Library news and events with Aura Flintshire sites

The winners of The Writer's Prize have been unveiled. Formerly known as the Folio Prize, there are three categories - fiction, poetry and non-fiction, with the winners of each then fighting it out for Book of the Year honours.

The Home Child by Liz Berry

This year The Home Child by Liz Berry, the poetry winner has won the overall Writer's Prize Book of the Year. The book is inspired by her great aunt who as a child was forced to emigrate to Canada from Britain by government schemes.

In 1908, Eliza Showell, 12-years-old and newly orphaned, boards a ship that will carry her from the slums of the Black Country to rural Nova Scotia. She will never return to Britain or see her family again. She is a Home Child, one of thousands of British children sent to Canada to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic servants. In luminous and tender poems, Eliza's world unfolds, a place where ordinary things are transfigured into treasures - a red ribbon, the feel of a foal's mane, the sound of her name on someone's lips. With nothing to call her own, the wild beauty of Cape Breton is the only solace Eliza has - until another Home Child, a boy, comes to the farm and changes everything.

The Wren, The Wren.

Anne Enright won the fiction category for The Wren, The Wren. Nell - funny, brave and so much loved - is a young woman with adventure on her mind. As she sets out into the world, she finds her family history hard to escape. For her mother, Carmel, Nell's leaving home opens a space in her heart, where the turmoil of a lifetime begins to churn. And across the generations falls the long shadow of Carmel's famous father, an Irish poet of beautiful words and brutal actions. This is a meditation on love: spiritual, romantic, darkly sexual or genetic. A generational saga that traces the inheritance not just of trauma but also of wonder, it is a testament to the glorious resilience of women in the face of promises false and true. Above all, it is an exploration of the love between mother and daughter - sometimes fierce, often painful, but always transcendent.

Thunderclap by Laura Cumming.

Thunderclap by Laura Cumming won the Non-Fiction award. On the morning of October 12, 1654, in the Dutch city of Delft, a sudden explosion was followed by a thunderclap that could be heard more than 70 miles away. Carel Fabritius - now known across the world for his exquisite painting, The Goldfinch - had been at work in his studio. He, along with many others, would not survive the day. In Thunderclap, Laura Cumming reveals her passion for the art of the Dutch Golden Age and her determination to lift up the reputation of Fabritius. She reveals the Netherlands, where - wandering the narrow streets of Amsterdam, driving across the flatlands, or pausing at a quiet waterfront - she encounters the rich reality behind the shining beauty of Vermeer and Rembrandt, Hals and de Hooch. This is a book about what a picture may come to mean: how it can enter your life and change your thinking in a thunderclap, a sudden clarity of sight.

Let us know what you think of the titles, find us on social media - @LlyfrgelloeddAuraLibraries on Facebook and Instagram and @LibFlintshire on Twitter.

Remember: you can browse these titles and hundreds more on our online library catalogue! All of the above titles are available to borrow from Aura libraries as books, e-books or audiobooks. You can browse our catalogue at www.aura.wales/flintshire-library-catalogue/

Get Connected to Aura Libraries anywhere with the PORI App

PORI is a fantastic app from Welsh Libraries which allows you to access Aura Libraries services, catalogue and website from your mobile device. You can also:

• Renew books online

• Reserve books online

• Manage your account

• Search the catalogue of most Welsh public libraries

• Search for a book by title, author, keywords or ISBN

• Click through from search results to the free to download e-book and e-audio books if they're in the Welsh libraries catalogue. Easy download from results pages without logging on to another website, if you are a library member.

• Find out what is happening in your local Aura Library.

For more information visit: www.yourlibraryapp.com/Cymru

Digital Loan Scheme

Did you know a Digital Loan Scheme is available through local Aura libraries and allows customers to borrow a digital device for free. Once connected, the Aura team will be on hand to provide training and advice on how to get to grips with the digital world. The aim is to support residents to discover the many positive changes that can be made to an individual's life by being online and connected.

Customers are able to loan a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 tablet from Aura's libraries, together with the following accessories:

• Charger

• Case

• 4G Wi-Fi (if you do not have internet access at home)

This scheme also aims to help customers:

• Build digital skills and confidence to access online services such as shopping and banking safely

• Keep in touch with friends and family with video calling

• Access support and training in a number of ways:

Group sessions - friendly six-week basic tablet training course

Library drop-in - Basic guidance to help you get started at your local library

Home tuition - for Home Library Service customers

Online - access Learn My Way training programmes from home

• Access our Online Library services, including free eBooks and eAudiobooks

• Access resources to promote health and wellbeing including online activities and services

• Try before you buy - devices will be available to buy at the end of the loan period

Whilst the tablets are free to loan from Aura's libraries, participants will be required to agree to the terms and conditions of the loan and to complete a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the loan period.

Anyone interested in borrowing a digital device should:

• Call into their local Aura Library

• Email: libraries@aura.wales

• Phone: 01352 704400

Visit us on social media to view handy information about our services and the online monthly events we host, as well as lots of book and audiobook recommendations.

From everyone here at Aura Libraries, thank you for reading, and we hope to hear from you or see you soon!

• Aura is a charitable, not-for-profit, organisation responsible for managing the majority of leisure, libraries and heritage services in Flintshire. Aura is owned by its employees and operates for the benefit of local communities.