Aimee Bellin Belfast,
Mike McBridein Londonderry and
Niall GlynnBBC News NI, in Newtownards
BBC
Author Wendy Erskine said the library was an integral part of her week when writing her book
Libraries across Northern Ireland welcomed local authors on Monday as Book Week NI got under way, marking the start of a week-long celebration of reading and the event’s 10th anniversary.
Authors Wendy Erskine and Garrett Carr visited Belfast Central Library, while Brian McGilloway hosted a workshop in Londonderry and Stuart Neville appeared at Newtownards Library – all sharing insights into their work and discussing why Book Week NI remains such an important part of the literary calendar.
Running from 20 to 26 October, Book Week NI has become a key event in Northern Ireland.
It aims to inspire people to pick up a book, discover new authors and share the magic of reading.
People gathered at Belfast Central Library for the first day of Book Week
Wendy Erskine primarily works as an English teacher but got into writing novels in 2015 after penning a couple of short stories and doing a six-month fiction workshop in Dublin.
She said the library was an integral part of her week, adding: “You can become so submerged in your life and the things you’re compelled to do.
“It’s just really important to remember that there’s books out there, there’s libraries out there”.
Erskine’s novel The Benefactors is set in Belfast and she said it was essential to have representation of its people.
Jane McComb and Graham Mounsey were among the crowd at Belfast Central Library
“I read Wendy’s book a couple of months back and I thought it was fantastic,” said Jane McComb, who attended the event.
“It is one of those books that really resonates. She’s very entertaining.”
Graham Mounsey, who also attended the event, said her use of people’s ordinary lives in east Belfast “weave together very interesting stories”.
Garett Carr’s new book is called The Boy from the Sea
Author Garrett Carr said he did not study English but always read a lot.
“I started becoming envious of the power of books so I just wanted to get in on the action as well,” he said.
He said events like Book Week created a community of like-minded people.
“It takes something that’s quite a solitary activity and puts community on it which is nice, “he said.
“It’s another way to connect with people around us apart from through the format of literature itself”.
Crime author Brian McGilloway said libraries “opened a cultural door” for him growing up in Londonderry
Speaking at Derry Central Library, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling crime author and Derry native Brian McGilloway said his love of reading started at a very young age.
“When I was seven or eight, Santa brought me a book called John Diamond by Leon Garfield, which was a children’s crime novel set in Victorian London,” he said.
“Then, when I was a teenager, I read The Outsiders by SE Hinton, which was a novel about two gangs in America in the 1950s – and she wrote it when she was just 16.
“It was an absolutely great book, and it was also great encouragement for a young person to hear about a 16-year-old writing a book and it being published.”
McGilloway said those books he read growing up helped shape the author he is today.
“Your own writing is a product of everything you’ve ever read,” he said.
‘Reading should never be a chore’
McGilloway said libraries were “vital community hubs” and he had great memories of going to his local library as a young child.
“There’s that famous quote that ‘a room without books is like a body without a soul’ and the same can be said for towns or cities without libraries,” he said.
McGilloway, who worked as a teacher in Londonderry for many years, said it was vitally important to encourage young people to get off their mobile phone screens and visit libraries to develop a love of books and reading.
“Reading should never be a chore; it should be a way to take time for yourself and slow things down,” he added.
Stuart Neville hopes events like the one in Newtownards can inspire new writers
Armagh-born Stuart Neville, author of 11 novels including The Twelve, Those We Left Behind and House of Ashes, said libraries have played a vital role in his writing career.
“Libraries are very important to me and a big part of the reason I’m a writer,” he said.
He hopes events like Monday’s can inspire new writers.
“Most libraries have creative writing groups, and they often turn out for author events,” he said.
“You meet aspiring writers who ask for advice – whether I can give them any is another matter.”
While Neville’s recent novels are set in America, most of his earlier work takes place in and around Belfast – a setting that, he said, has proved popular with US readers.
“Here it’s a bit different – there’s sometimes resistance to local fiction, but I think that’s started to break down,” he added.
Myfanwy Thomas runs a crime reading group in Donaghadee Library
Myfanwy Thomas runs a crime reading group in Donaghadee Library, which is currently covering one of Neville’s novels.
“We wanted to come and see if we could ask him some questions – like why he wrote the book we’re reading, House of Ashes,” she said.
“We wanted to get a bit more insight into how authors come up with their ideas.”
She said holding such events in libraries “brings people in and makes it more of a community event”.
“It’s also good for authors because it gives them a chance to talk about their work and promote themselves,” she said.
“It inspires people – it shows that anyone can give writing a go if they want.”