FORMER Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is to host a signing of his latest book in Ardoyne tonight.
The event, which will include a Q&A session will take place in Ardoyne GAA club tonight (Friday July 15) at 7pm.
'Black Mountain and Other Stories' was released last year and features stories of politics, family, love and friendship.
In a sit-down interview with Belfast Media last year, Gerry Adams said: “This one was six years in the waiting. That isn’t to say that it took six years to write but it took six years for me to find the time to write it.
“The pandemic and the fact that I wasn’t travelling as much meant that I could concentrate on it. I had the stories more or less drafted but as you know through writing, it is writing and re-writing.
“I was also assisted by a guy called Timothy O’Grady who is a well-known author in his own right. Timothy did the forward for this book and he gave me good advice. I write every day but it could be political, it can be letters, emails and all that craic. But if you are writing something that is fictional, it all happens in your head. Obviously you draw on your own life experiences and you might pick up bits and pieces from other people.
“If you are writing non-fiction you have to be extremely accurate and so on. This is where Richard McAuley comes in. He would do a lot of the research for stuff that I would be writing. So while I may have written 18 books, this is my second book of short stories and I am quite pleased with it.
“Interestingly enough, when I was doing a reading at Féile an Phobail I could see places that I would re-edit again. Somebody said that a book is never written, it is abandoned so I think that that is very true.”
The former West Belfast MP said ordinary people are his source of inspiration.
“This book is essentially about people – the working poor, women, prisoners, loyalists – there are two stories that feature loyalists or unionists and a lot of it is sort of encapsulated by the title. While one or two of the stories stray off to Galway or Dublin, mostly they are written about the shadow of the Black Mountain or the community that lives on the slopes of the Black Mountain. They were the inspiration for it and if any of the community recognises themselves or their friends in the stories then that is very pleasing.”
You can read the full interview with Gerry here.
Black Mountain and Other Stories is published by Brandon, an imprint of O’Brien Press and is available now. Copies can be obtained from An Chultúrlann bookshop, An Ceathrú Póilí.
