Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show book trailer
Posted by Frank's Team on March 9, 2010 at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show
Today, 23 February 2010, Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show is published – my fourth novel and fifth book since 2005 (including the non-fiction, Simple Courage). So far the reviews have been pleasingly good, but of course they don’t tell what I alone know – why the book came to be written.
It’s a rite of passage, told in the more-or-less intimate tone of an eighteen-year-old young Irishman, Ben MacCarthy. In the year 1932, when Ben is eighteen, everything changes. His father, a jovial farmer, suddenly quits everything, and runs off with a beautiful young actress from a tacky group of traveling players. Ben goes after him to bring him back.
The story sprang from three sources. First, I recalled a young man from my own past, a friend of mine, whom I won’t (and mustn’t) identify, and whom I watched as he dealt kindly and innocently with two extremely dysfunctional parents. And who then fell headlong in love with a woman many years older than him. For locations, the MacCarthy family house in the novel is modeled on a different farm - that stands about two miles from my childhood home.
Next, we had those raggedy traveling shows that lurched through our villages and towns, all flim-flam, Find-The-Lady card sharks, and drunken old actors, dripping with melodrama, who recited great speeches from Shakespeare (and often forgot the lines).
The third element comes from my own close-to-obsessive reading of mythologies from all over the world, and finding in them so many stories that I have seen being played out one way and another in my own life. Or the lives of people I know.
In terms of weight, Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show isn’t a soufflé - it’s more of a pot roast, or an Irish stew, with perhaps subtler flavors than you think you’re tasting. My brief to myself was this: Create a novel that takes the readers into a world they don’t know; those towns and villages were the stamping-grounds of my own young life. Add in the factual events of a great, boiling General Election, and thereby peel back a corner of the wild and sometimes rueful politics of an emergent western state. Have it played by energetic characters, and have them observed by a young man who wants to do only what is good, but may not be given the permission.
Note: Part of the technical challenge was to have the narrator - now a man obviously in his senior years given the time-line - reflect the events in the less mature tone of the boy he was at eighteen.
And all the time I was looking over my shoulder that the great myths that formed our civilization – from ancient Celtic Europe, from Scandinavia, from Greece. In this case, the Oedipus myth is almost too obvious, but I also wanted to stay with the Homeric and Scandinavian ideas of culture, no matter how low, penetrating remote areas.
Also, I wanted to tell a story that observed three things – the collisions possible when the outside world comes too close to a sealed world of tranquility and “ordinary” good behavior; how political upheavals frequently stick their fists into our personal lives; and the possibility that our journey through the world may once in a while conform in one way or another to the events portrayed in ancient myth.
That all seems to summarize the job I had to do when writing this book. The other fifty per cent of the creative effort – by which I mean the act of reading – is up to you!
Posted by Frank's Team on February 23, 2010 at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Frank Delaney's Tour Dates for 2010
March through May | |
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MADISON, CT Tuesday, March 9, 2010 7:00 PM Reading, Talk & Signing |
RJ Julia Booksellers 768 Boston Post Rd Madison, CT 06443 Contact: Heather McDonald, 203-245-3959 |
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GREENWICH, CT Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:00 PM Reading, Talk & Signing |
Greenwich Library 101 West Putnam Ave. Greenwich, CT 06830 Contact: Marianne Weill, 203-622-7933 |
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WASHINGTON DEPOT, CT Saturday, March 13, 2010 2:00 PM Discussion and Signing |
Hickory Stick Bookshop 2 Green Hill Rd. Washington Depot, CT 06794 860-868-0525 |
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NEW YORK CITY Monday, March 15, 2010 7:00 PM Reading, Talk & Signing |
Borders 461 Park Ave New York, NY 10022 Contact: Daryl Mattson, 212-823-9774 |
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IRVINGTON, NY Tuesday, March 16, 2010 7:00PM Dinner, panel reading & signing with Gail Caldwell and Alex von Bidder |
Spoken Interludes Chutney Masala 4 West Main Street Irvington, NY More Information |
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DARIEN, CT Tuesday, March 23, 2010 10:30 AM |
Darien Community Association Book Group Garden Wing 274 Middlesex Road, Darien Ct 06820 |
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MYSTIC, CT
Saturday, March 27, 2010 5:30 PM Reception, Reading, Talk & Signing |
Bank Square Books 53 West Main Street Mystic, CT 06355 Contact: Annie Philbrick, 860-536-3795 |
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ALBANY, NY Saturday, April 10, 2010 2:45 to 3:30pm Reading and discussion |
NYLA's Empire State Book Festival Empire Plaza Empire State Plaza Madison St Albany, New York 1222 |
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STORRS, CT Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Reading and discussion |
Elizabeth Shanley Gerson Reading University of Connecticut Storrs Alumni House University of Connecticut 2384 Alumni Drive Storrs, CT 06269-0001 Contact: Mary Burke, mary.2.burke@uconn.edu |
| KENT, CT Saturday, April 17, 2010, 4pm Discussion with Diane Meier |
Kent Memorial Library 32 North Main Street Kent, CT 06757 860-927-3761 |
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WASHINGTON CT Saturday, May 8, 2010 4pm Discussion with Diane Meier |
Gunn Memorial Library 5 Wykeham Road P. O. Box 1273 Washington, CT 06793 Contact: Jean Chapin, 860-868-7586 GunnLib@biblio.org |
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MORRISTOWN, NJ Friday, May 14, 2010 11am Author Luncheon |
Junior League of Morristown Location: Fiddler's Elbow Country Club 811 Rattlesnake Bridge Road Bedminster Township, NJ Contact: Betsy Hollo, 973-214-5282 bfhollo@optonline.net |
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NEW JERSEY Tuesday, May 18, 2010 |
New Jersey Irish Businessmens' Group Details to come |
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WASHINGTON, CT June 5, 2010 6pm Library Luminaries Event |
Gunn Memorial Library 5 Wykeham Road Washington, CT 06793 |
Late summer and beyond | |
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SHARON, CT Friday, August 6, 2010, 6-8 pm |
Hotchkiss Library 10 Upper Main St. Sharon CT 860-364-5041 |
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO Saturday, October 2, 2010 Master of Ceremonies |
Literary Sojourn: Steamboat Springs' Festival of Authors 1289 Lincoln Ave Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 Contact: Chris Painter, 970-367-4904 www.literarysojourn.org |
Posted by Frank's Team on January 21, 2010 at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Delaney Lectures: Frank Delaney on Irish Literary Figures
In his series of four forty-minute talks, Frank Delaney examines
three famous Irish writers, James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett,
and finally revisiting a lecture created for the National Archive of the
Library of Congress, ties it all together in an examination of the universal
ways that oral storytelling became the written literature of Joyce, Yeats and
Beckett – and every other literary culture in the world.
Presented by Litchfield County Writers Project at the University of
Connecticut’s Torrington campus this past autumn, the lectures, designed to
educate, inform and entertain both students and the general public, were met
with an enthusiastic reception, reflecting Delaney’s gift, learned at the BBC,
of never underestimating his audience’s intelligence, but always their knowledge.
“These three authors have been driving forces in the life of many
writers, the lives of all Irish writers—and especially in mine,” says Delaney.
“Their cultural significance is universal; but for me they have become almost
personal—they certainly go beyond the mere fact of being Irish, and even of
being a writer. I am delighted to have the chance to illuminate their gifts and
to channel my passion about them to students and the general public alike.”
The Litchfield County Writers Project provides programs that
celebrate the creative work of Litchfield County and support the academic aims
of the University of Connecticut. “I am delighted to be staging these lectures
for the Litchfield County Writers Project. The LCWP is a treasure that I found
in my own backyard,” says Delaney. With its connection between the university
and the talents for professional writing found, at the highest levels, in this
Connecticut county, it forms a basis for both study and appreciation. To find
so well-developed a link between the culture of writing, the scholarship of a
respected university, and the presentation of literature to those who care
about the condition of writing and reading is remarkable.”
Posted by Frank's Team on December 15, 2009 at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Frank Delaney at the American Irish Historical Society
On Monday, April 27th. Frank spoke to a rapt audience of old friends and new at the beautiful townhouse of the American Irish Historical Society. A small reception was planned and prepared by legendary caterer, Andrea Giardino, and featured parsnip cakes, smoked trout on Irish brown bread, and classic, Irish scones with cream and jam. Smooth shots of Irish whiskey fueled the crowd, who enjoyed one another’s company along with Frank’s stories of the value and importance of myth to his books, Ireland, Tipperary and now, Shannon.
Frank on his way to the reception
The Fifth Avenue Townhouse of the American Irish Historical Society
Frank and Uber-Caterer, Andrea Giardino
The audience gathers
Frank at the podium
Frank with Ann Lee, historian and author, Dr. J.Joseph Lee, Cormac O'Malley of Ireland House, author, John Colapinto and artist Gerry Hovagimian.
Book sales were brisk
The interior of the townhouse lent itself to reflection and civil conviviality
All photos by David Goodwin
Posted by Frank's Team on April 29, 2009 at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Frank Delaney's Events/Tour for April and Beyond
April to June | |
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LYNDHURST, OH Thursday, April 16 7 pm Reading/signing |
Joseph-Beth Cleveland Legacy Village 24519 Cedar Road Lyndhurst, OH 44124 (216) 691-7000 Contact: Calondra McArthur, 216-912-1985 |
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MCARTHUR, OH Saturday, April 18 4:00 PM Lecture |
Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library Spring Literary Festival Contact: Trinity Ray, 1-800-225-4575 Ext. 1614 |
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NEW YORK, NY Monday, April 27 6:30 PM Talk & Signing |
American-Irish Historical Society 991 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028 Contact: 212-288-2263 |
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OMAHA, NE Thursday, April 30 6:00 PM Reading & Signing |
Bookworm Countryside Village Shopping Center 87th & Pacific Streets 8702 Pacific Street Omaha, NE 68114 Contact: 212-288-2263 bookseller@bookwormomaha.com Contact: Janet Grojan, 402-334-0722 |
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OMAHA, NE Friday, May 1 Lecture |
University Of Nebraska Details to follow Contact: Nicole Morell AEI Speakers Bureau, 617 782 3111 xt 117 |
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CHICAGO, IL Saturday, June 6 |
Printers Row Book Fair Details to follow |
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BRYANT PARK, NY Wednesday, July 22, 2009 12:30 pm Talk/Discussion |
Word for Word Bryant Park, New York Contact: Susie Sigel, 917-438-5151 |
Late summer and beyond | |
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CENTRAL PARK, NY Sunday, September 22, 2009 Reading/signing |
New York is Book Country Contact: Beth Werner, Kirkus Reviews 570-686-1214 |
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MIAMI, FL November 14-15, 2009 Miami Book Fair International | Contact: Penny Thurer, 305-237-3564 |
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VILLANOVA Spring 2010 Details to follow |
Villanova University Literary Festival |
Posted by Frank's Team on April 15, 2009 at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Frank on the Today Show: St. Patrick's Day Trivia
If you missed Frank on the Today Show on March 11, 2009, you can catch watch him here:
Frank Delaney on the Today Show.
Posted by Frank's Team on March 11, 2009 at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Frank Delaney on Today Show Wed. March 11
Frank is scheduled to appear on the Today Show this Wednesday morning, March 11, in the 10am (EST) hour. If you're not in Eastern Standard Time, check to see when the Kathie Lee and Hoda hour of Today airs in your time zone!
Posted by Frank's Team on March 9, 2009 at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Shannon book tour for March 2009
March | |
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MILWAUKEE, WI Monday, March 2 7.00 PM Talk & Signing |
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop 4093 N Oakland Ave Milwaukee, WI 53211 |
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CHICAGO, IL Tuesday, March 3 7:30 PM Talk & Signing |
Borders 1 N. La Grange Rd LaGrange, IL 60525 Store Manager: Jennifer Pierson, 708 579 9660 Contact: Kristen Sohacki, 630 574 0800 x580 |
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CHICAGO, IL Wed, March 4 12 PM Talk & Signing |
Chicago University Club 76 East Monroe Street Chicago, IL 60603 Contact: Mary Holloway, 312 696 2208 |
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CHICAGO, IL Wed, March 4 7:00 PM Talk & Signing |
The Book Stall Chestnut Court 811 Elm Street Winnetka, IL 60093 Contact: Roberta Rubin, 847-446-8880 |
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DALLAS, TX Thursday, March 5 7:00 PM Dinner & Lecture |
Dallas Womens Club Details to follow |
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DALLAS, TX Friday, March 6 6PM Reading/book signing |
North Texas Irish Festival Quiet Man Pub Inside the Embarcadero Building (top of the brick steps and patio) in Fair Park, Dallas Contact: Betsy Cummins, 972-989-8148 |
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN Saturday, March 7 2:00 PM Talk & Signing |
Bookcase Of Wayzata 607 East Lake Street Wayzata, Minnesota 55391 Contact: Amber Bielenberg, 952 473 8341 |
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WASHINGTON DC Thursday, March 12 7:30 PM Talk & Signing |
Borders-Bailey's Crossroad 5871 Crossroads Center Way Baileys Crossroads, VA 22041 Store manager: Mike Conway, 703 998 0404 Event manager: Christine Hilferty, 410 472 3715 |
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MILLERTON, NY Saturday, March 14 4:00 PM Talk, Q&A, Signing |
Oblong Books 26 Main St. Millerton, NY Contact: Suzanne Herman, 845 876 0500 Store number: 518 789 3797 |
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NEW CAANAN, CT Sunday, March 15 4:00 PM Talk, Q&A, Signing |
Elm Street Books W/ New Caanan Public Library Address tk Contact: Kathleen Millard, 203 966 4545 |
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KANSAS CITY, MO Thursday, March 19 12:00 PM 6:30 PM 7:00 PM Talk & Signing |
Rotary Club Luncheon Venue details to follow Reception Sponsored by Rainy Day Books Location: Kansas City Public Library (Plaza Branch) 4801 Main Street Kansas City, MO 64112 Library Ph: 816-701-3481 Contact: Vivien Jennings, Rainy Day Books 913 384 7605 |
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PAWLING, NY Saturday, March 28 1:00 PM Talk, Q&A, Signing |
Book Cove 22 Charles Colman Blvd. Pawling, NY 12564 Contact: Teresa, 845-855-9590 |
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BOSTON, MA Tuesday, March 31 6:00 PM |
Boston Public Library 700 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Contact: Michael Colford, 617-859-2389 |
Posted by Frank's Team on March 4, 2009 at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Frank Delaney and Joe Donahue on WAMC
Frank talked with Joe Donahue on WAMC on the 18th of February. You can listen to the interview by clicking this link to WAMC.
Posted by Frank's Team on February 26, 2009 at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
