Available February 23, 2010
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Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show: Author's Note

During the early twentieth century, Ireland began to practice a wonderful new dramatic form--politics. It was free, compelling and wild, and the Irish, with their fondness for high intrigue and low comedy, embraced it with love. This was a natural fit. Though colonized for generations, and denied formal education, the Irish had retained in their race memory the innate culture of the oral tradition. Thus they were always prepared to come out for someone who would tell a good story, play a fine tune, or act a great part.

Extraordinary passions were stoked in this theater for all, as massive figures, of uneven character and temperament, opened up the nation's soul. The country became notorious for fiercely-fought elections, fevered by noble intentions, instabilities and greed. Some of the candidates believed that they had a destiny to lead; some proffered vision; some scarcely bothered to hide their predatory intent.

Idealism being the virginity of politics, the new nation burst at the seams with young zeal. But even the most idealistic discovered to their sorrow that freedom can also do harm to our values, because democracy, our "least worst" system, takes away even as it gives. Innocence is the price of power.

--Frank Delaney

"The Most Eloquent Man in the World."
--NPR Weekend Edition's Scott Simon on Frank Delaney

Renowned for his gift of language, Frank Delaney's work has, so often, scrutinized the very nature of the spoken word (in broadcasts such as Word of Mouth, Say the Word, Omnibus and others.) As well as being a best-selling author himself, of more than 21 books, he has interviewed more than 3,000 writers for his BBC and international television and radio shows (Bookshelf, The Book Show, The Frank Delaney Show) including the great literary names of our time.
Continue to Delaney's Bio

Praise For Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show

"Delaney (Shannon) is a master storyteller, and this expansive tale of politics, tragedy, and revenge is Irish storytelling at its best. Full of vibrant, well-crafted characters and satisfyingly high drama."
--Library Journal

"This hybrid quest saga, bildungsroman, and grassroots view of Ireland in its postcivil war era is immersive and enjoyable, and it showcases Delaney's talent for inventive metaphor, which he manipulates with an expert hand."
--Publisher's Weekly

"Weaving Irish vaudeville and politics of the 1930s into a mix both delightful and astonishing, Frank Delaney devises an engaging saga that will captivate listeners. Delaney's success as both writer and narrator of earlier tales-well-told, SHANNON and IRELAND, soars to new heights with the story of Venetia Kelly. His double role is perfectly rendered as audio listening.Delight in Delaney's feast of hilarious, improbable details; side-story digression taken to a new art form; and memorable characters."
--Audiofile Magazine on Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show(the audiobook),

The Delaney Lectures:
Frank Delaney on Irish Literary Figures

In his series of four forty-minute talks, Frank Delaney examines three famous Irish writers, James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, and finally revisiting a lecture created for the National Archive of the Library of Congress, ties it all together in an examination of the universal ways that oral storytelling became the written literature of Joyce, Yeats and Beckett - and every other literary culture in the world.
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Frank Delaney discusses his novel Shannon

In this video, Delaney talks about the work, the river, and the source of his inspiration. Shannon was released on February 10, 2009.

"A well-crafted, satisfying work of historical fiction, as are all of Delaney's novels; respectful of the facts while not cowed by them, and full of life."-Kirkus Review

"Delaney vividly brings the legends and volcanic history of his native land to life... Delaney has created a hero it would be hard not to love."-USA Today

"It may be the most surefire nautical crowd-pleaser since Gary Kinder's Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea (1998)." -Booklist

"History, legend, memory and myth come seamlessly together in Frank Delaney's wonderfully engaging new novel, "Ireland," an intimate epic that is at once a sprawling account of 2,000 years of tumultuous Irish history and a meditation on the enduring importance of stories." -The Washington Post

Currier and Ives print of an Irish River

Available February 23, 2010 See details