Cosy up this Christmas with a good book!
4th December, 2024
Books make the best gifts. See some top reads by local writers below, as part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s campaign to encourage shoppers to support the local creative community and give the gift of the arts this Christmas… #GiftTheArts
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses (Doubleday), sixteen short stories by Arts Council NI Major individual Artist awardee, Jan Carson.
Grapefruit Moon (Little Island), a coming-of-age novel by Shirley-Anne McMillan, the new Children’s Writing Fellow for NI.
Check out Arts Council NI Major individual Artist awardee, Derek Keilty’s new book, Ivy Newt and the Storm Witch (Scallywag Press). Written By Derek Keilty and illustrated by Magda Brol, this highly illustrated chapter book series is for ages 5-7 featuring Ivy, an unstoppable and lovable young witch, and her friend and familiar Tom.
The Forest Yet To Come by Sam Thompson (Little Island), A new adventure from the award-winning author of Wolfstongue and The Fox's Tower. The final instalment of the Wolfstongue Saga by author Sam Thompson illustrated by Anna Tromop. The Forest is endless and filled with savage wolves. The human settlement stays safe inside its walls - but two children, Sally and Faolan, long to know what lies beyond. One day a stranger arrives. His name is Reynard: trickster, storyteller, secret-keeper. He can show the children the way through the Forest, but the journey will be more dangerous than they imagine. There are worse things in the world than wolves, and the fox has one final trick to play.
Check out Northern Heist (Merrion Press) by Arts Council NI Major Individual Artist awardee, Rick O’Rawe. Northern Heist is a roller-coaster bank robbery thriller with twists and turns from beginning to end.
Jack Coulter, the young painter from Belfast, has released a stunning hard backed book entitled Paintings by Jack Coulter. From Joni Mitchell to Blondie, Vivaldi to Alicia Keys, painter Jack Coulter’s dramatic abstract works are built on deep synesthesic reactions to songs across a spectrum of musical genres. To purchase visit https://www.setantabooks.com/p...
Did you know that the penalty kick was invented by Armagh man Robert Mc Crum! The penalty kick is often described by footballers as a ‘lottery’. In the finished book, The Penalty Kick: The Story of a Gamechanger, you will read all about the vicissitudes of its invention, the man who dreamed it up, the way it was shaped by his Irish experience, and how – after years of obscurity – it became, through the shoot-out, the one moment in the game that everyone talks about. Purchase at https://www.nottinghilledition...
For more amazing creative gift ideas, visit the Arts Council’s online Christmas Gift Guide at www.artscouncil-ni.org/GiftTheArts