Dervla Murphy

MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE
IONAD LITRÍOCHTA an DEISCIRT

MLC books

Welcome to the Munster
Literature Centre

Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt) is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of literature, especially that of Munster. To this end, we organise festivals, workshops, readings and competitions. Our publishing section, Southword Editions, publishes a biannual journal, poetry collections and short stories. We actively seek to support new and emerging writers and are assisted in our efforts through funding from Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.Originally located in Sullivan's Quay, the centre moved to its current premises in the Frank O'Connor House (the author's birthplace) at 84 Douglas Street, in 2003.

In 2000, the Munster Literature Centre organised the first Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival, an event dedicated to the celebration of the short story and named for one of Cork's most beloved authors. The festival showcases readings, literary forums and workshops. Following continued growth and additional funding, the Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award was introduced in 2005, coinciding with Cork's designation as that year's European Capital of Culture. The award is now recognised as the single biggest prize for a short story collection in the world and is presented at the end of the festival.In 2002, the Munster Literature Centre introduced the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, an annual short story competition dedicated to one of Ireland's most accomplished story writers and theorists. This too is presented during the FOC festival. The centre also hosts the Cork Spring Literary Festival each year, at which the Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize is awarded (established 2010).

Workshops are held by featured authors in both autumn and spring, allowing the general public to receive creative guidance in an intimate setting for a minimal fee. In addition, the centre sponsors a Writer in Residence each year. We invite you to browse our website for further information regarding our events, Munster literature, and other literary information. Should you have any queries, we would be happy to hear from you.

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DERVLA MURPHY

Born Waterford, 1931. Touring cyclist, travelogue auteur. An accomplished cyclist, Murphy has travelled the globe and logged her adventures in a series of highly lauded books. The countries she has visited, cycled solo and recorded in her books range from India to Yugoslavia, and Persia to Pakistan. Her published works include Through the Embers of Chaos: Balkan Journeys (John Murray, 2003), Eight Feet in the Andes: Travels with a Mule in Unknown Peru (John Murray, 2003), Full Tilt: From Dublin to Delhi with a Bicycle (John Murray, 2004), Down & Out in Paris & London (George Orwell/Dervla Murphy, Penguin Books, 1989), On a Shoestring to Coorg: An Experience of Southern India (Flamingo, 2003), A Woman’s World: True Stories of Life on the Road (Marybeth Bond/Dervla Murphy, Travellers’ Tales Guides, 2003), In Ethiopia with a Mule (Flamingo, 1994), The Waiting Land: Spell in Nepal (Flamingo, 1998), and Where the Indus is Young: Midwinter in Baltistan (John Murray, 2003). She travels and writes to this day.

Light Feet in the Andes Through the Embers of Chaos On a Shoestring