The Watch House

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  • In Conversation with Margot McCuaig at Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival

    St Thomas' Church Rathlin Island, County Antrim, United Kingdom

    The 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.  

    Free
  • Pordenone Legge Book Festival, Italy

    Auditorium Istituto Vendramini Via Beata E. Vendramini, 2 33170, Pordenone, Italy

    The 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, Ireland

    In 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.

    €8 – €10
  • At Sea with Words: Creative Writing Workshop with Bernie McGill

    Parochial Hall, Rathlin Island , United Kingdom

    As part of the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, author Bernie McGill is hosting a free writing workshop in the Parochial Hall on Rathlin Island on Wednesday 29th May from 11am-1pm. No previous experience required. Come with writing materials and be prepared to write. Numbers are limited. Booking essential. Please phone the Rathlin Visitor Information Centre on 028 2076 0054 to book a place. You'll find the ferry timetable between Ballycastle and Rathlin here, and if you fancy spending a night or two on the island around the time of the festival, you'll find details of accommodation on Rathlin here. The Festival runs from 24th May to 2nd June this year and there's lots on offer, from boat blessings to beach cleans, pop up crab shacks to little pirates' discos. Full programme available here. Bernie McGill is the author of The Watch House, a novel set on Rathlin Island at the time of Marconi's wireless telegraphy experiments of 1898. The Watch House has been shortlisted for the Irish/European Union Prize for Literature. ‘McGill writes about life, love and telegraphy with a poet’s clarity’ The Sunday Times ‘McGill proves once again she is a masterful storyteller . . . historical fiction at its […]

  • Author Visit – Bernie McGill – Carrickfergus Library

    Carrickfergus Library 2 Joymount Court, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, United Kingdom

    Join Us in Carrickfergus Library for this special author visit! Bernie McGill's publications include novels The Butterfly Cabinet (2010) and The Watch House (2017) and a short story collection, Sleepwalkers (2013), shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize in 2014. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for numerous awards and in 2008 she won the Zoetrope All-Story Award in the US. Her work has been anthologised in the award-winning collections, The Long Gaze Back  and The Glass Shore  and more recently in Female Lines and  Belfast Stories. Booking essential - please ask in branch for more details To book contact Branch Manager Jillian McFrederick​ t: 028 9336 2261 e: carrickfergus.library@librariesni.org.uk​

    Free