“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Friday, August 26, 2011

If We Can Make It There, Etc.

There’s a rather interesting event planned for September 24th at Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, titled ‘Down These Green Streets: Irish Crime Fiction’. Unsurprisingly, it features a number of Irish crime writers, and is tied in with the publication of DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS, and is ‘presented as part of Imagine Ireland, a year-long season of contemporary Irish arts in the US in 2011, an initiative of Culture Ireland’. Quoth the blurb elves:
There’s been a major crimewave in Ireland – come get to the bottom of it on this day-long investigation of the crime fiction genre that has exploded in Ireland in the last fifteen years.
  Seven leading practitioners of Green Noir will visit Glucksman Ireland House at New York University to discuss the angles and the clues, the plots and counterplots, the dark journeys and the struggles for the truth that energize some of the most exciting writing coming out of contemporary Ireland.
  John Connolly, Declan Burke, Stuart Neville, Arlene Hunt, Declan Hughes, Alex Barclay and Colin Bateman will join Professor Ian Campbell Ross and several special guests from among Irish America’s great crime writers.
  Several new books will be launched, including DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS, edited by Declan Burke; the new Charlie Parker mystery by John Connolly; the third volume of Stuart Neville’s award-winning Belfast trilogy; and new books by Declan Burke and Colin Bateman.
 
  For all the details, and how to book tickets, clickety-click here ...
  As you can probably imagine, I’m looking forward to this like a Puerto Rican kid to the World Series. Actually, I might even try to get a ball game in while I’m in New York. I’d say Yankees tickets are tough to come by; anyone recommend the Mets?
  The downside to the NY trip is that it means I won’t be able to make Bouchercon in St. Louis, which takes place the weekend previously, and even though I’d already booked my place. Boo, etc. How and ever, and due to the good works of one Erin Mitchell, and the magic of modern technology, it’s possible that I may well be able to ‘attend’ Bouchercon after all. I’ll keep you posted …
  Closer to home, there’s another intriguing series of events planned for the month of September by Dublin’s Central Library as part of the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature celebrations. The series is titled ‘Crime and the City: Crime and Drugs’, with the blurb elves wibbling thusly:
This is a series of lunchtime talks and readings looking at the broad issues of crime, drugs and crime writing in Dublin and beyond. This series of events brings together writers from fiction and biography with researchers from social sciences to inform, entertain and promote discussion. Events take place over the five Thursdays of September at 1pm in the Central Library, ILAC Centre, Dublin 1.
September 1st - Declan Burke - Crime Author

September 8th - Johnny Connolly - Criminologist

September 15th - John Lonergan - Former Prison Governor

September 22nd - Cormac Millar - Crime Author

September 29th - Paul O’Mahony - Criminologist
Admission is free but booking is advised as space is limited. To book a place at any of the events please contact the Central Library on 01 8734333.

  For all the Dublin / UNESCO details, clickety-click here
  I’ll be reading from ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL next Thursday, concentrating on the parts of it that deal with drugs and the use and abuse of same, both illegal and legal, and then getting into a Q&A with the audience, possibly about my cavalier attitude - in fiction, at least - to drugs and the use and abuse of same, both illegal and legal. If you can make it along, it’d be great to see you there …

10 comments:

Padraic said...

Hi Declan,
'Crime and the City' has vanished off the front page on the UNESCO site. Interested parties can check out more details here though: http://www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/libraries/Events/Pages/crime_and_the_city.aspx

seana graham said...

Wow, that New York gig is great. It's getting to be quite a traveling act, isn't it?

Arlene said...

OHG, Alex and I were just talking about this yesterday, SO excited about the trip, like night before Santa excited.

Naomi Johnson said...

I was really looking forward to your being at Bouchercon. However, the NY gig appears to open certain doors for you in ways that B'con would not, so I can only be happy about that. And try to squelch this selfish side of me that is currently having a tantrum.

Peter Rozovsky said...

I think you got the date wrong:

Saturday, September 24th 10am–5:30pm
at Glucksman Ireland House NYU

Declan Burke said...

Thanks, Padraic - I've included that link in the main post now.

Cheers,

Dec

Declan Burke said...

Seana - It is quite the travelling act, possibly overburdened with more than its fair share (i.e., yours truly) of snake-oil salesmen ...

Cheers, Dec

Declan Burke said...

Naomi - You're very kind, ma'am. Unfortunately, needs must, and I simply couldn't afford to take the kind of time away from the day job I'd need to attend both. Hopefully it'll be B'con next year ...

Cheers, Dec

Declan Burke said...

Peter - Where would we be without your forensic eye for detail? Or, for that matter, your ability to point out bloody obvious mistakes? The 24th it is, and I've made that change now, and ta for that ...

Cheers, Dec

forthycoats said...

Looking forward to both events.