The Watch House
In Conversation with Margot McCuaig at Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival
St Thomas' Church Rathlin Island, County Antrim, United KingdomThe Watch House, a novel set on Rathlin in the years of Marconi’s early wireless experiments is a gripping story about the power of words to connect us, and the power of suspicion to drive us apart. Author Bernie McGill reads from her book, and joins in conversation with Margot McCuaig, writer, filmmaker and Rathlin resident in part-time exile in Scotland. For full updates on the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival which takes place this year from Friday 25th May to Sunday 3rd June, and to be in with a chance of winning return ferry travel from Ballycastle and a voucher for The Manor House, sign up for the newsletter here. Results on Saturday 19th May 2018. Ferry timetable between Ballycastle and Rathlin here. Accommodation on Rathlin here. Bernie will be taking a writing workshop at the Manor House on Thursday 31st May from 2pm-4pm. Free admission but places are limited. To book phone The Manor House on 028 2076 0046.
Pordenone Legge Book Festival, Italy
Auditorium Istituto Vendramini Via Beata E. Vendramini, 2 33170, Pordenone, ItalyThe Italian translation of The Watch House is published by Bollati Boringhieri on 30th August 2018. Translated by Simona Garavelli, it appears under the title Le parole nell'aria (The Words in the Air). On 22nd September, Bernie McGill will be interviewed by Mary B. Tolusso at Pordenone Legge Book Festival, Italy. È l’estate del 1898 nella piccola isola irlandese di Rathlin. La giovane Nuala Byrne, non vede altra possibilità per garantirsi la sopravvivenza se non sposare l’anziano sarto del paese. Ma sull’isola sbarca uno scienziato italiano, collaboratore di Guglielmo Marconi, cui sono affidati i primi esperimenti del telegrafo senza fili. E quando Nuala verrà arruolata come apprendista, il mondo della scienza le aprirà nuovi, inimmaginabili orizzonti.
Victorian Mavericks at Red Line Book Festival, Dublin
Pearse Museum Saint Enda's Park The Hermitage Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, IrelandIn the Victorian era, women were forced to endure many inequalities in terms of marriage, finances and social status. Viewed as belonging to the domestic sphere, they were expected to provide their husbands with a clean home, food on the table and children. In this special event for Red Line Book Festival, Nuala O’Connor (Becoming Belle), Bernie McGill (The Watch House) and Caroline Busher (The Ghosts of Magnificent Children) explore the lives of Victorian female characters in their novels and the ways those women and girls defied the conventions of the time. Booking information here.