Celebrated actress Siobhán McSweeney may have found fame starring in a TV series set at the other end of the country, but Cork is never far from her thoughts, writes Ciara McDonnell

The acclaimed Irish writer’s first novel, ‘The Country Girls’, from 1960, was banned and burned in Ireland, but she has lived undaunted ever since and is still writing

Des O'Driscoll has you covered on things to do this week.

As the stage version of Edna O’Brien’s classic novel tours to Cork and other centres, Marjorie Brennan hears from well-known figures about their experiences of the iconic book.

Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls lives in the public imagination foremost as one of those banned and burned books, testament to post-independence Ireland’s absurd prudishness, hypocrisy and philistinism.

In advance of the Crosstown Drift event, Eoghan O’Sullivan asked some of the participating authors about what makes Cork a special place for them.

Marian Keyes, Eimear McBride, and Edna O’Brien join JK Rowling and Harper Lee on a list of the 100 essential books by female writers from the past 100 years, according to a new poll.

I’d put cutting out social media on a par with giving up smoking. The fruit of putting the gadget down is reading, enjoying live shows, and participating in real life, writes Gerard Howlin

Organised annually by the Munster Literature Centre, the 17th Cork International Short Story Festival — the only one of its kind in the country and now the oldest in the world — has been taking place in Leeside all week, giving readers and writers a rare chance to revel in the pleasures of short form fiction.

Censorship in Ireland, which was largely overturned 50 years ago, meant the public couldn’t easily get their eyes on work by our best writers, making it a badge of honour, says Donal Ó Drisceoil.

My message has always been that it’s OK to be a home cook, says Trish Deseine.

Works by a number of Irish writers have been longlisted for the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English.

NINETY-NINE per cent of the time in prison consists of waiting around, bored, as Carlo Gebler observes via his narrator, Wing orderly ‘Chalky’ Chalkman, who is in charge of sundry duties — preparing breakfast for warders and making up welcome packages for new inmates at Loanend prison in Northern Ireland.

NINETY-NINE per cent of the time in prison consists of waiting around, bored, as Carlo Gebler observes via his narrator, Wing orderly ‘Chalky’ Chalkman, who is in charge of sundry duties — preparing breakfast for warders and making up welcome packages for new inmates at Loanend prison in Northern Ireland.

MUSIC NEWS: Though there were all sorts of stories about Michael Jackson’s perilous finances through the years, the late prince of pop did listen to some of the right advice when he managed to amass the rights to songs by an impressive roster of artists. 

As Colm Tóibín appears on the famed BBC radio show, Richard Fitzpatrick looks at the selections of Irish stars who have already made the trip

An infrastructure of people, ideas, and places built up in better times has been ground down, writes Gerard Howlin

There was huge excitement yesterday as Ireland’s authors gathered at the Bord Gáis Theatre for the announcement of the shortlist for the Irish Book Awards 2015.

The acclaimed Jim McGuinness memoir, Until Victory Always, has been shortlisted for the Irish Sports Book of the Year award at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards which will be held in the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday, November 25. 

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

WRITE what you know about is the mantra for (especially) first- time novelists, but if you know nothing about the author, then how can you match what you read with what you know?

THE Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for 2015 has been awarded to Welsh writer Carys Davies for her second collection, The Redemption of Galen Pike.

SEBASTIAN BARRY’S latest novel, his eighth (just published in paperback), opens with a bang: the World War II torpedoing of a ship carrying British officers to Africa.

Older women who wear make-up look younger and are considered to be more competent and more trustworthy, but it must be applied properly, says Margaret Jennings.

New Selected Poems 1988-2013

An elite artists’ group has rejected public criticism over the amount of funding it receives from the taxpayer, claiming the Government would drive “JCBs full of money” to any private business that provided such a return on the “investment”.

John Cornwell

The 40th anniversary of the death of one of our truly great female writers will be remembered at the 2014 Limerick Literary Festival from tonight until Sunday. Many well-known names will participate in the festival which honours Limerick-born novelist and playwright Kate O’Brien.

WHAT have Gordon Ramsay, Edna O’Brien, Nicky Byrne and Phil Coulter got in common? They’re just some of the celebrities who were born within the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac.

RTE News: Six One co-anchor Sharon Ní Bheoláin, believes in giving back.

As a teenager, Maura was a servant in a big house.

At home his kids called him head-the-ball, their fondness for Seamus Heaney the father more than a match for their awe of him as artist.

University College Cork has thrown a lifeline to the world’s most lucrative award for a collection of short stories.

Colum McCann has pushed the boundaries out with his new book Transatlantic. He tells Sue Leonard how he approached writing it and his earlier books

SHE’S probably the most successful neophiliac ever.

President Michael D Higgins has joined primary school principals in calls to reduce the red tape that holds them back from teaching the arts.

SATURDAY

Ireland’s top writers moved from the page to the stage in style to accept prizes at the 2012 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards at the RDS.

Though he won’t divulge details of his new novel, Kevin Barry does tell Colette Sheridan about some of the other literary irons he has in the fire right now