The Word will be back in Sligo Central Library on the 26th February. Gerard Beirne (author and lecturer on IT Sligo’s BA Writing and Literature Program) will host Mary Costello and Siobhan Mannion.

Mary Costello was born in Galway and has published two novels and a collection of stories to great acclaim. Her collection of short stories, The China Factory, published in 2012, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award. Her novel, Academy Street, was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Prize, the EU Prize for Literature, and the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs de la Francophonie en Irlande in 2014. The novel went on to win the Irish Novel of the Year Award as well as the Irish Book of the Year. Her most recent novel, The River Capture, has been described by The Times as “One of the most surprising and original novels of 2019.”

Siobhan Mannion will read alongside Mary. Siobhan worked for many years as a radio producer in RTÉ and is a past winner of the Hennessy First Fiction and New Irish Writer of the Year awards. Her stories and essays have appeared in Irish and international publications including Granta, Winter Papers, Banshee, Eighteen Bridges, Stand, The Moth, and The Long Gaze Back and Silver Threads of Hope anthologies. She has a degree in English and French from Trinity College, and a Master’s in Film from UCD.

The writers will read from their work followed by a Q& A and an open-mic session. Local writers are welcome to read at the open-mic which operates on a first come, first served basis. The Word is a collaboration between Sligo Central Library and the BA in Writing & Literature at IT Sligo. There is no charge for this event. 26th February, 6.30 pm, Sligo Central Library.