20 years celebrating books at Cork festival

Source: Echo Live

THE Cork World Book Fest (CWBF) is this year marking its 20th anniversary.

Its two programmers, Ann Luttrell (retired literature officer at Triskel Christchurch) and Liam Ronayne (retired Cork city librarian) are making way for new people to become involved in this popular festival.

Taking place at Cork City Library and at Triskel from April 23-28, the festival, aimed at book lovers of every age as well as aspiring writers, was the brainchild of Liam.

While on holidays in Barcelona in 2003, his sojourn in the capital of Spain's Catalonia region coincided with The Day of Books and Roses on April 23.

"I was really taken by the life on the streets and all the stalls selling books," says Liam. "There's a tradition on the day of people giving gifts of books and roses. I remember a tiny elderly nun walking on a street, minding her own business. A man stopped her and presented her with a rose and a kiss on both cheeks. She produced a little book and gave it to him. I thought it was lovely.

For 2005, when Cork was the European Capital of Culture, we felt we should celebrate books in a European way. We came up with the idea of having the festival on April 23.

On that day in 2005, the City Library stayed open into the early hours. It was an auspicious start for a festival that has been embraced by Cork, with its wide-ranging programme that includes books in translation, children's book events, writers' agent events and Irish and international writers reading from their latest work.

The late artistic director of Triskel, Penny Rae, was the first director of CWBF. It may seem that Cork city is full of literary festivals, but as Liam points out, the events are at different times of the year and have a different focus.

There's the Cork International Poetry Festival in May, the Cork International Short Story Festival in the autumn and the Winter Warmer Festival. And that's just the city. There's also the West Cork Literary Festival in July and Words by Water in Kinsale, as well as other arts festivals that feature readings.

Having met hundreds of writers from all over the world, Ann says she has huge regard for them.

"They really put themselves out there. I have great admiration for writers. It's not easy."

Asked about famous writers that she has met, Ann cites Edna O'Brien, of whom she is a big fan. "She's absolutely fantastic and a total professional. There's a joke in our house when we're having salad. Somebody will always say 'take out the Edna spoons' because she gave me a gift of salad spoons.

She's the only writer I've met who needed to change her room at the hotel we were putting her up in. She said it was 'a lonely room'!

(Liam adds that having been vilified from the altar in East Clare back in Ireland's censorial days, Edna O'Brien will have the library in Scariff named after her.)

Ann recalls "almost having to lasso Dr Ivor Browne to get him off the stage. He was reading in the River Lee Hotel. There was a huge crowd, it was hot and we wanted to finish. Partly out of recompense, I think, and because he was a generous person, when I handed him the fee for the reading, he said he didn't want it as he had a pension."

The CWBF gets funding from the Arts Council.

"Our grant has grown from €5,000 to €25,000, which is the maximum we can apply for under the scheme we're in," says Liam.

Cork City Council makes a contribution. The River Lee Hotel has been a sponsor from the inception of the festival and there are benefits-in-kind from a large network of supporters as well as the use of the venues for free.

UCC's department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies is interested in the festival.

"That's of benefit to us," says Liam. "We have always been interested in identifying Catalan and Galician writers and helping to bring them over. UCC gives them a gig or two when they're in Cork so it's a kind of symbiosis."

Writer Colm Tóibín was at the first CWBF, reading from his book, Homage to Barcelona, inspired by the novelist's stay in the city.

Ann points out that the festival has always tried to use different spaces, outside the main two venues. This year, poet Molly Twomey and short story writer and novelist, Conal Creedon, will read at Callanan's pub. There will also be events at Elizabeth Fort and at St Peter's.