
Friday 23rd April 1pm
(Note – this event will be broadcast to American audiences on Thursday 22nd April at 6pm (Seattle time) American audiences can register here)
Rónán Hession and Nancy Pearl discuss Leonard and Hungry Paul
Join us for a special conversation between beloved rock star librarian Nancy Pearl and Rónán Hession, whose novel Leonard and Hungry Paul is the 2021 One Dublin One Book selection.
Did you know that The Seattle Public Library started the original ‘one book, one city’ with a programme called ‘If All of Seattle Read the Same Book’ (better known now as ‘Seattle Reads’) back in 1998? The programme, created by Nancy Pearl, has been a huge success, spreading throughout the United States as well as to cities around the world. For the first time ever, Seattle is partnering with another city to celebrate their ‘one book’ selection and to talk a bit about why shared reading experiences are so powerful. The Dublin One City One Book programme (now One Dublin One Book) began in 2006 with Flann O’Brien’s At Swim Two Birds and has featured over the years books by Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, James Joyce, Edna O’Brien, Christine Dwyer Hickey and many others.
This event is presented in partnership with Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle City of Literature, The Seattle Public Library Foundation and Elliott Bay Book Company, with thanks to author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation, and to media sponsor The Seattle Times. This event will be pre-recorded and streamed on SPL’s YouTube channel and Dublin City of Literature YouTube channel.
Nancy Pearl regularly speaks about the importance and pleasure of reading at libraries, literacy organizations, and community groups around the world. She can be found on NPR’s Morning Edition and KWGS-FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma talking about her favorite books. Her monthly television show on the Seattle Channel, Book Lust with Nancy Pearl, features interviews with authors, poets, and other literary figures. Among her many honors are the 2011 Librarian of the Year Award from Library Journal and the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. Nancy is the creator of the internationally recognized program If All of Seattle Read the Same Book, and was the inspiration for the Archee McPhee “Librarian Action Figure.” Nancy is a best-selling author, librarian, and literary critic, but first and foremost, she is a reader and has spent her life promoting reading as one of the most beneficial and joyful experiences anyone can have.
Rónán Hession is an Irish writer based in Dublin. His debut novel Leonard and Hungry Paul was published by Bluemoose Books in the UK and by Melville House Books in the US. Leonard and Hungry Paul has been nominated for a number of prizes, including the Irish Novel of the Year and the British Book Award for Best Debut. Rónán has also been longlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards for Short Story of the Year. Rónán’s second novel, Panenka, will be published in May 2021. As Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, he has released three albums of storytelling songs. His third album Dictionary Crimes was nominated for the Choice Music Prize for Irish album of the year.