It’s encouraged. It’s necessary. It sells books. But it ain’t easy. In the competitive world of publishing with more books being released than ever before – whether in electronic or print form – it is of paramount importance that authors of all kinds and in all genres, poetry, memoir, short story, fiction or non-fiction, learn how to read well in public.
And while many writers are excellent at exactly that – plotting, suspense, characterization, dialogue, etc – they often fall at the final hurdle – bringing their words palpably alive to a listening audience at literary conferences, bookstore events, even at their own book launches.
Welcome Murray Learmont.
An actor and theatre director with more than 20 years experience, Murray has been involved on or off-stage in a multitude of diverse productions ranging from James Joyce’s complex ‘Ulysses’ and Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ to his creative take on movies including ‘Some Like It Hot,’ ‘Casablanca’ and ‘High Noon’ and classic novels such as Graham Greene’s ‘The Third Man.’
No better person then to bring varied, seasoned expertise to bear in training authors and would-be writers in the practice of public reading and proper body movement aimed at impressing a room-full of listeners. Whether your voice tends to trail off at the end of every sentence, pearls of wisdom being lost in whispers; whether you mumble so people at the back of the room cannot hear anything; whether you hide your head in your body like a turtle, Murray’s training workshop at the ‘Ireland Writing Retreat’ later this month amidst the inspiring landscape of west Donegal ‘s Wild Atlantic Way will help create a more confident you. It could be the difference between someone buying your book enthusiastically or simply applauding politely but leaving the room empty-handed.