Here’s what we know so far about this year’s literary festival line-up, with writers like Marian Keyes, Roxane Gay, Bernardine Evaristo, Ian McEwan and more huge names set to speak
Don’t let the opportunity to see your favourite authors in person slip past you. For such a tiny country, we have a brilliant array of fascinating Irish writers and also manage to attract huge international names to our literary festivals. These festivals take place all over Ireland, so whether you’re going to your local one or making a weekend of it to soak up the atmosphere of a stunning Irish town or village, the boutique feel of Irish literary festivals cannot be beaten. Here are the ones not to miss:
Borris Festival of Writing and Ideas, Carlow
Borris Festival is a really wonderful opportunity to see a fantastic line-up of writers and creatives share their process and insights. Speakers announced so far include Man Booker prize winners Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo, Marian Keyes, Emma Dabiri, Elaine Feeney, Mary Robinson and Ian McEwan. The full programme for this year is yet to be announced, but already weekend tickets and Saturday-only tickets have sold out. It proves that audiences know that the weekend promises not to disappoint. The picturesque setting of Borris House in Carlow and the Step House Hotel nearby is part of the magic of this intimate festival. From 12-14 June, festivalofwritingandideas.com
Listowel Writers’ Week, Kerry
Celebrating its 50th festival this year, this gorgeous event brings together writers, artists and poets in the beautiful heritage town of Listowel. With a brilliant offering of literary panel discussions, moderated talks, poetry readings, interviews and cultural tours, this festival has a real community vibe as the whole town gets involved in the festivities. The full programme is yet to be announced, but to get an idea of the calibre of talent usually involved, last year’s festival saw Colm Toibín, Joseph O’Connor, Elizabeth Day, Róisín Meaney and more brilliant authors making the trip to Kerry. From 27-31 May, writersweek.ie
Dalkey Book Festival, Dublin
This year, Dalkey Book Festival presents the inaugural Dalkey Literary Awards, in conjunction with Zurich Insurance. The awards have two categories, Novel of the Year and Emerging Writer, with an overall prize fund of €30,000. The programme is to be announced in April, but previous speakers include Sinéad Gleeson, Malcolm Gladwell, Anne Enright and Blindboy. Tickets will be available to buy when the programme is announced. From 18-21 June, dalkeybookfestival.org
Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Galway
This year marks the 35th Cúirt festival. The programme is yet to be announced, but there are some exciting things in the pipelines. Doire Press will launch Galway Stories: 2020, edited by Alan McGonagle and Lisa Frank at the festival, and the Young Writer Delegates Programme in collaboration with the Irish Writers Centre is now open for applicants. As this year is of course Galway 2020, The Stinging Fly is bringing out a special issue to be edited by Lisa McInerney, with Elaine Feeney as guest poetry editor. Tickets for the festival aren’t on sale yet. From 20-25 April, cuirt.ie
West Cork Literary Festival, Cork
We don’t know much about this year’s line-up for the festival but at Christmastime, festival organisers announced that Roxane Gay, Eimear McBride and Leslie Jamison are part of the line-up. Events for this year’s festival are due to be announced soon, though you can check out the exciting programme of workshops. The award-winning author Jane Casey will lead a crime writing workshop, Paul McVeigh will teach novel writing, Claire Nelson will teach travel writing and Paul Muldoon will lead a beginning poetry workshop. From 10-17 July, westcorkmusic.ie/literary-festival
