Come and join us for an evening of readings curated by poet Matthew Geden. We will be showcasing work by new and established writers. This will be a relaxed and intimate event, everyone welcome. Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England, moving to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet with numerous publications […]
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald will read from her two latest novels. All The Money In The World came out in 2021. It's about what happens to Penny Nolan, whose difficult life suddenly starts to look completely different when she unexpectedly receives a million euros. The Shark and the Scar (published in June 2022) is about thirteen-year-old Jay […]
Danielle McLaughlin’s debut novel The Art of Falling was published in 2021. She is also the author of the short story collection Dinosaurs on Other Planets. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Stinging Fly and various anthologies. She has won the Windham Campbell Prize, The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, the […]
Catherine, Tadhg and Gráinne discuss the enduring appeal of crime fiction and the growing band of crime writers in Cork Catherine Kirwan grew up on a farm in the parish of Fews, County Waterford. She studied law at UCC and lives in Cork where she works as a solicitor. Catherine’s first book, Darkest Truth, an […]
Christopher Foran is an independent author from Kinsale who has released two children’s picture books entitled Alvin the Unusual Owl and The Unbreakable Ostrich Egg. Since his son Scott arrived in 2015, Christopher and his fiancée have consumed hundreds of books with their son and it gives them both great pleasure to see how much […]
While classic time management advice can be useful for certain stages of any project, a lot of it is virtually useless for people doing creative work, especially at the beginning of a project. This workshop explores how and why creative people often struggle to protect, rescue, value and use time for their creative work. We'll […]
Where do stories come from and how do we get them onto a page? Should we write what we know or make it up? How do we create believable characters and gripping settings? And how can everyday experiences affect our stories? Join the author as she delves into the creative process of writing a book; […]
Shannon Forde is a local historian and genealogist from Kinsale. She studied Law and History in Maynooth University where she also completed a masters in Irish History in 2019. Her thesis focused on the Great Famine in the Kinsale district from the perspective of the landed gentry. During the covid lockdowns of 2019 she began […]
Catherine Prasifka was born in Dublin in 1996. She studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and has an MLitt in Fantasy from the University of Glasgow. She has competed in both the European Debating Championships and the World Championships. She is obsessed with learning about how stories work and has ruined nearly all of […]
Nicholas Ryan Purcell, aged thirty two, has one sister Joanna and has ties to Kinsale, as his granny and aunt live in the town. He has produced two documentary films. ‘This Is Nicholas’ documentary film screened in twenty eight Irish cinemas in 2019 and other venues, including Actons Hotel Kinsale which was organised by Kinsale […]
Sara Baume is a writer of fiction and non-fiction who has received multiple awards and been widely translated. Her debut novel, Spill Simmer Falter Wither, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her second novel, A Line Made by Walking, was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and her first non-fiction book, Handiwork, was shortlisted for the […]
Join us for an evening with RTE broadcaster, John Creedon, author of the bestselling That Place We Call Home. John and Esther will be discussing his first book and his latest offering A Treasury of Irish Folklore which is due in shops in September. One of 12 children, John Creedon grew up in Cork City. […]
Jean Grainger is a USA Today bestselling author from Cork. She dominates the Amazon bestsellers list for Irish Historical fiction and has recently forayed into contemporary mystery. Her first book, The Tour, was published in 2013 and has been a Number 1 bestseller on Amazon. She has just launched her 28th book. She holds a […]
Amy Cronin is a bestselling author who lives by the sea near Kinsale with her husband and young children, where she writes, drinks too much coffee and contemplates learning to swim. Amy is a fan of thrillers and crime novels, and her love of suspense and plot-twists flows into her writing. Amy’s debut novel Blinding […]
Attention all Quizzers Come join our General Knowledg table quiz at The Lord Kingsale, Friday March 24 at 8pm Led by our Quiz Master, Grainne McGuinness Cost: €40 per table of 4 Cash prizes for winners and loads of lovely Raffle prizes Look forward to seeing you!
Come and join us for an evening of readings curated by poet Matthew Geden. We will be showcasing work by new and established writers. This will be a relaxed and intimate event, everyone welcome. Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England, moving to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet with numerous publications […]
The wonderful Alice Taylor needs no introduction and we are so pleased to be welcoming her to Kinsale to chat about her decades of writing on rural Ireland. Who better to sit down with for a cuppa and a reminisce than this much-loved Irish writer, who has been a warm voice of Ireland since the […]
Local author Jerome Lordan presents a kind of visual genealogy and social history of the Old Head of Kinsale and the southern extremity of Courcey Country, from farming, seafaring and sports to local history, language and folklore. Over 450 photographs were collated by Padraig Begley and the late Eugene Dennis to make up this impressive […]
Donal Ryan, from Tipperary, is the author of six novels and a short story collection. He has won several awards for his fiction, including the European Union Prize for Literature, the Guardian First Book Award and four Irish Book Awards, and has been shortlisted for several more. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in […]
Jenny will read stories from a selection of the most popular books for our younger audience. Suitable for tots and younger children. Please note the ALL children attending this event MUST be accompanied by an adult and we have a policy of no photography at children’s events.
In this introductory bookbinding workshop, you will learn how to make your own A5 stab-bound book, a binding method developed in 17th century Japan that is still used throughout the world to create notebooks and albums. All materials will be provided to create your own A5 book, and you will be able to customise your […]
Hilary Mantel was a renowned English writer who twice won the Booker Prize, for her best-selling novel Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies. The final novel of the Wolf Hall trilogy, The Mirror & the Light, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and won worldwide critical acclaim. Mantel […]
Elaine Feeney writes poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Her debut novel As You Were won Dalkey Book Festival’s Emerging Writer Prize, the Kate O’ Brien Award, and the Society of Authors’ Mc Kitterick Prize. Her second novel How to Build a Boat was published in 2023 and has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. A […]
Haiku is the shortest and one of the oldest poetry forms in the world, having originated in Japan in the 17th century. It is primarily a nature poem but can also be used to describe human situations. In this introductory workshop you will get a short history of the form, with examples from classical and […]
Sophie White is a novelist, essayist and podcaster from Dublin. She is the author of seven books and is the current Arts Council Writer-in-Residence at DCU. Her fifth book, the bestselling memoir Corpsing, was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award and the Michel Déon Prize for non-fiction. Sophie’s sixth book, Where I End, won her […]
Aldrin Adams and the Cheese Cightmares (shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year - Irish Book Awards) is a laugh-out-loud children's adventure story, full of mystery, magic and cheeses that seriously, SERIOUSLY pong! A brilliantly funny, heartwarming story. Aldrin Adams and the Legend of Nemeswiss - Some months have passed since Aldrin Adams discovered […]
Sally Hayden is a journalist and the author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route. It was her first book, and won the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2022, the Michel Deon Prize, the An Post Irish Book of the Year, the non-fiction book of the year at […]
Roddy Collins is a football man - now in the sixth decade of a career as a player (at 16 clubs), manager (12 clubs) and commentator. And he is a funny man: an unequalled raconteur with a sharp eye for the absurdities of the professional game and spectacular recall. He has made friends wherever he […]
Named as one of Ireland’s Rising Poets by Poetry Ireland Review, Afric McGlinchey has won numerous prizes, including the Hennessy Poetry Award, Poets Meet Politics prize and several awards from the Arts Council of Ireland. In 2023, Salmon Poetry published The lucky star of hidden things, and in 2016, Ghost of the Fisher Cat, both of which were […]
Disha Bose’s debut novel Dirty Laundry, a domestic noir that examines the dark side of motherhood and suburbia, was published in 2023. She was born and raised in India, and now lives in Cork. She worked in the tech industry until returning to writing in 2015, when she joined the Masters in Creative Writing course […]
"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat […]
Words by Water is delighted to work with one of our local primary schools again this year. Shane Hegarty is a children’s books author from Skerries. His bestselling book series, Darkmouth, has been translated into a dozen languages. His book, Boot, was the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature City Read for 2020 and his most […]
Davy Russell is a retired National Hunt jockey. He was Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-chase de Paris. Courting injuries and success before finally retiring, his story will bring it all to the fore. My Autobiography is his first book, […]
Come and join us for an evening of poetry and song curated by poet Matthew Geden. We will be showcasing work by new and established writers. This will be a relaxed and intimate event, everyone welcome. Matthew Geden was born and brought up in England, moving to Kinsale in 1990. He is a poet with […]
The wonderful Alice Taylor needs no introduction and we are so pleased to welcome her to Kinsale to chat about her decades of writing about rural Ireland. Who better to sit down for a cuppa and a reminisce than this much-loved Irish writer, who has been a warm voice of Ireland since the publication of […]
Amanda Neri is an award-winning singer and director who loves to write. She has written two musicals winning the Cork Theatre Critic’s Award for best newcomer. Her other writing includes poetry and short stories. Her children’s book, The Golden Fairy Door, tells the story of how grandpa and grandma had a chance encounter with a […]
Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel The Firestarters won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019. Jan’s latest novel, The Raptures, was published in Doubleday in early 2022 and was subsequently shortlisted for the An Post Irish […]
During her 15-year career as Ireland’s State Pathologist, Marie Cassidy became known to the Irish public as a trusted figure whose expertise helped to solve murders and clarify unexplained deaths. In over thirty years of practice, she performed thousands of post-mortems and dealt with hundreds of murders. She has witnessed the burgeoning role of forensic […]
Listening to the rhythm of your work, finding your writing voice and learning to trust your gut. This one-hour workshop will look at the natural rhythm in all writing. It will explore how to lean into your own writing rhythm as well as tuning into your gut instinct. Only you can tell your story. Fíona […]
In this introductory bookbinding workshop, you will learn how to make your own A5 stab- bound book, a binding method developed in 17th century Japan that is still used throughout the world to create notebooks and albums. All materials will be provided to create your own A5 book, and you will be able to customise […]
Nadine Hughes Campbell is the author behind Noah’s Cork Adventure. Born and raised in Montréal, Nadine traded in the busy streets of her Canadian hometown for the gorgeous landscapes of Cork. This children’s author and devoted mother discovered her passion for storytelling upon the birth of her first child, turning each bedtime into a voyage […]
Ethel Crowley PhD is an Irish sociologist. She is the author of Land Matters, Daring to Dream and Your Place or Mine?, as well as other journal articles, book chapters and newspaper articles. Over the years, she has combined university lecturing and academic writing with travels in Latin America, the Middle East and India. She […]
Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from the north-west of Ireland. How to Gut a Fish, her first collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award and longlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Falling Animals, her debut novel, was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2024 and chosen for BBC2’s Between […]
Who was the Bellman? Where was World’s End? What was a bridge of boats? When did chocolate arrive? Why fight a battle at Christmas? Step into history with Barry to find out. Barry Moloney has been a tour guide of Kinsale for the last 20 years. He has just published an illustrated history of Kinsale […]
EVENT ALERT - event time has been moved to 2:45pm. Sinéad Gleeson’s essay collection Constellations: Reflections from Life, was published by Picador in 2019 and won Non- Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Literary Award for Emerging Writers. It was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the […]
Rónán Hession is an Irish writer and musician based in Dublin. His debut novel, Leonard and Hungry Paul was published by Bluemoose Books in 2019. It was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the An Post Irish Book Awards, the British Book Awards, the Books Are My Bag awards, the Dalkey […]
Marian Keyes is a phenomenon. The multimillion copy, internationally bestselling author of some of the most widely loved, genre-defying novels of the past thirty years – including Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups – has millions of devoted readers around the world. My Favourite Mistake is her sixteenth novel. In addition to her […]
We are always very proud and supportive of our local writers and this event is a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talent and spotlight their voices. Michelle Dunne is a crime and thriller writer from Cobh whose new psychological thriller, The Good Girl, was published by Bloodhound Books in March 2024. In July 2024, The […]
Have you ever wondered how paper was made? Come and learn the ancient technique of paper making using recycled denim, vegetable matter and recycled paper. In the class we will learn how to cast leaves, grasses and other matter and also how to make sheets of paper suitable for book making and other art projects. […]