I met Pat Cotter, the director of the Munster Literature Centre, at a party in Conal Creedon‘s house during the summer and he asked me would I introduce Colm Tóibín at the Frank O’Connor Short Story Festival. And working on the maxim “Say yes to things that scare you” – (and the fact that I had a few glasses of wine taken), I said yes. That was in June – he told me he’d get back to me closer to the date, which worked out to be ages away – sometime in September he said. I woke up the next morning and said. WTF! why do I do these things? But then I said relax, it’s months away and he’ll probably forget, we might all be dead by then – or there might be a massive tsumani.

Well none of these things happened…

My big problem was that I really Like Colm Tóibín’s work and I was afraid I’d make a fool of myself, or worse still, l’d make a mess of it in front of a packed hall. Well I’m glad to say neither happened and I got through it, in a bog of sweat, but was glad I did it. It’s good to mix things up. A graphic designer introducing a writer? – this could go horribly wrong, but why not?  Get a singer or a cabinet maker to introduce a poet – maybe an architect or a DJ to introduce a painter – and how about a politician introducing a comedian? No that wouldn’t work, maybe the other way around? No that didn’t work – remember Twink?

 

Much, much, more important – The festival itself was a great success – 6 short story writers were nominated for the prize (35,000 euro – the richest short story in the world) and  Edna O’Brien, who was ‘awesome’ (that’s exactly what she was – ‘awesome’) won the prize on the night with her collection “Saints and Sinners”. Well done to the Arts Office in Cork City Council who put up the prize money and all the other sponsors that made it happen. All events were free but nobody stopped you donating a fiver for the readings and workshops.

The video below is from the 2010 Festival but you get a sense of how friendly and welcoming the Festival is. The illustration on the left is from the New Yorker.

Find out more HERE Read the Festival blog HERE

Listen to Enda O’Brien on BBC Women’s Hour HERE

 

The photo advertising this post is of Colm Tóibín : Photo Credit