Author of ‘Paddle’ Jasper Winn features on Immrama Festival of Travel Writing Programme in Lismore
Jasper Winn pictured on his Kayak trip around the island of Ireland - he will lead a canoeing trip on the River Blackwater before hosting an audience at the Immrama Festival of Travel Writing which will take place in the picturesque heritage town of Lismore, Co. Waterford from June 9 to 12 - further information can be found on www.lismoreimmrama.com
Having kayaked his way around the island of Ireland Jasper Winn will lead a trip on the River Blackwater before hosting an audience at the Immrama Festival of Travel Writing which will take place in the picturesque heritage town of Lismore from June 9 to 12.
On Sunday June 12 At 1pm a ’Paddle-Talk’ with Jasper Winn, will take place on the River Blackwater, departing from Lismore at Lady Louisa’s Walk and finishing at Tourin Quay and Gardens with warming tea and scones and an illustrated talk on his travels. For landlubbers who don’t fancy a paddle in a canoe, Jasper Winn’s talk will commence at 4.30pm in the Tea House, Tourin House and the gardens will be open for viewing from 3.00pm.
Jasper Winn grew up in West Cork, where he left school at age ten and educated himself by reading, riding horses, learning rural skills and playing music. It was an upbringing that has shaped a lifetime of travel and writing. He has journeyed across the Atlas with nomadic Berbers, canoed along the Danube, and often crosses countries on horseback. He was story consultant on the IMAX film, Ride Around the World, about the world’s horse cultures. Paddle is his first book.
Last summer, writer and musician, Jasper Winn set himself an extraordinary task. He would kayak the whole way round Ireland – a thousand miles – camping on remote headlands and islands, carousing in bars and paddling clockwise until he got back where he started. But in the worst Irish summer in living memory the pleasures of idling among seals, fulmars and fishing boats soon gave way to heroic struggles through storm-tossed seas … and lock-ins playing music in coastal pubs.
Circling the country where he grew up, Jasper reflects on life at the very fringes of Ireland, the nature and lore of its seas, and his own eccentric upbringing – sprung from school at age ten and left free to explore the countryside and its traditional life. Charming, quietly epic, and with an irresistible undertow of wit, Paddle is a low-tech adventure that captures the sheer joy of a misty morning on Ireland’s coast.
Jasper joins a host of international travel writers at festival in the heritage town of Lismore including national and international writers featured are our own Conor O’Clery and Theo Dorgan, as well as Rolf Potts from the USA and Sara Wheeler, Alex von Tunzelmann, Anthony Sattin and William Blacker from the United Kingdom.
In a unique approach to creative writing, the festival offers two different opportunities for budding writers to explore their creativity. Writers with a desire to explore the potential for internet publication while refining their travel writing skills can avail of the Blogger’s forum event with Rolf Potts and Manchán Magan with special guests Rolf Potts, Áine Goggins of the TG4 Couchsurfing programme “Ó Tholg go Tolg”, and Darragh Doyle of the blog boards.ie on Saturday June 11 at 10am, tickets for thie three hour clinic are €25; book your place on 058 53803 . In ‘Spirit of Place’ join Grace Wells in a guided stroll to experience the beauty and history of Lismore followed by a writing workshop. Course facilitator Grace Wells has being mentoring writers for a number of years and is currently undertaking a writer’s mentoring programme for Waterford County Council and Artlinks.
A wealth of local writing talent will be celebrated at the festival opening on Thursday, June 9, with author readings and the launch of new publications by writers Paul Clements, Áine
Uí Fhoghlú
, Alan Murphy and David Monagan at Lismore Castle.
