Latest Events in Newtownards(June Updated)

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ABOUT THE EVENT : All welcome to the book launch of the novel BARREN by N Irish author BYDDI LEE in conversation with Derry-based author SUE DIVIN . Published by SEANCHAI BOOKS , paperback £12.99. Tickets £4 (includes booking fee, refreshments and £2 off book at event). Doors open from 6:45pm and close at 7:15pm ABOUT THE BOOK : BARREN is a transatlantic, historical, mythical and fantasy female-led fictional work. Two grieving women are connected across time when the forces of nature activate a magical bronze axe they both possess, opening a portal through which they view each other's worlds. When it becomes clear they both need saving, a way must be found to heal the calamities in both their worlds – before time runs out. In present day California, pregnant Irish emigrant Aisling looks forward to becoming a mother. A sudden miscarriage leaves her devastated, but her unborn daughter's spirit chooses to stay with her offering unheard comfort. In Neolithic Ireland, huntress Zosime worries another lost pregnancy will diminish her standing in the tribe. When a comet strikes, bringing plague and famine, Zosime embarks on an odyssey to find a way to save her tribe – taking her magical bronze axe which contains the history of her tribe. The axe is also in Aisling's possession, for both women are from Armagh, separated by thousands of years. When an earthquake activates its powers – suddenly Aisling can see through time and space. Connected to her unborn daughter's spirit and the axe, somehow she can view Zosime's desperate plight. However, the connection means her daughter is trapped between worlds, fading and powerless. Unless Aisling can trust her new powers and discover the secrets of the axe, her daughter's spirit, Zosime, and the woman's tribe, might be lost forever. ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Byddi Lee is based in N Ireland. Author of BARREN (Seanchai Books, 2025), REJUVENATION , a speculative fiction trilogy (first published by Castrum Press, 2020) and MARCH TO NOVEMBE R (Sheanchai Books, 2014). LEE has published flash fiction, short stories and co-edited The Bramley – An Anthology of Flash Fiction Armagh , Volumes 1 and 2. She also writes for stage and screen and is a member of BBC Writersroom Voices 23. Co-founder of and manages Flash Fiction Armagh , which was shortlisted as Best Regular Spoken Word Night in the Saboteur Awards in 2019. LEE is an Arts Council Northern Ireland supported writer and holds professional membership at the Irish Writers Centre in Dublin and the Society of Authors, UK. For more information, please see: www.byddilee.com ** Information Source: Little Acorns Bookstore (Derry) | eventbrite

Now seen by over 350,000 fans live and watched by millions on TV, Europe’s No.1 multi-award-winning show "The Legends of American Country", this hit country show returns for another fantastic night of toe-tapping Country nostalgia! The upcoming tour will showcase highly acclaimed tributes to Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Don Williams, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette and Kenny Rogers and new tributes to icons Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Garth Brooks and the new kid on the block Luke Combs with countless other well-known singalong hit songs in this must-see musical extravaganza. The show also features three superb singers who are all accompanied by a fantastic live band of musicians. Watch that real authentic Tennessee sound coupled with an authentic stage set and state-of-the-art production that is guaranteed to transport you all the way, hand clapping and toe-tapping, to Nashville and back in one night. One thing is for sure, if it’s Country music you like then this is the only show in town! Over 2,000 5-star reviews! Quotes to use : Country Music Northern Ireland “As good as Country show that you will see live anywhere outside Nashville “ CMT “Pure Raw Country at its Best “ “fantastic show of nostalgic country at its best with superb vocalists and musicians “ . Hot Country TV Information Source: Portico | eventbrite

GOOD TROUBLE: The Selma, Alabama and Derry, Northern Ireland Connection 1963-1972 by Forest Issac Jones , Ed.D. Published by Anthem Press . Paperback £19.99 ABOUT THE EVENT : The Derry Book Launch of GOOD TROUBLE by author Forest Issac Jones in converastion with author Julieann Campbell Tickets £4 (includes booking fee, refreshments and £2 off book at event). Doors open from 6:45pm and close at 7:15pm ABOUT THE BOOK : This year, 2025, commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Selma march and the book, GOOD TROUBLE, illustrates the strong connection between the Black Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in N Ireland – specifically the influence of the Selma to Montgomery march on the 1969 Belfast to Derry march through oral history, based on numerous interviews of events leading up to both marches and afterwards. The author, JONES, interviews Richard Smiley and Sheyann Webb-Christburg , who were both at Bloody Sunday in Selma and in the march to Montgomery at ages sixteen and eight respectively, as well as relatives of the Courageous Eight (whose family members were Selma citizens who started the movement and invited Dr. King to Selma to help fight with them). JONES also travelled to Dublin, Belfast, and Derry to conduct interviews with those who were involved in that movement (including Billy McVeigh – featured in the BAFTA winning documentary, Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland ). He further spoke with Eamonn McCann , who is known as the John Lewis of Northern Ireland due to his leadership on the Belfast to Derry march which concluded at the infamous Burntollet Bridge attack in 1969, strikingly similar to Bloody Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965. Unlike most books on Northern Ireland which focus on Bloody Sunday, GOOD TROUBLE focuses on the pivotal incidents at Burntollet Bridge and the Battle of the Bogside. It provides one of the few objective, comprehensive histories of the connection between the two movements that have transformed both countries. With clarity and precision, JONES examines the movements’ origins, its links, marches, protests, riots and dangerous confrontations, and the roles of individuals that helped bring change in both countries. Julieanne Campbell (award-winning author of On Bloody Sunday ) contributed the Introduction, which sets up the story of how the Catholics saw the courage of the Black civil rights movement on television and found inspiration. This book is close to the author’s heart as both of his parents marched to integrate lunch counters and movie theatres in Salisbury, North Carolina, in 1963 as college students. His mother was at the 1963 March to Washington where Martin Luther King gave his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Forest Issac JONES is an award-winning author of non-fiction and essays, specialising in the study of Irish History, the US Civil Rights Movement and Northern Ireland. His latest essay, ‘The Civil Rights Connection Between The USA and Northern Ireland’ was awarded honorable mention in the category of Non-fiction Essay by Writer’s Digest in their 93rd annual writing competition. Over the years, JONES has won awards from Writer’s Digest in 2022 and 2023. His award-winning essay about African Americans at D-Day was published in 2024 by WWII History Magazine . In addition to writing, he is a frequent speaker who has given talks about everything from African Americans at D-Day and The Troubles in N Ireland. SEE: www.forestissacjones.com REVIEWS : "By viewing the events in Derry through the prism of those in Selma, Forest Jones draws attention to the striking commonality in cause and consequence of both the American and Northern Irish Civil Rights movements, and the awful violence which attempted to silence those twin cries for equality. In doing so, he creates an insightful and compelling examination of a terrible period in our shared histories and highlights the need for society to learn from the past for a more equitable future.”― Brian McGilloway , Author "An important book that traces the parallels between two different fights for civil rights."― Sharon Dempsey , Author “The first comprehensive look at the connection between the two Civil Rights movements in the USA and Northern Ireland. Jones has written a book that is worthy of its subject.”― Chris Riches , Journalist “Jones is a detailed researcher, and Good Trouble is based on a wide array of material, old and new... Jones offers affecting accounts of both the Selma to Montgomery march and the Belfast to Derry march. His book reads like a historical thriller at times. A must read.”― Richard Moriarty , Editor ** Information Source: Little Acorns Bookstore (Derry) | eventbrite