“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

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Festival: Festival du Polar Irlandais Noire Emeraude

It’s off with a host of Irish crime writers to Paris and the Irish Cultural Centre for the weekend, and the Festival du Polar Irlandais Noire Emeraude, which loosely translates as the ‘Emerald Black Irish Crime Festival’. To wit:
Wednesday 19 September, 7.30 pm
OPENING EVENING
Benjamin Black (John Banville) in conversation with Clíona Ní Ríordáin
Born in Ireland in 1945, John Banville lives in Dublin. Since its inception, the work of this "goldsmith of words" has been rewarded with numerous literary prizes. Passionate about police literature of the 50s, he also wrote black novels under the pseudonym Benjamin Black, the last appeared Vengeance (2017); their recurring hero, coroner Quirke, was portrayed by Gabriel Byrne in a television series aired in 2014 on the BBC.

Thursday, September 20th, 7:30 pm
DETECTIVES AND CRIMINALS FROM PAGE TO SCREEN
Jo Spain in conversation with director Conor Horgan
The Irish novelist of crime fiction, Jo Spain, recently commissioned to write her first TV drama for RTÉ, will tell us about the difficulties of moving from writing novels to that of scenarios. Produced this summer by the directors of the hit Irish series Love / Hate, her Taken Down series is released on screen in November 2018.

Friday, September 21, 7:30 pm
SCENE OF THE CRIME
Alex Barclay and Declan Hughes in conversation with Declan Burke
Scene of the Crime will focus on Ireland as a backdrop for crime fiction and what is so revealed about contemporary society. Alex Barclay and Declan Hughes will also tell us about their experience when locating a plot in a foreign country, their motivations, the constraints that entails and the strengths that this narrative choice represents.

Saturday, September 22nd, 5pm
WHYDUNIT
Liz Nugent, Jane Casey and Declan Burke in conversation with Declan Hughes
Whydunit will examine the alternatives to the traditional black novel focusing in particular on the psychological drama as well as on the band police officer.
Liz Nugent, Jane Casey and Declan Burke will give us keys to understanding this form of crime novel that focuses more on the motivations of the character who committed a crime than on the murderer.

Saturday, September 22, 7:30 pm
TRUE CRIME
Eoin McNamee, Niamh O'Connor, Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde in conversation with Wesley Hutchinson
Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde are the creators of West Cork, a podcast produced by Audible, dealing with the murder of Frenchwoman Sophie Toscan de Plantier in the West Cork area. With Niamh O'Connor and Eoin McNamee, they will discuss the ethics of novel based on a real news story.
  For all the details, clickety-click here

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