Sligo Central Library will be hosting The Word on Wednesday 29th of April at 6:30pm.
Garrett Carr is the son of a fisherman and grew up in Killybegs, Co. Donegal. His novel The Boy from the Sea was shortlisted for the An Post Novel of the Year award, has been translated into a dozen languages and was our most borrowed novel of 2025. His non-fiction The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Border was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. He teaches Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University Belfast.
Alice Lyons’s recent books are Oona (Lilliput Press) and The Breadbasket of Europe (Veer Books). She is recipient of the inaugural Heaney-Miłosz Residency in Kraków, Poland, a Radcliffe Fellowship in Poetry at Harvard University and the Patrick Kavanagh Award. Lyons lectures on the Writing + Literature BA (Hons) course at ATU.
A regular performer on the Sligo music scene and beyond, Mark McGovern has been playing guitar since the age of 13 with a passion for many genres.
Being self-taught, he found himself in various bands throughout secondary school, transitioning organically onto the gigging circuit once he finished Leaving Cert.
After playing with local bands for many years Mark studied in BIMM Dublin where he graduated with a B.A in Commercial Modern Music, under which he studied guitar with many legends of the industry including Jimmy Smyth (Mary Coughlan) and Simon McBride (Deep Purple) among others.
He obtained his degree while touring and recording with Rackhouse Pilfer, a band of which he was a member for 6 years. With the group, he recorded in Nashville and toured Switzerland, France, Poland, Czech Republic Germany and UK. The band would have also supported Imelda May at Sligo live, and recorded with Tom Jones as part of his ‘Long Lost Suitcase’ album sessions.
Mark also teaches guitar and ukulele with Music Generation Sligo, where he works with children of various and has taught previously in Sligo Academy of Music.
He was also a member of Raglan Roads, a 2-piece acoustic folk duo, and is also a member of Sligo based Alternative Rock band Staring Down Comets, in addition to performing solo acoustic concerts throughout Ireland.
Mark has also performed alongside the O’Dowds, a highly respected and revered musical family in both Sligo and nationwide.
Q&A: Open audience Questions and Answers session
Open Mic: The Open Mic is limited to 5 participants, with a three-minute timeframe per performance. Names taken on the evening.
The event is free and unticketed with limited seating. The doors will close at 6:30pm.
The event will also be streamed on Facebook on the night: www.facebook.com/SligoCountyLibrary
The Word is a collaborative event between Sligo Central Library and the BA in Writing & Literature course at Sligo ATU.
There is no charge for this event.
sligolib@sligococo.ie
Tel: 0719111675