Christmas is in high gear, and it’s all about tinsel and fairy lights at Workhorse towers. In between the manic shopping and egg nogging (ok, that’s not a word) there’s a surprisingly […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (9-12-13 – 15-12-13)
Books: Gift Ideas for Teenagers/ Young Adults
If you are planning to buy a book for the teenager in your family, here are my top ten choices for young adults who are looking for something outside the Harry Potter/Hunger […]
Dalkey Book Festival – Winter tales – Dec 7th
I almost missed this one altogether, but thanks to Dan for the tip off. This is an interesting day of talks in Dalkey, with Paul Howard, Pat McCabe, Eamon Dunphy, Conor Brady, […]
Books : Christmas Gift Ideas for the Under 5’s
In no particular order, here are my top ten books that me and the little ones have read together throughout the year! Oh No George!-Chris Haughton: George the dog is briefly left […]
Food DIY – Tim Hayward – Book Review
Stuck for an ideal Christmas gift for the handyman –or woman- in your life? Look no further. Outdoorsy life meets culinary art meets Blumenthalian scientific application meets making your own beanhole oven […]
Arimathea – Frank McGuinness – Book Review
It seems an unlikely story. A Donegal priest with a passion for Italian art decides upon the death of his mother to commission artwork for the local church funded by his inheritance. […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (25-11-13 – 1-12-13)
Wow, that year went fast, as we’re entering December already! Hardly seems possible. So, what is new in the streets of Dublin this week. Well, a few of the Christmas shows arrive […]
The Circle – Dave Eggers – Book Review
If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is […]
Irish Crime Fiction Festival – 22nd – 23rd Nov – TCD
Yes, another chance to find out ‘who dunnit’ in Trinity college this weekend, with the best and brightest of Irish and International Crime writers, with many events free! Full details can be […]
The Eloquence of the Dead – Conor Brady – Book Review
Detective fiction can come in waves. Murders in the 1880s are the current vogue, be it ‘Ripper Street’ or ‘Whitechapel’. Conor Brady’s excellent contribution to the genre, ‘The Eloquence of the Dead’, […]
Dublin Book Festival – Pauline McLynn, Paul Howard and Pat McCabe
The Making us Laugh session on Sunday at 2pm featured Paul Howard (of Ross O’Carroll Kelly fame) and Pauline McLynn. Damien Corless had the job of controlling these two live wires, but […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (18-11-13 to 24-11-13)
Congratulations to all those involved in the Dublin Book Festival. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, but the few events I attended were top notch. So, to look ahead to […]
Myth of the Perfect Woman – Dublin Book Festival – Review
Debunking the ideal of the perfect woman isn’t necessarily a subject that lends itself to a ninety-minute live audience discussion. For a start, there is the problem that talking about these issues […]
RTE Arena Live at Dublin Book Festival – Review
If CS Lewis was right, and the future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, then last night’s live recording of RTE’s Arena at the Dublin […]
Being Alexander – Diarmuid Ó Conghaile – Book Review
Alexander Vespucci works as an economist and lives with his girlfriend in a basement apartment in Rathmines. He enjoys horse riding on weekends and meets up with his friends after work for […]
The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt – Book Review
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (published by Little, Brown) A good book is a wonderful thing to ease the transition to the dark winter evenings. Ideally such a book should be long […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (11-11-13 to 17-11-13)
I think I’ve been trying to see Pere Ubu play live ever since I was about 16 (sadly neither today or yesterday), this Thursday is a chance to put that one right. […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (4-11-13 to 10-11-13)
So the ghosts and ghouls are back in their box for another year, and we’re left facing into the run up to… well, I won’t say it yet, but you know what […]
Inside the Rainbow: Russian Children’s Literature 1920-35 – Book Review
Raduga (Rainbow) was one of around a hundred publishers of children’s books in Russia in the 1920s, the best of which were offspring of the earlier Leninist seizure of power. That revolution, […]
Picture Me Gone – Meg Rosoff – Book Review
Every now and then I return to my YA roots. Maybe its the longing for a time in life that seems much simpler than now, the excitement of first loves, or the […]
An Evening with Elizabeth Gilbert – Oct 23rd – Liberty Hall
Even if you don’t know who Elizabeth Gilbert is, you’ll know Eat, Pray, Love, which was published in 2006 sold over ten million copies worldwide and was made into an awful film […]
Bram Stoker Festival Preview
This should be lots of fun. There’s events all over the city from the 26th to the 29th of October, and most of the events are FREE! The Literature Section has a […]
Book Review – A Hologram for the King – Dave Eggers
“Please, we’re separated by the thinnest filament” First published by boutique publisher McSweeney’s Press in July 2012 Dave Eggers’ novel “A Hologram for the King” hits the shelves this autumn in paperback. […]
ISLA Festival 2013 – Instituto Cervantes Dublín – Oct 18th-20th
This is probably the best literary festival you haven’t heard of, certainly it nearly passed me by without noticing it. It has some familiar faces such as Marina Carr, Paula Meehan, John […]
Kim Newman Interview – Bram Stoker Festival Preview
Kim Newman is an expert in all things that go bump in the night. He is the writer of the Anno Dracula series and a regular film reviewer for the Guardian. He […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (14-10-13 to 20-10-13)
So, the Dublin Theatre Festival is at an end, and we’re all a bit exhausted by it all. We need some time to recover, right? Well, sadly, it’s another busy week out […]
Dublin Book Festival 2013 Preview – 14th – 17th Nov 2013
The Dublin Book Festival has announced the programme for the 2013 Festival, and will run from the 14th – 17th November in Smock Alley Theatre, as well as other venues around the […]
Viewpoints: Theoretical Perspectives on Irish Visual Text – Book Review
Is What You See What You Get? – by Sean Sheehan Viewpoints: Theoretical Perspectives on Irish Visual Texts, edited by Claire Bracken and Emma Radley (Cork University Press, 2013) You might think […]
Things to do in Dublin this week (30-09-13 to 6-10-13)
So, another busy week on the streets of Dublin, with some very special events on around the City. There’s Dublin Theatre Festival with all the fun things that involves, also Hard Working Class […]
No More Workhorse 