Dublin Book Festival
By Dublin Book Festival
Since 2006 the Dublin Book Festival has been a mainstay of the Irish writing and publishing scene and a highlight of the literary year supporting Irish literary voices, both established and emerging.
Dublin Book Festival Dec 01, 2021
LEARWIFE - JR Thorp in conversation with Nadine O'Regan
In honour of International Women's Day 2022 here is a story of one woman - exiled to a nunnery, written out of history and more or less forgotten...until now. Nadine O'Regan is in conversation with author JR Thorp to discuss her stunning debut novel Learwife
Open for Submissions 2022!
Festival Director, Julianne Siron chats to Roisin Dwyer about Submissions for Dublin Book Festival 2022 which open on the 1st March.
Emerging Writers' Podcast with Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan
Join Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan as she chats to some of Ireland's most exciting new writers including John Patrick McHugh, Dagogo Hart & Megan Nolan...
President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins in conversation with Paddy Woodworth
Join us for a fascinating conversation with President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins as he discusses his latest book Reclaiming the European Street: Speeches on Europe and the European Union (Lilliput Press – Ed. by Joachim Fischer and Fergal Lenehan) with author, journalist and lecturer Paddy Woodworth.
Sticking to the Facts: Luke O’Neill and Mark Henry in conversation with Aoife Barry
Recorded at DBF20201: Professor Luke O’Neill and Mark Henry in conversation with Aoife Barry
Renowned immunologist, Luke O’Neill has become one of the most well-known and trusted voices throughout Ireland’s COVID-19 pandemic. His new book of lockdown diary entries Keep Calm and Trust the Science (Gill Books) takes us on a roller-coaster ride through one of our country’s most dramatic and difficult years.
Mark Henry’s new book In Fact: An Optimist’s Guide to Ireland at 100 (Gill Books) is a much-needed uplifting read after such a challenging year. Using facts and stats, Henry’s book is packed with positive news to hold onto; tracking our progress over the last 100 years through 100 undeniable national achievements, highlighting that, while there is still much to be done, Ireland is in a better place now than it has ever been.
Day of the Imprisoned Writer with Caroline Stockford
The Freedom to Write Committee of Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann is honoured to celebrate the life and work of the renowned poets, Varavara Rao (India) and İlhan Sami Çomak (Turkey), on the occasion of the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer.
Varavara Rao was arrested in August 2018 after an event in support of the struggle of the Dalits – or Untouchables – for human rights. Imprisoned many times over the years for similar activities, Varavara Rao is currently on release on an interim bail agreement granted on health grounds. Still in serious ill health, the 82-year-old poet will be back in court soon for a decision on his future.
İlhan Sami Çomak was arrested in 1994 and charged with membership of the banned PKK Kurdish militia. He has always denied the charges against him and has said his ‘confession’ was obtained under torture 26 years ago when he was a young student. He remains Turkey’s longest-serving student prisoner. İlhan has written eight books of poetry from solitary confinement, and his autobiography has just been published. His only company during all his time in prison has been a pet bird.
When We Cease To Understand The World
Benjamín Labatut in conversation with Rick O’Shea
In partnership with the Embassy of Chile in IrelandSometimes the greatest discoveries bring the greatest destruction
Join Dublin Book Festival for an evening with Chilean author Benjamín Labatut as he discusses his novel, which was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2021, with broadcaster and national literary connoisseur Rick O’Shea.
Described by Philip Pullman as ‘a monstrous and brilliant book’, When We Cease to Understand the World is a fascinating and revelatory insight into how the world’s greatest minds can wreak the greatest havoc. Thrusting us into the troubled lives of such scientific luminaries as Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger, this book explores the sometimes blurred lines between genius and madness; how some of science’s greatest discoveries revolutionise our world for the better, while others pave the way to chaos and unimaginable suffering. Merging fact and fiction to great effect, Labatut shines a bright and powerful light on some of the most brilliant minds in this history of science and mathematics.
Neil Jordan & Nuala O'Connor in conversation w/ Breda Brown
Join Dublin Book Festival in association with Culture Ireland, as they bring a blend of traditional and contemporary Irish culture to Blue Metropolis. Presenter Breda Brown sits down with multi-award winning author and director Neil Jordan and author Nuala O'Connor with musical interludes from the enchanting duo Clare Sands & Susan O'Neill. Filmed in the beautiful, bookish surroundings of Kevin Street Library in central Dublin.
Gas Man
Colin Black in conversation with Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin
Tune in from the comfort of your own home where Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin will be talking to author Colin Black about his new book Gas Man: Observations of an anaesthetist (HarperCollins Ireland). Learn what happens between you conking out and waking up after an anaesthetic. Anaesthetist Colin Black will bring you on his journey, both funny and sad; where his every day on the frontline is a heady cocktail of severe pressure, poignancy, and profound social awkwardness.
Crime in the City
Vanda Symon, Awais Khan and Lilja Sigurðardóttir in conversation with Sam Blake
Presented by Murder One Crime Festival In partnership with Dublin UNESCO City of LiteratureJoin Vanda Symon, Awais Khan and Lilja Sigurðardóttir in conversation with Sam Blake for an evening of crime! Crime writers from four UNESCO Cities of Literature: Dublin, Lahore, Dunedin and Reykjavík meet to discuss the influence their home cities have had on their writing, how crime fiction crosses geographical divides and what prompted them to start a life of crime.
Queer Love
In partnership with Gay Community News
Join Dublin Book Festival for an evening of delving into Queer Love: An Anthlogy of Irish Fiction (Munster Literature). The anthology was conceived as an attempt to redress the lack of acknowledgement of LGBTQIA+ community and representation in Irish literary anthologies. At this online event, editor of the collection Paul McVeigh is joined by two of its contributors, Emma Donoghue and Neil Hegarty to discuss their contributions to the anthology, the importance of producing this anthology, and developing LGBTQIA+ presence and representation in the Irish literary community.
The New Novelists: A Podcast with Róisín Ingle
Please join columnist, features writer, and co-host of The Irish Times Women’s Podcast, Róisín Ingle, in conversation with authors Naoise Dolan, Susannah Dickey, and Hilary Fannin whose debut novels Exciting Times (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Tennis Lessons (Doubleday) and The Weight of Love (Doubleday Ireland) were released earlier this year to rave reviews. With their distinctively Irish voices, Naoise and Susannah deliver incisive and contemporary commentary on the awkward coming-of-age years and what it means to be young and female today, while Hilary tackles a turbulent marriage and the various ways in which we can love and be loved. These exciting debut novelists will talk about all of this and more in what promises to be a compelling conversation with Róisín.
Belfast Book Festival @ DBF: Patron’s Picks
Join Belfast Book Festival Patron, Lucy Caldwell in conversation with two stellar short story writers, Lucy Sweeney Byrne and Yan Ge.
Having recently been shortlisted for the Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize Lucy’s debut short story collection Paris Syndrome (2019), explores travelling the world alone as a young woman. After writing and publishing in Chinese for many years, Yan Ge began writing in English in 2016 and was featured in Being Various: New Irish Short Stories.
Join these three brilliant writers in a conversation about their work, and a celebration of the short story.
Writing History
Tune in to this podcast, hosted by PR Director and co-founder at Unique Media, Breda Brown, for a discussion between best-selling historical fiction writer Marita Conlon-McKenna and debut historical fiction writer Marianne Lee. Marita Conlon-McKenna became a household name after the exceptional success of her Children of the Famine trilogy, beginning with Under the Hawthorn Tree. This year, the writer released The Hungry Road (Penguin), a novel for adult readers set during the Great Irish Famine. In her debut, A Quiet Tide (New Island), Marianne Lee breathes life into the personal story of Ellen Hutchins, a nineteenth century botanist who lived a rich but tormented life. Breda Brown will host a conversation between these two writers of historical fiction on the difficulties of, and reception to, historical novels.
Marita Conlon-McKenna is one of Ireland’s favourite authors. Her books include the award-winning Under the Hawthorn Tree which is set during Ireland’s great famine. Widely translated and published, it is now considered an Irish classic. Her other books include bestsellers The Magdalen and Rebel Sisters. She is a winner of the International Reading Association Award, USA and a former chairperson of Irish PEN.
Marianne LeeMarianne Lee grew up in Tullamore, Co. Offaly and now lives in Dublin with her husband. She has a degree in Visual Communications from the National College of Art and Design and an MPhil in Creative Writing from Trinity College Dublin. Marianne works as a designer and copywriter and has published a selection of poetry as well as self-recorded an album of music. She sings Bach and paints landscapes. A Quiet Tide is her first novel.
Breda BrownBreda Brown is the presenter of the Inside Books podcast. In each episode of Inside Books, Breda chats to people associated with the world of books – including well-known authors, publishers, editors, agents, critics, booksellers and more.
Interviewees have included local and international authors Rachael English, Martina Cole, Anthony Horowitz, Pat McCabe, Stephen McGann, Peter James, Alan Shatter, Jo Spain, Patricia Gibney, Peter Carey, Dermot Bolger, Mary Kenny, Martina Fitzgerald, Paul Howard, Sarah Webb, Emily Hourican, Stefanie Preissner and Catherine Fulvio. Industry names interviewed on Inside Books include Michael McLoughlin (Penguin), Vanessa Fox O Loughlin (Writing.ie), Declan Meade and Sarah Gilmartin (Stinging Fly), Lisa Coen and Sarah Davis Goff (Tramp Press), Maria Dickenson (Dubray Books) and Madeleine Keane (Sunday Independent Books Editor). Inside Books is available on all audio channels and the twitter handle is @InsideBooksIRE
A former print and radio journalist, Breda also reviews crime novels for the Sunday Independent, MCs and moderates events and contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes. She is also the co-founder of Unique Media, the communications firm that produces the Inside Books podcast.
Trumpet: Fear and Release
Trumpet is Poetry Ireland’s bite-sized literary pamphlet packed with reviews, essays, and strong opinions on poetry and the arts. Its ninth issue themed ‘Fear and Release’ is due for publication in autumn 2020.
Join its editor, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan for a wide-ranging conversation, which will delve into the diverse and provocative responses to Trumpet #9’s theme of ‘Fear and Release’. This insightful discussion with Abby Oliveira, Tapasya Narang, and Evgeny Shtorn explores the frisson between these two states within the contexts of parenthood, activism, immigration and queer identity, while investigating the role poetry plays in multiple disciplines.
Abby OliveiraAbby Oliveira is a writer & performer based in the North-West. In 2016 she toured her spoken-word show in Australia (supported by Arts Council NI), and was a featured writer at Singapore Writer’s Festival 2017. Her play Legends of the Coven premiered in 2018. She loves working collaboratively, and has done so with artists such as Mark Graham/King Kong Company, Basork, Tinderbox theatre company and many more.
Tapasya NarangTapasya Narang is a PhD student at the School of English, Dublin City University. Her work explores the connections between Irish and Indian contemporary poetry with particular focus on ephemeral publications like small-press literary magazines and chapbooks.
Evgeny ShtornEvgeny Shtorn is a writer, activist, and researcher from St Petersburg. Due to his involvement in civil society work he was forced to leave Russia in 2018. In 2019, he was granted international protection in the Republic of Ireland. He currently works as a Social and Cultural Diversity Consultant collaborating with different universities and organisations, and co-facilitates a project with people seeking asylum ‘Something From There’ in the National Gallery of Ireland. Evgeny’s writing has been published in academic journals, anthologies and new media outlets in Russia, Spain, Germany, and Ireland. As an activist, he has been involved in human rights and LGBT advocacy for almost two decades. He is a co-founder of Queer Diaspora Ireland, an initative that supports LGBT people in direct provision. In 2020, Shtorn was awarded the GALAs Person of the Year by the National LGBT Federation of Ireland (NXF).
Chandrika Narayanan-MohanChandrika Narayanan-Mohan is a Dublin-based arts manager, writer, and performer from India. She has been published in Writing Home: The ‘New Irish’ Poets, Honest Ulsterman, Banshee, and Poetry Ireland Review. Chandrika is currently guest editor of Poetry Ireland’s Trumpet, and book reviewer for Inis magazine. She has recently been shortlisted for the Fingal Poetry Prize.
View the full Dublin Book Festival programme at dublinbookfestival.com