SPEAKER: Killarney native Olivia Howe, who writes under the name of Olivia Hope, will speak at the Cork World Book Fest this month.

Following her recent multi-book deal with a major publisher, Killarney author Olivia Howe, writing under the name Olivia Hope, will be one of the writers on the popular Getting Published information day this month.

This year Cork World Book Fest goes online and will virtually welcome Irish and international writers to Cork for an extravaganza of books, writers, readers and a guide to getting published.

Seven years ago Olivia pitched her first children’s book story at a Getting Published event in Cork City Library to literary scout Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin who not only writes crime fiction as Sam Blake, but is also the founder of The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy and the hugely popular national writing resources website Writing.ie.

This was the turning point of Olivia's writing career as Vanessa took her book to the London Book Fair where she met the head of the Darley Andersen Literary Agency's Children's Division, Clare Wallace. Clare now represents Olivia who has three books on the way with a major publisher and many more in the pipeline.

Olivia now works for The Inkwell Group critiquing picture books and teaches creative writing, as well as working for Siamsa Tíre as an associate artist and with the Irish Arts Council on the Creative Schools programme.

At this year’s Writing for Children event, Vanessa will find out what's happened on Olivia's journey and her tips for children's writers.

Vanessa will also be holding workshops with published authors and literary agents on how to get published, pitching to agents and perfecting the all-important first chapter.

The Getting Published day is part of a week-long series of events. Visit Cork World Book Fest for more information www.corkworldbookfest.eventbrite.com or www.corkworldbookfest.com.