Interviews, Seminars & Tours
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Go to events on: Wednesday * Thursday * Friday * Saturday * Sunday
Five Dials Literary Journal Launch
Wednesday, 19 September at 4pm
Cork Central Library, Grand Parade
Admission: FREE
Five Dials is a highly respected online literary journal published by Hamish Hamilton in London but not limited to Hamish Hamilton authors. Edited by Craig Taylor, Five Dials has published poems, essays, memoir, short fiction and novel extracts from prestigious authors from all over the world. Distributed in Portable Document Format (PDF), Five Dials is best downloaded, printed out and enjoyed away from the computer. Typographically it is a work of art and every issue features wonderful, commissioned illustrations. For the September issue Craig Taylor has assembled a special issue drawing exclusively on writers participating in the Cork International Short Story Festival. The issue will go live internationally at this launch and Craig Taylor will be on hand to talk about Five Dials and his editorial priorities. Readings from the contributing writers will take place throughout the festival.
Craig Taylor’s non-fiction has appeared in the most prominent newspapers in three countries: The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Globe And Mail. His fiction has appeared in The Mississippi Review. He is the author of One Million Tiny Plays About Britain originally for The Guardian's Weekend magazine. Three of these plays were printed on handbags and given to the winners at the Cannes Film Festival. He has published his own photocopied magazines, including The Review of Everything I’ve Ever Encountered and Dark Tales of Clapham. His first book, Return To Akenfield, was published by Granta in 2006. More recently he has published Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now—As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It and Long for It (Granta 2011)
The Short Story in Canada: a discussion
Thursday, 20 September at 2.30pm
Cork Central Library, Grand Parade
Admission: FREE
On this side of the Atlantic when the subject of the Canadian short story arises people think of just two authors: Alice Munro and Alastair MacLeod. But Canada has a vibrant short story culture which sees dozens of books published each year by exciting voices. Here Festival Director Patrick Cotter leads three such voices (Zsuzsi Gartner, Johanna Skibsrud and D.W. Wilson) in a discussion to enlighten us on the state of the contemporary Canadian Short Story.
Discussion: Is Flash Fiction a True Literary Art Form or Just Something for Chancers?
Friday, 21 September at 2.30pm.
Cork Central Library, Grand Parade
Admission: FREE
As a promotional gesture, Bloomsbury publishers in London, unilaterally proclaimed 2012 “The Year of the Short Story”. But if anything 2012 has turned out to be the year enthusiasm for Flash Fiction has gone viral, with competitions for short fiction pieces less than 500 or 200 words proliferating on radio, television and on the web. 2012 saw the British have their first National Day of Flash Fiction. On the Irish scene Powers Whiskey has offered the dizzying amount of €10,000 for a 450 word short story and the Irish Times started publishing flash fiction on a weekly basis. While the term flash fiction is a relatively recent coining to describe what used to be called short shorts, some people maintain that flash fiction has been around a long, long time and that Kafka and Borges were among the most eminent practitioners of the last century.
For those who feel it impossible to be satisfied by fiction without the meaty verisimilitude of a novel, the short story is a pallid, insubstantial thing. Many short story enthusiasts look similarly askance at flash fiction. This event wishes to examine whether such an attitude has any validity, asking is flash fiction a true literary art form or just something for chancers? Artistic Director Patrick Cotter will lead a selection of festival guest authors in discussion.
Short Story Stakeholder Showcase: exhibition by short story journals and competition organisers
Friday, 21 September
at 4pm.
Cork Central Library, Grand Parade
Admission: FREE
Short Story Showcase is an exhibition by Irish institutional stakeholders in the short story, consisting mainly of literary journals with a vested interest in keeping the short story alive and kicking in Ireland. Among the exhibitors will be Southword, The Stinging Fly and The Moth. All three magazines have published Irish and foreign writers of international repute, proving that they are not Irish literary journals per se but international literary journals based in Ireland. Come meet and greet the editors and discover some fabulous publications. There may also be the opportunity to meet book publishers and competition organisers.
Readings * Workshops * Events for Young People * Free Events
