Books Are My Business: Sheila O’Reilly, director of the Dingle Lit Festival

Dingle Literary Festival takes place November 17-19

Sat, 23 Sep, 2023 - 14:00

Marjorie Brennan

Sheila O’Reilly is originally from Terenure, Co Dublin, and now lives in Ballyferriter, Co Kerry. She previously owned several bookshops in London and is now director of the Dingle Lit Festival. She is also project manager for the Booksellers Association learning platform, and mentors independent bookshops.

How did you get into bookselling?

I was working in publishing in London and I saw that a bookshop was for sale around the corner from where I lived. I put an offer in and it was accepted, and then I bought another two. That was 19 years of my life and I loved it. It’s a brilliant way to work.

How did you end up in Ballyferriter?

We had a holiday home here. I sold the bookshop when my husband was retiring; Brexit had happened and I didn’t really feel comfortable in the UK any more. I didn’t realise it was going to get as bad as it has — the attack on culture and the arts has to be seen to be believed, it is just staggering. So we did the house up and we are here permanently now — five-and-a-half years. It has been lovely and people have been really welcoming. There is lots going on in Dingle as well, there is the film festival, the food festival, Other Voices, it’s a good place to be.

How did the Dingle Lit festival come about?

I was talking to Camilla Dinkel, who was then the owner of the Dingle Bookshop and I asked her about doing an author event there and she said she would help. I said the same to Miriam Ferriter in the Dingle Skellig Hotel and she said it would be fantastic and they would support me. There was no big long-term strategy — we just cracked on with it and did it.

What does your role as director of Dingle Lit involve?

We are all voluntary; we are a strong team that makes it happen. We sit down at the beginning of the year and create our wishlist of authors that we would like to see, then my role is to contact everyone and try to persuade them to come, pull everything together in terms of logistics. I had a lot of contacts from the bookshops and I had a reputation for running very good author events. A lot of publicists I deal with I know from those days. It was handy as we were trying to build up a reputation and they would know that an author would be looked after.

You are also a mentor for independent bookshops. What do you like most about what you do?

I like the variation. Today, I spent most of the day on the Booksellers Association learning platform, developing the content. It is aimed at independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland. The mentoring is also brilliant, to talk to a bookshop that maybe wants to expand or change direction and you are helping them on their way. I get a bit of everything, although doing it all can sometimes be a bit mad. In terms of Dingle Lit, I love to see the audience engrossed, and the buzz — watching people with smiles on their faces rushing from one event to another. On a personal level, I have made some really good friends, being new to the area, which has been great.

What do you like least?

The admin can be a bit laborious but in general, I love working in this industry, it is generally nice and supportive.

What three books would you bring to a desert island?

The book I always recommend is Amongst Women by John McGahern. I went to the American Booksellers Conference a few years ago, there were 700 booksellers there and we were asked to bring a book to showcase and I brought that, because it is a classic. I adored Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, how that didn’t win the Booker Prize, I don’t know. And anything by Donal Ryan, he is just brilliant. I would have Claire and Donal back every year for the festival.