Úrscéalta Trasnáisiúnta le Réaltán Ní Leannáin agus Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin

Beidh an ócáid ​​seo ar siúl trí Ghaeilge/ This event will take place through Irish.

Cuireann Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha agallamh ar Thadhg Mac Dhonnagáin agus ar Réaltán Ní Leannáin, beirt mhórscríbhneoirí Gaeilge, faoina n-úrscéalta stairiúla: Madame Lazare agus Cití na gCártaí.

Is úrscéal é Cití na gCártaí faoi Katarina, bhean óg as Málta, le linn aimsir an Chéad Chogaidh Dhomhanda. Déantar cleamhnas di le Tomaí, saighdiúir Éireannach as Béal Feirste in arm Shasana. Tá seisean ag súil go mbronfaí Rialtas Dúchais ar Éirinn mar a gheall Redmond. Leantar de scéal Katarina ó 1917 agus othair ghonta ag triail ar Mhálta de réir a chéile ó láithreacha áir Ghallipoli, go dtí 1921 i mBéal Feirste, agus an pobal ann i ngreim na himpireachta. Tugtar léargas ar leith ar shaoltaithí na mban sa saothar ficsin seo. Tá scéal mhuintir an údair, áfach, mar chúlra an leabhair: ba shaighidúr sa Chogadh Mór a seanathair agus casadh seanmháthair an údair air i Málta. Thiteadar i ngrá lena chéile agus d’fhilleadar beirt ar Béal Feirste.

San úrscéal móréilimh Madame Lazare le Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, ríomhtar scéal Levana, bean óg atá mórtasach as a dúchas Giúdach agus as na mná láidre a d’imigh roimpi. Ina measc, tá Hana Lazare, seanmháthair Levana, a theith ina cailín óg di óna tír dhúchais i dtuaisceart na hEorpa agus an réimeas Naitsíoch ag leathnú ar fud na hEorpa. Ise amháin dá muintir a tháinig slán ó shlad an Shoah. Ach tagann mearbhall intinne ar Hana i ndeireadh a saoil, agus sceitheann blúirí eolais uaithi a chuireann mearbhall ar Levana. Cuireann sin tús leis an dráma agus seoltar an bhean óg ar aistear a thugann uirthi gach a ndúirt a seanmháthair riamh léi a cheistiú. De réir mar a ghluaiseann an scéal ó Pháras go dtí an Bhruiséil go hOileán Árann, druideann Levana le rún mór na seanmháthar.

Is scríbhneoir do dhaoine óga, scríbhneoir scripte, cumadóir amhrán agus beathaisnéisí é Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin. I measc go leor eile d’fhoilsigh sé saothar beathaisnéise Mise Raiftearaí: An Fíodóir Focal, (Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin & Leabhar na Bliana 2015) agus Madame Lazare (Irish Book Award 2021). Bhunaigh sé Futa Fata, agus tá na leabhair den teideal sin ar fáil i gcúig theanga déag.

Tá idir fhilíocht, ghearrscéalta agus úrscéalta scríofa ag Réaltán Ní Leannáin. I measc a cuid leabhar, airítear: Cití na gCártaí (Cois Life, 2019), Dílis (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2015), agus Turas Ailse (Coiscéim, 2011). Bhí sí ina scríbhneoir cónaitheach in Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath sa bhliain 2019 agus ina Scríbhneoir Cónaitheach do Bhaile Átha Cliath: Cathair Litríochta UNESCO sa bhliain 2021-22. 

Two brilliant writers come together to discuss their recent historical novels with poet and academic Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha.

Though a fictional work, Cití na gCártaí is rooted in Réaltán Ní Leannáin’s family memories. Her grandfather joined the British Army in 1914 to fight in The First World War. While stationed on Malta during the war he arranged marriage to a young island woman there: Réaltán’s grandmother. In a gesture of courage and hope she left her island home – the sun, lemon trees and bleached limestone – and joined him in Belfast after the war.  Many of the stories reach back to earlier, troubled times in the city’s turbulent history, which Ní Leannáin makes relevant through universal themes of inequality, hypocrisy and betrayal. If sectarian tension, institutional power and political history play some role in her stories, the focus is firmly on the young girls and women within the cultural and physical confines of narrow streets—and sometimes narrow minds.

Madame Lazare, the first novel from Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin is the story of two women, Levana, and her grandmother Hana Lazare. Hana’s story is one of struggle: as a child, she fled the Nazi invasion of her Northern European homeland and made her way to London. She has never spoken a word about that other life to Levana. But as Hana succumbs to old age and her mind becomes increasingly confused, fragments of memory emerge that surprise Levana. And as Hana unknowingly reveals more of her past, Levana finds herself questioning everything her grandmother has ever told her. The trail leads from Paris to Brussels to the Atlantic coast of Ireland, and as it does so Levana closes in on the true story of Madame Lazare’s past and the event that changed forever the course of her life.

Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and screenplays, known predominantly for his Irish-language output, producing work for both adults and children. As a publisher, Tadhg is best known as the founder of Futa Fata, whose original picture books have been published in fifteen languages worldwide.

Réaltán Ní Leannáin is a writer of poetry, short fiction and novels. Cití na gCártaí is Réaltán’s third book, which followed a collection of short stories, Dílis (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2015), and a poetry collection, Turas Ailse (Coiscéim, 2011), a record of a life-changing experience. Réaltán was the 2019 Irish Language Writer-in-Residence in Dublin City University.