By Shelley Marsden

Penguin Books is bringing back its popular Penguin English Library, a new, beautifully designed collection that celebrates 100 novels written in the English language – and it’s a great place to start for anyone wanting to build up an aesthetically pleasing collection of classic books.

Simon Winder, Publishing Director, said: "For some twenty years, beginning in 1963, millions of readers first encountered the most enjoyable works in the English language through the orange-spined Penguin English Library.  For many the series was a magic door, the start of a lifetime's engagement with the most vivid writing imaginable.  Now the spirit of the original Penguin English Library has inspired a fresh, contemporary new series."

Kicking off in style with Robinson Crusoe, the first novel in English and spanning two centuries until Dubliners published just before the First World War, this list (which includes titles in the original Penguin English Library) are some of the most scintillating, stimulating, bestselling and enlightening books in our culture.

The first batch of titles includes two of the most famous tomes ever written by Irish authors, Dracula by Bram Stoker and Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, as well as a host of other classics including Persuasion by Jane Austen, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Every novel has a stunning new look, award-winning designer Coralie Bickford-Smith playing on the history of Penguin's design with elegant, modern covers and a colour update on the iconic orange spines that draws the series together. 

Each book will also contain an engaging essay at the end by writers such as Virginia Woolf to Zadie Smith.  This new collection provides the ultimate readers' editions, to enjoy and then display with pride!

The first twenty titles in the collection The Penguin English Library (Penguin, paperback) are out now priced £5.99 each ad will be followed by ten a month for the rest of the year. Visit www.penguin.co.uk for more.

SHELLEY MARSDEN speaks to sculptor-turned author Aidan Harte, who has written with a fantasy novel with a twist…

When I call Aidan Harte, I can distinctly hear the rain battering down onto the windows of his living room. Clearly, the weather is as apocalyptic inDublintoday as it is inLondon. This seems fitting, as we’re here to talk about the animator, sculptor and now author’s dark, vast fantasy thriller, Irenicon – the first in a planned trilogy.

About a love story whose backdrop is two feuding factions in a city separated by a brooding river (the Irenicon), with a life-force of its own, you could say it was almost a sci-fi Romeo and Juliet. However, it’s set in medieval/Renaissance times, so that description doesn’t quite do justice to all the different storylines, strange characters and unusual elements of adventure within. An impressive debut, Irenicon is full of eclectic detail without alienating readers with too many outlandish elements.

Kilkenny-born Harte studied in the Florence Academy of Art – his odd, almost grotesque sculptures can be seen inSolArtGallery inDublin where he’s now based. He has also directed an IFTA winning, BAFTA nominated kids’ TV show, Skunk Fu, which was broadcast onBBC, Kids WB and Cartoon Network. I’m intrigued as to how the 34-year-old creator came up with such an ambitious premise for his first novel, and how his new career in writing fits in with his work as a sculptor.

Irenicon is an epic adventure mixing fantasy with history – how did you come up with that mix?

It’s certainly a strange blend. There’s an element of the Mafia thriller, a touch of The Godfather, in the plot. Then it’s got this setting which is medieval /renaissance; it’s on the cusp of the modern world. I just thought it was an interesting mix. It came about when I was studying inFlorence, where I was studying classical sculpture at the Florence Academy of Arts. I was there for a while, and that setting seems to seep into your subconscious. 

It is, almost like a living museum -a place that fires the imagination…

It’s a strange place, and to live there is totally different to visiting for a weekend. While I was there, I got to travel around lots of small, Tuscan towns like San Gimignano and Sienna – they’re even more preserved thanFlorence, which was the ‘winner’ of the conflicts between all these cities. These places have these strange, tall towers, for all the world like skyscrapers, which you’ll not see in Florence any more. Powerful families had these towers, which were status symbols that they would attack each other from. In my story, Rasenna is a city that’s made up of these towers.

The plot at the heart of Irenicon is the conflict between two races, is it not?

It’s the conflict between two cities; one which is technologically advanced and secular, the other primitive and violent and ridden with feuds and powerful families. The Irenicon then is like, I don’t know, today’s atomic bomb, this gigantic wave. It’s somethingFlorence did actually try to do against one of its rivals, which didn’t come off in reality but in my book it does.

The river was artificially created by the Concordian Empire, right?

It was… and throughout the book you have this river which is the symbol which is something that everyone hates, because it’s been sent to divide them, but towards the end of the story it begins to unite them, because a bridge is built over it. The word Irenicon is a theological term which means something which brings people together, so I thought it would be ironic if it was something initially dividing the town.

The river is also a life-force of its own – it’s chilling stuff…

It’s become sentient, somehow, yes. The water isn’t just dangerous because it might have currents and you could fall in; it seems to roam about in the form of these watery columns, sort of spirits, which haunt the environment of the river, so people avoid it like, I don’t know, a plague zone. I was thinking of radioactivity and the atomic bomb in the 20^th century, how scary that is to us, and to try and find some way of bringing that into a medieval fantasy context. It’s a weapon which, after it’s used, has this horrible afterlife. It’s not one dreadful attack; it’s an ongoing attack on the city.

You paint the picture of a very different world, but the emphasis is still very much on characters…

I guess the trouble with a lot of fantasy writing is just that – strange races, odd languages and people find it hard to connect to the stories. Irenicon is basically a love story, and the main character, 17-year-old Sofia is set to inherit control of the town. She’s basically blossoming into a woman, and her preconceptions and prejudices are challenged as she falls for an engineer from the rival city. I thought that was a simple enough premise that anyone, even a reader coming from outside fantasy, could connect with it.

Are you a fan of sci fi or historical novels?

Fantasy novels not especially, apart from reading the Lord of the Rings books growing up like I think most kids have! I do like history a lot, which I think comes across in my book; it reflects a lot of the complexities of medieval politics in a way that makes a very convoluted period in history, I hope, a little more palatable. I wanted to make it vivid for people. I this generation is particularly open to fantasy, having grown up with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Northern Lights, much more than people might have been 20 years ago.

So, what makes a sculptor decide to write a book?

I’ve always been a big reader and enjoyed literature, but I just came up with an idea which kept playing around in my mind. I thought, why not? I had the time. With a sculpture, you make it and it’s quite expensive to cast, so when I came back to Ireland after studying in Italy, I made a couple of sculptures and had to wait for them to sell, so the good thing to do in the meantime was to write a book!

How was the experience; could you draw any parallels with sculpting?

Odd as it sounds, there aren’t that many differences. We had a real classical approach to drawing in Florence. The pace was very slow, and a lot of it was standing back from your work and critiquing it, correcting mistakes as opposed to a wild splurge of creation. A book is a lot like that, so much of it is rewrites. You get it all written down, then you step back, look at it and make it work. In saying that, I learnt a lot from the process. The main thing with any craft is getting down to it.

Irenicon by Aidan Harte (Jo Fletcher Books) is out now. Visit www.aidanharte.com.

SHELLEY MARSDEN meets bestselling author Sinead Moriarty to find out more about her latest novel…

Sinbead Moriarty is one of Ireland’s most popular female writers. Living in Dublin with her husband and three children, her books have been embraced by the reading public for their ability to be both hard-hitting about life’s darker moments, and full of light, comic relief as her characters try to overcome these moments. Moriarty’s latest novel, Me and My Sisters, is no exception.

Humane, moving and also very funny, it follows the lives, loves (and frequent disasters) of the three Devlin sisters – each very different but with an unshakeable bond that means they’ll stand by each other no matter what. Julie is the easy-going sister but, as a mother of four boys, feels she’s struggling to stay sane and can’t remember the last time she felt remotely sexy.

High-flying lawyer Louise has never had much time for romance or family, but that’s all set to change, while beautiful Sophie has always defined herself through her husband’s wealth and the latest designer clothes. What would happen if it all changed overnight? Moriarty’s book is a believable look at the modern woman and her constant struggle to be a good mum, career woman, glamorous wife and whatever else is expected of her. I would defy any female reader not to see something of themselves in one – or all – of these three exquisitely-drawn characters.

Where did the idea for Me and My Sisters come from?

In a way the beginning of the book began with the idea that I wanted to explore identity, and how women really have to reinvent themselves every decade. The first idea was that women lose their identity when they have children, and as women in the Western world are having kids later, we’ve had this very selfish, carefree life until perhaps our mid-30s. Suddenly you find yourself at home with the baby and you don’t know who you are anymore. I really wanted to explore that, because that isolation is not something we really talk about. So that’s one of the sisters, Julie’s story.

What led you to the other two characters?

I began thinking about the other types of identity; some women’s is totally wrapped up in their career, which is obviously the character of Louise. What would happen if someone like that did have a baby? And what if she didn’t totally bond with her baby, we’re almost too ashamed to talk about that. And then I thought it would be interesting to have another sister who based her life on her looks. What happens when they start fading, and you live a privileged life, your identity is wrapped up in our car and what you wear? In the good times, particularly here in Ireland, people got very lost in that material stuff. The book became a lot ‘bigger’ than I had planned, but I really enjoyed writing it.

Which sister would you most identify with?

I have three quite small kids and in a way, I would identify with Julie, but then my writing is also very much my identity, so interestingly I started out feeling closest to Julie but in fact, there’s probably a part of me in all of them. Some books are harder to write than others; this one really flowed. I felt very strongly about all the sisters, and their issues - I hope readers do too. That’s the reaction I’ve had so far, certainly.  I have a sister, and we’re really close. That’s why I had to have three sisters in the book; I think with two you’re either very close or not. With three, the dynamic is slightly different; maybe two are closer at certain times, then the other two, and there’s the ‘middle sister’ and ‘youngest sister’ thing to explore. We’re complex, us women!

Talking of complex, how do you juggle writing and motherhood?

I’m my own boss. I feel very passionately about what I do – I love it, but you do need discipline when you work for yourself. For me, my friends would say I have the ideal set-up. And yet, if it is, I still feel guilty all the time – I think it’s in ourDNAas women! That’s what I wanted to explore. There is no Holy Grail, no easy answer. It’s always about adapting. A novel has to be, to use an overused word a ‘journey’ for each character, and so, each had a dilemma and a wake-up call to make them reassess things. I think that happens to most of us in life…

Your books are brilliant at mixing pathos and dark humour. Who else for you has a talent for this?

This may sound a little left-field, but for me it’s Pat McCabe, he’s a genius at it. His humour is very dark. When I read The Dead School, it changed the way I looked at humour. What he does with such dark themes and what he does with humour within that is just incredible. To not take yourself or life too seriously is a wonderful gift that gets you through many things.

Your route to books began with a creative writing course in London, didn’t it?

Yes, I was working on trade magazines, nothing remotely glamorous! I was so bored with what I was writing that I just thought, I have to do something creative, I can’t do this anymore! That’s what pushed me, and I joined a very standard creative writing course inMaidaValeCollege. I’d tried to write before and I’d be turned down by literally everybody, but that course changed things and I got serious about it. I got honest, open feedback and I learned how to structure a novel and not go off on tangents. It gave me the confidence to try again – it was life-changing.

As a writer, do you ever miss the company of an office?

Do I miss the banter around the water cooler? No, I don’t! I have a very noisy, busy life the minute until I open the office door, so I have the best of both worlds. I have my quiet time when I’m writing and the kids are at school, and then it’s totally bananas when they come home! If I didn’t have that, I might become too consumed by my writing, so I actually love that balance. And I welcome the craziness at the end of the day!

Visit www.sineadmoriarty.com for more on the author. Me and My Sisters is out now.

Emma Donoghue, author of 'Room'

By Shelley Marsden

World Book Night, a celebration of reading and books which sees tens of thousands of people donate books within their communities, will be marked in Ireland and Britain (as well as Germany and the U.S.) next Monday, April 23^rd.

In total, some 1,000,000 books are given out in total - half of these donated directly to hospitals, prisons and care homes, and the other half to distribute amongst individuals in communities.

Each year, 25 titles are specially chosen and printed in their thousands in World Book Night editions. This year, each World Book Night title features an extract from another book chosen by the World Book Night author (or their estate or publisher) as well as a Shakespeare sonnet chosen by poet Don Paterson.

Givers apply to give away a particular book (you get a first, second and third choice) which they must commit to give away to those who don't regularly read to share and spread their love of reading. Each Giver receives 24 copies which they pick up from their local bookshops and libraries - the very heart of our reading communities - in the week before April 23

Chosen books for this year’s event include The Take by Essex-Irish author Martina Cole featuring an extract from Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, Room by Emma Donoghue featuring an extract from State ofWonderby Ann Patchett and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell, featuring an extract from Our Spoons Came From Woolworths by Barbara Comyns.

For more information visit www.worldbooknight.org.