Nuala Ní Chonchúir's Blog, page 17
August 25, 2015
IRISH INDO REVIEWS *MISS EMILY*
The Irish Independent has reviewed Miss Emily - thanks to Des Traynor for the review. The piece is illustrated with a pic of Cynthia Nixon who is starring in an Emily biopic. This has nothing to do with my book or the film option taken on it. Review here.
August 22, 2015
LUGHNASA FESTIVAL SHORT STORY EVENT
Donegal today - Glenties - for a short story event tomorrow with me, Mary Costello and Carlo Gébler at the inaugural Lughnasa International Friel Festival. More here.
August 21, 2015
VIRTUAL TOUR - MISS EMILY- STOP #1
August 19, 2015
UK PUBLICATION DAY - MISS EMILY
Miss Emily comes out today from dynamic Scottish publisher Sandstone Press. I have personal links with Scotland, as evidenced in The Closet of Savage Mementos, so I'm delighted to be with Highlands-based Sandstone.
I have an essay in The Irish Times today about the writing of the novel and I'll be talking to Seán Moncrieff at 2.30pm on Newstalk. Happy day :)
Sandstone Press Vlog features *Miss Emily*
The Sandstone Press Vlog features Miss Emily ahead of its UK release tomorrow.
August 15, 2015
INDEPENDENT UK INTERVIEW
I'm interviewed in the UK's Independent today about Miss Emily etc. by the lovely Lesley McDowell, writer and journalist, whose blog is well worth a follow.
August 14, 2015
Room 313 visual/audio response
Robbie Gannon, one of the LSAD students I worked with earlier this year, has posted the video response he made to my short story 'Room 313' and it's awesome!
August 12, 2015
*MISS EMILY* USA BOOK TOUR - PICS
I keep a travel journal when I go on trips, so the idea of re-writing all I wrote there here is not appealing. So, as usual, with pressing writing/book launch matters to deal with I will just do a brief photo-n-captions piece for my US book tour.
Firstly, book launch details. All welcome:
My husband came with me as driver (there was no way I was driving on the other side of the road and working for the week). After a knuckle-gripping start, he got into it. I pulled a muscle in my neck the day we left Ireland so was in constant pain for the first five days, which made things a bit stressful. Still, I managed to thoroughly enjoy my events and meeting the booksellers and audiences. The car remained a bit of a trauma - country roads were OK but those interstates, eek! Speeding rock-bedecked trucks, crazy weavy drivers, a dopey sat-nav...anyway, we survived!
I had various radio and TV interviews along the way but I'll link to them later, if I get the chance. Life is hectic and I am jet-lagged out the wazoo. Crazy broken sleep last night.
Our first stop was Mystic, Connecticut, a pretty maritime village on Mystic River. My event there was a meet-the-author lunch in Bank Square Books where we were warmly welcomed by events manager Elissa, owner Annie Philbrick and her dog, Charlie. We had a delicious, chatty lunch and the participants were enthused and friendly. Very enjoyable.
Bank Square Books window
Pre-lunch signing in Mystic
Author lunch in Bank Square Books, MysticWhile in Mystic we went to the aquarium and fell in love with this fella:
Beautiful beluga whale at Mystic
Penguin-gazing
Ice-cream at the aquarium
The jellyfish were amazing
After two nights in Mystic, we headed north again to Boston, where I had a TV interview with the lovely Smoki Bacon and Dick Concannon at The Literati Scene. Then we headed on to Cambridge, Massachusetts and my reading/event at Harvard Book Store.
Miss Emily on the counter at Harvard Book Store
Mr Harvard himself in the Yard
Hipster fun-poking in Cambridge
I was thrilled that Jennifer Tseng, author of
Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness
came to my readingCambridge is a gorgeous place: great book shops, great food (we had tdf bagels in Crema Café) and, my favourite shop, Anthropologie, where I had a happy browse before we headed west to Palmer, Mass. My friend Suzanne Strempek-Shea very kindly gave us the use of her house for five days.
Our house for five days in Palmer, Mass.My first event in Western Mass was at the gorgous Odyssey Booksop in South Hadley, run by the super-inviting Joan Grenier and her team. That was a great event at which some friends turned up, author of the other
Miss Emily
, Burleigh Mutén, as well as Stas and Ciny Skarzynski and their friend Michele, who have all been so supportive of me since my first research trip to Amherst.
Joan Grenier, owner of Odyssey Bookshop
Signing at Odyssey
Traditionally, visiting author's sign the bog wall at Odyssey Books.
I put an Emily quote, of course :)I had a very welcome day off (well, I had one radio interview in the morning) on Thursday so we headed to Toys R Us in Springfield (Juno's dream destination) and then to the museum quadrangle, also in Springfield, which was very good. $46 for the three of us for a variety of museums. (Though we are so used to museums being free in Ireland that the entry fee feels wrong to us).
For all you 'Orange is the New Black' fans, it appears
Pennsatucky's ancestors were from Springfield
Communing with Dr Seuss, who was also from Springfield
Museum fun with Junior
The Lorax, Juno and Little PoniesFriday saw the start of the Emily Dickinson International Society meeeting (a mini-conference) and it was great to reconnect with people I met there last year: Jeff Morgan (ED Museum guide), and authors Susan Snively and Burleigh Mutén. There were wonderful plenaries, most especially from the sublime Marta Werner. We also went to the Beneski Nat Hist Museum to view birds that Emily mentions in her poetry. And Finbar, Juno and I went to Emily's house and took the two-house tour - it was moving and good to be in that space with them, to see their reactions to Emily's stuff world.
Juju, Emily and 'pink milk'
Items atop Emily's grave, West Cemetery
West Cemetery
Jonnie Guerra, who moderated Susan Snively's and my event
Juno with Emily's house behind
Susan and I signing after our event, which went off well
Susan reading from
The Heart Has Many Doors
, her wonderful novel about Emily's love affair with Judge Otis Lord
Kate Wellspring, curator at Benski Museum shares Emily-related birds with the EDIS groupThe meeting was brilliant and my event with Susan Snively on Saturday (which I was very nervous about) went well - a typically warm Western Mass reception to us and our fictions. (Though most people had traveled from other States, as well as France, Japan, the UK etc.)
There is a certain terror in standing in front of Dickinson scholars reading a fictionalised life of our beloved Emily. But they were lovely and laughed at the right bits and asked good questions. Inevitably someone asked 'Why bother?' but I think I managed to explain my rationale and, anyway, I sort of agree with her. Why do we do these things, indeed?
While I was conferencing, Juno and Daddy went to swim in Puffer's Pond
Last pic: Huge thanks to Finbar for putting up with my neck-and nervousness-related whinging and for driving us all over.There is a ton more I could say, but let it suffice to thank my PR team in Penguin, Emma and Meredith for all their work, also my agent Gráinne, and all the lovely people who hosted readings, events, lunches and interviews along the way. It was a total blast to work with you all on this tour. I had a great time.
'The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.' Emily Dickinson
Firstly, book launch details. All welcome:
My husband came with me as driver (there was no way I was driving on the other side of the road and working for the week). After a knuckle-gripping start, he got into it. I pulled a muscle in my neck the day we left Ireland so was in constant pain for the first five days, which made things a bit stressful. Still, I managed to thoroughly enjoy my events and meeting the booksellers and audiences. The car remained a bit of a trauma - country roads were OK but those interstates, eek! Speeding rock-bedecked trucks, crazy weavy drivers, a dopey sat-nav...anyway, we survived!
I had various radio and TV interviews along the way but I'll link to them later, if I get the chance. Life is hectic and I am jet-lagged out the wazoo. Crazy broken sleep last night.
Our first stop was Mystic, Connecticut, a pretty maritime village on Mystic River. My event there was a meet-the-author lunch in Bank Square Books where we were warmly welcomed by events manager Elissa, owner Annie Philbrick and her dog, Charlie. We had a delicious, chatty lunch and the participants were enthused and friendly. Very enjoyable.
Bank Square Books window
Pre-lunch signing in Mystic
Author lunch in Bank Square Books, MysticWhile in Mystic we went to the aquarium and fell in love with this fella:
Beautiful beluga whale at Mystic
Penguin-gazing
Ice-cream at the aquarium
The jellyfish were amazing
After two nights in Mystic, we headed north again to Boston, where I had a TV interview with the lovely Smoki Bacon and Dick Concannon at The Literati Scene. Then we headed on to Cambridge, Massachusetts and my reading/event at Harvard Book Store.
Miss Emily on the counter at Harvard Book Store
Mr Harvard himself in the Yard
Hipster fun-poking in Cambridge
I was thrilled that Jennifer Tseng, author of
Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness
came to my readingCambridge is a gorgeous place: great book shops, great food (we had tdf bagels in Crema Café) and, my favourite shop, Anthropologie, where I had a happy browse before we headed west to Palmer, Mass. My friend Suzanne Strempek-Shea very kindly gave us the use of her house for five days.
Our house for five days in Palmer, Mass.My first event in Western Mass was at the gorgous Odyssey Booksop in South Hadley, run by the super-inviting Joan Grenier and her team. That was a great event at which some friends turned up, author of the other
Miss Emily
, Burleigh Mutén, as well as Stas and Ciny Skarzynski and their friend Michele, who have all been so supportive of me since my first research trip to Amherst.
Joan Grenier, owner of Odyssey Bookshop
Signing at Odyssey
Traditionally, visiting author's sign the bog wall at Odyssey Books.I put an Emily quote, of course :)I had a very welcome day off (well, I had one radio interview in the morning) on Thursday so we headed to Toys R Us in Springfield (Juno's dream destination) and then to the museum quadrangle, also in Springfield, which was very good. $46 for the three of us for a variety of museums. (Though we are so used to museums being free in Ireland that the entry fee feels wrong to us).
For all you 'Orange is the New Black' fans, it appearsPennsatucky's ancestors were from Springfield
Communing with Dr Seuss, who was also from Springfield
Museum fun with Junior
The Lorax, Juno and Little PoniesFriday saw the start of the Emily Dickinson International Society meeeting (a mini-conference) and it was great to reconnect with people I met there last year: Jeff Morgan (ED Museum guide), and authors Susan Snively and Burleigh Mutén. There were wonderful plenaries, most especially from the sublime Marta Werner. We also went to the Beneski Nat Hist Museum to view birds that Emily mentions in her poetry. And Finbar, Juno and I went to Emily's house and took the two-house tour - it was moving and good to be in that space with them, to see their reactions to Emily's stuff world.
Juju, Emily and 'pink milk'
Items atop Emily's grave, West Cemetery
West Cemetery
Jonnie Guerra, who moderated Susan Snively's and my event
Juno with Emily's house behind
Susan and I signing after our event, which went off well
Susan reading from
The Heart Has Many Doors
, her wonderful novel about Emily's love affair with Judge Otis Lord
Kate Wellspring, curator at Benski Museum shares Emily-related birds with the EDIS groupThe meeting was brilliant and my event with Susan Snively on Saturday (which I was very nervous about) went well - a typically warm Western Mass reception to us and our fictions. (Though most people had traveled from other States, as well as France, Japan, the UK etc.)There is a certain terror in standing in front of Dickinson scholars reading a fictionalised life of our beloved Emily. But they were lovely and laughed at the right bits and asked good questions. Inevitably someone asked 'Why bother?' but I think I managed to explain my rationale and, anyway, I sort of agree with her. Why do we do these things, indeed?
While I was conferencing, Juno and Daddy went to swim in Puffer's Pond
Last pic: Huge thanks to Finbar for putting up with my neck-and nervousness-related whinging and for driving us all over.There is a ton more I could say, but let it suffice to thank my PR team in Penguin, Emma and Meredith for all their work, also my agent Gráinne, and all the lovely people who hosted readings, events, lunches and interviews along the way. It was a total blast to work with you all on this tour. I had a great time.'The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.' Emily Dickinson
August 1, 2015
WAMC RADIO INTERVIEW
The warm and lovely Katie Britton interviewed me about Miss Emily for WAMC Radio in Albany, NY. You can listen back here.
And with that I am off to the USA for my book tour. If I can, I will report from the road. If not (it is going to be hectic) I will report when I get back. Slán!
And with that I am off to the USA for my book tour. If I can, I will report from the road. If not (it is going to be hectic) I will report when I get back. Slán!
July 31, 2015
GLASGOW & PEOPLE
My trip to Glasgow was a success - I met with the lovely writer/journalist Lesley McDowell for an interview. See her lively blog here and consider buying her awesome book
Between the Sheets
, about literary couples and how the female partners fared - people like Plath & Hughes, Mansfield & Murry. It's a great read. The article about Miss Emily will be in The Independent on Sunday soon.
This slogan is everywhere in Glasgow at the moment:
'People make Glasgow'Which leads me neatly to the fact that People magazine (yes, that People) has given Miss Emily a sweet mini-review in the new issue. This may just beat being in the RTÉ Guide once. (My husband, who loves statistics, tells me that People has a circulation of 3.5 million in the USA. Now if only all those readers went out and bought my novel...)
This slogan is everywhere in Glasgow at the moment:
'People make Glasgow'Which leads me neatly to the fact that People magazine (yes, that People) has given Miss Emily a sweet mini-review in the new issue. This may just beat being in the RTÉ Guide once. (My husband, who loves statistics, tells me that People has a circulation of 3.5 million in the USA. Now if only all those readers went out and bought my novel...)
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