I had occasion to rock up to the Irish Book Awards before Christmas, a good evening in what used to be known as the Burlington, even if it ended long before the usual evening finish, or even morning finish, you’d traditionally associate with the old Burlington.

BOOK THIS

Irish people are increasingly looking for that Hollywood smile, and dentists are reaping the benefits, says Dave Kenny.

For this observer there’s a sense of the 1968 US Presidential election about the forthcoming marriage referendum.

WHAT a conundrum. What a bother. What a pickle and a palaver. Frankly, we need to talk about Kazuo.

The Zone Of Interest

Damn you, internet! Sometimes I don’t know whether what you’re giving me is real or whether it’s being dreamed up by two stoned teenagers chained to a PC in someone’s basement, wondering whether to get the Domino’s deep-dish spectacular or not...

A FEW days ago Wild Beasts’ Hayden Thorpe picked up the phone and called Domino Records, the band’s label of eight years. He had, he felt, some explaining to do.

First Novel

This is the Way

An economist, Diarmuid has always had literary leanings.

Laurent Binet obsessed over the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, says Richard Fitzpatrick

THE programme was going well until this guy, Philip Nitschke, popped up on the screen.

By Sue Leonard

Lionel Asbo:The State of England

I see Martin Amis has a new book out.

Ben wrote short stories as a child. At university, he knew he wanted to be a writer.

Martin Amis: The Biography, Richard Bradford

JOHN TOOMEY

JOHN Kennedy Toole has a lot to answer for.

Gemma Arterton has hit out at the film world for putting women in the “background” – and said that she has been seen “as a piece of a*s”.

AHAB and Nemesis.

LAST night some of you may have caught ‘Red Riding’ on Channel 4, a new drama based on the novels of David Peace.

Fans of Booker Prize winner John Banville can today read the first chapter of his forthcoming novel for free.

Irish rocker-turned-campaigner Bob Geldof has been unveiled as the unlikely choice to open this year's Hay literature festival.

TV hosts Richard and Judy defeated Paul and Heather McCartney in the celebrity special of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Superstar Madonna turned children’s storyteller for 100 youngsters today to launch her new book.

Novelist Salman Rushdie was named the writer’s writer as he was honoured by fellow auths for his contribution to international literature.

Madonna and JK Rowling have joined the ranks of Einstein and Freud with an entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.