Nicola Pierce being interviewed, while the school children look on

I had the great privilege of being a ‘fly on the wall’ at one of the most interesting school events I have ever seen in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum last week. It was a real showcase for what imagination, flexibility and working together can achieve, and the educational value has to be absolutely huge.

For about six weeks classes in four schools from across Northern Ireland had been doing project work on the subject of the Titanic which was, of course, built in Belfast in the famous Harland and Wolff shipyards. As the centenary of the sinking is in 2012, it is a very timely subject. As part of their work (and this is where O’Brien Press come in) they have been reading Spirit of the Titanic by Nicola Pierce, a novel which captures a huge amount of information, history and atmosphere from this most famous of ocean liners.

As the culmination of this work, a two-hour-long live internet broadcast was run from the museum (incidentally, if you have never been to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, I would heartily recommend you go – it captures the spirit and atmosphere of a bygone time exceptionally well, and is run by very enthusiastic and knowledgeable people). There was a TV-style outside broadcast truck with all the mixing desks you could want, as well as a satellite uplink! The real magic was that it was a live, two-way event, with the schools also broadcasting a view of the children, who were fascinated throughout.

It started in the print works, where we learned about printing tickets for the ship and where Nicola was interviewed about her book; moved to the post office and finally to an interview with an actor talking about riveting the ship together for a living! The students asked some great questions and a recording of the event will be available to all schools in Northern Ireland through their IT system.

All of which proves that cooperation and thinking outside the box can create some of the most memorable occasions: everybody involved was totally passionate about education, and it showed in the quality of the whole event, which really made history live.

Ivan

I first met Steve MacDonogh in 1974, when I started The O’Brien Press. During the 1960s, Steve was a key player in the founding of the Irish Writers Co-op, who first published the fiction of Neil Jordan, Robert Hogan, Leland Bandwell and other emerging talents. As new Irish publishing sprang up in the 1970s, Steve was like a mature tree in the forest of saplings. His brilliant publishing philosophy was put into action with Brandon Books, based in his beloved Dingle in Kerry; diverse, ethical and innovative, Brandon published Alice Taylor’s childhood memoirs, Gerry Adams’ fiction and radical literature, and Ken Bruen’s brilliant noir fiction – all to international acclaim.

I met Steve twice in the last month of his life, and each event exemplified his brilliance. At our Publishing Ireland International Committee meeting he explained his ideas on developing new markets in Asia (Korea, China and India) and shared his extensive knowledge of European and American publishing, where he had many friends. The other event was the launch of Joel Hynes’ novel in Dublin’s Gutter Bookshop, where Joel, like a young Brendan Behan, read his brilliantly brutal fiction. Steve had brought the award-winning Newfoundland writer to Ireland for a promotional tour. When I asked Steve why he published writing talent from the edges of the world, and in translation too, he simply said ‘It’s really important. Someone has to do it.’

In Frankfurt last month, Steve invited some publishing colleagues for a drink on the hotel ship on the Main. He was so happy to show us photos of his beautiful little daughter Lilya and his wife Meryem and her extended family in Morocco.

Steve’s sudden death on 17 November, at the age of just sixty-two, is a terrible, sad loss. It’s impossible to describe how much we will all miss you, Steve. Your wonderful publishing legacy lives on in your books like a great Arbutus tree, the native strawberry tree of Kerry – forever green.

Michael O’Brien
The O’Brien Press, Dublin

O’Brien Press threw a celebratory party last night, marking 20 years since the publication of the book that really kick-started our entry into the world of children’s books, Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna. While we had done a range of books before that, there had been no coherent vision of what we were trying to achieve — once we took the decision to publish a book for children about the great Irish famine, which included death, hardship and pain we realised that our country lacked a real literature about itself for children. And we decided that it would be O’Brien Press’ mission to provide it.

We also decided (and by ‘we’ I really mean our publisher Michael O’Brien and then editorial director Ide ní Laoghaire) that we would always aim to produce books to the best international standards, and would back this up by selling them into international markets: the fact that Under the Hawthorn Tree won the prestigious International Reading Association award showed that these targets were achievable.

It has been a long journey to here: we have published over 500 books for young people, which have been translated into over 30 languages worldwide, created some great series (such as the Pandas) and discovered and nurtured some outstanding writers for children (Eoin Colfer, Siobhán Parkinson, Aubrey Flegg, Conor Kostick, Judi Curtin, Celine Kiernan …), while always trying to innovate through major projects such as The Story of Ireland and Something Beginning with P. It is interesting that in this anniversary year some of our authors have come around full circle. Our first EVER children’s book was a picture book (King Longbeard) and it’s an area we have not really ventured into much since, but Nita Fitzgerald’s It’s Great Being Little is aimed right at this market. The initial burst of historical fiction gave way for a while to contemporary (this year we have Dancing in the Dark and Eva’s Journey) and fantasy fiction (The Rebel Prince), but we have two major historical novels this autumn in Across the Divide and Fugitives. And innovation? we have just produced our first ever cookbook for kids: Alice and Megan’s Cookbook!

We would like to thank everybody who joined us for this special celebration, and most particularly all the authors and staff who make it possible, and look forward to the next 20 years and beyond in the wonderful world of children’s books.

Ivan