Pictured from left: Books Ireland editor, Tony Canavan and founding publisher Jeremy Addis, pictured at the 40th anniversary celebrations at the Mountains to Sea Festival March 11th 2016.
Photo courtesy of Caoimhe Fox.
Sandymount has a number of literary links, from Joyce’s Bloomsday walk on June 16th to the birthplace of W. B. Yeats on Sandymount Avenue.
However, a lesser-known but equally relevant literary connection that continues to this day is the residence of the founding publisher of Books Ireland magazine, Jeremy Addis.
Celebrating its 40th birthday this year, it remains Ireland’s longest-running literary magazine and is the only publication of its kind that focuses exclusively on Irish books.
It was a brave decision by Jeremy Addis back in 1976 when, recently unemployed, and with a family of five children, he set about establishing a magazine dedicated solely to books published in and about Ireland.
This ambitious but essential mission continues to this day with over 1,000 new Irish titles being listed, reviewed and assessed each year.
In addition to reviewing Irish books published by larger international publishing houses, Books Ireland also supports and showcases smaller, independent publishers, self-published and debut writers.
Journalist Sue Leonard covers a round-up of the latest debut novels in her regular ‘First Timers’ feature and the First Flush listing provides a comprehensive overview of all recently published books and is often one of the few guaranteed listing or coverage outlets for smaller scale publications.
Over its forty years of publication, Books Ireland has had a host of celebrity contributors including John Banville, John Boyne, Maeve Binchy and other Sandymount residents such as the late Seamus Heaney and long-time contributor, Rory Brennan, of Tritonville Road.
After surviving for almost 40 years, in recent years the recession took its toll and the magazine lost some of its funding support along with impacted sales and subscriptions. The revenue and energy required to sustain ten print issues a year was proving a challenge to the dedicated publisher, now in his eighties. So, in December 2013, Jeremy published what he believed to be the final issue of the magazine.
In reaction, there was a strong call of support from the publishing and literary community at the prospect of losing this important publication. Fortunately, help was at hand from Wordwell, the established publishers of History Ireland and Archaeology Ireland, who offered to take over the already appropriately-named Books Ireland.
The new addition adds great value to an impressive trio of authoritative and accessible magazines about Irish History, Archaeology and Literature, arguably the key areas of interest for readers and writers both in Ireland and abroad.
In the last two years, the magazine developed a website, booksirelandmagazine.com, and launched the digital edition and mobile app. Plans are underway to bring the full forty years of archive content online and this unique record offers a vital and unwavering insight into the trends and flurry of the Irish publishing world since its first issue in March 1976.
The inspirational octogenarian, Jeremy Addis continues to be involved in the magazine, compiling the First Flush listing and regularly writing reviews. As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations, he recently assisted with developing an exhibition showing a selection of 40 cover images, one from each year of publication. The free exhibition runs until April 30th in the LexIcon library, Dun Laoghaire.
By Caoimhe Fox
