Aoife K. Walsh has been appointed as the new Head of Exhibitions & Programming at the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI).A collaboration between University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland, MoLI is Ireland’s national museum of literature. Located in the original home of UCD on St Stephen’s Green, the museum brings Irish writing to life through immersive exhibitions, public programmes and contemporary commissions.Walsh joins MoLI from New Island Books, where she served as editorial director, following an extensive career spanning publishing, literary programming, exhibition development and international cultural engagement. She previously worked with Literature Ireland, promoting Irish writers and literature on the global stage through major international book fairs and cultural showcases in Ireland. David Cleary, director and CEO of MoLI, said: “On behalf of the Board of MoLI, and our founders University College Dublin and the National Library of Ireland, I am delighted to welcome Aoife to the museum.”Walsh said: “I am delighted to join MoLI, an institution that celebrates the transformative power of literature and the enduring importance of storytelling in our lives.” *In The Irish Times tomorrow, Martina Evans writes about how her time as a radiographer in London’s Pentonville Prison inspired her latest book, Drunken Driving. John Ware tells Mark Hennessy about his book, Neither Confirm Nor Deny: Lawless Agent Running, the Suppression of Truth, and MI5. And there is a Q&A with Mary Watson about her new thriller, The Lover.Reviews are Sinéad Gleeson on Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy; Caragh Maxwell on My Greatest Race by Ciara Mageean; Anne Haverty on The Butterfly Season by Lea Korsgaard; Declan O’Driscoll on the best new translations; Paschal Donohoe on Doing Good: How Ethical Capitalism Can Save Liberal Democracy by Markus Gabriel; Pat Carty on Fantastic Kingdom by Helene von Bismarck; Dean Van Nguyen on Tonight the Music Seems So Loud by Sathnam Sanghera; Patrick Holloway on The Ballad of Ronan McCoy by Colin Morgan; Colm McKenna on The End of Everything by M. John Harrison; Lucy Sweeney Byrne on Hey Man by Andrew Meehan; Houman Barekat on The Coast of Everything by Guillermo Stitch; and Paul Clements on local history.*Irish novelist and Irish Times critic Helen Cullen has curated an online workshop and webinar series for Brunel University of London where she teaches creative writing – the New Writers Programme. As partners of the Nero New Writers Prize for unpublished writers in Ireland and the UK, the aim of Brunel is to support as many aspiring writers as possible. The workshops will provide craft advice and inspiration, while the webinars offer insights into the publishing industry, demystifying the publishing process for all. The series includes workshops with award-winning writers: Writing Children’s Fiction with Patrice Lawrence; Writing Narrative Non-Fiction with Sophie Elmhirst; and Anatomy of a Story with Lucy Caldwell, a short story writing workshop. The webinars focus on paths to publication for writers of adult fiction and non-fiction and children’s fiction with agents and editors from RCW Literary Agency, Phoenix Books, Dialogue Books, International Creative Agency, Faber, Picador, Hachette Children’s, Guppy Books and AM Heath Literary Agency. The programme kicks off on July 2nd and runs through to August. Please click here to read more and register for your free spot: everyone is welcome. *Earagail Arts Festival, Letterkenny & Rathmullan, Co DonegalThe Journals Fleadh returns for its third year to gather readers, writers, and editors for a vibrant weekend of conversation, community, and workshops in Letterkenny and the seaside town of Rathmullan in Co Donegal, from Friday to Sunday, July 17th to 19th.The weekend opens in Letterkenny with an invitation to ‘Meet the Players’, introducing emerging voices from Profiles and The Frustrated Writers’ Group, followed by a conversation with Eimear Ryan of Banshee Press and literary journal, Banshee.We also hear from prominent literary voices such as essayist and journalist Roisin Kiberd and author Jan Carson. Rounding it out are opportunities to put pen to paper in two workshops, led by writer and The Pig’s Back editor Dean Fee, and poet, editor, and poetry critic Mícheál McCann.At the heart of the weekend, presented by Earagail Arts Festival & Regional Cultural Centre, and curated by Megan Johnson, is a celebration of Ireland’s thriving literary journal scene, which has supported and shaped the work of so many featured writers. Journals including Profiles, Tolka, The Stinging Fly, The Pig’s Back, Poetry Ireland Review, Frustrated Writers’ Group, Banshee, The Dublin Review and more will be represented, offering opportunities to meet the people behind the pages, connect, and maybe even take a bracing dip in the sea.The Human Library, a not-for-profit learning platform which hosts personal conversations designed to challenge stigma and stereotypes through dialogue makes a welcome return, for the fifth year, to Earagail Arts Festival in the Central Library, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, on Thursday, July 16th, from 1pm to 8pm.The organisation hosts events all over the world where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books and have conversations they would not normally have access to. www.eaf.ie*The shortlist for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2026 has been announced: Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash; Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han; Under Water by Tara Menon; May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry; A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia; and The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski.Bea Carvalho, Waterstones head of books, said: “This is a shortlist which showcases writing of tremendous energy, poetic precision and spry humour, balancing nostalgia with innovation to stunning effect. It features genuinely vital global history and profound questions on the weight of faith and grief, while considering ecological change and the destruction of dynasties and legacies.”The winner will be announced on July 16th.*Faber has announced a new novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger will be published next March.London, 1938. After attending a music hall matinee, Richard Hadley has an unexpected encounter with the mysterious Miss Lambert. Determined to defend her from the apparently hostile forces closing in, he pursues Miss Lambert to a grand hotel deep in the English countryside, then onto a train bound for Scotland.Angus Cargill, publishing director, said: “Drawing on his love of music, art and Golden Age cinema, this disarming and memorable caper offers a delicious new twist to Ishiguro’s work. We can’t wait for readers to climb aboard.”Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954 and moved to Britain at the age of five. His many honours include the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Booker Prize.*The shortlist for the TLS Ackerley Prize 2026 for memoir and autobiography features Children of Radium by Joe Dunthorne; Homework by Geoff Dyer; and Practicing Dying by Charlotte Northall.The winner will be announced at an event featuring the shortlisted authors in conversation with the chair of the judges, Peter Parker, at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Rd, London on July 23rd at 7pm.The prize was established in 1982 in memory of J.R. Ackerley, the author and long-time literary editor of The Listener magazine. It is awarded annually to a literary autobiography of outstanding merit by a British author published in the UK in the previous year. It is now awarded in partnership with the Times Literary Supplement.*Lilliput Press, with the support of the Arts Council and Westmeath County Council, has published new editions of three of John Broderick’s works: The Waking of Willie Ryan, The Pilgrimage, and An Apology for Roses, with introductions from Colm Tóibín, Nicole Flattery and Seán Hewitt.To celebrate the launch, Lilliput Press and Westmeath County Council will be hosting an event in the Irish Writers Centre, Dublin on June 25th from 6.30pm-8.30pm, hosted by John Broderick Writer-in-Residence Catherine Prasifka, with guests Seán Hewitt, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Kit Fryatt and Dr Michael Cronin. The event celebrates Broderick’s contributions to queer writing in Ireland and will showcase readings from some of the foremost LGBT+ writers working in Ireland today. Wine and refreshments will be served. Register for free on Eventbrite. *This summer, the Samuel Beckett Theatre presents the world premiere of Oscar Unwritten, a new play that asks not only how much we really know Oscar Wilde, but who decided which version of Wilde would survive.Running until July 26th in Trinity College Dublin, the production marks a significant milestone for the venue as its first self-produced professional production. Tickets are available for the performance alone or as part of a combined experience with Trinity College Dublin’s literary walking tour.*The winner of the first Footnote x Counterpoints Prize for Fiction, a new award celebrating writers from refugee and migrant backgrounds, is Erica Li, a British-Hong Kong writer and lawyer living in London. She has won for her story, A Thousand Rivers of Time, which chronicles the lives of three generations of women from a Hakka-Chinese family from 1945 to the present day. It was described by judges as ‘a work of rare emotional force’. For her story, which is a tribute to the resilience and courage of her grandmother, Li will receive a prize worth £15,000. This includes a £7,500 cash prize as well as a publication agreement with Footnote Press, with an advance of a further £7,500. *