Irish Writers' Centre Authors Read at Anam Cara

We had a great night last Wednesday, 21 March. As part of the Irish Writers' Centre Peregrine Readings series, Ita Daly (in the middle), Frank Ronan (on the right), and Peter Cunningham (on the left) read excerpts from their work -- Ita from a memoir in progress, Frank from a short story, and Peter from one of the novels of his Momument series. A lively question-and-answer conversation followed the readings, giving the enthusiastic audience a chance to learn m0re about the writers and their creative processes, some of which is included below.

We are extremely grateful to the Irish Writers' Centre and the Irish Arts Council for including Anam Cara, now for the fourth time, in this incredible reading series.

Ita Daly:
Ita Daly was born in Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim and later moved to Dublin. She has published five novels, one collection of short stories and two books for children. Her latest work is a re-telling of Irish Myths and Legends commissioned by Oxford University Press. She has won two Hennessy Literary Awards and an Irish Times Short Story Award. Her last novel, Unholy Ghosts, was long listed for the Impact Award.Her work has been translated into Swedish, Danish, Japanese, Italian and German and her short stories have appeared in magazines in Ireland, England and America. Ita is a member of Aosdána.

Frank Ronan:
Born 1963 in New Ross, County Wexford, Frank Ronan is a novelist. He also writes a monthly column for Gardens Illustrated magazine. His novels have won numerous prizes including the 1989 Irish Times/Aer Lingus prize. His works include the novels The Men Who loved Evelyn Cotton (1989), Picnic in Eden (1991), The Better Angel (1993), Dixie Chicken (1994), Lovely (1995), Home (2002) and a collection of short stories Handsome Men Are Slightly Sunburnt (1996).

Peter Cunningham:
Peter Cunningham grew up in Waterford and was educated at Waterpark School, Glenstal Abbey School and University College Dublin. He worked as an accountant and a trader of commodities until 1986 when his first novel was published. Titled Noble Lord, it was a thriller, written under the pseudonym Peter Lauder. A further four thrillers followed. In 1993, a novel, Who Trespass Against Us dealt with the unexpected death of a child. Four subsequent novels, known as the Monument novels, are set in Monument, a fictionalized version of Cunningham's hometown Waterford. They are: Tapes of the River Delta, Consequences of the Heart, Love in One Edition and The Sea and the Silence. Peter is a member of Aosdána.