In The Irish Times tomorrow, John Self marks Penguin’s 90th anniversary by looking back over the publisher’s ground-breaking history, how the fight against censorship made its name and its championing of Irish writers. Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination discusses with Nadine O’Regan the cost of Big Tech’s huge investment in technologies that may do more harm than good. And there is a Q&A with thriller writer Amanda Cassidy about her latest novel and her big US book deal.
Reviews are Oliver Farry on King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah, the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Unmaking of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson & Transformed by the People: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Road to Power in Syria; Paschal Donohoe on How Countries Go Broke by Ray Dalio; Andrew Lynch on Three Revolutions by Simon Hall; Brian Cliff and Elizabeth Mannion on the best new crime fiction; John Boyne on Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart; Henrietta McKervey on Beyond Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor; Mei Chin on Notes on Infinity by Austin Taylor; Julia Kelly on I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself by Glynnis MacNicol; Ruby Eastwood on Men in Love by Irvine Welsh; Claire Hennessy on We Don’t Use Words Like ‘Crazy’: On the Frontline of Mental Health by Elliot Sweeney; Liam Bishop on Women in Dark Times by Jacqueline Rose; James Meighan on The Most Powerful Court in the World A History of the Supreme Court of the United States by Stuart Banner; and Denis Staunton on The Party’s Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian.
This weekend’s Irish Times Eason offer is The Glass House by Rachel Donohue, just €5.99, a €6 saving.
Eason offer
*
Dublin’s Gate Theatre has announced the cast for its world premiere adaptation by Sonya Kelly of Katriona O’Sullivan’s award-winning and bestselling memoir, Poor, directed by Róisín McBrinn.
The production will open on October 2nd, with previews from September 26th, as part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival and is a co-production with Belgrade Theatre Coventry.
The cast will include Aisling O’Mara as Katriona, with Hollie Lawlor and Pippa Owens alternating in the role of Younger Katriona. Hilda Fay and Aidan Kelly will play Katriona’s parents, Tilly and Tony.
Ghaliah Conroy, Keiren Hamilton-Amos, Thomas Kane Byrne and Mary Murray will portray the extended community of people that have had such a pivotal impact on O’Sullivan’s life and work.
Fay returns to the Gate stage following previous appearances in The Threepenny Opera and The Snapper, while Conroy will be making her first appearance at the Gate since she played Bridie in Emma Donoghue’s The Pull of the Stars. Kelly previously appeared in Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge.
Poor charts O’Sullivan’s extraordinary journey as she emerges from her childhood in Coventry and Birmingham marked by poverty, addiction and homelessness. Moving to Dublin as a teenager, O’Sullivan overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to earn a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and inspire a generation through her writing, teaching and speaking. This unforgettable story is vividly and movingly portrayed through her close relationships with family and friends, and thrums with the music that has resonated through her life.
*
The Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London launched last week, seeking the best original short stories from unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland. Entries of up to 5,000 words in either fiction or non-fiction will be judged anonymously by a panel including Sophie Elmhirst, winner of the 2024 Nero Gold Prize, and bestselling author Bernardine Evaristo.
The winner will receive £3,000, a scholarship for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, and an introduction to a literary agent. Each runner-up will receive £1,000.
Submissions will close on August 29th.