{"id":175280,"date":"2025-12-09T05:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T05:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/175280\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T05:12:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T05:12:08","slug":"christmas-gifts-for-the-literature-lover-in-your-life-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/175280\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas gifts for the literature lover in your life \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes the hardest thing to buy<\/a> for a bookworm is a regular novel, biography or history book. For the literature connoisseur in your life, we\u2019ve compiled a selection of bookish gift ideas that go beyond the norm. <\/p>\n

A literary membership <\/p>\n

The Museum of Literature Ireland (moli.ie<\/a>), in the historic Newman House on St Stephen\u2019s Green, hosts numerous exhibitions and events throughout the year. Memberships come with such perks as unlimited free entry, exclusive tours, 10 per cent discount at the Commons Caf\u00e9 and MoLI shop, and play a vital role in sustaining the museum\u2019s work, including the running of community initiatives such as the Ukrainian Writers Hub. Prices start at \u20ac30 for under 30s, \u20ac60 for individuals and \u20ac80 for families. <\/p>\n

For the writer in your orbit, the Irish Writers Centre (irishwriterscentre.ie<\/a>) offers e-gift vouchers, redeemable against its courses, mentoring or membership. With both in-person and online courses available from \u20ac45, mentoring from \u20ac275, and membership from \u20ac30, your gift could be the key to unlocking the novel, memoir or short story they\u2019ve dreamt of writing. <\/p>\n

A literary journal subscription <\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s journals are a bedrock of our literary culture and have only gone from strength to strength in recent years. <\/p>\n

The Stinging Fly publishes brilliant new Irish and international voices across poetry, nonfiction and fiction, and offers subscriptions from \u20ac28. <\/p>\n

Now on its 100th issue, the Dublin Review publishes superb short stories and essays and offers subscriptions from \u20ac34. <\/p>\n

For poetry enthusiasts, Poetry Ireland Review brings the best of emerging and established poets, as well as reviews and articles, three times a year, from \u20ac40. <\/p>\n

No matter the reader, the options are endless, from Banshee (\u20ac25), The Pig\u2019s Back (\u20ac22), Profiles (\u20ac13.26) and Southword (\u20ac24), to the multidisciplinary art and literature journal, Holy Show (\u20ac10), essay-specialists Tolka (\u20ac22) and many others. <\/p>\n

A personalised book bundle\"YouYou can’t go wrong with a book bundle for the reader in your life. Photograph: istock <\/p>\n

Do you have an idea of someone\u2019s tastes but no idea what to get them? Several of Ireland\u2019s bookshops offer book bundles, expertly curated by booksellers. At Chapters Bookstore, Dublin (chaptersbookstore.com<\/a>), you can select from a range of genres and get a mystery box with up to six new books, for \u20ac29.99. <\/p>\n

At Books Upstairs (booksupstairs.ie<\/a>) you choose from a selection of themes, then write a little about the person you\u2019re buying for, and a unique selection will be compiled, from \u20ac40. If the recipient happens to receive a book they already own, they can always exchange it for a book of the same retail price. <\/p>\n

Kenny\u2019s Bookshop, Galway (kennys.ie<\/a>) allows you to select the value you wish to spend, enter your preferences in a comment box, and a hamper will be put together. <\/p>\n

A year of reading <\/p>\n

Several of Ireland\u2019s bookstores allow you to gift a book a month to your favourite reader. At Dubray (dubraybooks.ie<\/a>), the Reader\u2019s Year (\u20ac200) or Young Reader\u2019s Year (\u20ac150) packages come with a questionnaire the recipient fills out and sends back, so a bookseller can select books according to their tastes. Books arrive by post each month, anywhere in the island of Ireland. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Mahony\u2019s bookstore (omahonys.ie<\/a>) offers a similar package. The recipient\u2019s selections can be personalised by chatting to a bookseller via phone or email, or they can choose the individual titles themselves. The Book a Month 12-month package costs \u20ac275, while a six-month package is available for \u20ac150. There are also children\u2019s packages for \u20ac190 (12 months) and \u20ac100 (six months) respectively. <\/p>\n

A literary donation <\/p>\n

Each year, Children\u2019s Books Ireland runs a fundraising drive called the Gift a Book<\/a> appeal, to gift books to children and young people who need them most, through partner charities and services such as Solas Project, Children\u2019s Health Ireland, NOVAS, Tipperary Rural Travellers\u2019 Project and Mosney Village. As an alternative Christmas present, consider donating one book (\u20ac12), five books (\u20ac60), or a large mixed box of more than 20 books (\u20ac250). All books donated are handpicked and Irish-authored, -illustrated or -published. <\/p>\n

Children\u2019s bookshop Genius Juniors began as a charity initiative, and continues to live by its roots \u2013 its Donate a Book<\/a> offers allow you to donate books to children in hospitals and refugee centres, for \u20ac10. <\/p>\n

A luxury notebook or diary \"EveryEvery reader needs a notebook. Photograph: iStock <\/p>\n

Whether as a place to keep a reading log, copy down quotes, or write a novel, every reader needs a notebook. Duffy Bookbinders is a traditional bindery based on Seville Terrace, Dublin, and stocks a linen-bound Five Lamps collection, and Celtic collection, from \u20ac10 for A6 (duffybookbinders.ie<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Hubert Bookbinding<\/a> in Cork stocks a wide range of handcrafted notebooks, with a particularly attractive luxury leather wrap journal from \u20ac24, with complimentary embossing. <\/p>\n

A literary anthology or coffee table book <\/p>\n

With a range of work curated and gathered in one place, an anthology makes the ideal gift for the person who has read everything. <\/p>\n

Winter Papers<\/a> brings together a yearly selection of brilliant new writing and artwork and with its luxurious clothbound cover makes a particularly attractive gift (\u20ac40). <\/p>\n

Sunday Miscellany is the soundtrack to many a reader\u2019s Sunday morning, and a new edition of selected work from the popular radio slot has just been published by New Island, Sunday Miscellany: A Selection 2023 \u2013 2025, \u20ac19.95. (Full disclaimer: yours truly has an essay featured.) <\/p>\n

A coffee table book that\u2019s perfect for fans of Irish literature is Scribendi: Portraits of Irish Writers<\/a> 1985-2025, by photographer Steve Pyke (The Lilliput Press). More than 100 portraits of contemporary Irish writers are compiled alongside conversations on their writing life (\u20ac39.95). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sometimes the hardest thing to buy for a bookworm is a regular novel, biography or history book. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[39529,65291,146,85,46,103060],"class_list":["post-175280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-gifts","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-it-s-christmas-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}