As the big yellow pencils are taken out of storage for another year of the Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Méabh McDonnell, children’s book author and bookseller with Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, looks ahead to her events.
Running two events for the 2026 programme, a free ‘Children’s Story Time’ on Saturday, April 25, at 11am in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, and a ‘Sunday Breakfast Club’ on Sunday, April 26, at 10am in Nuns Island Theatre, Méabh is excited to show children that there is a space for them within the literature festival.
With six years of knowledge under her belt, two books of her own - Any Way You Slice It and Into the Witchwood - and as a member of the advisory committee with a speciality in the children’s programme, Méabh is a veteran in bringing the magic of Cúirt to all ages.
Her events this year will focus on the importance of investing in our current children’s literature to make sure we have adults who read, she noted: “The only way that any festival is going to gain a literary audience into the future, is by investing in kids’ literature, and by allowing that to be a part of these programmes. If festivals want to catch adult audiences, they need to include children.
“It is extremely valuable for children, as well, to see a literary event, to see either an author in person, or to hear a poem. There is a whole extra element of magic that gets created in a book when you get to experience it in person. It is an element that you do not get when you are reading the book on your own. I know we always look forward to doing story time as part of Cúirt festival to help support the festival, but also as a way of bringing kids along and showing that there is a place for them at festivals like this, that literary festivals aren’t just for grown-ups.”
For her Cúirt-ified Story Time next Saturday, all the stops will be pulled to make the event as big and as bombastic as possible. Méabh will use this chance to introduce her audience of small ears to authors who have participated in festivals of past and present, with a strong Galway focus. The following day, her own book, Any Way You Slice It, will be showcased alongside tasty pastries, which Méabh is looking upon fondly: “The whole experience of being able to even have your own book in print and published is always a big deal, but to be able to showcase it at a festival like Cúirt is really, really special.
“It was such a fun book to write. It is centred around a baking competition with two teenagers who avidly hate each other, and both end up having to team up and acknowledge each other’s strengths.
“It was so fun to write that type of story, because we all have had dreaded group projects, in school and beyond, where you have to work with someone that you really would rather not.
That is such a fun dynamic to me; I really enjoyed writing it, and I would hope that other people would see that.
Méabh hopes to read sections from the book and talk about storytelling next Sunday.
When asked what her favourite part of Story Time was, Méabh joked, “I can’t just say the adoring applause?” And while this much may be true, she went on to describe: “I really loved seeing kids connect with a book. You can see it in their eyes when you are reading it. You can see them get surprised by a kind of scary bit, or laughing at a funny bit, or just seeing that moment of connection where they’re really, really interested in the book you’re reading.
“That is why we do Story Time, you are really trying to emphasise to children that this is something fun.
This is something enjoyable. This is something you can do.”
For more information on ‘Children’s Storytime’, or to book ‘Sunday Breakfast Club with Méabh McDonnell’, visit cuirt.ie
