from the cork frank o'connor festival

As the first literary festival to have ever invited me to read, the Cork International Short Story Festival (or the Frank O'Connor Festival as it was previously called) will always hold a place in my heart.  I'm thrilled therefore to be writing from Cork, back again for a third festival.  This is without doubt one of the warmest and most sociable festivals I've ever had the privilege of attending, and consistently presents international and Irish short story writers of the very highest calibre - past guests have included Richard Ford, Jhumpa Lahiri, Miranda July, Anne Enright, Etgar Keret, and Claire Keegan, to name but a few.  If you have a passion for short stories, as I do, this festival is extremely special and absolutely worth marking space for in your diary.  

It's been an absolute whirlwind of a week and I'm utterly exhausted and exhilarated.  This year I've been teaching a four-day creative writing workshop series, which has been very intense but quite brilliant - my writers worked so hard and made so much progress during the week, it was a privilege to be amongst them.  On Thursday I also interviewed a trio of young Canadian short story authors: Alexander MacLeod, Deborah Willis, and Michael Christie (you can read a transcript of the interview here).  In between I've been dashing to events and have heard some incredible stories and author interviews from authors including Helen Dunmore and the Czech Jaroslav Seifert Prize-winning Michal Ajvaz. 

It's also been a chance to connect with dear friends, such as the Chinese-American author Yiyun Li, for example, who I became friendly with here a couple of years ago, having long been a huge admirer of her work.  There have also been surprises, such as the appearance last night of my Faber editor Lee Brackstone.  Turns out he also edits Edna O'Brien, who gave a phenomenal reading yesterday evening alongside the wonderful Colm Toibin - truly a night to remember.  I felt very honoured to be here in Ireland, in the presence of two of the country's most celebrated writers.

Everyone's looking a little bleary-eyed today after a late night carousing in the hotel bar, and I know that several of the authors have slipped back to their bedrooms to catch up on a little sleep before this evening.  Tonight is the festival finale, at which we will see the the awarding of the seventh Frank O'Connor Short Story Award which, at 35,000 euro, marks the world's largest prize for a short story collection.  There's an incredibly strong shortlist this year:

    1.    Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li (Beijing-born, American Resident)

    2.    Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod (Canadian debutante)

    3.    Saints and Sinners by Edna O'Brien (Irish)

    4.    Death is Not an Option by Suzanne Rivecca (American Debutante)

    5.    The Empty Family by Colm Tóibín (Irish)

    6.    Marry or Burn by Valerie Trueblood (American)

I have no idea who will take the prize, but I promise I'll update you after the announcement.  One thing I can be certain of is that it's going to be another late night in the bar!