Ballina Fringe Festival welcomes one of its own home to Mayo on Friday, October 11, with the appearance of Cross native Lisa Coen at this year’s Ballina Fringe Festival.
Tramp Press was launched by Lisa and Sarah Davis-Goff Coen in 2014 with the aim of finding, nurturing and publishing exceptional literary talent. To date, they have published critically acclaimed authors including Thomas Morris, Sara Baume, Joanna Walsh and Mike McCormack.
Their authors have won Irish Book Awards, the Rooney Prize, a Lannan Fellowship, and nominations for the Guardian First Book Award, the Edinburgh First Book award, the Dublin Literary Award and more. In 2015, Tramp Press won the David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Award for the arts category, and they have found critical acclaim in the TLS, Guardian, Literary Review, Irish Times and more.
Now, in the intimate setting of Ballina Arts Centre, Lisa, along with Tramp writers Ian Maleney and Arja Kajermo, will explore the themes of identity and sense of place and how they manifest themselves in their writing – a topic that aligns with Ballina Fringe’s Festival’s mission of exploring how the magnificent, unforgiving North Mayo landscape manifests itself in our arts content.
Maleney will read from his debut work, Minor Monuments (2019 ), a story which unfolds from the landscape of the Irish midlands and questions the nature of home, memory and belonging, and takes in the physical and philosophical power of sound and music, and the effects of Alzheimer's disease on a family. Kajermo will read from her debut, The Iron Age (2017 ), a part-coming-of-age novel, and part-fairy-tale told from the perspective of a young girl growing up in the poverty of post-war Finland.
The readings will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Coen, Kajermo and Maleney, led by Sean Walsh, Director of Ballina Arts Centre and both authors will be available for signings on the night.
Lisa Coen wrote her Master's thesis on the playwright Tom Murphy, and her PhD thesis on The Abbey Theatre. She has contributed to The Oxford Handbook of Irish Theatre and the occasional journal and newspaper.
Ballina Fringe Festival takes place in partnership with Ballina Arts Centre and Mayo North and in association with the Ice House Hotel. It is funded by LEADER, Creative Ireland, NYCI and Mayo.ie The festival is currently seeking sponsorship locally from businesses and individuals interested in supporting the festival. who are invited to make contact by email to [email protected].
See www.ballinafringefestival.ie or social media for full festival line up and more information. Tickets are on sale now.
