Local Heroes: Drop in Readings

Join us every morning for a free reading hosted by our beloved Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, featuring some of Galway’s best-loved writers. Lasting just twenty minutes, these short events are the only way to start the day at Cúirt!

Tuesday 5 April – AM Shine

A.M. Shine is a writer and advocate of the Gothic horror tradition. Born in Galway in the west of Ireland, there he received his Masters Degree in History before sharpening his quill and pursuing all things literary and macabre. His stories have won the Word Hut and Bookers Corner prize. He has published two collections, Coldwood: The Haunted Man and Other Tales and 13 and is a member of the Irish Writers Centre. The Watchers is his first full-length novel and his second, The Creeper, will be published in September 2022. 

Wednesday 6 April – Afric McGlinchey 

Afric McGlinchey is a multi-award-winning poet from West Cork, Ireland. Her collections are The lucky star of hidden things and Ghost of the Fisher Cat, (Salmon Poetry), both with Italian translations published by L’Arcolaio. A surrealist pamphlet, Invisible Insane (SurVision) appeared in 2019. Her most recent publication is Tied to the Wind, a hybrid childhood memoir, published by Broken Sleep Books.

Thursday 7 April – Alan McMonagle

Alan McMonagle has written for radio, published two collections of short stories: Liar, Liar and Psychotic Episodes – both of which were nominated for the Frank O’Connor Award – and contributed stories to many journals in Ireland and North America. He lives in Galway. His debut novel, Ithaca, was published in 2017. Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame was published in 2020.

Friday 8 April – Gerry Hanberry

Gerard Hanberry is an award-winning poet living and working in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. He has published four collections of poetry including What Our Shoes Say About Us and At Grattan Road, both from Salmon Poetry. Gerard Hanberry has also published a biography of the Wilde family More Lives Than One – the Remarkable Wilde Family Through the Generations (The Collins Press). His latest book ‘On Raglan Road, Irish Love Songs & the Women Who Inspire Them’ is a lively collection which uncovers for the first time how the best Irish love songs came to be. He delivers a creative writing module at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He lives, overlooking Galway Bay, with his wife Kerry.