Ennis Bookclub Festival: March 1-3

The Ennis Bookclub Festival has been announced for 2013. The Ennis Book Club Festival is a terrific social and literary gathering bringing together book club members and readers from Ireland and beyond. The festival is supported by Clare County Library and includes author readings, discussions, workshops and walking tours through the narrow streets and lanes of Ennis. We offer sessions on running book clubs, advice on reading lists, poetry, events as Gaeilge, and an opportunity to compare notes and meet with other readers. Combine your love of reading with a great weekend away!

In honour of the Gathering 2013, there is going to be the first Giant Book Club Gathering:

It will be take place on Friday the 1st of March and will be hosted by acclaimed Irish author Joseph O'Connor where he novel Star of the Sea will be discussed.

Summary:
This brooding historical fiction chronicles the mayhem aboard the Star of the Sea, a leaky old sailing ship crossing from Ireland to New York during the bitter winter of 1847, its steerage crammed to the bulkheads with diseased and starving refugees from the Irish potato famine. Amongst the passengers are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Merridith and his family, an aspiring novelist and a maker of revolutionary ballads. All in search of a new home in the Promised land, each is yet connected more deeply than they can possibly know... and a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for vengeance and absolution. The novel takes the form of a personal account written by passenger G. Grantley Dixon, a New York Times reporter who intersperses his narrative with reportage and interviews as he describes the intrigue that unfolds during the 26-day journey.

Authors and speakers for 2013 include: Marina Lewycka, John Banville, Joseph O'Connor, the BBC's Fergal Keane, Michael Harding, Conor Brady, Mary O'Rourke, Aine Lawlor, Brian Lucey, Belinda Jack, Michael Smith, Royal Shakespeare Company's Education Department, Elaine Byrne, Tony Curtis, Dennis O'Driscoll, Margaret Hickey, Kate Bateman, Anne McCabe, and Clare Three Legged Stool Poets. Check out the complete Festival Programme on the website. The full programme and ticket booking will be available towards the end of January.