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Winter may be drawing in and the days are certainly getting shorter yet, there is no indication that the Irish literary world has gone into hibernation, at least as far as Galway and Roscommon are concerned.

SiarScéal Festival 2022

SiarScéal Festival makes a return in 2022, after a brief absence. The date for this year’s festival has been set for Saturday, 12 November at Roscommon County Library HQ, starting at 10am. A full programme of events is available from the festival website.

Hanna Greally Literary Awards

The Hanna Greally Literary Awards have formed a core part of the festival since its inception in 2007 and this year is no different. There is still time to get your entries in but, don’t hang around. The closing date for entries, which may consist of poetry or prose, is Friday, 14 October. Entry is free and there is an overall prize fund of €600 in cash prizes for best and highly commended entries in poetry and prose categories. Full details of how to enter are available from the festival website.

Book Launch: The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life by William Tiernan*

William Tiernan is well known among SiarScéal writers. His poem, My Brother, Michael, was overall winner in the poetry category at the SiarScéal Festival in 2014. Since then, two volumes of his poetry have been published, with a third on the way.

Tiernan is a poet and author who resides in rural Galway, close to the Roscommon border. His writings reflect his personal experiences and convictions as well as strong ties to the community in which he lives, his identification with the place where he grew up. These impressions are particularly reflected in his first two volumes of his poetry – Greetings from Guilka, Ballymoe (2016) and Bluesy Ballymoe (2018) – both of which are still in print and available to buy online.

His third collection, The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life is, arguably, his most ambitious to date. Whether addressing himself to issues such as pandemics or the war in Ukraine, to more universal themes of redemption and rebirth, battles of the body and the bullying of the mind, Tiernan’s observations go straight to the human heart, breaking down the distance between what is right from what is wrong, conveying it all in his unique and inimitable lyrical style.

The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life by William Tiernan is published under the imprint of The Manuscript Publisher and available to buy online, along with other books by William Tiernan.

Copies will also be on sale at the official launch of the book, to take place on Saturday, 8 October at the Fr Flanagan Community Centre in Ballymoe, Co. Galway starting at 8pm. The author will be on hand to sign copies.

Dates for Your Diary

Make a note of the following:

Book Launch: The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life by William Tiernan*

• Date: Saturday, 8 October 2022
• Time: starting 8pm
• Venue: Fr Flanagan Community Centre, Ballymoe, Co. Galway (see Google Maps for directions)

Hanna Greally Literary Awards

• Closing Date: Friday, 14 October 2022

Results will be announced and, prizes will be presented at SiarScéal Festival 2022 (see below). See festival website for details about how to enter.

SiarScéal Festival 2022

• Date: Saturday, 12 November 2022
• Time: starting 10am
• Venue: Roscommon County Library HQ, Abbey Street, Co. Roscommon (see Google Maps for directions)

For further information about SiarScéal Festival and the Hanna Greally Literary Awards, visit the SiarScéal website.

*Update

The launch, scheduled for today (Saturday, 8 October) of William Tiernan’s book, The Joys of a Second Rattle at Life, has had to be postponed due to a bereavement. A new date, not too far into the future, will be set and details posted here in due course.