The Bram Stoker Society

THE BRAM STOKER SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
April 2009

DUBLIN: ONE CITY, ONE BOOK 2009 - Bram Stoker's Dracula

This year Dublin City Library Service has chosen Dracula for its One City, One Book programme. Below is the most recent version of the events that will unfold in April 2009. Please do not take the schedule as reliable fact just yet. While most of the events have been finalised, the schedule is subject to change between now and April. For the official website of One City, One Book, please see:

www.dublinonecityonebook.ie

For a complete schedule of all forthcoming events please see:

www.dublinonecityonebook.ie/events

Nota bene: Some events require booking due to limited space, though most events appear to be free of charge (with the exception of the screenings at the Irish Film Institute).

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The Westbury Hotel off Grafton Street and the Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street are offering deals in April for those travelling to Dublin for the One City, One Book festivities. When booking at one of these two hotels, mention the festival.

The Westbury Hotel - Website - Tel: +353 1 679 1122
The Gresham - Website - Tel: +353 1 874 6881

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Gothic Short Story Competition

The Dublin: One City One Book choice for 2009 is the iconic Dracula by Dubliner Bram Stoker, and a programme of events showcasing Dublin's connection with the gothic genre will take place throughout April.

To celebrate the month-long initiative, The Sunday Tribune--in association with Dublin City Council--is running a short story competition. Entrants are invited to submit a story incorporating the following line from the book, Dracula: "His eyes blazed with a sort of demoniac fury, and he suddenly made a grab at my throat."

Entries of no more than 800 words in length should be emailed to dracula@tribune.ie by Friday 27 March. The winning entry will be published in the Sunday Tribune during April

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Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode
A documentary directed by Michael Bayley Hughes

Shot in Transylvania, Whitby, London and Dublin this documentary tells the true story of Bram Stoker and his gothic novel Dracula.

The film is produced in association with the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and features interviews with leading international Dracula experts. Over the years there has been much confusion between Vlad Tepes (The Voivode) and Count Dracula (The Vampire). This film separates fact from fiction and looks at both characters in depth.

Script consultant Elizabeth Miller describes Vlad’s reign of terror and debunks the association between any Dracula and the iconic Castle Bran. Dennis McIntyre of the Bram Stoker Society takes us to key locations in the author’s home town of Dublin and Tina Rath of the Dracula Society, London visits Stoker’s ( and Dracula’s) haunts in the capital city. In Whitby Harry Collett gives a vivid account of Dracula’s association with the Yorkshire seaside town where the Count arrived in England on a stormy night aboard the Demeter.

Romania takes centre stage in the film and through the expertise of pioneer Dracula expert Nicolae Paduraru we follow in both Vlad Tepes and Count Dracula’s footsteps and explain why Stoker never left any of his own footprints in Transylvania but instead left an indelible impression of the Romanian region on the Western mind.

More information can be found at www.draculadocumentary.com

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The Body in the Library: The Great Detectives 1841 to 1941
22 January to 15 June 2009

In addition to the Dracula-centric festivities in April, those visiting Dublin may also wish to stop in to view the current Long Room exhibition at Trinity College:

"The detective novel is a genre which generates great popular interest and also growing academic and critical attention. The library’s collections across the past two centuries reflect the development of this form of imaginative writing. This exhibition will illustrate the origins of the detective story in the mid 19th century, the growth in popularity of fictional heroes such as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown and Hercule Poirot. There will be a focus on the first golden age of crime writing in the 1920s and 1930s."