#maritimefestival – There will be a number of maritime themed events at the 2014 West Cork Literary Festival in Bantry, Co. Cork which runs from Monday, July 7th to Friday, July 11th with many free events.
On Friday July 11th in Bantry Library Rose George, the winner of the 2013 Mountbatten Maritime Award for Best Literary Contribution, will give a free talk about her fascinating journey into the hidden world of shipping. Her pursuit of the shadowy truths behind the industry that brings us almost everything we eat, wear, and work with, took her across the globe. "Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry that Brings You 90% of Everything" is essential reading for anyone curious about the complex systems behind our convenient modern world. She follows the routes travelled by mercantile and naval fleets, pirate gangs, and illegal floating factories.
Philip Hoare will read from his yearlong adventure through the world's oceans. "The Sea Inside" on Thursday, July 10th. In colourful prose and lively line drawings, he sets out to rediscover the sea and its islands, birds, and beasts. Starting at his home on the shores of Britain's Southampton Water and moving in ever widening circles—like the migration patterns of whales—Hoare explores London, the Isle of Wight, the Azores, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Philip, winner of the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction, is a broadcaster and author, he wrote and presented the BBC Arena film, "The Hunt for Moby-Dick", and directed three films for BBC's Whale Night.
On Saturday, July 12th there will be a special event on Whiddy Island, starting with the ferry across we celebrate Bantry Bay, the sea beyond and the lore and poetry of West Cork. John Mack, author of "The Sea: A Cultural History" draws on histories, maritime archaeology, art history and great literature to provide an innovative account of the great blue yonder and his own love for Whiddy. Philip Hoare will read from "Leviathan or, The Whale" his award winning book and film, which is also the story of our own obsessions. Leanne O'Sullivan from the Beara Peninsula will read from her poetry collections "Cailleach, The Hag of Beara" and "The Mining Road". She is the recipient of The Rooney Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary and Lawrence O'Shaughnessy Awards.
Of course, younger readers are looked after too with the interactive Monster Sea Doodle! Travel 50 leagues under the sea with Captain Olivia Golden, illustrator extraordinaire, and learn how to draw some of the creatures that tickle, wriggle and swim in the salt water off the Bantry coast. Monster Sea Doodle! Takes place on Tuesday, July 8th, in St Brendan's School Hall
Ben Okri, Jonathan Miller, Blake Morrison, Karen Joy Fowler and Jennifer Johnston are just some of the guests announced for the renowned West Cork Literary Festival this July. The West Cork Literary Festival runs from July 6th to 12th and is generously supported by The Arts Council, Cork County Library and Arts Service and Fáilte Ireland. Booking on www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie, Telephone: 027 52788/9
