midfield Dynamo’ is the first collection of short stories by award-winning author Adrian Duncan. Patterning and happenstance make up the rich daily lives of the characters portrayed in these strange, energetic tales.
In ‘The End of the World is a Cul de Sac’, Louise Kennedy’s visceral, stunningly crafted stories, people are effortlessly cruel to one another, and the natural world is a primitive salve.
Announcing a major new voice in literary fiction for the twenty-first century, these sharp shocks of stories offer flashes of beauty, and even humour, amidst the harshest of truths.
Set on an imagined island off the west coast of Ireland, ‘Pure Gold’ is John Patrick McHugh’s debut collection of stories and it conjures a complete and varied cast of characters – some lost, some lonely, many dreaming and others self-deceiving.
The event will take place at 7pm over Zoom on 6 April. Tickets are €5 at westcorkmusic.ie.