lit. THE TRINITY LITERARY SOCIETY
Welcome to the L The Trinity Literary Society, or LitSoc, is Trinity’s foremost society for the creation and celebration of literature, a haven for all aspiring writers and fervent readers. Peruse this Freshers Guide for a glimpse at the sheer scope of our bookishness. Among many other pursuits, LitSoc organises writing workshops, book clubs, open readings, and guest speakers. We have one major event each week, and daily coffee hours from 12-3pm in our society room, The Attic. That’s a whole lotta belles-lettres, but we know you’re always eager for more!
To partake of our bookworms’ paradise simply sign up at our stand during Freshers Week (the bookshop discounts on our membership cards are bountiful!). Missed us? Feel free to stop by the LitSoc society room, The Attic, on the top floor of House 6, any weekday between 12 and 3. Take the plunge, LitSocialites, and board the good ship LitSoc! If you like curling up with good books, you’re going to love curling up with us.
Literary Society! facebook.com/groups/tcdliterarysoc facebook.com/TCDLitSoc @TCDLiterarySoc trinityliterarysociety.tumblr.com tcdlitsoc.com literary@csc.tcd.ie
LitSoc Committee
Members!
Chairperson: Ruth Atkins Secretary: Grace Kelly Treasurer: Deirbhile Brennan PRO: Sinéad Creedon Librarian: Leo Connell OCMS: Saoirse Anton, David Donovan, Sadbh Kellett, Gillian Kiely, Bríd Nolan, Luke Rynne Cullen, Jacob Woolf
Monday Literary Board Games The Attic, 2pm Start as you mean to go on, with an afternoon of literary competition in our most stupendous society room.
Wednesday Roald Dahl’s Tremendous Tea Party Location TBC, 3pm Revolting Rhymes, marvellous medicines, chocolate factories, BFGs and witches will all have their place in this fun-and-food-filled 100th birthday jamboree! Jane Austen Movie Bitch-Along Location TBC, 7pm It’s a Jane Austen movie and you get to shout things at the screen! Why wouldn’t you go?
Tuesday
The Art of Letter-Writing The Attic, 2pm Learn the craft of correspondence and leave a letter in the LitSoc anonymous postbox, for a mysterious foray into the private world of another. Fan Fiction Night In Location TBC, 7.30pm Experience the sweet highs and staggering lows of this most lambasted of literary genres, as we take an evening to celebrate the world and work of fangirls, fanboys, and fanpeople everywhere.
Friday
Thursday Harry Potter Deathday Party The Attic, 2pm Join us for a spoiler-free fest of all things Chosen One, Dark Lord, Nearly Headless and Cursed Child -related, with a conjuring of ghoulish snacks to boot! Poem Crawl Meet at Front Arch, 7pm The return of the LitSoc Poem Crawl, taking you around the city for a peek at Dublin’s finest spoken word nights.
Multilingual Luncheon Location TBC, 2pm Bring along your favourite international literature, as we swap tales and tongues in a lunch filled with literary translation and language fun.
* For up-to-date deets on our events, ask at our stand or email literary@csc.tcd.ie
Visit The Attic. The Attic is LitSoc’s cozy oasis, far removed from the cold realities of student life. Head up for coffee hours every weekday from 12pm to 3pm and we will soothe your literary soul with free tea, coffee, and biscuits, comfortable couches, and wide-ranging discussions of our current bookish interests. 12-1pm is a quiet reading hour, guiding our members away from the buzz of social obligations, and towards the literary realm. You will also enjoy access to our ever-growing lending library. Ignore the ominous creak of the stuffed shelves and focus on what really matters—the books! With volumes on all subjects from the sublime to the bizarre, you’re sure to find something you like. Ask the committee member on duty, and you may sign out whatever book takes your fancy, keeping it for the entirety of the term if you wish!
House 6, top floor
Directions House 6 is the door directly to the right of Front Arch—where the SU offices are. Go up to the very top floor, turn right and then left into the corridor—we’re Rm 32, the last door on the right!
Map
Guests for MT 2016.
Marita Conlon-McKenna
Lisa McInerny
Award winning author of Under the Hawthorn Tree, among many other books for both children and adults. Her newest novel, Rebel Sisters, commemorating 1916, was a number-one Irish bestseller.
Author of the popular blog Arse End of Ireland, McInerny’s debut novel The Glorious Heresies went on to win the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliott Prize this year.
Paul Murray
Claire Hennessy
Murray has written 3 novels: An Ev e n i n g of Long Goodbyes, Skippy Dies (longlisted for the Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Costa Prize), and The Mark and the Void (joint winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction ).
Claire Hennessy is the author of several YA novels, editor of Puffin Ireland, co-founder of Big Smoke Writing Factory and coeditor of the literary journal Banshee. Her most recent novel, Nothing Tastes as Good, was published by Hot Key Books this summer.
Do You Write, Dear? Don’t hug your work secretly to your chest— we want to see it! College is absolutely the time for beginning your magnum opus, and LitSoc will be here to help, encourage, and most importantly - publish you, throughout your voyage of creative discovery. Our journal, The Attic, opens for submissions at the end of MT, and considers absolutely anything from epic odes to Nick Jonas fan fiction, so be sure to send it all in! Right now, we are looking for submissions for our new website: book reviews, articles and short creative pieces. Or, if you enjoy the spoken as well as the written word, why not perform at one of our Speakeasy open mic nights? Our Atelier facebook page is the perfect destination if your piece still needs a little workshopping. Post an extract of your work-in-progress, and receive thoughtful critiques from other members. Of course, you can also sign up to one of our 3 regular creative writing classes (next page!) for regular prompts and creative encouragement. For more information on any/all of these outlets, check out our website or email us!
This is a memento mori to encourage you to give it a shot. Because we’ll all be dead soon and you won’t be able to then...
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Reading Groups. LitSoc offers a wide variety of book clubs and reading groups, on a range of themes and genres. Meet like-minded people and discuss the books you love!
Last year’s book clubs included a Poetry Reading Group, a Children’s Literature Group, a YA Group, The Existential Reading Group, and an Irish Theatre Reading Group.
Next year’s groups will be announced by email early in Michaelmas Term, and promise to be as diverse and intriguing as years before. If you don’t see one you like, get in touch with us at literary@csc.tcd.ie, for more information about starting your own.
Competition Time! Something of a poet? Take a look overleaf at our cut-out-and-keep poetry kit. We’ll have one by our stand during Freshers Week also. Make a poem out of the words available, then send us a photo of your finished oeuvre for a chance to win a fabulous prize!
Creative Writing. LitSoc runs fantastic creative writing workshops, which meet regularly throughout term. Sign-ups will be announced to members by email in week 1 of Michaelmas Term. Places are limited, so best be on the ball! In addition, keep your eye on our events calendar for once-off workshops and lectures on diverse aspects of literature and writing. Workshops Beginner: For those new to creative writing. Workshops will include in-class exercises and short-form writing, with a goal of increasing members’ comfort with sharing their work.
Intermediate: For students comfortable with sharing writing and receiving suggestion. Weekly prompts and inclass critiques will allow members to build their skills, and practise writing to a regular schedule.
Advanced: For those confident in their writing ability, and comfortable with receiving critiques. Members will likely have an ambition of publication in the future, and classes will be divided between prompts and examining extracts of members’ own work. Please note that we require a writing sample for admission into Advanced Creative writing.
Cathal O’Leary Back in my day, LitSoc was real work. There was none of your fancy ebooks and kindles and printing presses. We had to chisel out the raw books one letter at a time down t'mines. Weary labour it were, and for no more payment than an avuncular slap across the face from the CSC once a fortnight. But we was happier then, that's for sure. Best years of my life. Cathal O’Leary chaired LitSoc in 2014/15, and is a TCD graduate, local historian, and curmudgeon.
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Of Yore... LitSocialites look back!
Alice Kinsella The Literary Society of TCD was a constant within the rapidly changing years of college. The years start to blur pretty fast as soon as you leave but I can identify LitSoc as a major part of every one of them. The society always provided a group of creative, fun loving, kind people that I could find a place within. Approach them with openness and they will welcome you with generosity and friendship. I read my first poem out loud on a LitSoc stage. I got my first poem published by the committee of 2013. They kick-started a lot for me, and I know I’m not the only one. LitSoc was a safe haven inside the whirlwind of college. I will miss it dearly, but I’m excited for those who are about to discover it. Alice Kinsella is a poet, TCD graduate, and former LitSoc Committee member.
Anna Mulligan I found LitSoc late in the year, only to find it was exactly the room full of bookworms I’d been looking for. Hearing new work at their events even inspired me to buck up and perform a thing or two of my own. If you want to drink tea while digging through a communal library, LitSoc’s for you. Anna Mulligan, Senior Freshman English, has been an avid LitSoc cheerleader since Hilary Term 2016. Simone Kneafsey With its comfy couches and endless supply of tea and biscuits, the Attic is a great place to get assignments done and for meeting new people with similar interests. By now I've made a point to drag each of my friends up to the Attic at least once because if the warm, friendly atmosphere doesn't hook you in, the copious amount of tea and biscuits will make you never want to leave. Simone Kneafsey, Junior Sophister Engineering, has been an Attic fixture since 2014.
Andrew Roberts The first time I visited the LitSoc room I was admittedly rather nervous. There was a group of people all chatting to each other, all of whom I had never met. But I sat down and was immediately involved in conversation, a stranger made me tea and I was invited to peruse the society's library and asked to attend one of their events. A few days later I was back and then for the next three years I don't think there were many days when I missed a visit up those stairs in House 6. Besides the weekly events, which involve open mic nights, creative writing sessions, workshops and the odd lecture there is the Attic where everything seems to happen. LitSoc is one of those very few societies which have rooms that are almost always open during college hours. For that reason there is always something going on compared to your run of the mill one event a week type society. As a Fresher, you're bombarded with invitations to join a myriad of societies, you never know which one is right and often they merely stay as societies, just something you do every now and then, just a hobby really. But sometimes you just stumble into one, you are immersed in it and it becomes an extension of your life and certainly Litsoc was that for me. Put simply, if you're reading this right now and haven't been up to the top of House 6...go now! Andrew Roberts [aka Coffee Black] chaired LitSoc in 2015/16, and will graduate later this year.
No Context Lit Soc. We have long been haunted by the faceless spectre of @NoContextLitSoc, tweeting our coffee hour discussions with memorable results. Below are some of our favourites: "I couldn't text you back I was at sea" "a really ludicrous number of ninjas" "more early metal than post-punk" "I found a dead pigeon and I didn't rub it on my face." "I love you with ardent flame of...wait...shit..." "A tiny tim tofu tiramisu" "Enniscorthy is the Venice of Wexford" "My ribs keep me awake...and make me think of Spinoza." “Look at me, with women on either side...like a heterosexual.“ "Trying to rhyme anything with emu just seems desperate" "When was the last time someone in Lit Soc wrote a poem about a nice landscape?"
Get Involved! LitSoc is very cool and interesting, so obviously you’ll want to join. But why not take your dedication just that bit further? With so many different activities, we’re always disgustingly grateful to those who offer to help out. Right now, we’re looking for helpers for stand and event duties during Freshers Week, and regular coffee hour volunteers for Michaelmas Term. Volunteering is one of the best ways to get to know the society and meet new people, and a chance to get the inside scoop on upcoming literary plans!
Email literary@csc.tcd.ie for more information.
Don’t all rush at once!
Give us a go, man! We’re cool!
Produced by The Trinity Literary Society, 2016/17 Editor & Designer: Ruth Atkins Editorial Team: Deirbhile Brennan, Grace Kelly and Gillian Kiely Acknowledgements Sincere thanks to Alice Kinsella, Simone Kneafsey, Anna Mulligan Cathal O’Leary and Andrew Roberts, and to the LitSoc Committee 2016/17: Sinéad Creedon, Leo Connell, Saoirse Anton, David Donovan, Sadbh Kellett, Bríd Nolan, Luke Rynne Cullen, Jacob Woolf. Images Cover Close up of public domain image from pixabay.com Photo on page 6 “Trinity College Dublin” (flickr.com/photos/bruchez) Photos on page 7 (Clockwise from top left) Marita Conlong McKenna, from maritaconlonmckenna.com Lisa McInerny, photograph by Ian West, from theguardian.com Claire Hennessy, photograph by Aisling Finn, from thegloss.ie Paul Murray, photograph by Cyril Byrne, from irishtimes.com Background Images (all cropped): 2,3 “Splat from Lauren” (flickr.com/photos/nez/) 6,7 “Coffee Stains Texture 08” (flickr.com/photos/31288116@N02/) 10, “sketchbook pages” (flickr.com/photos/haroldhollingsworth/) 11, “handwritten recipe” (flickr.com/photos/calliope/) All other images are public domain, from the Elusive Muse collection (elusivemu.se/art-resources/), and have been modified for use in this publication.