To celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge, We Love Books, (or Is Breá Linn Leabhair as we've renamed it for the season that’s upon us!) is going bilingual, featuring Irish-language author Tristan Rosenstock who joins us to talk about his books Inis Mara and Inis Mara 2.
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Tristan Rosentock: "Spreag daoine óga mé leis an bhfuinneamh, leis an bpaisean a bhí acu maidir le hathrú aeráide"
Hailing from a literary family, it was maybe only ever a matter of time before broadcaster and musician Tristan penned his own stories to delight and enthral younger readers and we’re so glad he did.Inis Mara was chosen as a 2024 World Book Day read and readers can return to the island to continue the adventure as Inis Mara 2 hits the bookshelves.
"Scríobh mé an leabhar Inis Mara mar gur spreag daoine óga mé leis an bhfuineamh agus leis an bpaisean a bhí acu maidir le hathrú aeráide," a deir Tristan, a chuireann ceisteanna comhshaoil, an tábhacht a bhaineann le spiorad pobail agus luach na fírinne i gcroílár a scéil.
"Seeing young people standing outside parliaments all around the world, demanding that grownups take climate change seriously, I just thought that was so inspiring because we think that the leaders in all these parliaments are actually in charge, but the young people showed us that day that actually they were in charge and this is their future and they were demanding that grownups take action about climate change…. I just was so inspired by their energy and their enthusiasm that I decided that I’d love to write a book about climate change but that’s not too serious, it has to be an adventure story as well."
Scéal comhaimseartha eachtraíochta atá anseo a bhaineann le cúrsaí athrú aeráide, leis an tábhacht a bhaineann le bheith ag comhoibriú le daoine eile, agus le tábhacht na fírinne. Bainfidh léitheoirí óga agus aosta taitneamh agus tairbhe as eachtraí Éabha agus í ag iarraidh a pobal a thabhairt slán ón gceannaire cam atá ag milleadh an oileáin. Agus meabhraíonn an scéal dúinn arís is arís eile gur ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
Of course no adventure story is complete without its hero and Inis Mara has a very special one. Éabha is brave, clever and always ready to roll up her sleeves to lend a helping hand to those in need – even better than that, she’s based on a real-life hero, Tristan’s own sister Éabha who tragically passed away 3 years ago."Bhí sí cróga, bhí sí láidir, bhí sí gealgáireach, bhí sí cliste and I thought, these are all the traits a hero has, agus ansin thosaigh mé ag smaoineamh ar rudaí a rinne mo dheirfiúr.Bhí sí i gconaí ag teacht i gcabhair ar dhaoine.Anywhere people were suffering, she wanted to go there to help them."
From house-building after the devastating Haitian earthquake to teaching children in Jordanian refugee camps, Éabha was an extraordinary light in the world and so who better to lead the charge against An Santóir under whose regime Inis Mara is being brought to its knees.
Tristan says it was "really special" to bring his sister to life on Inis Mara.
"I love meeting with young readers and I ask them to describe Éabha in the book agus tógann sé mo chroí i gconaí mar go gcuireann siad síos ar an Éabha atá againn sa leabhar, ar an gcarachtar iontach seo sa leabhar ach comh maith leis sin tá siad ag cur síos ar mo dheirfiúr agus tá sé sin an-speisialta...Anybody reading this book gets to know my sister as well."
Join Tristan to hear more about Éabha’s adventures on Inis Mara, the inspiration behind his writing as well as his top tips on becoming an author on We Love Books.
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And don't forget to check out the RTÉjr Book Club every month.
