“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Heist Of Crime Writers?

It’s a murder of crows, so it’ll have to be a heist of crime writers. Anyhoo, it’s the same all over, I know, so you won’t be too surprised to learn that crime fiction in Ireland is generally regarded as the idiot half-brother to the more suavely literary end of things. That may be about to change, however – hot on the heels of the Mystery Readers’ Journal ‘Irish Mysteries’ issue comes the news that the ‘Sunday Independent Books 2008’ literary festival will take place in Dublin over the first weekend in September, and that the powers-that-be have decreed that the festival will include a number of panels on Irish crime writing. Huzzah! The crime writing element offers a pretty strong line-up, with John Connolly, Tana French, Colin Bateman, Declan Hughes, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Gene Kerrigan, Brian McGilloway, Arlene Hunt and Alex Barclay so far confirmed to come together to plot that one last heist. Oh, and some chancing wastrel called (koff) Declan Burke will be there too. Further details will be forthcoming as they arrive at the Grand Vizier’s lair, and the official website should be up and running early next week. Stay tooned, folks …

7 comments:

John McFetridge said...

Wow, what a great line-up.

Now, all you have to do is pull off a realistic looking laryngitis and you can sit back and enjoy...

Stuart Neville said...

Hmm. I may just have to venture south of the border for this one...

Colin said...

Apologies folks, but I have to back out of this one. I'm married and I'm NOT ALLOWED TO GO. Prior commitments at a wedding I knew about but obviously put out of my mind. But I will be thinking of you all, and raising a pint. Or twelve.
BATEMAN

Declan Burke said...

Colin - is it the albinos? Are they forcing your hand on this? If so, just say the word and I'll send the elves in ... Cheers, Dec

Peter Rozovsky said...

Fook, if I come to Ireland, that's exactly when I'll be there. Hope I'll get the chance to kick some albino ass.
===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Congrats to all you Irish crime writers! And have a great weekend! Looking forward to seeing the details in due course...

Declan Burke said...

Peter Rozovsky, come on down! Oh, and we're only kidding about the albinos - we love them, really. And we don't really go around kicking their ass over here. Hope this saves on any potentially embarrassing incidents while you're on your holidays ... Cheers, Dec