Achill Island Arts Weekend
Heinrich Böll Memorial Weekend30th April - 2nd May 2010
In 1957 the German writer Heinrich Böll published 'An Irish Journal', an account of his recent journey across Ireland to Achill Island. His story chronicled the people and lifestyle he encountered in Achill. Böll loved Achill so much that he and his family returned annually, renting and later purchasing a holiday cottage in Dugort. In recognition of the legacy of Heinrich Böll, a weekend of artistic and literary events is to be held in Achill. Details of the event are outlined below.
For accommodation and inquiries, please contact Achill Tourism.
Friday 30th April 2010
7.00pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Welcome
Registration for all events.
Full Weekend Fee €90
7.30pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Official Opening
Official opening of the weekend by Dr. Martin Mansergh, TD, Minister of State with responsibility for OPW and The Arts. The Minister will announce and present the award to the winner of the Heinrich Böll Memorial Essay, a competition open to second level students.
Launch of Heinrich Böll's Irisches Tagebuch in Context - proceedings from the Böll Conference held at Limerick University in 2008. Editor Gisela Holfter, UL by Dr. Martin Mansergh TD.
8.00pm Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Illustrated Lecture by Jim Cruickshank:
The Life and Work of Grace Henry
8.50 Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Illustrated Lecture by Dr. Brian Kennedy:
Paul Henry - Work in Achill
(To mark the 100th anniversary of Scoil Acla Summer School).
Saturday / Sunday
Exhibition
Exhibition of a collection from the Heinrich Böll Archive will be on display at the Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort.
Saturday 1st May
10.30am Guided Walk
From The Bervie (Keel) to Dooagh, following in the footsteps of Paul Henry. Led by Tomas Mac Namara / John Mac Namara.
1.00pm Lunch Gray's Guest House, Dugort
3.00pm - 5.00pm Heinrich Böll Cottage open to members of the public. (More details of this facility at www.heinrichboellcottage.com)
2.30pm - 3.30pm Creative Writing Seminar / Workshop with Hugo Hamilton
Venue: Áras Forbairt Acla - Old Crumpaun School, Crumpaun, Keel.
Hugo Hamilton is the best-selling author of The Speckled People (4th Estate), a German-Irish memoir which has so far been translated into 15 languages. His unique experience of growing up in Dublin during the 50s/60s with a fervent Irish nationalist father and German mother who came to Ireland in the aftermath of World War II, has found resonance right across the globe. Hailed by many as a 'masterpiece’' (Colm Tóibín) and an 'instant classic' (Roy Foster), his account of German-Irish childhood addresses all the 'great issues of the 20th century' (Nuala O'Faolain). Described by Joseph O'Connor as a 'book for our times and perhaps for all time', it won the prestigious PRIX FEMINA Etranger in France, as well as the BERTO PRIZE in Italy, and appeared on the New York Times 'notable books' list. His equally 'rich and compelling' second memoir The Sailor in the Wardrobe which continues this complex dual upbringing in a 'language war' where he was prohibited from speaking English, has also been hailed an 'enchanting piece of work' (Terry Eagleton). He is the acclaimed author of five novels and one collection of short stories, all of which reflect on the increasingly compelling issues of cultural divisions, belonging and identity. The Speckled People was optioned by Neil Jordan. His new novel entitled Disguise (4th Estate) was published on the 5th June 2008. Hugo Hamilton lives in Dublin. His next novel 'HAND IN THE FIRE' will be published from 4th Estate in April 2010.
3.45pm - 4.45pm Illustrated Lecture by René Böll
Venue: Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort
Focusing on the work of Anna Marie Boll – marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.
5pm Reading by Dr Gisela Holfter.
Venue: Cyril Gray Memorial Hall, Dugort.
Imagery and Sound in the Irish Journal
Dr. Gisela Holfter is Senior Lecturer in German and Joint Director of the Centre for Irish-German Studies at the University of Limerick. She received her MA in 1992 (Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA) and her PhD in 1995 (Universität Köln, Germany). Since 1996 she is at the University of Limerick, researching predominately Irish-German relations, exile studies, contemporary German literature and languages for specific purposes. Together with Dr Joachim Fischer she founded the Centre for Irish-German Studies in 1997. Dr Holfter has published a monograph on German travel literature, ten (co-) edited books, several dozen book chapters and refereed journal articles, and over the past ten years she has presented some forty conference papers- more than half of these being at international level, among them invited keynote lectures. Her two current main areas of research are Heinrich Böll and Ireland on which she is currently writing a monograph and German-speaking refugees in Ireland 1933-1945.
7.30pm Evening programme at St. Thomas's Church, Dugort.
8.00pm Reading by Kathrin Schmidt, winner of German Book Prize 2009. Kathrin Schmidt, born in Gotha in 1958, worked as psychologist, editor and social scientist before she began to write poems and novels. She received numerous awards, i.e. the Leonce and Lena Prize in 1993. Her novel "The Gunnar Lennefsen Expedition" (1998) received the development award of the Heimito-von-Doderer Prize and also the prize of Carinthia at the 1998 Ingeborg Bachmann Competition. Her novel "You do not die" was awarded the German Book Prize 2009 as best book in German. Her book is an outstanding achievement: she illustrates the experience of the loss of orientation and language after a brain damage and shows a way of recovery which leads to two directions: backwards and forwards. Kathrin Schmidt lives in Berlin.
8.30pm Reading by Irish novelist John Banville. Born in Wexford in Ireland in 1945. He was educated at a Christian Brothers' school and St Peter's College in Wexford. He worked for Aer Lingus in Dublin, an opportunity that enabled him to travel widely. He was literary editor of the Irish Times between 1988 and 1999. Long Lankin, a collection of short stories, was published in 1970. It was followed by Nightspawn (1971) and Birchwood (1973), both novels.
Banville's fictional portrait of the 15th-century Polish astronomer Dr Copernicus (1976) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) and was the first in a series of books exploring the lives of eminent scientists and scientific ideas. The second novel in the series was about the 16th-century German astronomer Kepler (1981) and won the Guardian Fiction Prize. The Newton Letter: An Interlude (1982) is the story of an academic writing a book about the mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. It was adapted as a film by Channel 4 Television. Mefisto (1986) explores the world of numbers in a reworking of Dr Faustus.
The Book of Evidence (1989), which won the Guinness Peat Aviation Book Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; Ghosts (1993) and Athena (1995) form a loose trilogy of novels narrated by Freddie Montgomery, a convicted murderer. The central character of Banville's 1997 novel, The Untouchable, Victor Maskell, is based on the art historian and spy Anthony Blunt. Eclipse (2000), is narrated by Alexander Cleave, an actor who has withdrawn to the house where he spent his childhood. Shroud (2002), continues the tale begun in Eclipse and Prague Pictures: Portrait of a City (2003), is a personal evocation of the magical European city.
The Sea (2005) won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In The Sea an elderly art historian loses his wife to cancer and feels compelled to revisit the seaside villa where he spent childhood holidays. John Banville lives in Dublin. His latest novel is The Infinities (2009).
9.30 - 10pm Open Forum Discussion with;- Hugo Hamilton, Kathrin Schmidt and John Banville.
Sunday 3rd May
10.00am Clare Island Trip
Meet at Cloch Mór pier for day long visit to Clare Island. Transfer on ferry. Guided walks with archaeologist Eoin Halpin to Clare Island Abbey, and other sites of archaeological, cultural and historical interest. Lunch at Bay View Hotel. Return to Achill at 4.00pm.
End of Weekend Activities.
Download Registration Form
(printable PDF document opens in new window)
For event inquiries, contact John McHugh (Tel. 086 232 5516) or Mary Lavelle-Burke (Tel. 087 772 0192). Email: hbollachill@anu.ie
For travel and accommodation inquiries, contact Achill Tourism.
Achill Tourism provides a comprehensive directory of all types of accommodation providers in Achill on this Web site, along with detailed information on travel to Achill Island.
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