O’Callaghan and Kennedy set for Cuirt

The 32nd Cúirt International Festival of Literature is bringing acclaimed authors Conor O’Callaghan and AL Kennedy to this year’s festival, which takes place in Galway from Sunday April 23 to Sunday April 30.

Conor O’Callaghan is the author of four books of poetry including Fiction (2005), which was shortlisted for the Irish Times Poetry Now Award; and most recently The Sun King (2013). An avid sports writer, O’Callaghan has also written a prose memoir Red Mist: Roy Keane and The Football Civil War, a bestseller that explores the public uproar surrounding Ireland’s involvement in the 2002 World Cup.

Nothing on Earth is O’Callaghan’s first novel. Set in rural Ireland, it tells the haunting, mysterious yet often funny tale of a family living on an Irish ghost estate. It has been shortlisted for the prestigious Kerry Group Award.

AL Kennedy is the author of 18 books: six literary novels, one science fiction novel, one storybook for children, seven short story collections, and three works of non-fiction. She is also a dramatist for stage, TV, film and radio and stand-up comic.

Kennedy is an essayist and commentator in various UK and European publications and regularly reads her work on BBC radio. Her most recent book is Sweet and Serious, an unusual and poignant love story which takes place over 24 hours in the heart of London.

They will read at the Town Hall Theatre on Friday April 28 at 8.30pm. Tickets are on sale now at www.tht.ie.

■ The full programme of events for the festival is available at www.cuirt.ie