All literary roads lead to Westport from November 9 to 11 for the third Rolling Sun Festival, a quirky book and literary festival appealing to everyone who has ever enjoyed the written or spoken word. Several events are free of charge, one is specifically for children, another for book clubs. Check rolling-sun-festival on Facebook for full details.
Lunch with Kevin Barry is the kick off point, taking place at The Quay Cottage Restaurant on Friday 9 November. Sligo-based author Kevin Barry is hotly tipped to be the new Irish writing phenomenon of the decade. Here’s a chance to listen to this remarkable talent reading from his award winning work while enjoying a two-course lunch from the kitchen of another artist, Michael Nagy. Bookings 098 28088 (cost €20 ). Everyone is welcome to the Clew Bay Hotel at 7pm on Friday, November 9 for the official festival opening by Cliodhna Ní hAnluain, producer of the well known RTE radio show Sunday Miscellany. She’s staying around for the weekend and presenting a live version of the iconic Sunday Miscellany on Sunday morning at Westport Cinema.
Book clubs have grown at a truly astounding rate in the last few years and one event is designed to appeal to all book club members. It’s a Book Club Tea Party on Saturday, November 10 at 12pm in the Wyatt Hotel. The designated book is This Is How It Ends by Kathleen MacMahon and the author will be there herself to discuss the book and read from it. She will be joined by two other authors, Kate Kerrigan and Paul Soye who will chair the event. All book club members (and those who aren’t ) are invited to join in. Cost is €12 or €10 for book club members.
Westport library plays host to a lovely event for children (especially girls aged 10-12 ) on Saturday afternoon at 3pm. Ireland’s best loved children’s author Judi Curtin performs engaging readings of her books. She is best known for the Alice and Megan. This event is free and Judi is looking forward to meeting some of her young fans.
A major highlight of this year’s Rolling Sun Festival is Adventures of a Waterboy – An evening of music and readings. The Waterboys' front man Mike Scott marks the launch of his memoir Adventure Of A Waterboy with an intimate reading from the book followed by a short acoustic set with his colleague, fiddler Steve Wickham. The venue is the wonderful Holy Trinity Church on the Newport Road on Friday evening at 8.30pm For more on the Rolling Sun Book Festival line-up visit the Rolling-Sun-Festival page on Facebook. For tickets to festival events, call the Clew Bay Hotel on 098 28088.
