Dublin Writer's Festival

All in all, I attended five writer's forums. All the author's were very interesting and insightful, although not all of their writings were genres that interested me. However, I particularly liked Gerard Donovan and can't wait to read his new novel, Julius Winsome, which has been called a "heartbreaking tale of love, solitude, grief and violence."

Another author that I had the opportunity to see was Paul Howard as his alter-ego, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly. Although I did not get much of his humor (because I'm not a native Dubliner, and therefore do not understand the local references), he is a huge hit with his Irish fans. In fact, the school girls we met on the way to Malahide Castle loved him, and one (Dana, I think) even produced a tattered copy of one of his books from her backpack.

There was another author, Meg Rosoff, that I really wished I had had the opportunity to see but her forum coincided with our check-out time at O'Neill's Victorian Townhouses and Pub (one of the most authentically charming places I have ever had the pleasure of staying!), so I had to skip it. However, when I returned to see Derek Landy, I picked up her two young adult fiction books, How I Live Now and Just in Case. Both books deal with very real issues that can be agonizing for any young person who is coming of age. I have just started reading Just in Case and can barely put it down. I really think that I will order one or both of these novels for my 9th grade Pre-AP English classes next year.

If any of you get the chance to read some of these novels, please let me know what you think. It would be great to dialogue about the characters, plots, and themes.

Kim