Happiness Comes From Nowhere: Clondalkin Library
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Red Line Book Festival Event: 7pm 13th November, Clondalkin Library
My name is Shauna Gilligan and I'll be reading from my debut novel Happiness Comes from Nowhere at 7pm on 13th November in Clondalkin Library. Nothing gives me more joy than to hear readers engage with my writing – everything that they bring to my novel, all that they see in it that perhaps I’d not quite intended; part of the story not quite understood or maybe understood too well, too close to the bone.
How often have we heard the phrase to write well, you have to read well? I’m a believer of this though I have to admit that there was a time when I feared that what I read would seep into what I wrote. I even restricted my reading to‘non-literary’ things like magazines, newspapers etc. Here’s the thing: my writing stopped. I felt bored. Barren, even. So I went back to reading. Reading anything I could get my hands on. Literary fiction. History books. Magazines. And the stories came; the writing returned. Why? Because, as any writer will tell you, everything around us appears in our writing: invisible or otherwise.
And this brings me back to my evening with some serious readers in Clondalkin Library on 13th November. Thanks to South County Dublin Libraries and The Red Line Book Festival.
Book clubs – that place where you discover you like types of writers or books you’d never normally pick up let alone read. I discovered Philip Pullman in a book club, and, more recently, discovered Rani Manicka. I have to say, I am surprised and delighted by my new tastes.
So I hope that those who brave our chilly November weather on 13th will enjoy the sample of my writing that I’ll read and that those who have read Happiness Comes from Nowhere, will take this opportunity to engage with a fellow reader who happens to also be a writer.
Looking forward to reading to and chatting with you next Tuesday at 7pm!
My name is Shauna Gilligan and I'll be reading from my debut novel Happiness Comes from Nowhere at 7pm on 13th November in Clondalkin Library. Nothing gives me more joy than to hear readers engage with my writing – everything that they bring to my novel, all that they see in it that perhaps I’d not quite intended; part of the story not quite understood or maybe understood too well, too close to the bone.
How often have we heard the phrase to write well, you have to read well? I’m a believer of this though I have to admit that there was a time when I feared that what I read would seep into what I wrote. I even restricted my reading to‘non-literary’ things like magazines, newspapers etc. Here’s the thing: my writing stopped. I felt bored. Barren, even. So I went back to reading. Reading anything I could get my hands on. Literary fiction. History books. Magazines. And the stories came; the writing returned. Why? Because, as any writer will tell you, everything around us appears in our writing: invisible or otherwise.
And this brings me back to my evening with some serious readers in Clondalkin Library on 13th November. Thanks to South County Dublin Libraries and The Red Line Book Festival.
Book clubs – that place where you discover you like types of writers or books you’d never normally pick up let alone read. I discovered Philip Pullman in a book club, and, more recently, discovered Rani Manicka. I have to say, I am surprised and delighted by my new tastes.
So I hope that those who brave our chilly November weather on 13th will enjoy the sample of my writing that I’ll read and that those who have read Happiness Comes from Nowhere, will take this opportunity to engage with a fellow reader who happens to also be a writer.
Looking forward to reading to and chatting with you next Tuesday at 7pm!
Happiness comes From Nowhere is a fabulous debut novel.
ReplyDeleteHi Mel, I really liked her article above so I'm looking forward to reading her book, her honesty is refreshing!
ReplyDelete-also great title.
Mary