Heinrich Böll Memorial Weekend.
May 2nd - May 4th 2008 .
Friday 2nd.
7.00pm Registration / Welcome.
Cyril Gray Memorial Hall Dugort
Registration for all events. Fee € 50
(individual events € 20).
7.30pm Official opening of weekend by
Announcement and presentation by Chris Newton prize for the winning Heinrich Böll Memorial Essay for second level students.
8.00pm Talk by Chris Newton .
author of ; Hugh Falkus: A Life On The Edge, from Medlar Press
-the true story of the troubled adventurer who among many achievements directed Shark Island in Achill in 1951).
Hugh Falkus: A Life On The Edge assesses Falkus’ achievements as an inspirational writer, broadcaster and instructor and recounts the many adventures and mishaps that coloured his life. The author has interviewed almost every remaining member of Falkus’ inner circle, along with his surviving relatives, to piece together his story and explain what made him the man he was. He has also searched newspaper archives and official records. A great deal of new information has emerged, particularly about Falkus’ early years.
Chris Newton writes on fishing, particularly on sea trout, for the national angling press. He is one of the many who discovered the magic of night fishing for sea trout through Hugh Falkus’ works, and says he took on the challenge of writing his biography because he got fed up of waiting for someone else to do it. A former newspaper and radio journalist, he now runs a marketing communications and copywriting business from his home in the Cotswolds.
9.30 pm Screening of Shark Island, directed by Hugh Falkus, 1951 in Achill.
Saturday May 3rd. and Sunday May 6th.
Exhibition of art works from the collection of Mayo County Council
Cyril Gray Memorial Hall Dugort Achill, Co. Mayo..
Saturday May 5th .
10.30 am. Guided walk to archaeological sites on Achill Beg guided by Tommy Johnston, with archaeologist Eoin Halpin. Meet at Quaybheg, Cloughmore.
1.00pm Lunch at 2.00pm. Pattens Pub Shraheens..
8.00pm. Reading by Gerald Dawe. at the Cyril Gray Memorial Hall. Dugort.
photo Amelia Stein
Gerald Dawe is the author of six collections of poetry, including Heart of
Hearts, The Morning Train and Lake Geneva. He recently published, The Proper Word: Collected Criticism and a memoir, My Mother-City & Bit Parts. Catching the Light, a collection of travel sketches, critical views and interviews, will be published later this year. He moved to Galway in 1974 where he lived for twenty years, writing and teaching at NUI, Galway. A Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, where he is Senior Lecturer in English, director of the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Writing and director of the graduate writing programme, Gerald Dawe has given readings and lectures in many parts of the world. He lives in County Dublin..
Sunday 6th .
11.00am Meet in Deserted Village for readings from Heinrich Böll’s Irish Journal.
And guided walks.
1.00pm. Lunch Gray’s Guest House Dugort.
Further enquiries; John Mc Hugh, ph; 098 43414. email; hbollachill@anu.ie